Life Story
Page 1
Clarissa was the daughter of a local lord in a northwestern duchy.
Her upbringing was a strict one, with her mother making sure to instruct her and her siblings to always conduct themselves in a manner befitting her station.
When a local quarrel grew into a conflict between factions in the duchy where her family resided, uneasy tidings of war began to permeate the land.
Her brothers began to train in swordsmanship so as be prepared if war ever came to the region. Clarissa, always different from her older sisters, also chose to train in the sword with her brothers.
She aspired to join the Order of Knights to do battle alongside her brothers if the time came.
Page 2
Clarissa's father, on the other hand, was a cowardly fence-sitter who could not even make up his mind which faction to support.
When the factions clashed, he kept up an amicable front with both sides, and believing it to be the quickest way to preserve peace in his lands, began offering his many daughters to neighboring lords.
One after another, Clarissa's sisters were offered up in ransom, married off as political pawns.
Her father ordered her to marry the man he had chosen in only one month. As a noble lady, there was no way for Clarissa to resist.
It was then that civil war finally broke out in the duchy.
Page 3
In the end, the efforts of Clarissa's father turned out to be in vain. Her sisters died, and those who had sword alliances went back on their word, overwhelming the knights being led by her brothers. The lands were devastated, and Clarissa prepared to face her own death.
In the meantime, the royal family had dispatched the royal knights to the duchy to broker peace between the warring factions.
It was then chat Clarissa first saw a royal knight. Their stately manner as they rode past her family's lands greatly inspired her, and the way they quickly quelled the unrest and were on their way made her realize what true noble dignity meant.
Page 4
After the war ended, the duchy was divided and CLarissa's fence-sitting father fell into ruin.
Life was now harder than before, but Clarissa knew that if she was going to become a knight, now was the time. She had learned the sword in order to defend her lands. Now she wanted to serve the crown as a knight.
In the chaotic aftermath of the war, she renounced her noble name. Traveling to the capital, she joined the guild in order to support herself, vowing in her heart of hearts that she would one day be a noble knight.