Sylora Burrows

Background for my ranger

Sylora Burrows

A Short Story by Ruben Potthoff

 

A New Ship

Perrin Burrows, a young halfling, was finally able to obtain the item of his dreams. He had saved up most of his earnings, spending his money solely on necessities. What his desires led him to, was a ship. He had spent most of his life on trading ships, working his way up slowly from the bottom up to where he is now, the captain of his very own ship. During his days as a member of multiple crews aboard different ships, he had met quite a large number of capable sailors which he assimilated into his motley crew of sailors. While it was obviously serious business, his crew members were good friends of his so traveling from port to port wasn’t only profitable but also quite a lot of fun for Perrin.

A New Calling

A young halfling girl, sick of her boring life of as a cook for a failing restaurant in a port city, had been asking around if any of her acquaintances knew of any interesting jobs for her to do. Most of the jobs offered to her were about as interesting or even less interesting than her prior job, so she refused most of them. One, however, grabbed her attention. A request for a person in charge of the food on a trade ship, with a relatively inexperienced crew which had just arrived in port. Apparently, their previous cook had found love shortly after arriving in town and had left the crew. This, naturally, was quite appealing to the girl and she decided to apply for the job that seemed to perfectly fit her.

A New Cook

“Hey, is this the ship owned by a certain Perrin Burrows?” Perrin looked around and saw a beautiful young halfling in front of him. “Yes, yes it certainly is. Who’s asking?” The girl was slightly surprised that the first ship she appreached was the ship she was looking for. “I’m Trym Goodbarrel, and you are?” “The one and only Perrin Burrows, proud owner and captain of this ship!” Perrin responded, with a big smile on his face. Naturally, a young unmarried halfling would try to impress such a girl. Trym told Perrin that she wanted to apply for the position of cook, and was almost immediately accepted into the position.

 

A New Passenger

“Honey, I think I might be pregnant.” These words shook Perrin to the very core. It had been around 5 years since they met, and now the couple had been married for about 2 years. Trym was hesitant to tell Perrin, as they had recently purchased quite a lot of goods and were planning to make quite a lot of profit this year. “If we hurry we might make it to Port Nyranzaru before the child arrives” Trym tried to calm Perrin with these words, but it seemed like it wasn’t necessary. Perrin seemed quite happy with the news, and it was celebrated with the entire crew shortly after he heard of it.

A New Experience

It was the first time Sylora had ever seen so many people at once. She had lived her entire life aboard the ship her parents owned, but it was her 6^th birthday so her parents decided to take her with them ashore. They were currently at port Castigliar, inside the trade district. Sylora was more than just surprised by the vast amounts of people, she was quite scared. The only people she had seen in her life were the crew members of her father’s ship, and her grandparents who were farmers living in quite the rural area. This sight was a new experience for the young girl, and before she knew it her parents had disappeared from her sights.

A New Sight

It was quite a beautiful sight, so the hunter almost didn’t realize the absurdity of the situation. A small halfling girl with very long, braided, light brown hair and light brown eyes was walking elegantly, almost as if she were floating, through the thickly grown jungles of Chult. With a surprising amount of difficulty, the hunter managed to catch up with the girl. The girl told the man of how she ended up in the jungles. Apparently, she got scared by the crowds in port Castigliar and ran away, only to end lost in the jungle. However, she liked the peaceful and quiet nature of the forest, devoid of crowds and unknown people. This caused her to forget about her parents back in the port, and after meeting the hunter she realized that she had been gone for hours.

A New Reason to Worry

After making it back to her parents at the port city, who were extremely concerned for the safety of their beloved daughter after she disappeared from the sight in the crowded city, Sylora told them of her newly found favorite activity. Her parents, in turn, were more than slightly worried to hear of their daughter’s new found love for exploring desolate places. They thanked the old hunter for returning their beloved daughter to them, and the hunter asked if he could perhaps accompany them to their next port. Perrin and Trym found no problem with this, and the crew set off to their next destination.

A New Encounter

The old hunter had thought the girl the basics of tracking and how to fight using two short swords and a bow. The old hunter, however, had left their crew just a couple of months after joining. This meant that the girl had little to no experience in combat, but her natural ability to sneak through all sorts of difficult terrain would still make a lot of experience hunter shiver. Naturally, this wasn’t because the girl’s technique was that extraordinary but because the girl was capable of very fluid movements on such a young age. During one of her more recent ventures into the unknown, however, the young girl had seen something extremely strange. It was a creature beyond the realm of even the deadliest beasts she had seen. This creature, with the head of an owl and the body of a bear, could only be described as a monstrosity. The girl got an adrenaline rush unlike any she had ever felt before, and she spent the rest of her day following the creature around. This encounter set the tone for most of the landings after this one, as she now rushed into the forests and deserts whenever their ship reached a shore with more motivation than ever before.

A New Problem

Over the years the trauma of her first encounter with a crowd become more and more deep rooted, and the girl had now developed a fear of crowds and people unknown to her. This problem had remained under the radar until Sylora reached the age of 14, when she decided to go into the city her parents were currently trading in to buy some new clothes herself, as she never liked the clothes her parents bought for her. Upon entering the city, she felt anxious. It wasn’t a fear like you would get in a life or death situation, but more of an uncomfortable feeling that was creeping up and down her spine. She awkwardly moved herself towards a store that was selling clothes. She approached the store keeper, but she couldn’t manage to get any words out. After a solid minute of staring awkwardly at the storekeeper, she managed to get a few words out. “C-Clothes... P-Please...”

A New Adventure

This awkward encounter stayed with her for the next two years, until she decided that enough was enough. Her social abilities would never improve if she remained on her parent’s ship. Thus, she told her parents that she was setting out on an adventure the next time they reached shore. Her parents naturally thought it was a very bad idea to set out on an adventure as a 16-year-old girl, but they were unable to stop her. As they approached Baldur’s gate, the small halfling girl with brown hair and brown eyes left her home on a small rowboat, rowing towards the great adventures awaiting her.