Recorded here for posterity are some notes on my family. We are by no means an ordinary family of our times, but perhaps some historians will be interested in seperate individuals, both those who fit the mold and those who break it.
I will discuss my biological family first, I believe, although there are my godsparents and their son, who are also like family. Perhaps I shall save Severin until last, as he is connected with them. Although perhaps I should just begin at the beginning of our recent histories, and tell of what my grandparents did before they met. Yes, I believe that is how I shall begin.
Grandfather Aren was born into a tribe of Frost Barbarians, as Frezran of the White Bear Tribe, and he grew up with them until he was thirteen or so. Then there was a plague, which frightened the tribe so they scattered, and Grandfather ended up alone, dying of the plague. A Bakluni mage found him and brought him to a temple for healing, having a pity for all life. Grandfather remembered little, but he developed a fondness for the Bakluni who had saved him and he desired to learn of the magics which the Bakluni could control. And so began the apprenticeship of my grandfather to Master Jarek, a very odd combination indeed as the Suel and Bakluni generally do not get along well at all. As my grandfather left behind his barbaric ways, so did he leave behind the name his people had given him. In its place, he chose the name Aren.
Meanwhile, my grandmother, Theda Nyress, was growing up with her parents, a Suel couple who lived in Veluna and had worked hard to gain the trust of those around them. They were the owners of a small estate when Grandmother Theda was born, nothing too immense or impressive but a very decent and respectable home. Grandmother learned the customs of her people, as well as the customs of those around her, and so grew up with a part of both backgrounds. As many young women, she went to study at a temple - the temple of Rao. Feeling herself called to be a priestess, she continued her studies with great interest, eventually being blessed with spells and a position as a priestess. She made many close friends there, among them a ward of the temple by the name of Adalya, who will play a part later in this account, as well as a great part in my life. But that is all later.
When Grandfather was a young man with decent control over spells, Master Jarek had need to leave him while he went on a pressing errand. And, seeking shelter, Grandfather met Grandmother, who offered to have him stay on at the estate where she and her parents lived. Grandfather accepted, and he got along well with the family. Eventually, Great-Grandfather Dranneth and Great-Grandmother Lystra meddled a bit, and then my grandparents were engaged. It was decided that Grandfather, who was called only Aren, would take on the last name of Grandmother's family.
When Master Jarek returned, Grandfather introduced them all. Grandmother and her parents were leery of trusting a Bakluni, having been raised in common Suel tradition and not the barbaric tradition of Grandfather Aren. But for Grandfather's sake, Grandmother was willing to try and accept him, and her parents were willing to remain aloof from him.
Years passed, and Grandmother gave birth to her first and only child - my mother, Elethia. Mother was a very well-behaved child growing up, and wise beyond her years, according to Grandmother. At the age of eight, she decided that she wanted to become a healer priestess of Pelor, instead of serving Rao as her mother. Since Pelor and Rao are close allies, Grandmother was very willing to send her daughter to study at a temple of Pelor. There Mother studied intently, focusing especially on healing and herbalism, and was rewarded for her devotion by Pelor's granting her spells. When she had finished her education, she returned to her parents' home.
Much had happened while Mother was at school. Great-Grandfather Dranneth had taken ill, of old age as much as anything else, and needed close tending. Many had come to study, as Grandfather and Master Jarek share their library and laboratory with others of good hearts, and at the moment there was a gray elf staying at the estate and studying.
His name was Severin, and he was of a very solemn and serious temperment, but very curious about magic and alchemy. In fact, he was a very talented alchemist, despite his history, which I have yet to mention. He was found as a young elf, parentless, with no one to care for him, and was raised in human orphanages.
Mother and Severin fell in love and were married, Severin adopting the last name of Nyress just as GRandfather had years before - having no knowledge of his parents, Severin also had no last name. Together they had a son, Teremun. They both adored him, but Severin especially, and Teremun took very much after Severin, to sharing his intelligence and curiousity. Grandmother's friend, Adalya, came to visit, along with her husband, Korian, and their son, Taliesin, who was about the same age as Teremun. The two boys were great friends and played well together, and Mother and Severin and Taliesin's parents got along well, too. Severin became close to Taliesin's father, which also turned out to be important.
Now, all the doors in the estate were wizard-locked, courtesy of Grandfather and Master Jarek, and Teremun, being young, was not allowed access into the laboratory or other room containing things which may prove a danger to him. But wizard locks do not work if the doors are left open, and one day, Severin apparently did not close the laboratory door tightly enough to activate the wizard lock when he was experiment. Teremun found his way into the laboratory, without Severin seeing him, and saw that his father was mixing potions. Mimicking his father, as is the tendancy with young children, he took a flask in his hands and poured it into another flask, in the midst of which action Severin happened to catch sight of him and began running towards him.
The explosion brought the others running at full speed, and they found Severin unconscious but no other obvious damages. Mother and Grandmother went quickly to his side, and found him alive. They revived him, but he was in a panicked state and not making much sense. So they were forced to sedate him as well, when they learned that he had seen Teremun mixing potions and had been running towards him before he blacked out.
No one knows what exactly happened to my brother, or even if he is dead or alive. Divinations came back inconclusive, and it was decided that trying to mimick the reaction was too dangerous at that point. Severin took his son's vanishing very hard. He went to the nearby bardic college, where his friends lived with their son, and would have no part of anyone but Korian, who he asked to teach him music. Giving up his association with his wife and her parents, he changed his last name to Teague and threw himself into music, forgetting everything else. But not music as it was meant to be; music that was complex and emotionless, to hide from his feelings instead of express and explore them. The rest of my family took the disappearance hard too, but not as hard as Severin.
Grandfather and Master Jarek had learned to cope with loss at the deaths of their tribes - I have yet to discuss Master Jarek's tribe, but that can wait a moment or two. Mother and Grandmother had their faiths to fall back on. And none of them had been as close to Teremun as Severin, nor did they suffer the amount of guilt he had over Teremun's death.
Several months after my brother's disappearance, I was born. Mother called me Cerelia, a name which has a meaning like sunrise and springtime, times of new beginnings. Severin wanted nothing to do with another child, but the rest of my family cared greatly for me. And after a while, even Severin accepted me, partially.
I suppose I shall tell you a bit of Master Jarek's tribe, and then list those important in my life and tell something more of them, if there is anything more I feel pertinent to tell. Master Jarek was born into a tribe of travelling Baklunish horsemen, which is where he learned to ride like a centaur and how to understand and teach horses. He studied magic under their mage, his great-uncle or something of the like, and when he was nineteen his mentor died and he assumed the responsibility of being the tribe's mage.
But a nineteen-year-old boy is generally not as capable as older mages, and Master Jarek still had much to learn. So he was unprepared when the tribe was attacked by some sort of fierce humanoids, determined to capture the horses and kill the tribe. Master Jarek was the only survivor of the massacre, as far as he knows anyway. He wandered aimlessly a while, and I suppose he studied more and such, though he does not speak much of the time between his tribe's death and his meeting my grandfather.
My grandfather is a Suel mage of some talent, at least I believe he has talent - of course, that well may be influenced by my relationship to him. He is taller than the average man, and I suppose once he was muscled and strong, but now he is, as Grandmother says, " all skin and bones. " Likely a lingering effect of the disease he suffered.
He tends to dress in light blues, which match his ice blue eyes. Grandfather also has platinum blond hair, which is down to his shoulders as he does not take the time to cut it, but usually kept in a ponytail so it doesn't interfere with his spellcasting, and very pale skin.
My grandmother is a priestess in service of Rao. She has deep blue eyes, " like the depths of the sea " according to Grandfather, and her hair is a very deep golden-blond. Her skin is darker than my grandfather's, though still very fair, from her Suel blood. She dresses in darker blues than Grandfather.
My mother is a priestess of Pelor, especially the healing side of Pelor, although she once told me that, if pressed, she would fight to defend herself, her patients, or children or others who were rendered helpless. According to Grandfather, she has " hair of sunlight gold and eyes like the sky on a sunny day. " She also has Grandmother's complexion.
Usually, my mother dresses in the clothing which will hamper her least in her healer's duties, caring less for color or appearance than for practicality. In fact, she will often opt for undyed clothing, which is of less expense, as clothing tends to stain easily in her profession. Grandfather has assured her that he can afford the dyes, or merely use cantrips to clean her clothing, but she has declined his offers thus far.
Severin is my father, though he does not like to admit as much, having been hurt by my brother's disappearance. He appears for the most part an average gray elf. He has medium blond hair, which he has not cut since Teremun's disappearance and which he keeps back from his back in a ponytail, and violet eyes, as well as the pale complexion of a gray elf. He dresses in plain clothing, and spends most of his time in his quarters, practicing and composing. When I visit with him, he has me practicing or studying the whole time I am with him, unless he is hearing me play or quizzing me sternly. I spend much time with Uncle Korian and Auntie Adalya when I am with him.