Name: Kelagry Evenstar
Race: Wood-elf
Class: Druid
Age: 95
Sex: Female
Height: 4'10"
Weight: 90 lbs
Eyes: Green
Hair: Red-brown with green "highlights"

Kelagry's Story

Prologue

It had been a long walk, but the dryad finally had come home. She stood in the center of her little grove of trees in Norrath's Greater Faydark and she breathed in the fresh scent of evergreens. From every branch and burrow, her forest companions had come to greet her. They loved and cherished the young dryad for the safety and love she gave them.

Kelagry had lived here in Kelethin all her life. She had been born of the soul-union between a wood sprite and an evergreen tree, as most dryads are. Contrary to popular belief, dryads are not bound to their home-trees; her tree was the result of that merge between sprite and plant. It held the essence of her mother and father; if her mother's spirit were to break away from the tree, it would grow weaker or stronger depending on how far from its other half it was. But Kelagry was not a wood nymph. She was a dryad, born of the union of nymph and tree. As such, she was free of the restrictions the wood sprites had. And glad of it, for Kelagry loved to roam.

Kelagry had already adventured over all of Faydwer, though her years were few for one of her kind. She was always happy to return home to her grove, but her wandering feet inevitably took her off again, usually sooner than she'd planned. This time, her homecoming was already being tempered with a desire to see more than Faydwer. The animals around her seemed to know it too, for the sounds they made were the soothing "please stay" sounds they made whenever they knew she was going away.

"Soon," Kelagry thought to herself. "Not today but soon. I will leave here for a time, and see the rest of this world."

Kelagry peeked around the trunk of the large tree she had taken refuge behind, trying to determine whether or not it was safe to come out. There was a Dark Elf out there... and with it was a hideous beast, a monster with no head or feet, just two trunklike arms that looked strong enough to break her in half. She didn't care to challenge either Dark Elf or beastie. She knew the elf had seen her, but she stayed still, hoping he wouldn't come after her. She had heard terrible things about Dark Elves. Stories of murder, blood, living sacrifice....

There was a nasty chuckle from in front of the tree. Kelagry heard a movement, and steeled herself for battle. There was no escaping it; she would have to fight this monster, to cleanse the world of his evil. She breathed deeply, counted to three, then jumped out from behind the tree and held her hands up to begin casting a spell...

And her hands dropped almost as fast as she'd flung them up.

The Dark Elf was sitting, quite unceremoniously, on his bottom in the dewy grass. He had an open book in his lap and seemed quite intent on his reading. The beast with him floated calmly in the air by it's master's side.

Kelagry put her hands on her hips. She cleared her throat. The Dark Elf looked up from his reading and seemed almost to blush (was that a hint of red on his dark-skinned cheeks?) as he closed his book and tucked it back into his pack. He stood quickly and gave her a funny, awkward bow.

Kelagry cocked one eyebrow. "Aren't you going to cast a spell or try to sacrifice me?"

The Dark Elf, if anything, looked taken aback. "Should I?"

The dryad almost chuckled at his bewildered expression. "Isn't that what your kind does?"

The Dark Elf guffawed. "So... shouldn't you be off making love to a tree?"

Kelagry scoffed. "I'm a dryad, not a wood sprite."

"Oh." He managed to convey that one syllable with a melody of meanings, the most prominent of which clearly hinted that he was feigning ignorance.

"Who's your, uh, friend there?" Kelagry asked, curiosity finally overcoming her.

The other elf looked around. "Oh, that? It's Jantik. It's an elemental. How about your... uh, friends?"

Kelagry was momentarily confused, then looked around to realize that as usual some of the creatures of the Commonlands had come to visit her. "They kind of... just come by to visit," she explained lamely.

There was another moment of awkward silence, then the Dark Elf stuck out his hand. "My name's Etsalon, of House Everhate."

Kelagry hesitated, then clasped hands with him. "I'm Kelagry."

"Are you new to the Commonlands?"

The dryad nodded. "Yes, I arrived here from Faydwer a few days ago."

"What do you do here?" Etsalon asked.

Kelagry considered. "I travel. Explore."

"Well... maybe we can explore together. I don't know much about this place myself. I just got here from Nektulos Forest." Etsalon gestured toward a dark, ominous-looking forest on the horizon.

Kelagry considered, slowly feeling her doubts fade away. This Dark Elf didn't seem like such a horrible person. He seemed... almost like her, in some ways. She slowly smiled. "I think that might be fun."

Etsalon smiled back.

***Kelagry's Years***

Kelagry and the Dark Elf Etsalon soon grew to become closer than friends. Through trials, hardships, battles, and long journeys they bonded to each other as kindred souls. Kelagry and Etsalon both learned to drop their previous prejudices, and life held many more lessons for them as well. Their travels found them learning to accept more and more people, and Kelagry in particular loved learning about new races and the occupations of those people.

Kelagry's first true friend was the Shadow Knight Aerithanna. They met during a long battle against the aviak bird-people in the southern Plains of Karana. The battle was long and vicious, but in the end the side of Good triumphed. Aerithanna decided to travel along with Kelagry and Etsalon, and this became the beginning of a relationship most undescribable. The wood elf and the dark elf bonded as would two sisters, for all that their skins were two different colors and they came from completely different worlds.

Along their travels they threesome also met with the Ogre brothers, Goliathh and Obadijah. Once again Kelagry's prejudices were turned around and upside down, for the two Ogres weren't evil at all. They were rather large and sometimes smelly, but underneath the ugly exterior their hearts were of gold. Three people turned into five people as they traveled from the southern plains to the maze of Cazic-Thule.

In Cazic-Thule, the group turned to fight against the worshippers of that evil god, the lizardmen. And yet another great friend was made on that journey. This time, Kelagry found a friend in someone from her own homeland. He was an enchanter named Calanctus, a high elf from Kelethin's neighboring city, Felwithe. Calanctus quickly became friends with Aerithanna, Etsalon, Goliathh, and Obadijah as well, and though their paths didn't always cross they all kept in contact with one another.

After they had ravaged the lizardmen in Cazic-Thule, Kelagry and Etsalon learned of a place called the Dreadlands. They journeyed there and again bumped into the enchanter Calanctus and a friend of his named Qyen. Both the high elves belonged to a guild named "Scarab," which seemed to be a guild made up all of close friends. By that time, Kelagry and Etsalon had joined their own guild, the Black Orchid Brigade. They'd met the Brigade during their times in southern Karana, and had made many friends there, most notably the cleric Korrupt, another cleric named Isildor, and a necromancer named Reklov. Kelagry had been given a position of officer in the Brigade, and although Calanctus had sometimes mentioned Scarab to Kelagry and Etsalon, they felt they belonged with their friends.

After a short stay in the Dreadlands, Kelagry and Etsalon met their friends Aerithanna, Goliathh, and Obadijah in an evil dungeon called Lower Guk, where they campaigned against froglok ghouls. Yet again they bumped into Calanctus, and he became a regular companion.

It was a long stay in Lower Guk, during which the friends became less and less content with their current guild. They began to seek more options. Kelagry in particular felt the strain. Aerithanna and Etsalon pledged to follow her where she went, but she didn't want to abandon the Black Orchid Brigade. The decision lay upon her shoulders and it was a heavy burden. Soon the pressure became too much though, and inner-guild strife had torn the Brigade apart. With heavy heart, Kelagry announced her resignation from the Brigade and turned her eyes forward to the future.

Still in Lower Guk, Kelagry, Etsalon, and Aerithanna were still close companions with Calanctus. With him, they met more and more Scarabs. They met the mage Cilien, and were re-acquainted with the cleric Qyen. They also met another enchanter by the name of Ainjel. More and more they spent time with the Scarabs, and they all learned to work together. Kelagry loved the adventure of the froglok dungeon. The more she spent time with the Scarabs, the more she felt comfortable with them.

Finally, Etsalon, Aerithanna, and Kelagry decided to try to become members of the guild they'd grown to be used to. They informed Calanctus of their choice, and he in turn let them know when and where the guild would be meeting, so that the threesome could get to know even more members.

Along with them came Obadijah; though Goliathh had found his niche some time back the good-natured ogre was still hunting for the right group of people. They all journeyed with Calanctus to Trakanon's Teeth, where they met the ranger Drue, a bard named Melescant, a warrior named Mescalen, and were re-introduced to Cilien.

After several weeks, they were finally introduced to Gyst Starblaze, and from there on they became members of Scarab.

To this day Kelagry remains committed to her sister-in-spirit Aerithanna, the lover of her heart, Etsalon, and her dearest friends Calanctus, Obadijah, Goliathh, and Qyen. She has more friends than she can name, and considers the whole of Scarab to be her family. She hasn't longed for her grove in the Faydark for quite a while, and may never long for it again as long as her friends remain so, and her sister and love are by her side.