Renea Sundance

Renea Sundance
Information

Appearance

Renea Sundance is a soldier, from tip to toes it fairly screams forth from her. Her face, in another life possibly considered beautiful, was hard. Her frame was well muscled and scarred and she held herself with a lithe confidence, a wary sense of entitlement that might may not make right but it could certainly make it happen none-the-less. She would usually let her light brown hair hang about her shoulders, tickling the midway point of her back unless she was preparing for a battle, then she'd tie into into a tail at the nape of her neck to keep it out of the way. Her eyes were of a green color, deeper than emerald and tending more towards the verdancy of moss and they could flash vibrantly with anger when it was warranted but generally they just carried the haunted pain of someone who couldn't learn to let go. Ever present at her side is an aged longsword, handle worn smooth with years of use and stained with the sweat and blood of a hundred or more battles, she is rarely without it and never far from it. Occasionally she will also carry a small round shield, steel, strapped across her back but unless she expects trouble she leaves the cumbersome thing behind.

Before

Renea's past is, to most (including herself due to the fickle nature of memory), a clouded enigma of a thing. She was a mercenary from an early age, found as an orphan and trained as a kindness, an act that fuels her current maternal instincts towards strays. In her early twenties she signed on with an army and due to random acts of heroism, culminating in the rescue of a kidnapped empress, became the ultimate general answering to the emperor alone. She spent many years in this position winning many battles and gaining prestige and a relative fortune which she never found the time to spend. She married a paladin and met friends that became closer than family to her, chief among those the Firewitch Rielle and the son of a Goddess BetaFlame. Resentful that her work was more important to her than he was, her husband ultimately left her, breaking her heart, the sense of betrayal fueling her (still quite active) hatred of paladins, and resulting in her retirement from her military post and subsquent suicide by trolls. An ultimately selfish act that would have rippling repurcussions she couldn't even begin to imagine.

Eventually, for reasons of their own, her life was restored by the efforts of Rielle and BetaFlame and despite her resentment of the pair for bringing her back to a life she no longer wanted to live she refrained from further acts that would obviously result in her death though continued to be careless of her life and health. In time she fell in love again and even became pregnant, finding a measure of peace and even happiness in her new life, but then one day she just disappeared.

Due to a recent encounter with Jarod, a young man she used to foster who has somehow become other by his association with Catch, Renea has been de-aged to an 18 year old version of herself.

Now

Renea found herself in Myrken Wood in the winter months of the year 212 AR following what she thought was a random choice as she watched for opportunities to ply her trade. She stumbled onto the tavern late one night and fell asleep in the common room to be woken the next day by Rielle. Far from the random choice she had thought Renea had been subconsciously following a magical bond that tied the two women together that had been forged years before, a woman that Renea hadn't seen since her disappearance more than ten years before. Renea quickly fell in love with the area, finding something in it that called to her sense of home more than any place had since her death. She forged connections to the people here, discovering even more family that she hadn't seen in a long time and making new friends. She found a place for herself in the little town and in its troubles she identified a need for someone with her skill set. She pointed out this need to members of the council, offering to take the position of running the small militia within just a few days after she'd made the decision to stay.

It was about this time when she'd met Catch. The madman triggered her maternal instincts, her compassion for the strays of the world and she quickly found herself feeling protective of the man. Despite the injuries he inflicted on her in his madness she never once became angry with him, remaining gentle and careful regardless of the fact he could quite easily snap her in two if he cared too. During one of his episodes he tossed her against a wall so hard that her ribs were broken and much to her surprise when he gathered her into his arms some form of silver energy flowed into her, healing not just her current injuries (the ribs as well as a horrible burn from a previous encounter) but also an old injury that had caused her to limp.

Events escalated, a new governor was declared and Renea was offered a position on the Myrken Defense Committee, created for three people to take the place that had previously been held by a single man as the Defense Councillor. She accepted the position and that of Marshall for the local militia, also becoming the committee's liason to the Myrkentown Constabulary. During this period Catch had kidnapped the daughter of a half dragon woman Drache and in the ensuing chaos Renea had taken him into custody. She locked him in the cells and spent all but a few hours by his side for the days that followed until the day he somehow caused the earth to explode and escaped in the confusion that followed the earthquake and fires. Once the fires had been extinguished and the militia and constabulary were put to work calming the masses and restoring the town and buildings Renea set off to pursue the addled man hoping to find answers. She eventually found him and learned that he was far more than she could have even begun to imagine. She was left with the instruction that she must not allow him to find the severed part of himself, the piece that would make him whole and trigger the collapse of everything she knew. Even with this warning in mind Renea still could not find it within herself to treat him differently than she had before, with kindness, gentleness and compassion.

As if the situation with Catch was not enough of an issue for Myrken Wood to deal with there was also a possessed monster on the loose who had, once upon a time, gone by the name of Aeryn Karolinger. Renea had been unfortunate enough to stumble upon the axe-wielding daemon, also styled "The Eight" by Catch, in the courtyard of the Broken Dagger (Inn) one evening and found herself engaged in a pitched battle. Between the original combatants, Zilliah and Alton, and herself they managed to run the fiend off without injury to themselves. With this evidence it was surmised that the once man was responsible for the spate of recent murders around the town and countryside and so an investigation was initiated to attempt to find a solution.

Shortly after the incident with Karolinger Renea met the other members of the Defense Committee, Agnieszka Kaczmarek and Kerrak al'Nerun. Renea felt an immediate connection and respect for Agnie and they began forming the what could end as a strong friendship and work relationship. Kerrak was regarding with a certain amount of wariness based on his history in Myrken Wood and his ability to channel magics, something that Renea neither understood nor wanted to understand. She came to learn that Agnie had a history with the crazed axe-murdering Karolinger and based on her growing friendship with the woman Renea promised to make every attempt to bring in the man alive so that he could be saved, rather than the easier task of killing him outright.

Unfortunately things didn't work out that way.

A book had been delivered from Thessilane with information that might aid them in dealing with the demon. Renea, dealing more and more with the guilt of leaving her husband and son to fend for themselves had taken to drinking more heavily than usual. The link she shared with Rielle ended suddenly leaving Renea believing her sister dead and that, combined with the guilt, plunged her into a fit of binge drinking that ended rather poorly for Myrken. The book was to be examined by the scholar Aleksei and Renea showed up to this meeting very, very drunk indeed. The book had been warded to keep whatever was inside from loosing itself on Myrken but not understanding what was happening Renea accidentally bridge the ward freeing the Eight into Myrken. Guilt overwhelming she ran to Thessilane to try to find answers that would help deal with the demonic infestation but her flight raised the suspicions of the Thessil-hating Agnieszka who then branded the Marshall a traitor.

Her journey turned up nothing of use though the governors assassin had been sent to judge her loyalties. On the way home they were waylaid by Catch and Jarod. Catch left with Giuseppe and Jarod left with Renea. Her once foster son had been worried for her and told her he wanted to help, not understanding what he meant Renea agreed only to have the Catch-laced boy force magical tentacles into her mouth, ears, nose, eyes and somehow remove her soul to keep it safe. The process de-aged her to approximately 18 years and, unbeknownst to her at the time, made her incapable of staying dead or maintaining injuries for longer than a month. Her first realization that something else might have been going on was after Karolinger dealt her an injury that required the amputation of her arm. A week later, waking up the morning of the new moon that arm was suddenly back.

In the midst of all of this the guilt over abandoning her family had grown too much to bear. She had given up drink because of the way she acted the night she unwittingly unleashed the Eight upon Myrken and the comments Agnieszka made afterwards and was no longer able to escape into a drunken blur to avoid that guilt. Finally, after prodding from Rielle (who, it turned out, had not died but merely lost her magic and become a paladin) she wrote a letter to her husband Brandon. Weeks passed by and there was no response, she'd finally given up that there would be only to encounter the man at the Tavern. Reuniting with her family proved to be a life-altering event for the woman and for the first time she made an effort to become less self-focused and the wife and mother she should have been from the start.

Months down the road she was assassinated. The culprit still remains at large but before her body was cremated in the Myrken custom the new moon rose again, and so did Renea. Myrken Wood was not pleased with the undeath of their Marshall (though you'd think they'd have been used to it by now) and proceeded to mob her home where a riot later occurred due to a handful of other factors. The governor sent a letter informing her she was no longer the Marshall of Myrken Wood and that the community would not welcome her or her family and he would not be held responsible for any action the citizens took against them. Feeling unsafe Brandon stated plainly that he and Rhys would be leaving and unwilling to give up her family a second time Renea agreed to go with them.

They now reside in Thessilane.

Current Events

Renea now lives in Thessilane with her family, having been fired as Marshall and run out of Myrken Wood for the crime of not dying when she was killed.