Special Equipment:

Bastardsword, throwing knives

Appearance:

It has been said that Astria Rayne is a breath-taking beauty. The twenty year old stands at a commanding 5'9', and although some describe her as being a tall slim built young woman, others have also commented that it would be hard to miss her womanly curves. She has a smooth olive complexion and a mane of luxurious raven black hair and piercingly brilliant blue eyes that are slightly slanted. Eyes that those close to her say, 'sparkle and twinkle when she is in good humor', which is most of the time. Astria has a lock of pure white hair in the front of her head that is always to the topic of speculation amongst those she meets. She likes to dress in flowing flamboyant silk robes and gowns colored in varying shades of purple, gold, red and teal. She wears her hair loose and tumbling down her back in a mass of waves. Being an artisan first and a merchant second afford Astria a measure of wealth and independence. She specializes in creating jewelry and art pieces with semi-precious/precious stones and metals. Most of her income comes from works commissioned by the wealthy denizens of Widow's Edge and the surrounding towns. She also owns and operations a little curio shop.

Background:

Astria was born on a beautiful spring day in a little coastal town named Widow's Edge. Her parents, Kahn and Maya Rayne were anxiously awaiting her birth for they had wanted a child for so very long. Kahn is 6'4' and has a light mocha complexion with black eyes, straight blue/black hair that he wears in a queue. Kahn is a merchant and shop owner by trade but sometimes freelances as a seaman. Maya Rayne is 5'3' with an olive complexion and sea blue eyes; her hair is mass of riotous curls. She is a housewife who creates beautiful jewelry and artwork; she also helps to run the family shop. Together the Raynes have a peaceful life.

When Maya learns of her pregnancy she runs all the way the market district to tell her husband. After learning of Maya's condition Kahn sends up whoop and shouts, 'my Maya is with babe'. Everyone within hearing range started laughing and clapping and well wishing for Kahn and Maya were well-liked folk. All during Maya's pregnancy Kahn was right there, and would not let her lift a finger to do anything. Then the big day arrives, the birth of their only child was not easy. The midwife noticed immediately that there was too much blood and realized that all she could do was to try to make Maya as comfortable as possible. Astria came into the world screaming and kicking and making a real ruckus. The midwife quieted and cleaned Astria up and wrapped her in a purple blanket and handed her to Maya. Kahn entered the room and noticed how pale Maya was and looked at the midwife who just shook her head. Kahn then walked over to the bed and kneeled down in front of his wife and new baby daughter. Maya looked over at him and smiled 'we've done good my husband' she said. He smiled and nodded his head never taking his eyes of his wife and daughter. Maya died some time during the night due to complications from the birth of her daughter.

After the death of Maya, Kahn raised Astria alone and concentrated on making a living with the little shop that he owned. For six years their lives were peaceful and they settled into a nice routine. Around the time of Astria's seventh birthday her curiosity kicked into high gear and everything became a grand adventure. Astria was not a bad child, but she had an over abundance of curiosity and spunk. There was the time that she tried to stow away on one of the many cargo ships at port. She had set her mind on becoming the first girl pirate don't you know. It was pure luck that the captain saw her ponytail bobbing up and down amongst the crates and barrels on deck. Then there was the time when, on one of her grand adventures Astria went wondering into the dense forest south of town. This time she was searching for a leprechaun and his pot of gold. Now I am not going to debate whether such things exist or not. But I am going to say this 'somebody should have informed Astria that if a leprechaun was frolicking around in the forest he might not be so willing to just hand over his pot of gold.' Anyway, as soon as Kahn noticed that she was missing a search party was formed. It took the search party the better part of five hours before they came upon Astria trying to setup this elaborate trap that consisted of a piece of frayed rope, a few branches, some grass and a whole lot of wishful thinking. When Kahn saw Astria he asked if she was all right. She had the gall to turn up her nose and look perturbed that her adventure had been interrupted. The rest of the men just shook their heads and patted Kahn on the back as they headed back to town.

Well if things had kept going the way they were it is likely that Kahn would have suffered a heart attack or strangled his only child. Instead, he came to the conclusion that Astria had too much time and imagination on her hands. So after her morning lessons he put her to work in the shop. Nothing too big mind you, just making sure the shelves were clean and stocked properly and that the floor was swept. He soon he discovered that Astria was very good with the customers. She usually closed the sale on a particularly hard to sell item. She also came up with whimsical ways of displaying various items in the store and the store windows. Astria was having a fine time with her new duties.

Over the years the population of Widow's Edge has grown considerably. The people of Widow's Edge were happy for the influx of new traders, tradesmen, and skilled stoneworkers. Within a few years Widow's Edge started present a more traditional look once where there were only dirt roads, now the town had cemented sidewalks and cobblestone roads. The streets were lined with traditional looking two and three story homes. Some of the wealthier merchants lived in nice stone cottages with lush gardens and some were even able to add stables to their property. New businesses began to spring up; there were several nice inns with restaurants there was also a tavern. And several villages and towns have sprung up in the areas near Widow's Edge. The towns formed a Trading Commission and established trade routes leading to and from the cities.

Around the time, Astria turned twelve years of age things started changing in Widow's Edge and the surrounding areas. Over the past couple of years there have been reports of growing banditry, suspiciously set fires, attacks on the trade routes by highwaymen and stolen livestock. That there had yet to be a murder didn't lessen the worry of towns' people. They knew it was only a matter of time before someone was murdered or seriously hurt. The towns came together and chose men to be part of a militia group. The group patrolled the towns, surrounding farmlands and protected the trade routes into and out of the towns. The militia was actually making a difference, the criminal activity slowed down considerably and the towns' people started to relax a little.

What they did not know was that these were well-funded and organized thugs, who were secretly working for a rich nobleman, Herbert Paultrey. Paultrey was corrupt businessman who amassed a huge fortune by using disreputable means. He had set his mind to building a luxury establishment for the rich and powerful. He heard of Widow's Edge while he was at his club. A business acquaintance was talking about a little port city he once visited on his travels. He spoke of calm lakes, rolling hills, vast farmland, and majestic mountains and well kept towns with cobblestone streets. After hearing this he met with some of his unscrupulous cronies and began hatching a plan. Thinking that town's folks were poor uneducated peasants, they came up with a plan to hire local thugs to intimidate, harass and frighten the people of their land and out of their homes. Upon reaching Widow's Edge he then set about meeting the people and looking around town and the surrounding areas. When he had finished his survey, he started hatching a plan to run the people off their land. He started recruiting thugs for the job and when he thought he had enough to start he put his plan into action.

One evening as Kahn and Astria were closing up, the shop was robbed and Kahn was killed. Just as Astria was backing out of a storeroom she turned to see her father fighting with two goons. Astria stood there, frozen in shock and fear watching the fight rage on. This night courage and brute strength would not be enough to defeat to the well-armed bandits and Kahn fell in defeat. With a scream of anguish Astria came out of shock just as one of the thugs threw is a knife. She ducked and ran into the storeroom and locked the door. She climbed down into the cellar, which, led to a tunnel that opened up just south of town. Astria climbed out of the tunnel and stood atop a little mound of dirt. She wept as she turned to look back at her home as it went up in flames. Astria turned and walked into the forest, the very same forest she wondered into as a child. She did not know or care where she ended up. For she had lost everything, had nothing and no one. Astria walked until she fell out from sheer exhaustion.

The first thing that she noticed when she came to was the smell of sandalwood. The smell was not over powering in fact it was quite relaxing. She also noticed that she was lying on a pallet made of soft cushions covered in a soft shimmering material she had never seen before; there was also a light blanket. As Astria sat up and looked around as someone entered the room...

The Drayven are a race of beings that exist outside of our plane of reality. They are a race of immortals with great psychic abilities, the power of telepathy, telekinesis, transmutation, teleportation, and regeneration. The Drayvenian society is structured in a way that all the Drayvens to work together for the common good of the race. There are also Drayven who do not have psychic abilities they are scholars, strategists, sword wielders, martial artists, healers and herbalists. The Drayven society is well rounded. Unbeknownst to humans every hundred years the Drayven chooses an avatar to fight on the side of all that is good and honorable. They endow this avatar with certain psychic and physical abilities and gifts to be used in the pursuit of justice. It is not known what connection the Drayven has to the human race. The Drayven look human and their home world Drayvenia look to be a highly evolved human world. When the Drayven do cross over into our world they appear to be transparent and with substance.

When the Drayven Thia first saw Astria in the forest I do not believe she intended for her to be the next avatar. For one thing, she was so young, only twelve years of age. Upon further examination Thia sensed there was something special about Astria. Of course, Thia knew what had just happened in town, and knew that she was grieving from the lost of her father. But deep down at the core of her being there was a goodness, and strength of character rarely seen in one so young. Thia did not want to lose that to bitterness and grief and hatred. So she took Astria back to Drayvenia.

For the next six years Astria under went a grueling regimen, which consisted of hand-to-hand combat, martial arts and weapons training. I believe anger got her through the first couple of years, before she settled down and was able to start leaning the psychic abilities. On her eighteenth birthday she was entering her final stages of her training.

Thia came to speak with her, and explained that passing the next stage was critical to moving on to the final level. Astria would have to face what happened the night her father was killed. Thia and her instructors knew that she had never faced what happened. She had only used memory of that night to fuel the anger and some how that had sustained her thus far. Thia said, 'Astria put aside your anger and hatred so that you may embrace all that you have learned, all that you are.' Astria was taken to a lab-like room and instructed to lay down on a table with straps. She was put in a deep hypnotic state and regressed back to the night her father was killed. She was actually looking at the events unfold, Astria started screaming and fighting trying to get to her father, but she was held in place by the straps on the table. As she was fighting and screaming she heard the voice of her father. He was saying Astria calm down, come now little one calm down and face what happened. Looking through adult eyes and seeing for the first time the whole picture. It was like a huge boulder had been lifted off her chest. Her father spoke again, see little one there was nothing you could have done, nothing anyone could have done it was simply my time. Rest now and know that I am always with you.

When Astria woke up she was in her little room and she was very thirsty, as she passed the mirror on the way to get a drink of water she sees a lock of white hair in the front of her head. The hair is so white it is as if someone has bleached all the color from it. Looking at reflection she tries to see if there are any more changes in her appearance. She was pleased to that with the exception of her hair everything was the same.

Astria was going through some psychic exercises when Thia approached her and said Astria it is time for you to go home, you have learned all that we can teach you. You must continually train your mind, body and soul to be strong against the evils of your world. You have knowledge and power that grows in you everyday use it with care. Always try to protect those to weak to protect themselves and never corrupt what you have been taught. With this said Thia pulled a pen-like device from beneath her robe and pointed in the air and a doorway opened. Astria walked through the doorway and began her journey back to Widow's Edge.



Roleplaying Notes:

Astria has the ability to teleport short distances; limited telepathy, telekinesis and regenerative powers. Her powers will grow with time and usage, but she much prefers to rely on her fighting skills and is an excellent swordswoman.

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