Faith Harper
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Greetings: I am Faith Harper, your personal guide, and weapon consultant, for the Artyfakes Website. First a little about me, if you are interested I may tell you more…in time, but for now… know this:
I come from a noble, influential & powerful family; my Mother’s arranged marriage, to a wealthy older man, was purely for the benefit of the realm and the families concerned. My mother’s family didn’t know, and I found out only recently, that my father’s family became powerful through servitude to dark forces. My father was a cruel, cunning, vain and manipulative man, who sadly passed these traits to his son, my brother, some say that he passed his vanity onto me, but they don’t say it to my face. My older brother was the captain of the Kings Guard, and I idolized him: however my naivety blinded me to his greed for glory, power and fortune, at any cost.
Following the rebellion against the true King of the Realm, led by my father and brother, my mother, realising she had lost her son, and not wishing to loose her daughter, ran off in the night, taking me with her: Protecting me from the dark forces surrounding her husband and son. Some say the King was murdered in the rebellion, but others that the King was not slain, but merely vanished, biding his time, waiting for the opportunity to take back what was effectively stolen, and still rightfully his.
Disguised as gypsies, we travelled through the country, from camp fire to camp fire, never staying too long in any one place, for fear of discovery.
Until fate took a hand, leading us into the path of an old soldier, a swords master, who took us under his wing. Eventually, my mother married the old soldier & he became my Father: he taught me many of the skills that now serve me so well. I learnt quickly, and became adept with sword and bow; he educated me, teaching me wisdom, respect and knowledge of the old gods.
My mother educated me in the manner of the court, teaching me ‘formal dancing’, a form of ballet, which, although I despised originally, I realised gave me fluidity & speed, I gained a unique edge with my sword play, and I used it to perfect my techniques.
Towards my late teens a seer was offered, and took up residence, in our homestead: one day, on a dare, I went to visit the seer and my life changed. The seer, while cryptic, told me many things, about my own dormant abilities which would help me later on in life: some things I could not understand at the time, but they became clearer as I grow older. The seer told me I was a power for the light, and, that I would achieve great things for the greater good.
He also told me that the old soldier carried a great secret.
I have been told I emit the airs and graces of court, impressed on me by my mother: I still find myself drawn towards the glitter and glamour of jewels, gold and fine cloth. Many times I have felt that my life was being controlled by invisible forces, guiding me and controlling my path, most times against my will, taking me from passionate, though meaningless trysts, with handsome young blades. I found it difficult to integrate with the local young men, as I am viewed equally with suspicion and lust; for my part I could not find anything I could connect with or any one, apart from my Mother and the Old Soldier.
The time came when the pull of the outside world was too strong to ignore any longer and I bid a tearful farewell to my Mother and the Old Soldier.
Through the intervening years I have indeed had many adventures, escapades and battles, being both a mercenary and a soldier. During this time I made friends with a rough and grizzled old dwarf, who tried to keep me out of trouble, the truth be told, it was nearly always I who kept him, with his incessant drinking and bad temper, out of trouble.
We eventually parted company, amicably, he found a friendly female dwarf, and I travelled with a young mercenary, who made a good sideline out of fist fighting; the money we made gambling kept us in mead, ale and roast duck, which I developed a taste for while hiding out with a strange tribe of yellow skinned travellers.
I am now in my early twenties, wise beyond my years, vain beyond my means, legs too long for my own good and the hand of fate firmly on my shoulder.
