Lorandra DeEveraux was born in France in 1333 during the 100 yrs war. Her father was the wealthy owner of a prominent vineyard in the province of Bordeaux. When she was six, her mother and unborn brother died during childbirth, leaving Lorandra as the lady of the house. From that point on she was educated in the finer points of trade relations, business etiquette, anything she could use to further her fathers business short of finances. Because the luxury of fine wines transcended even war, she and her father enjoyed no hostilities in any of the major countries of Europe, and Lorandra learned to speak English, German, Italian, Greek and Latin. Since her father encouraged her to read (preferably on proper etiquette of ladies since she had no mother to show her) whenever she could Lorandra would lounge in her fathers library, reading what she could on the world around her. One day she discovered a partially hidden alcove, that you could only see if you were standing just so, that held the most fascinating books she had ever read! Monsters, the ones the nurse used in scary stories to try to get you to behave, but these books wrote of them as if they were fact. Lorandra couldn�t get enough of the books, and quickly vampire lore became her favorite topic, although the books had a wide variety of supernatural creatures. She couldn�t make sense of some of the contents, and others conflicted, but she knew better than to badger her father on the topic, he had the recess hidden for a reason, and obviously didn�t want others messing with this collection of books. So, her curiosity went unsatisfied, and after a few years, Lorandra mostly forgot about the books as the pressures and responsibilities of a headwoman in a wealthy household increased.
In 1347 Lorandra was sent to Germany to live with, and marry the son of, a trade family that was in good standing with her father. They married and gave birth to a son in 1348. Unfortunately her announcement sent to her father, was returned 3 months later with news that her whole town had succumbed to the plague that was starting to ravage Europe. Since the town Lorandra lived in was basically self sufficient, they decided to close off the doors to travelers. The plague only affected about one in 20 people in the town leaving it relatively untouched compared to the rest of Europe. In 1356 after repeated contact with her family it was decided that it was time to send her son home to France as he was the only male heir to the vineyards down there. In 1357 Lorandra�s husband died on a business trip, and rather then being alone, or stuck with relatives that didn�t want her, she decided to travel to England to see if she could find any of her old acquaintances that might have survived the plague.
On her way to London, she decided to take the back roads to see how badly the plague had ravaged the small villages and monasteries in the countryside. The further Lorandra got into the back country, the more she heard of strange occurrences, monsters in the night, warnings of the priests to have a clean soul. These cried reminded her of her childhood find in the library, and the old curiosity and craving for knowledge overcame her urge to continue traveling. Lorandra found a quiet monastery that had been so ravaged by the plague that the priest there was willing to train, even a woman, in the art normally reserved for men. She took quickly to the healing arts and magical gifts granted by the gods, and her natural inclination to help people kept her at her studies with the kindly priest, but she wanted to leave. The education she thought she would get from a place that dealt solely in the supernatural turned out to be no more that flights of superstition concerning the creatures she wanted to learn about, with only little fact being present. Her studies went very well and she soon was grudgingly acknowledged by the priest that she was ready to go help others in towns without priests. As she made her way through England, Lorandra found rumor and superstition flying everywhere, with only one sure account. A small town named Chester was weird, cursed, evil, unnatural, you name it, that�s how the town was described and Lorandra was determined to find her answers.
When she arrived at Chester, Lorandra sought out a job as a healer; it was much needed in Chester. During her off hours she would sit at the barking parrot inn, listening to gossip and asking questions of those who would approach her. Many, many people were very closed lipped. Most just stopped talking to her when she broached the subject, some told her it was dangerous to speak about, and some even threatened her. One day a man approached her and told her he would speak to her privately about such matters, but it was unwise for me to do so here. Lorandra agreed to meet him elsewhere and that�s when she found herself. Sinja, as the man named himself, said he had been observing her for a while and knew she had a natural talent for magic and the arts, so he took her on as an apprentice, all the while giving her more of the information she was seeking. What to look for in finding these creatures, why Chester was so closed lipped, how to identify these creatures. Lorandra was very happy and excelled at the lessons given her, both informative and magical. Finally one day Sinja said he could teach her no more, unless she went a step further in her training, but that would mean a lifelong commitment to his family. As she started shaking, Lorandra listened enraptured as Sinja described Alamut, his and his family�s home, their goals, what this commitment would mean of her, and why he had looked at her. Lorandra realized that this, not just this life, but this cause, was what had been drawing her here her whole life. She agreed and began her new life. |
