Backstory - Zoey Windpebble

Ugh, finals are kicking my ass already. But tonight's a night of unwinding and doing art and drinking a lot ::yay!::

Anyway, since I think its fun to post here, here's the backstory of my currently active character - Gnome Barbarian Zoey Windpebble. Disclaimer - All aspects of, and some names from, Gnome culture belong to Wizards of the Coast. Zoey still belongs to me though. So no touchie. And its really long, so thanks to anyone who reads the whole thing!

Back-story ~ Zoey Windpebble

Zoey Urana Janacalladae Arrumidina Valeda Windpebble was born to her single mother, Vaya Windpebble, in the rural Gnome community of Rock Hollow. Vaya gave her daughter her first two names, not wanting her to feel too different from the other children (who would get one name from each parent). The first, Zoey, means “life,” and the second, Urana, means “guardian.” She grew up living with her mother in the temple of Garl Glittergold, where Vaya served, though Priestesses who had families usually moved into their own homes. Throughout her childhood she was led to believe that her father had left her mother before she was born but was never given a complete story, and all her questions about him were ignored. That, combined with rumors of the god Gelf Darkhearth’s involvement in her conception, confused her and instilled in her the belief that her birth was not so simple. As a result she has always desired to know more.

Growing up, she tried as was expected of her to find an art form that fit her and that she could begin to pursue as a career. Unfortunately, she was never very good at anything she tried, be it music, dance, storytelling, painting, anything. She even tried to learn magic, briefly, but that attempt was even worse than all the others. In each attempt, it would take her and her instructors less than a week to figure out that she was never going to get any better, and she would either quit on her own or be kicked out of the class. She even refused to learn how to read and write, as she didn’t take to it as quickly as she wanted, and it didn’t hold her interest at all. Eventually she gave up altogether and spent the rest of her childhood years alone, doing as she pleased. This often involved getting into fights with the other children, mostly male, and her violent nature led others to consider her part of the Rebel class in her society.

Because of this and the rumors surrounding her birth, she had no friends as she grew up. The closest thing she had to any kind of friendship was her acquaintance with an older boy named Urdarrumbaerel, or just Baer for short. Though he was in his adolescence and she was still a child, he went out of his way to be kind to her out of pity for how others treated her. He was also less traditionally masculine than the other boys of his age. Instead of the art choices that were deemed more appropriate for males, he took up dance, and was very good at it. Zoey saw his gender-difference as a mirror of her own lack of femininity, and thought that was why he was nice to her and that maybe he really wanted to be her friend. As she grew older and he became an adult, however, his efforts to be kind to her began to dwindle. She did not know this at the time, but he had begun courting another young woman of his age, who was training to be a bard. Eventually they married and joined a traveling performing group together, leaving Rock Hollow entirely. After they were gone, Baer’s sister, who is the same age as and hated Zoey, told her the real reason Baer had been so nice to her. Zoey was, and continues to be, furious. She still holds him in contempt above all others as a result.

Days after Baer left, when Zoey was only 22 years old (human age equivalent – roughly 10), she discovered that she has the ability to Rage when she fights. She gained no real benefits from it at the time, but she found that when she elected to do it, she felt all her anger channeled and a confidence she had never known. She asked her mother about it, but Vaya ignored the question as she did with questions about her father. Furious, Zoey decided to run away. She packed her few belongings and left the town, heading into the wilderness instead of taking the established road. She became lost, and in an effort to find shelter, stumbled upon an encampment of Goblins. They took her captive and tortured her a bit for fun, and though they did no lasting physical harm, that is how she got the scar on her nose. She tried to escape many times over the next few days but was unsuccessful. Finally, her mother and some other villagers who owed her mother favors came to her rescue, killing the Goblins and bringing her home. The humiliation of that she was stupid enough to let this happen to her and the feebleness of her escape attempts still lives in her as the hatred she feels today towards all Goblins.

Years passed, and as Zoey hit puberty, she discovered that there was yet another thing about her that was different from the other girls her age. She had no interest in boys whatsoever, despite her likeness in attitude and behavior to them. Though she did not find herself romantically inclined to any of her peers, as they all made her life miserable, she found that she was physically attracted to the girls. She kept this a secret until she was 29 years old (human equivalent – 13), when she came out to her community by accident. The beautiful female cousin of one of her many enemies had come to visit, and during the weekly town market, Zoey tried to strike up a conversation with her. During the conversation, without even thinking about it, she tried to kiss her. This only earned her a hard slap in the face from the girl, and later, an attempted pummeling from the girl’s cousin (though she won the fight with him). Although Gnome culture allows for personal differences of all kinds, this was only another in the pile of qualities that made her “strange,” and she was just as ostracized as before.

After this, she threw herself even more into developing her skill as a fighter, and the benefits of her Rages began to slowly emerge. Realizing that there was no chance that her daughter would be entering a school or apprenticeship (as was traditional for young Gnomes), Vaya still arranged for Zoey to be given a new name as if she was. She convinced the rest of Garl’s clergy to give her this new name, and though they weren’t exactly happy to do it, they chose the name Janacalladae, meaning “Divine Kin.” They intended to emulate the fact that Zoey had lived all her life in the temple with the meaning of the name, but Zoey was not pleased with it. To this day, she rarely uses it.

3 years later, Zoey had a chance to change her fighting style even more. Over the years, Rock Hollow saw its share of traveling merchants and the like, and Zoey of course noticed them as they passed. Around her 31st birthday, however, a male Dwarven merchant passed through carrying an assortment of weapons in his traveling stall. One was a very impressive, yet simple, battleaxe. Zoey knew better than to ask her mother for it, as her mother wasn’t fond of the fact that she fought all the time. So she waited until the Dwarf had gone drinking during his stay, and while he was away from his cart she stole the axe from him. Afraid he would know and search for it, she hid it in the woods and returned home. The next day, he left town without saying anything at all. She kept the axe hidden for another week, just in case, but still nothing happened. At the end of the week she retrieved the axe and started using it in all the battles she fought, mainly duels with her peers. In honor of the new weapon, she chose a new name for herself – Arrumidina, which means “mighty weapon.” For a few weeks she refused to answer to any other name, though that phase did not last long.

As the weeks passed and she used the axe more and more, it turned out that she was so gifted with it that she got even more violent in the duels, eventually to the point that the town Council forbid her from participating in them. One ex-adventurer who had settled in the village, an elderly woman named Addimikkae, took notice of this and of Zoey’s raw talent with the axe. She approached her after she was banned from dueling and told her that when she had been adventuring, as a fighter, she had used a very peculiar weapon akin to her own. It was a double-headed axe that ended in a light mace. She offered to train Zoey in the use of the weapon, and Zoey gladly accepted. Over the next few years, Zoey threw herself into her training and excelled with Addimikkae’s axe, which she called the Labrys. Even after she mastered it, Zoey continued to train with Addimikkae, and the two of them became close friends.

Shortly after Zoey turned 38 (human equivalent – between 16 and 17), her mother came to her with a surprise. She had pulled some strings and called in a few favors to get Zoey admitted to the Academy of Solarus. Until now, Zoey had been entertaining thoughts of becoming a Giant-Killer in that very obscure Gnomish tradition, but had no idea what else to do with her life. She knew that being admitted to the Academy meant even more and better training for her, in the field she wanted. She could become the best fighter her people had ever seen. She also knew that it was a big deal for someone of her economic status to become a student there, which meant the favors her mother called in must have been monumental. She remains eternally grateful to her for that, though she wasn’t sure how to express that gratitude except by agreeing to go.

There were only a few weeks left before the next term at the Academy started, so Zoey began preparing to leave immediately. She said goodbye to the people who had been kind to her, including Addimikkae, who gave her the Labrys as a parting gift. She also gave her the final name she would receive from anyone in Rock Hollow – Valeda, which means “strong.” Zoey also tried her best to resist the urge to go and pummel everyone who had been cruel to her, under the assumption that she would never return to Rock Hollow. This idea of not returning did not, however, link itself in her mind with the idea of never seeing her mother again. She said goodbye to her mother last, on the day she left, promising to stay in touch as much as she could and to try to learn how to read and write, which would make that easier. As she left town and headed for the school, in her mind she left her old life behind her and stepped into a future she could only hope would be brighter than her past.