[Folwren]

Hello, all! Arry has very kindly let me join in his game. I asked rather early on, I must admit, because his mention of a 'lovely, traumatized refugee' so caught my eye, I couldn't really resist begging for the part.

Here's my character bio. I trust my little girl won't bother you riders too much. Her horse may still be around to be found, but more than likely, he's wandered off to where the grass is greener and there aren't any stinking, scarry smells of dead and burnt bodies. He'll be fully saddled and bridled, though, if some one does spot him.

Tevildo and Naria: You are the two people Athwen has spotted.

-- Folwren

NAME: Athwen

AGE: 16

RACE: Man

GENDER: Female

APPEARANCE: Athwen is somewhat short - only 5"0", and she is slender, giving her the appearance of a ‘small and delicate’ girl, but that’s hardly a good description of her. Her hair is waist length, wavy and very blond, bleached from almost constant sunlight. Her eyes are very dark, bright blue, showing up sharply against her complexion, which is naturally pale, but looks slightly tanned from being outside often.
She wears a dress of simple pattern, long and full in skirt, fitting in bodice, and having long sleeves.

PERSONALITY/STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: When times and days were normal and the villagers lived their regular lives, Athwen was a bright, happy girl. She talked often and laughed much. She loved the outdoors and much preferred working out with the herds of sheep and horses than staying indoors and spinning and cooking (though those womanly arts she did learn and know). She loved animals and people and was quite willing to try to accept everyone and everything as they came.

She has a strong sense of right and wrong, and can’t stand it when something is unfair, unjust, or simply down right mean and wrong. She tries her best to fix all the problems that come her way and sometimes, when she can’t solve it, she can get rather sad about it.

For the most part, though, she’s quite a happy and pleasant girl.

But, all that’s on a normal bases. . .after her village is burned and family and friends killed, she’s going to be in a very different sort of mind set. For some time, she’ll be rather quiet and prone to not talking. Bouts of uncontrollable tears and shuddering thoughts of terror will come now and again. . .probably at night. She may be more likely to depend on someone more than she normally used to, and she won’t like being alone at all, or even feeling alone. Other traits and characteristics will have to progress as the story goes. . .different circumstances and happenings will bring different reactions.

HISTORY: Athwen was born the middle child of five children in a small hamlet somewhere in the realm of Rohan. Her father bred and raised horses for his living, and once a year took the long road to Edoras or some other large town or village to sell his animals. Athwen, therefore, grew up pretty well off, never lacking anything.

When she was just a little girl, she fell in love in horses and all the other animals that she ever met. As often as she possibly could, she would run out and spend the day out in the pastures - with the sheep when she was small, and as she got older, with the horses. She had many friends with the boys and girls who watched the different flocks and was a favorite among all them, being fun and merry most of the time, up to a good challenge, despite her height (or lack thereof) and general smallness. The boys liked her, because she was interesting and fun, and the girls liked her because she was sensible to girlish feelings and was very considerate and nice to everybody.

As she grew older (eleven, twelve, thereabouts), her mother took more precaution and was careful that she stayed indoors at least some of the time to learn the womanly traits that are necessary in every household. She learned to spin, weave, sew, and cook, and everything she put her hand to, she did well. At that time, too, she ‘bought’ a horse from her father and trained him, at the same time learning many things for herself about horses and their ways.

At the time of her sixteenth summer, and around the time of this war and attack on her village, Athwen was a rather accomplished young woman. She worked well without someone else constantly pushing her, she could handle horses, singly or in a group, she had an easy, honest, and open way with people, and she could run her mothers house quite efficiently with a bit of help from her mother and her two younger siblings (her older sister and brother were by that time married and gone). But for all that, she still had the fondness of life and the wild tint of childhood still in her. She knew better than to still run races against the boys her age - they’d beat her every time - but she’d race a horse any day against the best of them (not always winning of course).

She was not married, but in the following year, she was going to be to a certain young man who lived in the same village as she. They were quite happy with the set up, having known each other for ever, practically, and although she might have possibly preferred another of the young men around, he certainly didn’t care to have anyone other than her.

But then, in late Autumn, things changed dramatically. . .