Character design help!

[Thalon Mercrow]

hello all allow me to introduce myself (or rather re-introduce my self) my name is Thalon and once a LLLLLOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG time ago i was a member of this site and was very passionate about posting and just being apart of this community. some of you might remember me others not so much. as i was saying once i was very proflic on the site but unfortunately things like school and just the fact i burned out from posting so much. made me drift away and for the longest time after that i always wanted to comeback but sor one reason or another i was reluctant to because i either felt embarrassed, ashamed, scared or some other stupid reason. which leads me to the reason whay i decided to check back in and dust off my old profile.

iv been playing D&D for a good long time now, but in all the years that iv been playing D&D iv made one hard and fast rule, i dont create a chacter without him haveing some sort of story and fleshing him out (no cardboard cut out fighters here no sirre! ) that being said iv only ever created a handful of characters. they all started out as rough ideas but eventually i fleshed them out a bit, a couple of weeks ago i finely decided to put there backstory s and traits to paper(relatively speaking of course) and for the majority of them it came easy (my undead hunter who speaks with a whisper and wears a crimson scarf from a neck wound given to him by a group of vampires and now believes that he's chluntas ( the human goddess of farming and the harvest for those that don't know) holy warrior against the undead (its left ambiguous as to wether he really gets his power from her or and vengeful deity or his pure unfeeling hatred for the undead all thats clear is that he RRRRREEEEEAAAAALLLLLLLYYYYY hare the undead) my monk who witness his village destroyed in front of his eyes during a battle between a group of mind flayers and githzeri and now seeks to find the githzeri and train with them to understand a philsohey he disvoerd in the aftermath of the attack. there are others as well that im still working on like a necromancer who longs to bring his love back...by any means necessary...(or something like that i haven't cemented all the details for him yet.)and then i started getting back into my old D&D PC games again when i re-downloaded NWN's diamond and planescape torment form GOG which re sparked my creativity/obssein/ love for D&D even further

now here is the reason why i REALLY made this topic i need help coming up with a backstory for the first chrarcer backstory ever created Thalon mercrow. thlaon for those of you who dont know is my wood elf ranger who worships elilstraee the only problem is i have no backstory for him... period i don't know why he worships her over the sedrine who he came to be or his connection with eilistree or really anything about him at all.to be fair a long time ago i did have an idea for his in the form of he was part of a wood elf clan that made a pact with a group of moon elves that they would work tother and join forces to start a community , where as the wood elves were in charge of things like defense the Forrest etc,etc the moon elves would be in charge of politics , academics,etc,etc and thaoln was supposed to leave off on a mandated exile to hone his skills and then return later in his life to teach what he had learned as all other mercrows have done before him and while this had potential i couldn't really put it to paper quite the way i liked. so that why im hear to ask for help in designing a new backstory for thalon (and perhaps some new traits) or finely putting my original idea to paper. when i first created thalon i saw the picture of sovliss in the players handbook and knew i wanted to play that and for the longest time that was his only defining chartistic that he was a wood elf ranger then i added that he worshiped elilistree and thats about as far as iv really gotten.its sad really my fave chacter and i still haven't come u with a real good backstory help an old member out please.


[b:vc59p8gn][i:vc59p8gn][u:vc59p8gn]TL/DR OLD MEMBER COMING BACK NEEDS ELF WITH CREATING A BACKSTORY FOR A WOOD ELF RANGER THAT WORSHIPS EILISTREE[/u:vc59p8gn][/i:vc59p8gn][/b:vc59p8gn]

[Bhaern Quel]

In some ways you write own back story, a few of mind had most if not all family killed. Welcome back.

[Thalon Mercrow]

thanks for the welcome Bhaern! i look forward to posting a bit more in the future but hopefully i wont burn out this time!:) indeed i do write my own backstory s but as i said im having trouble coming up with a good one for thalon all the other ones i could write relatively easy but this one....for some reason this one is giving me trouble. i had the idea to do combine my original idea with a slightly new one to make his lire something like he goes on his sojourn only to discover that all drow areint all bad and he now seeks to prove his clan/elders/whomever wrong. but evn now as i right it it dosnt sound quite right. and id like to get the backstory down right before i jump into NWN's.... so ill say it again to anybody who reads this any and all help is appreciated.

[Bhaern Quel]

A back story, a Priestess of the Dark maiden offered healing when in the woods, the wood elf, gored by deer, clawed by bear, etc. Of course als0 the Evil dark skinned elf was lucky enough to defend you, from other Drow, orcs, goblin, etc.

A little harder back story would be a follower providing aid., both however would offer the message of Eilistraee.

[Irennan]

Well, your original idea can be expanded to explain how your character has come to know Eilistraee and to share her teachings and way of life.

So, you say that Thalon Mercrow is a member of a clan of Wood Elves who set up an alliance with a group of Moon Elves to unite in a stable community. You should think about where to locate this settlement in Faerun: it must be a place where Eilistraeens are active, obviously, so I suggest the woods in the area of the Silver Marches, including the High Forest (these are the main areas where the Dark Maiden is worshiped and Wood Elves have significant presence). At this point you say that he was sent to hone his skill in order to return and teach what he learned to the other members of his clan. Honestly, I don't like this: forests in Faerun tend to be dangerous places (especially the ones I suggested you), sending untrained young elves in ''exile'' there sounds like sending them to their death. I'd like it more if the idea of the exile sprung from Thalon himself, and my idea (which you may like or not, but since you're asking for suggestions, this is what I managed to think of for the moment) is the following. Wood Elves are usually reclusive and very close to outsiders, with little interactions with the outer world, or none at all; they also have a strong sense of community, which makes even harder the opening of their mentality. However (as in 1370 DR) they realize that the Faerun is evolving, and that their approach needs to be more open, as hard as it may be, if they don't want to be swept away by the changes. Your character could be one of the heralds of this transformation, a free spirited young elf full of passion, who desires to see the world, know different mentalities and learn from other people, a wanderer who seeks to wonder and open his mind to diversity, and in order to do so he could have left his settlement to explore the wilderness and beyond. This would easily open the possibilities to meet and approach Eilistraeens, and learn about the Dark Maiden.

There are many ways to do this and, if I was you, I would have Thalon spend some time with one of the ([i:1e45uolg]small[/i:1e45uolg]) Eilistraeen communities of the area, so that he could have valid reasons to embrace the cause of the Dancing Maiden. For example (considering that Vhaerunites and Lolthite drow are also active in the area I suggested), you could say that during his wandering your character came across a singular battle: dark elves, the bane of all Tel'Quessir, fighting against each other. Despite the initial shock and fear, Thalon didn't feel the urge of leaving fearing to be spotted, instead, hiding and walking silently, he decided to assist to the singular battle. The fact that different factions of drow (followers of Eilistraee attacked by -say- lolthites, noticeable by significant differences in way of battling and equipment used) were trying to destroy each other wasn't surprising, but for some unthinkable reason he felt compelled to rush in aid of one of the groups, something inside the elf led him to even risk his life to assist some of those drow, whom he somehow managed to recognize and distinguish from their foes (maybe I'm stretching this, but I'm talking about the deep link that connects all elven minds and is responsible for their strong sense of community. I'm assuming that Eilistraeen drow are gradually reacquiring it thank to their goddess, but it isn't certain). Thalon could then be seriously wounded during the battle, and assisted by the drow of the Dark Maiden who would welcome him in their refuge, offering him their hospitality.

At this point your character could easily come to know and embrace the teaching of the goddess. He would find out that what he knew about the drow wasn't totally true, and -being him more open minded and open to dialogue than most of his kin- would try to understand better these exotic and mysterious beings. He would find many characteristics of the Tel'Quessir in them: they have a strong sense of community, are unite and strongly support and assist each other, because everyone counts and is invaluable among them; they have a deep connection to nature, and an intense love for beauty and creation, taking form in music, dance and art. But -most important-Thalon could be touched by the struggle of these people of his dark kin, finding much of himself in them: they, with Eilistraee, romantically and passionately fight against overwhelming odds for their ideals of freedom and life, for the possibility to live the lives and feel the emotions that they were unjustly denied, in harmony with other races. And despite the difficulty of their situation they still manage to put undeniable passions in what they do, spreading joy, giving aid whenever they can, making life flourish. Considering the reasons that led your character to start his travel, he could easily recognize himself in all of this, embracing the cause and service of the kindhearted Dark Maiden.

This is what I could think of, for now. Of course the character is [i:1e45uolg]yours[/i:1e45uolg], so there are many things that are up only to you (many of his personality traits, habits, the actual development of his story, as what I proposed are simply suggestions, which you may not even like but, that could give you a basis to develop further), and I wish you to have fun in elaborating them.

[Thalon Mercrow]

first off thanks so far to both of you for your help. truth be told irennan the clan is located in sliverwood just out is just out side of the high Forrest (in the northeast corner to to be exact. relatively close to darkmaidnes leap) that part i already had down from day one. now that i think about the idead of "the exile" it dos seem a bit sucidal (even for a mercrow ) but to be fair when i thought of it i had envisioned them not really going out into the forest to hone there skills(at least not all the time) but rather going out into the world to learn more about it and everything in it( bear in mind there a reclusive clan of wood elves that rarely if ever go beyond there forest domain so at the time it seemed like a good idea for them to go out and learn new ways to fight, gather intel, hone there ranger skills,etc,etc) and i was sort of toying with his exile being self imposed but where i was going form a "i want to be free, indpenpendet spirt that chafes under authority" mentality rather then the " dawning of a new age,harbinger of a new way of thinking" sort of characters. i must say i like your idea quite a lot its an angle that i hadn't considered before(plus it fits his CG aliment now that i think of it the clan imposed exile and obeying said exile seems like a lawful neutral thing to do rather then a cahtotic good action) so and i believe i may use that.

the original idea that i had was that he noticed one of the clerics dancing in the moon light one night then followed them back to the enclave. but now looking back on it that just sounds corny cliche and smacks of hack writing.the way you put it however seems right i might have an idea that i can run with here, if you have anymore input you can give id more then welcome it but if not thanks again i think i can come up with a few ideas on what to do here.

[Irennan]

About the idea of character, the free spirited young elf fits perfectly the role of herald of a new more open minded era (which, according to RoF, is something that the Wood Elves are actually considering in the 1370s), in fact I even supposed Thalon to be that kind of person. It's just natural for someone free spirited to be willing the wander and see new races/people/places, to learn about and from them to widen his horizons and open his mind to diversity. So your character could fit both the concepts at the same time, and this would be of great help in explaining how he manages to overcome prejudice toward drow. Anyway, glad to help. If I manage to think about something more detailed or enriched, I'll post it here.