Wendi

[Arn]

Wendi

Origin: Athkatla, Amn
Age: 70 (as of 1360 DR)
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Deity: Shaundakul Waukeen
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Class: Wizard/Cleric
Hair: White, though it used to be blonde
General Health: Poor
Profession: Hedge witch, alchemist, wand crafter, haggler
Habits/Hobbies: Studying, experimenting, helping those in need
Languages: Wendi has learned many languages during her lifetime of travel. She is most familiar with the True Luskan dialect of the Illuskan language, and once mistook the Ruathen dialect as another language entirely.
Weapon of Choice: Staff

Appearance
Wendi usually regards her surroundings with a no-nonsense expression. There is a quality to her wrinkled old face that suggests she has gotten through life with her intelligence and wisdom.

Wendi wears plain old robes and a dark swirling cloak. Her gauntlets no longer bear the symbol of Shaundakul. She carries a staff which supports her limping walk. Potion bottles, wands, and scrolls can be seen poking out of her pack. She looks like an experienced crafter.

Personality Profile
Wendi is a serious and pragmatic person who doesn't seem to tolerate tomfoolery well. Although she is helpful to those in need, her personality is not a warm one.

Wendi despises authority, particularly large governments and state watchmen. She also has a certain disdain for "tower mages," a term she uses to refer to haughty wizards formally trained by well-to-do teachers.

Her sense of humor, when it appears, is sardonic and cynical.

Background
Wendi's parents were from Calimshan. Her father was a hedge mage and her mother was an herbalist and alchemist. At some point they moved to Athkatla, where Wendi was born in 1290. Wendi spent her early childhood learning magic from her father and alchemy from her mother. She also learned herbology, gardening, and Chauntean worship from her mother. Exposure to the markets of Athkatla taught Wendi how to haggle and evaluate the value of many kinds of items. Wendi paid homage to Waukeen countless times in the markets.

In 1302, Wendi's father ran afoul of the Amnian authorities as a rogue wizard. He was disappeared under mysterious circumstances, along with Wendi's mother.

Wendi, left to fend for herself at the age of 12, had to survive for a while on the streets of Athkatla. She spent much of her time under the effects of the Invisibility spell. She stole to survive and gained an intimate understanding of the Athkatlan markets.

After a year of this homeless living, Wendi was taken in by a "tower-trained" wizard in 1303. However, Wendi hated the structure and rules imposed by the old mage and left two years later. Wendi would probably never admit it, but the structured training did impart valuable knowledge and benefits to her.

Wendi thus fell back into her homeless lifestyle at the age of 15. However, two years living comfortably with the old wizard had made Wendi unused to street life. Wendi soon found herself in trouble and on the run from a couple of authorities.

Luckily, a wandering priest of Shaundakul named Troy helped her escape Athkatla. Left with few other options, Wendi traveled with Troy and found that she enjoyed the freedom and flexibility of his lifestyle. She found his work meaningful. The two traveled together for years. Troy even introduced Wendi to another hedge witch named Annie, who was close friends with Troy. Although Wendi learned some magic from Annie, she chose to keep traveling with Troy.

A few years later, Wendi ordained as a priestess of Shaundakul at the age of 18. However, she would never rise very high in what little hierarchy the clergy had. Wendi continued to travel with Troy for a few more years as a sort of training period. She always seemed more interested in arcane pursuits than divine devotion, to Troy's exasperation.

Wendi finally struck out on her own in 1311. She traveled far and wide, guiding and helping travelers in need.

In 1325, Wendi happily ran into Troy again. She helped Troy find Annie, but Troy did not survive that encounter.

On Tarsakh 15th, 1346, Wendi arrived in Beregost during Shaundakul's holiday of Windride. She tried to help fight the Coast Plague's effects in Beregost. Although at the age of 56 Wendi was more knowledgeable than ever, she was humbled by her limited ability to combat the plague.

On Tarsakh 15th, 1353, Windride took Wendi to Baldur's Gate. She was 63. Aware that she wasn't getting any younger, she chose to settle in Ulgoth's Beard and open up a small crafting and brewing business.

In 1358, during the Time of Troubles, Wendi hid and kept to herself. The loss of divine magic and the unreliability of arcane magic unsettled her. She began to truly feel her age. After the Time of Troubles, Wendi lost her passion for travel and became reluctant to participate in Windride.

Tarsakh 15, 1359 brought the first Windride since the Time of Troubles ended. As usual, Wendi was swept away by Shaundakul to another location. But when this Windride concluded, Wendi left the clergy of Shaundakul.

Soon afterward, Wendi entered the service of Waukeen, whom she had revered as a young girl in Athkatla. The fact that Waukeen had been missing since the Time of Troubles strangely suited Wendi, since it meant fewer formal institutional expectations. Wendi could somehow cast divine magic in the goddess' absence. Whether Wendi learned this during her lifetime of study and travel, or researched this because of her fear of depending too much on any god after the Time of Troubles, or simply came to some unknown arrangement with some higher power, she kept this information closely guarded.

As of Flamerule 1360, Wendi is largely retired. She spends her days haggling in the Wide and somewhat reliving her girlhood days in Athkatla's markets. Though she spends much of her time away from Ulgoth's Beard, she is relieved to no longer be forced to travel.

On the 25th of Eleasis, 1360, Wendi learned about the destruction of Ulgoth's Beard from Edmond Marrok of Daggerdale and the elf Gildorel. She now seeks to help reclaim the village from the demonic forces that destroyed it.

Goals

• Live out a quiet and peaceful retirement

Possible Plot-Hook Ideas

• Wendi dislikes necromancers and undead

Miscellaneous Facts

• Wendi has discovered that few adventurers know how to haggle like she does, so she puts her Athkatlan bargaining skills to use in exchange for coin.
• At some point, Wendi got into a mage duel against a formally trained wizard. The wizard unleashed an omnimental, and the fight ended disastrously for Wendi when her leg was crushed. She survived and escaped, but was in recovery for months. Wendi walked with a limp from then on. Sometime later, Wendi managed to kill the wizard and acquire his omnimental.
• Although Wendi's age and limp make travel more difficult for her, she can walk normally with the help of magical enchantments.

[Arn]

Wendi's Theme

Love, let me home to my mother
Love, let me home to my mother
Darling, let me home to my mother

Love, let me home
to my mother
I only came for the cattle.
It was only last night
That I heard that my love was herding
And though you found me at the perimeter of the cattle fold
Love, let me home as you found me.
I was clambering up
the dykes
And descending the ridges
When a friendly lad met me
And he did not enforce his friendship on me.
Though you were to give me cattle and sheep
Though you were to give me tethered horses
Though you were to give me that and men
Love, let me home as you found me.
My mother and father will chastise you
My clan and my relatives will chastise you
But my three brothers will kill you
If I don’t return home as I came.
My mother promised me a gown
Decorated with the newest of ribbons
And she promised me a new plaid
If I return home the way you found me.

Somewhere deep down, there is a certain homesickness and yearning for lost childhood in Wendi. She has traveled far and wide as a priestess of Shaundakul, which was a welcome distraction from the loss of her family as a young girl. But old age has forced her to slow down, and now she has more time to reminisce. To me, this song represents how she feels about her childhood memories, which are now bubbling up after a lifetime of exploration and travel.