Varjeela: secrets

Points about Varjeela's background that she won't talk about, in some cases because she doesn't know herself. This page really is GM's eyes only, but if a player fancies reading it, just remember not to tell your character what you see. On the other hand, if you spot something that you think you can turn into a good bit of plot, go ahead and trigger her off in conversation.

Looks

Just a few points that may not be immediately obvious.

That red hair is dyed: her eyebrows and lashes are still dark brown.
Her staff has a fine band of iron near the top: it has no defensive value, but marks her status as a priestess. (Not much else does: she doesn't show off).
She doesn't show off her knowledge of Darktongue unless it's needed, as she knows that many people dislike trolls and doesn't want to offend them.

Initiation

Varjeela was initiated a year early, but her experience didn't start until the normal time. In fact this was a GM fiddle to make the generation rules work, but the Gloranthan reason for it goes like this.

One day when she was fourteen, she and her baby brother (aged 2) were accosted by a group of drunken adventurers. Baby brother, displaying the usual tact of a two-year-old, insulted a drunken Storm Bully, who then tried to take the kid apart. Varjeela grabbed the nearest thing to hand (lucky they were passing a weapon stall) and tried to defend her little brother. She rolled a series of 01s, the drunk rolled a few 100s and dropped dead. Various passers-by then restrained his friends. The legal position here is that Varjeela's innocent, but that anyone who kills another in fair fight is by definition an adult (and certainly can't be a Voria initiate any more!). So she got initiated into Ernalda a year early.

Now, if Varjeela had been the sort of kid who wanted to be a warrior in later life, this would have been a splendid start for her. She wasn't. She stayed "with it" for long enough to make the most of her new adult status by getting Issaries initiation, then relapsed into shock, at least as horrified by her own actions as by the initial attack. It took a year of clinging to her mother and "therapy" from the temples of Chalana Arroy (who understand that killing is a shock) and Vinga (who know all about young girls just after their first kill) before she was ready to face life again, and even then, she has retained a conviction that she will never kill again. Defend herself, yes, but not kill. Most of that year is gone from her memory, but that much remains.

Vinga

Varjeela remembers very little of her early contact with the Vinga cult. She does remember that it wasn't the current priestess, Aelflaed, who taught her her first spell, it was a younger woman, but she doesn't remember the name and would probably not recognise the face. The name she has forgotten is "Kallyr". Yes, that Kallyr, who at this time was nearly twenty and in her probationary year as Daughter of Vinga. In fact she had helped Varjeela quite a lot over the previous year, especially after she realised which tribe Swen's parents were from. I don't see this ever becoming a plot link, it's purely for fun, but if some GM ever wants to use it, the opening's there.

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