Eirwen Belacqua

Eirwen Belacqua
 * Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
 * Race: Human
 * Class: Panther Shaman
 * Appearance: 5'5" average build, very long black hair, light olive skin, and blue eyes. She changes her clothing to suit the seasons, ranging from very slight leathers in the summer to heavy furs in the winter.

Spirit Companions

 * Villrein the Caribou: Aspect of strength, selflessness, and calm. Unaffected by emotion, but strongly motivated by a sense of duty to protect others.
 * Uggla the Owl: Aspect of wisdom and logic. Follows only reason without concern for compassion or malice.
 * Nyul the Rabbit: Aspect of speed, and hope. Naive and altruistic, yet highly emotional and not very intelligent.
 * Kitsune the Fox: Aspect of deception, secrets, desire. Very stealthy and highly intelligent, but prone to darker emotions.
 * Hermelin the Ermine: Aspect of selfishness and survival. Stealthy and playful with a twisted sense of humor.

Backstory
I was born in the Frostfell. When I was born, I had the light blue eyes of my parents but jet black hair. This fit the local lore of the small town, marking me as chosen to leave the village and fulfill an important destiny. On the night of my first menstruation, a full moon fills the sky. At 3am, a wounded white caribou silently walks into the town and nudges me awake. Transfixed, I leave with it into the wilderness, never to see my home again. (No one else sees the caribou or witnesses me leaving.)

I travel with the male caribou, reaching its home after some time. We reach a clearing as daylight breaks, and the animal begins to lose strength. I begin to worry until a group of five female caribou come out from the trees and surround us. I feel something rise within me and I place my hand upon the wounded caribou. It is then that I hear its spirit speak to me, asking me to heal it. I somehow do so, then rest.

The day after my healing, I wake up next to the recuperating male caribou. It has shed its antlers and asks me to care for its tribe. For two seasons, (and my first level), I use the antlers to help find food for the caribou and its tribe. It is here that I learn to stalk by avoiding ferocious animals and keeping my new family alive. Two years later, In the Spring, the caribou instructs me to leave and travel West.

I travel until Winter comes and I begin to feel unrest in my surroundings. I set up a semi-permanent camp in order to observe the area. On the first night of snow, I wake to a female snowy owl perched upon the antlers I now travel with. It coos at me softly and I hear its spirit pleading for my help. I spend the Winter traveling with the bird, helping it find a mate and a good nesting area. Here, I gain much practice using my wisdom, intelligence, and stealth to keep us both from harm. In order to keep me sharp, the owl constantly whispers riddles to me, in whose answers lie some of the secrets of the forest. (Level two reached)

Once Spring arrives and the owl lays her eggs, I travel onward. The next Winter, I am walking through the forest when an ermine runs up my leg into my clothes. I shriek and demand an explanation for this and, in reply, the ermine merely tells me that it felt that it wanted to do so. From them on, it travels with me without explanation. At times, it leaves and returns days later, looking a bit worse for the wear. It often tells me jokes, some of which are quite offensive. After we travel together for some time, I come upon a bear who asks me for help. Startled by its appearance during hibernation season, I assume something terrible has happened and rush off to its cave. However, on my way, the ermine seems very hesitant to follow and acts shaky and mad, cracking more jokes than usual. As I reach the cave, I bend down to examine the little creature and I feel the bears paw swipe where my head had been. It was  a trap! The ermine runs away and I barely fight off the bear. I only survived because, when I no longer had any strength left to fight and chose to run, I turned short right before falling off a steep cliff. The bear fell and died immediately. I witnessed its angry spirit fade away. (Level four) The ermine returns and we travel again together before coming upon a starving wolverine. It is near death and it tells us that it has enough food hidden away to save its family, asking us to protect them for the rest of the season. At these words, the wolverine drops dead and the ermine begins to act mad once again, cackling loudly and telling horribly gruesome jokes. I fear the worst and abandon the cause, hiding in a safe place for the rest of the day. The ermine leaves me for the night and returns the next morning looking sluggish and covered in blood. As it sleeps, I follow its thin trail of blood to the wolverines family, murdered and their food supply plundered but for a few dry seeds. I travel on alone after this for another season.

As Winter seeps into the air again, I find a cave to live in. One morning, as I awake, I find a white rabbit with black-tipped ears asking me for help. This rabbit, a female, cannot find a mate and is worried. I vow to help the poor rabbit, as it is so forlorn and afraid. I spent an inordinate amount of time helping the poor creature, as we spend two more seasons together. Finally, after much coercing and support, the rabbit find a mate and leaves to find a nesting place. After two years with the poor creature, I am overjoyed to see it leave and create a new life for itself. After it leaves, I too leave the cave to continue on my travels, when I see a fox outside the cave with the rabbit in its mouth. I have never before murdered an animal with my own hands, but I fall into a rage and run after the fox. It eludes me for a month as I follow its tracks. Finally, I come upon it in a clearing and I stab it to death with the antlers from the caribou so long ago. As the fox dies, it speaks to me, but I do not hear it. I cry out in pain as I murder my first animal and faint. I fall into a fever for five days and, each night, I am visited by the spirit of the caribou, owl, ermine, rabbit, and fox. They tell me their spirit names and I learn lessons from each of them. When I finally awake, the antlers are next to me, stained in blood. However, etched into the pure white bone are the names of each of my, now, spirit companions. I find that I can call them at will, though some appear unheeded, based on my mood. (Level five)

I then make my way to Wrenshire and live there for a year, scraping up a living. I heal, lie, cheat, steal, rescue, hunt, and prostitute my way to a living. As long as I live, the way in which I do so concerns me not. I work for both Lorenna and Davros at different times. I get the most experience from two jobs they assign me: Lorenna has me rescue her dog, which ran off. I listen for its spirit in the dead of night and follow its call to a nest of goblins. I defeat them all, with much difficulty, and return stronger with the dog. Davros has me collect roots used for a hallucinogenic in an area he says is filled with kobalds. However, once I reach the said destination, I find a group of orcs instead who claim to be run by Bane, who has returned to the land. I fight a strong fight, but I am captured and kept as prisoner. (Level six) I am forced to heal their wounded for some time. However, one day, a great fight breaks out and I am left alone. I eventually break free and make my way back to town. Once there, I find Davros and attempt to murder him, but he keeps me calm and quiet with a bag of gold. I consider his debt paid and walk back to my home. I am left wondering who killed the orcs for me, as my debt to them has not yet been paid...

Party Integration
Eirwen first meets Contigo in the forest after he flunks out of Wizarding Academy. He finds her during the summer, when she is most affected by lust, and they have a brief physical relationship. He leaves her soon after and they meet again in Wrenshire. While she has vague recollections of their knowledge of one another, Contigo remembers her well.

Eirwen is formally introduced to the Phoenix Downs while working for the guards of Wrenshire. She accompanies them and  Lincoln the goblin on a quest to free some his people from the mind control holding them captive. Upon the completion of this journey, Eirwen is offically made a member of the Phoenix Downs after proving herself in Davros's Pit fights.