Rachel Baltnor

Rachel Baltnor is a wandering archer, whose real purpose is currently unknown.



Childhood in Halicourt
Hailing from one of the less than fortunate, poverty stricken villages in Halicourt, Rachel is a 17-year-old archer who seems to wander wherever the wind happens to take her. She tends never to stay in any particular area for too long, and also tends to take great care in never becoming too sociable or relaxed around village locals.

Born as the sole daughter to a poor farmer from Halicourt, Rachel did what most children did in her position: helped out around the farm and house. Her mother was always frail, and seemed to get sick often. Eventually, the constant sickness would claim the woman's life, probably when Rachel was no older than seven or eight. It is unknown what happened to the girl's father or much of her childhood beyond that. All that is known is that shortly after she came of age of thirteen Rachel left her home village and has not returned since.

Battle of Alexshire
Roughly four years after leaving Halicourt, Rachel made her way into the port city of Alexshire during her travels. Originally only planning to remain within the city long enough to restock on some basic supplies and perhaps a quick drink at the local tavern, the young archer ended up becoming deeply involved in a battle that errupted within the city overnight, led groups of various tribesmen from the south. It was during this event that Rachel would meet Lyseria Gwenill La Fontaine and the two became constant battle partners throughout the event, Rachel even going as far as to save the girl's life a few times during the long battle. Despite their best efforts, the group was unable to protect the city from its destruction, yet they somehow managed to get out alive.

Arrival at Cantaras City
The morning following the disaster at Alexshire, the group made their way to the capital city of the country of Cantaras(which shares the name with the said country). It was here that the group was welcomed warmly into the castle where they would eventually hold a meeting with the state's king, Caleb Avarius. Immediately upon arriving within the castle, Rachel felt out of place. The girl had no liking of any member of nobility, obviously reaching back to her childhood as a peasant within Halicourt. This feeling of discomfort only grew more during the meeting, when Rachel learned that the king had plans to the group of Alexshire survivors as a method for uniting the states of Ascanthus against this mysterious, unknown force which seemed to have been capable of uniting various tribes to destroy Alexshire.

Rachel wouldn't have any part of it. Regardless of the benefit or reason for acting in such a manner, the young archer had no intent of acting as a go between for the king and the other states. It was after the meeting had ended, that the girl made known that she would not be joining the others on their mission and left the party to resume her own activities. As she left, she was bid farewell by only one member of the group, Lyseria. This was most likely on account of how much time the two had spent together from the battles at Alexshire up until this point of time. Despite Lyseria clearly being sad to see Rachel leave, the archer's only words to the girl was to try and stay alive.

Halstead Rescue
It is unknown as to when, but Rachel had arrived in Halstead a brief time before the rest of the party. She only made her presence known to them shortly after Lia had been abducted in the middle of an ambush. The archer claimed that she knew where the girl had been taken and even made the offer to lead the way... despite some mistrust from other members of the party. However once it became known that Halstead was in fact the archer's hometown, some of the mistrust disappeared. Eventually, Rachel took the team towards the Lord's Manor. The girl stated that this was most likely the place where they would take Lia, and that the captive was probably being held on the third floor.

Upon entering the manor, the party split into three groups. Rachel's team explored the third floor of the manor and was composed of Amos Sinclair, Grant Steele, Aric Marshall, Serena Frostrose, Ceyla Westlake, and Ailyth. The group explored the floor carefully, and upon capturing a peasant they were able to reach the room believed to hold Lia. Much to the group's surprise, Lia was not found on the third floor, but rather the lord of the manor was. It seemed that the cause of the mass revolt and current state of things was caused by a traveling con-artist known as Trent Smithson. It was also discovered that during his rule, Smithson had begun to deal with rather shady, unknown man and had peasants from the village plastering paper with strange symbols on them along the third floor. Curious about the mention of symbols, Ceyla had the peasant the group had captured give a rough sketch of what they looked like. Almost immediately, Ailyth destroyed the image and claimed that they were a design of pure evil. She then insisted that she needed to leave immediately to deal with them.

The group stopped her from leaving, insisting that it was not a good idea for the girl to wander off alone. The priestess tried to argue, but before the debate could go to far something strange began to happen. The papers scattered about began to grow into large, coffin shapes... and from them, undead monsters began to emerge. Not knowing what else to do, the group prepared for battle. They managed to kill a few of the rotting monsters, before fleeing the floor to rejoin the others. After some more fighting, the group managed to escape the manor and the undead with their lives still intact.

Through the entire adventure, Rachel had been thinking about many things. When the party rejoined Magus at the wagon, the girl made a request to be allowed to rejoin the others and their quest... at least through the Halicourt portion of it. Grant agreed. Thankful, the archer made a final request for the group to meet her at the town gates when they were ready to leave. She temporarily parted from the others, and made time to visit somewhere she hand't been a long time, her mother's grave. While visitng the grave, Rachel began to talk to her departed mother. She explained her previous adventures up to that point, and what she had planned to do now. During the conversation, Rachel mentioned that she still hadn't found someone she was looking for... and asked her mother to please allow her just a bit more time...

Physical Appearance
Rachel stands around 5'6" with a slightly thinner than usual build. She has a slightly pale skin complexion, with emerald green eyes and crimson-red hair that reaches down to her lower back. She usually keeps her hair pulled back into a braided ponytail, with the bangs of her hair brushing into her eyes. Rachel usually likes to dress light, avoiding any heavy armor or clothing when ever possible. The only must have article she wears is a faded yellow scarf with red tips which she recieved when she was younger.

Personality and Traits
Observant and quiet, Rachel has a habit to keep to herself. She forms her opinions of others around her rather easily, and once she has made up her mind, it can be quite difficult to get her to change it. Naturally this causes many to see her as cold and possibly a bit narrow-minded, but Rachel seems to be fine with this perception. She has a tendency to think about things and inwardly comment and berate things or people around her, rather than voice her concerns aloud.

Combat Style
Rachel has never been gifted with physical strength, nor is she gifted in the art of magic. Because of this, if Rachel is drawn into combat she prefers to strike at her foes from afar with a bow and arrows. Though this method is not always reliable, it does allow Rachel to usually get out of any possible scrapes if needed. Should Rachel be drawn into close-range combat, she usually relies on a dagger that she has strapped to a belt around her waist. It is in no way a match for a sword in a long fight, so Rachel usually only relies on it to make a quick get away.

As previously stated Rachel is not gifted with the power of magic. However, that is not to say that she is without any spells. Rachel does have one or two wind elemental spells under her belt, but it is currently unknown just what these spells are.

Allies

 * Lyseria Gwenill La Fontaine: Known as just Lia by Rachel, she is the first and only member of the group that the archer seemed to spend any amount of time interacting with... Although, most of that time seemed to be in battle thus far. It isn't certain what Rachel's full opinion on Lyseria is yet. However, what is certain is that the girl has left Rachel baffled once or twice already by her actions and seemingly endless amount of pep and vigor. Lyseria was the only member to bid farewell to Rachel when she left the party shortly after the initial meeting with King Caleb Avarius of Cantaras.

Behind-The-Scenes

 * Rachel Baltnor is roleplayed by Albel4t5.