Naoki

After a dragon attack separated her from her people—a tribe of nomads called the Uagi—charismatic songstress Naoki took to the road as a bard, winning coin and hearts while searching Vallhyn in hopes of reconnecting with her people. While the path before was riddled with dangers, the Uagi teach their own that challenge must be met with gratitude.

Luck proved to be for the taking, she found; she had to slip a few purses and tell a few lies to survive. Remembering the words of her kin, she only took what she required and tried to give to others what she could spare.

After a time, desperation and temptation weakened her resolve. Naoki crossed paths with a strange merchant in an otherwise desolate part of the road through Vallhyn. Any one of the treasures he possessed could have fed her for weeks.

Up until then, Naoki had thought herself skilled in the arts of illusion and slight-of-hand—but the merchant proved far from an easy mark. Before she could even test the weight of the trinket she’d stolen, the bard found herself dangling from a post strapped to the roof of the caravan.

The merchant revealed himself: he was no simple tradesman, but a powerful mage well versed in the arts of illusion and conjuring. Setting himself up as an easy mark, he’d been testing her. Naoki knew she was outclassed—her feminine wiles and charming voice would prove ineffective against the mage’s hardened wisdom.

The mage took pity on her. He thought she held promise, though the road had made her hasty. Still, he sensed that with some guidance, she could be a worthy protégée.

A magical illness had shortened his lifeline, and he desired to pass his knowledge on to another. He had hoped to find someone more like himself, but at the sight of her dangling by a foot, flailing her fists and cursing, he could not help but be endeared to her. He’d not laughed in years.

She was certainly not what he’d had in mind, but she would do.

So, before he let her down, he put the question to her: would she accept his offering? He had only condition—she must abandon her life of crime, however desperate her need had once been, and use the newfound power he now offered to protect those too weak to fight for themselves.

She still wanders, falling in with a party of adventurers from time to time, following the ever-changing direction of the winds—someday, she hopes, to her people.