Let me begin again in my own words. I am Meren, daughter of Eryndir; my father is the leader of the wood elves of Fayiron and the surrounding forests. ... but if this is an introduction, I should begin this at the start, right?
Life has never been particularly easy or straightforward for me or my brother and, as a result, neither of us are exactly what we appear. Yes, I'm a wood elf and Kryro, he's... well, he's not here at the moment so I suppose I'll have to be the one to speak for now. What has given me trouble the longest is that I've constantly had to work twice as hard as the rest of my kin to earn equal respect and to show them that I can be just as good a border guard and scout as they are. This is because by their reckoning I am still a child, which is extremely frustrating when I have been an adult for quite some time. Why the inconsistency here? I suppose I can explain, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay? ... What? Oh, I wasn't reaching for my blowgun for any particular reason, except maybe some added assurance. (This must be what Lady Kris is trying to break me of. I can't just knock out anyone who asks questions of my kin, as much as that goes against what I am...)
So you'll skip the nap and keep it secret? Then here it is: I'm a half-elf. I don't often let on that I'm not fully elven, as you can probably guess. To all but another wood elf, I look, act and sound the part. When I was sent away from the forest, my father told me it would be easier this way; people sometimes don't approve of those of mixed blood, and my kind... well, it's extremely rare. I'm the only one of my type in the forest, and likely the only one in the kingdom. My father says I may be the only one in the world, but I think that's just him trying to make me feel special... when it does almost exactly the opposite and has me yearning to just be like the rest of my kin. I suppose that's how parents are.
What am I besides a wood elf? It is hard to guess. My mother was a halfling. Strange, I know, but this was never really an issue; she was a healer and came to the aid of my father's people in a time of great need. After this, since she was the only healer the young tribe had, they weren't inclined to give her the kind of treatment most outsiders would receive and she was accepted in as an honorary elf. I became the end result and what held true for her would have extended to me... except for one problem. One very large problem.
Magic. Somehow, despite my only desire being to stay a guard and scout, about a decade ago I began to sense the energy possessed by greenery and became able to use it to make things happen, usually with strange, unpredictable results. This is not a normal ability for a wood elf, or at least it isn't without training as a shaman, so I kept this a secret for as long as I could. But eventually my kin became aware of this fact when I had to use it openly.
You see, magic is both my blessing and my bane. With it I will one day be able to protect my kin and forest in ways no wood elf ever dreamed possible- a wonderful thing. Until I have my magic under control, though, I am exiled from my home- a horrible, awful thing. My father's exact words were "Meren, you're going to burn the place down. I am sending you off to the wizard in Springwell until you can control what you wield. I wouldn't allow an untrained archer who knows not how to aim to scout, so a mage destroying our trees I cannot allow on guard, even if she is my daughter." As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point, and off I was sent to the nearest town.
I suppose I really have no room to complain. Somehow my intellectual brother became one of the strongest warriors of his centaur tribe and is now their scout leader, which I'm sure he wouldn't have predicted, either. ...Yes, you heard me right. My brother is a centaur. It's probably best not to ask. Anyway, at least Kryro becoming a warrior made some sort of sense. Wood elves aren't mages and halfling magic only involves healing. So how did I end up with this skill- or lack there of; numerous fires and explosive plant growth can attest to that- that I never wanted? That's something neither my master nor my father have been able to answer for me.
So here I am, neither fish nor fowl. Not a full mage yet, but no longer just a scout. A wood elf, but not entirely. Sort of a halfling and almost a centaur by association. It's a wonder I look normal and elven when these averaged together should give me one fuzzy foot, one ear much pointier than the other, magic arrows in my quiver and three legs to stand on. ...Hey, those arrows sound pretty good. That would be magic worthy of an elf, anyway!
((Say hi to Meren- she's my next protagonist. I'm currently working on a long story for her like I did for Raff last year, so that'll be posted sometime in the summer. I'm still not entirely sure what it's going to be, but it'll involve a lot of chaotic magic and likely a bit of memory loss; there's a reason Meren doesn't recall why as a teenager she suddenly picked up the ability to work magic.)
