Vanta Rolfe

Vanta Rolfe

Vanta Rolfe (VR 4061 - 22 Broadfall 4161) was a tiefling and cleric of Avo (the titan Talkeni). She was unique as tieflings go, with skin so black it made her nearly impossible to see at night, with contrasting alabaster-white horns that lay flat on her head, resembling a short, wavy hairdo. She was helpful in aiding the Dragonslayers during the end of the Urster Rebellion, and was in a relationship briefly with Dragonslayer Talmuq ur'Tak before his death. She later went on to marry Robert Rolfe, a landowner in Urster, and birthed two children with him, Cormick and Sydri. Vanta spent much of her adulthood working to improve Urster's status within Akhentour, as well as ensuring the town grew and was prosperous without threatening the nature around it.

Early Life

Vanta's birth parents are unknown. She was left, swaddled in old linens, in a laundry basket at the entrance to the Moonlight Orphanage in Kavonne in the winter of 4061 VR, where she was raised by the priestesses there. She was given the name "Vanta," which is a diminutive of the Elvish word for "black," vantassai.

During Alrenn's brief tenure within Kavonne during the Alrennean War, Vanta and the priestesses fled the city, traveling northward to Monitska. After Alrenn left to invade Garrod, they returned, and Vanta was left a few months afterward.

Moonlight was one of the few establishments in Dorian to openly worship and revere Avo, the "dead goddess," whose body is said to be the world itself. Thus, much of Vanta's early education was on the Living Gods of Dorian, particularly of Avo herself. However, Vanta disliked the urban environs of Kavonne and left the orphanage when she was sixteen. She traveled east for a year, spending significant time in the forests and fields of northern Akhentour as well as a long stint at Monitska, doing various tasks at the Temple of the Gods.

Eventually, she arrived in Urster and took a liking to the quaint lifestyle there. She made a home for herself in the nearby woods, making friends in the town slowly due to her tiefling nature. Urster considered itself a "free town" that anyone was allowed to live in, but prejudice existed nonetheless, and Vanta worked hard to present herself as the bright and bubbly tiefling she was.

Vision of Avo

While living in the woods, near her 18th birthday, Vanta saw a vision of Avo, as an enormous pale white humanoid woman, naked and crawling on all fours, wandering the forests at night. Vanta followed the vision through the woods, which traveled northward into the snow-covered forests of the Frigid North. It eventually stopped at what appeared to be an ancient graveyard, and there it sat and sang a discordant tone, which caused the long-buried skeletons beneath to rise up. Avo then continued north into the forest, with the skeletons. Vanta attempted to pursue but the bitter cold forced her to return south before she froze to death.

Vanta believed this to be a sign and began praying to Avo for celestial guidance. In return, Vanta was granted cleric powers which helped her protect the natural balance of the woods around Urster.

Vanta the Cleric

Word of Vanta's cleric abilities quickly spread through Urster, and she soon was appointed by Urster's mayor as their town cleric, where she oversaw much of the religious and natural needs of the community. She was particularly adept at assisting the farmers and ranchers with their livestock, having been granted the ability to speak with animals. She insisted on being present for every animal slaughter so that she could help keep the animal calm, as she believed it cruel to kill an animal without letting it know its fate.

Over the years, Vanta became a staple in the community, though she was most often found outside the town, tending to nature.

The Urster Rebellion

Urster saw itself as a free town, unfettered by the politics of the cities of old Akhentour--Diomed, Kavonne, and Wodesville. When Alrenn's second form was defeated in 4082 VR and the Council of Beings was formed, word spread that Akhentour was to be reunited as a country once again. This angered many of the citizens of Urster, who wished to remain free. In response, Urster formally declared itself the Kingdom of Free Urster in 4083 VR. Vanta was loosely in support of the declaration.

At this time, Vanta was in a relationship with Tristan Evrett, a miner, who was allegedly killed when he touched a strange altar found within the mines. Vanta, devastated by the news, left Urster to mourn for Tristan in her home deep in the woods. She did not know that Tristan had returned, three days later, as a vampire. Tristan began siring other vampires within Urster, which in turn emboldened the town into formally declaring itself free from the new Akhentourian government.

When she learned this, Vanta attempted to speak with Tristan, who in turn tried to charm her into becoming a vampire. Vanta resisted and fled into the woods to hide. Afterward,

Meanwhile, Theodore van Esten, a council member for the Council of Six, hired the Dragonslayers to investigate the strange goings on in Urster. When they arrived, they met Vanta, and the group successfully defeated the vampires as well as the grotesque atropal in the mines, ending the curse on Urster for good.

Vanta & Talmuq

Following the end of the Rebellion, Vanta and Dragonslayer member Talmuq ur'Tak began a relationship, which lasted for roughly two years before Talmuq was killed successfully casting Dispel Divine Essence, trying to bring down the construct entity Ibik. Talmuq eventually returned to life due to a pact he made with the God of Death, but that occurred two years later, and Vanta had long since mourned his loss and moved on.

The Incinerators

Soon after the Rebellion as well, Vanta gathered a group of adventurers to help protect northeastern Akhentour. They called themselves the Incinerators. The group adventured for the better part of a decade before deciding to break.

Marriage & Later Life

A year after Talmuq's death, Vanta met and fell in love with Robert Rolfe, a landowner in Urster and originally from Kavonne. The two met shortly after Robert began construction on a home on the outskirts of the town, and Vanta was called to see that it was constructed with reverence to nature. The two became close and eventually married.

After Talmuq returned to life, he attempted to reunite with Vanta, who was then pregnant with her first child, Cormick. She was thus unable to return his affections; that was the last time the two saw each other again.

Vanta had a second child with Robert, a daughter named Sydri. She turned her attention mostly toward motherhood in her middle years of life, helping to raise her children as well as continuing to protect the wilds around Urster with the Incinerators.

In her later years, Vanta began advocating for Urster with the Pax Ultima, which extended into general advocacy of nature for the country in general. This eventually earned her the Pax Ultima adviser title of Nature Advocate, allowing her to travel the country and ensure nature was "taking its course."

Death

Vanta died peacefully at her home in Urster, three days after her 100th birthday, with her daughter Sydri, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren by her side. Her funeral was held within the woods west of Urster, where she was also laid to rest.