<div class="floatright">(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/689220636480110605/1018905756562636900/pally_lady_2.png)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Ionli (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=345576.msg16288973#msg16288973)<br/><strong>Race:</strong>Aasimar<br/><strong>Age:</strong>20<br/><strong>Class:</strong>Cleric<br/><strong>Status:</strong>Adventurer<br/><hr/>Ionli turned beet red when Muula called her out for her simply awful, stumbling attempt at lying, hands clasping together in front of her tightly as she lowered her head slightly while shame welled up inside of her.  Gods, why had she done that?  The simplest answer was that she had panicked.  She wanted to just sink into the floor, feeling absolutely horrid now.  So, when she heard Mephis's voice in her mind, she jumped a bit in surprise, having not noticed the half elf come back.<br/><br/>Every word from the sorceress in her mind only made the aasimar feel worse, her face, mostly hidden at the moment by her hair, twisting up in mortification as a result.  The Lord Balebrook might not be one to force the issue, but what happened when the aasimar's past eventually caught up with her?  She didn't know what would happen should someone come calling on behalf of the First Chair, what story they'd tell, or anything at all for that matter.  Then the Lord Balebrook might be forced into some sort of compromising scenario, perhaps with her ending up arrested on some sort of charges made up by the First Chair, or the bandits could come or... or something!  All sorts of horrible scenarios ran through her head, the guilt swelling up in her until she finally couldn't stand it any longer.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry!"  She blurted out finally, raising her head and looking at the Lord Balebrook with eyes now stinging with the first inkling of tears.  "I-I don't know why I lied, but it was wrong and I shouldn't have done it.  If... if I'm going to be working with you, with all of you, then you deserve the truth."  She lowered her head once more, the guilt that was causing her to confess making her feel sick to her stomach.  "I come from the village of Duskhaven, out beyond the city of Durchdenwald, on the frontier of the Free Nations."  The city was named for its founder, who the First Chair was descended from.  "It's probably fairly obvious, but I'm an aasimar.  For those who might not know," she glanced at Muula and Hiroshi, "I possess the shard of a dead god's essence within me and it's the source of my powers, like those wings I manifested while fighting the bugbears."  She shifted uncomfortably.  "Aasimar are born very rarely and when they are... well, sometimes people take advantage of them."  She grimaced.  "My parents tried to hide what I was and they succeeded for a time, but when my father was injured in an accident my powers manifested for the first time and I used them to heal him."  Her tone turned mildly bitter.  "Years of pretending to be sick, of not being able to go outside without a disguise, and it was all for nothing."  She sniffed and wiped at her eyes, trying to calm herself.  She only partially succeeded.<br/><br/>"Word spread quickly, as you might imagine, and my parents were approached by a representative sent by the<em>Honorable</em>First Chair, Friedrich Durchdenwald, who tried to... to buy me."  She still remembered it as if it had happened only yesterday.  "My father was so angry that he chased the man away, threatening him with one of the hammers from his forge."  She smiled a little then, the memory tinged with fondness, though that quickly passed as she continued.  "The First Chair didn't take that very well."  Now there was an understatement.  "A few weeks later a group of thugs tried to kidnap me in the middle of the night and if it weren't for the fact my powers gave me the strength to fight them off I don't know what would have become of me."  She looked at Mephis briefly before moving on.  "I knew they'd be back, so I managed to convince the villagers to work with me to drive them off for good."  She smiled a bit again, remembering how they'd cheered when the bandits had fled.  "I had to leave after that and I've been an adventurer ever since."  She sounded miserable now.  "There's no way he's given up and those bandits probably want me dead for humiliating them like that.  I'm... I'll understand if you don't want me to stay now that you know."  Her voice had grown quiet and dejected.  "It's not your problem after all and I don't want to cause you the sort of trouble that could come from merely being associated with me."