Aleco

Name: Aleco

Age: 20 (Summer)

Position: Journeywoman Bard

Gifts: Average Creativity and Average to Strong Performance, Natural Mindspeech

Appearance: Some call her a Changechild, but according to her she isn't. Maybe that is how her race began, but as far as she knows her tribe has shared her physical characteristics for the past three generations at least. She does bear a bit of resemblance to the common cat-changeling, with some differences. Her body is covered mostly in short, thick fur colored differently in different areas, but runs longer around her shoulders, on her head and tail. Somewhat hidden in her head fur are her ears, which are placed lightly above and behind a normal human's ear placement and are the triangular shape of a cat. A lot of her expression can be read by the movement of those ears. One of the main differences between her and the common Changechild is the fact that she does have a real, moving tail that stretches down to her knees. The other difference is the fact that she had no fingernail, but instead there is a vertical split in each finger- and toe-tip that sheaths a retractable claw.

Personality: Once slightly naive and very trusting, especially for a predator, her experiences have left her a little confused. While she still tries to be as trusting as she used to be, she finds herself doubting most everyone's motives and generally second or third guessing everything. Still, she attempts to be upbeat about the world, at least outwardly.

Short life story: Born of a species made by an eccentric mage, She is the last, as far as she knows. They lived deep in the middle of the wild woods of the Pelgairs where Tayledras had yet to touch. One day while out hunting, Aleco found herself out later than usual. She went home as quickly as she could to find things were not as they should be.

As far as she could tell, her tribe had been decimated, probably by a group of bandits that had recently taken up headquarters in the woods as well. The first person she found was her mother, who was still frantically clinging to life. Aleco attempted to help her, but it was no use. The last words from her mother's mind were "Aleco, Run!" And run, she did. Partially in terror and partially in strict obedience the mentally upset kitten wound her way around the country; mostly by way of the rapidly thinning Pelgair's, and occasionally dipping into the Human's "civilization." Then one day she met a Human and everything went further downhill. No matter where she went, many humans that saw her marked her as a monster, or a deranged animal.

Until, finally she found solace in the arms of an elderly couple that saw her as the frightened child she was. Unfortunately they still regarded her as an animal, but she never knew that. After a few years she learned their language, though it was still rather rudimentary, and taught them that she was no beast.
After hearing her story they felt that the best thing to do was send her to Haven where she might be able to find some of her own kind.

Once there, she ran out of the little money the couple had given her and it seemed there was no other way to get by in this town, though she didn't understand why. So, hiding underneath a cloak the couple had given her, she began to perform on street corners for coin.

A Bard heard her and immediately brought her up to the Collegia, where she was tested and enrolled in the Bardic Collegium. She quickly befreinded Katia, and Nikos and the three have remained close over the years.