Belladonna Tealeaf

The Tealeaf family is quite large. Based in a medium sized city called Eidelwood, which rests on the Epaulette border with Scath Mountain (called the Mountain of Nightmares by locals), they lived a modest life in a large house to accomodate the busy and burgeoning family. Lidda Tealeaf, the matriarch, was a difficult woman. A priestess, she was zealous and evangelical at home, though her neutral evil ways clashed with Belladonna's good nature. She is still alive, and has a successful following in her temple, though they are not on speaking terms. Her father is Ozyman, a neutral good fighter. He lives as a hermit most of the year after suffering through Lidda's machinations for too long. He can occasionally be convinced to live inside with one of his children, especially around the holidays, but the confinement of walls eventually stirs him to return to the wild. He and Belladonna get along well, and though she hasn't seen him in many years, she misses him greatly.

Belladonna was one of five children. The eldest was Radomir. He felt the call to learn magic and spent many years studying in the Wizards schools, but after an unknown incident, returned to Eidelwood and now works as a farmer. Next was Wiggan, he followed in his mother's path. He is a rogue that works for a few less savory criminal organizations, and though he is evil, he has a soft spot for his baby sister. Third was Faran, a good soul through and through. He spent his life learning to be a hunter and maintain the balance of the forest. He made Belladonna her first bow, and spent many hours teaching her to shoot in the quiet forest around the town. Tyna Tealeaf is the baby of the family, she also traveled North, but studied as a cleric. She now teaches through the Temple and works on her research into the magical and divine influences on the creation of the world. Though the children are all very different, they found love through each other, creating a tight-knit family despite the contention between their parents.

Belladonna was seen as different and strange by her peers, leading her to a lot of time spent alone in the woods avoiding her mother, or visiting her father. His hermitage did not help alleviate the stigma around her. This unaccompanied wandering unfortunately led her down a dark path. She was snatched by dark fey from Scath mountain and enslaved for two years, during which she was tortured. She saw many things on the mountain she would rather not speak about, but a symbol has etched itself in her mind and haunted her. No one seems to know what it means. A black background with and upside down dark blue sea monster. One night there was a battle, a fellow captive broke the lock on her cage and handed her a knife. She fought her way down the mountain, but the battle and those two years on the mountain echo through her dreams every night.

After making her way back to Eidelwood, she hesitated on the edge of the forest. She wanted to return home and see her siblings, her father, and reclaim her life, but she couldn't. Not while the injustices she faced on the mountain went unpunished. She needed to save others from her fate. She retreated into the woods, using her powers with animals to find safe water and berries. An old ranger found her one day, knelt by a stream, gently talking to a family of deer, thanking them for sharing their source of water with her. Recognizing a kindred soul, they took Belladonna under their wing and began her training as a ranger.

Belladonna set her mind to joining the ranger's guild and putting together a task force to clear Scath Mountain of all evil. She was sent to Balvonier as a test. While Rangers do tend to live outside of major cities, part of their work is protecting citizens. She must prove--to herself and to the guild-- that she is ready to be strong, to lead, and to survive.