Sondra of the Wood

Sondra was born in the ancient forest of Margreve. She was part of a small community of humans, living deep within the forest.

Sondra’s father was one of the community’s foragers, focusing mainly on foraging berries and fruit to feed the other members of the settlement. Her mother was the village healer, knowledgeable of all the various herbs that existed in the vicinity and of all they could do.

The Margreve was a dangerous forest. The village was deep inside it, in a place where strange fey creatures wandered and clans of goblins sought to mine the earth and raid villages.

And yet, Sondra’s village knew only peace. There was a very good explanation for this – the presence of the Spirit.

Nobody quite knew what the Spirit was. All the people of Sondra’s village knew was that it was the settlement’s protector, an unseen defender that kept all danger at bay.

There was no doubt that the Spirit was real either. The village elders had rituals they could use to speak to it, and sometimes it spoke to individual people as well, to warn them of danger.

As such, Sondra grew up in a peaceful forest settlement, where she was free to run around and play with the other kids.

There were, however some limits. In particular, she wasn’t allowed to go beyond the borders the Spirit had set for the village. As such, she was confined to a circle with a radius of a couple miles and the center in her village.

Like most children, Sondra didn’t like being confined like that. However, where most children would only pout and complain, Sondra decided to do something about it.

From a very young age, Sondra had shown extreme aptitude in being stealthy. First, she used this skill to steal food under her parents’ nose, or to sneak out of the house after her bedtime to go play. At age ten, she started using that skill to disappear into the forest, unseen, and go beyond the limits the Spirit had set.

What was more, Sondra was a capable druid as well, having learnt from the village elders. This magic also assisted in keeping her safe and stealthy in her excursions.

Initially, Sondra was too scared to go too far beyond the “border”. Eventually, however, as she grew older and braver, she planned entire expeditions.

Sondra saw many wonders of the forest this way – and many horrors too. She saw a flower that towered taller than her house, covered in all the colors of the rainbow. Once, she heard singing and laughter, but when she investigated she found nothing – the work of the fey, certainly.

There were also close calls. Once, she nearly fell into a group of goblins going through the forest. Only through quick thinking was she able to climb a tree and hide.

At some point, when Sondra was thirteen, as she was exploring she found that the forest was ending. In reality, this wasn’t quite true – as she would find out only moments later. In truth, she had stumbled into the road going through the forest.

And on that road, which led to a nearby city, there was civilization. There was a small fort – one of the many used to keep the road safe – and there were people there. Humans, mostly, but other races too.

To Sondra, this was the first time seeing anything of civilization beyond her village. She had heard about countries and cities from the elders, but the sight was new. She was captivated by the sight of this many different people, of different languages she didn’t understand being spoken.

She knew better than to reveal herself to them, however. And so, Sondra watched, and stayed until night began to fall, only then returning home. The next day, she did the same thing, and the day after.

By that point, Sondra’s parents had grown suspicious. One night, after she had returned, they confronted her, and she confessed.

Sondra’s parents were more scared than anything else, although they were certainly angry as well. But Sondra was defiant. How did they expect her to live like this, trapped in a bubble for all her life? There was the whole world out there, and Sondra wanted to see it – to be something more than just another villager, living in the middle of nowhere, interacting with basically nobody.

And so, the next day, Sondra snuck out again. She made her way to the fort. As she did so, she heard a voice in her head.

It was the Spirit, and it was angry. It ordered her to return to her village, and to never venture outside of its borders again. Sondra refused, and then the Spirit threatened her. If she left, it said, she would never find her way home again.

Sondra thought this to be a bluff, and so she ignored the Spirit – which didn’t talk to her again. On her way to the fort however, Sondra was attacked by two giant spiders. Even though she was being careful, they somehow had discovered her.

Sondra barely managed to escape with her life. Injured and bleeding, she stumbled out onto the road some way away from the fort. There, she lost consciousness.

When she awoke, she was in the care of the guards at the fort. They helped nurse her back to health, and, although they didn’t quite understand her, agreed to help her back to her village.

But the village wasn’t there. There was nothing where it had stood, only forest. The Spirit’s words had been true – her home was lost to her.

Sondra was left with nothing to do but go to the nearest city. There, she learnt the language and honed her magical skills, taking up various missions to make the money she needed to survive.

She enjoyed seeing new people, and learning all about the world beyond her home. But she also missed her village terribly. Even as the years passed, the pain didn’t go away.

Even today, Sondra remains committed to return to her home. And of course, to expose the Spirit for what it truly is – a jailer, keeping her people contained.

Entered by: 0xdFeF…F0E3 and preserved on chain (see transaction)