The Beginnings of Ravyn Rydraulin
In a land where peace and prosperity are the norm, there lived a family which had very little to live by. This family was the Rydraulin family who had only the crops and livestock to live by. They had given birth to a little baby girl which they named Ravyn. They had hoped that she will be the one who will bring them their long awaited fortune. But it didn't seem that way as the baby seemed a bit unhealthy. But it had been a bad season with on and off rain showers and longer winters which killed many crops and livestock. There was little food to feed the family so as the baby started to grow older, the skin became more pale. But the little girl's life would change as at the age of 5, she witnessed bandits come into her home, rob everything they had that kept the family surviving and kill the parents. Ravyn was lucky enough that they didn't do anything to her but that was probably because of how unhealthy she looked and the bandits feared they would become diseased if they were to capture her. But she was lucky enough to live in the farms near the Ashford Abbey so if she needed to seek any help, she would go there. As she slowly made her way out of the door, she looked up at the sky and it began to change. It went from being a sunny and warm to dark and stormy. She had heard stories from her parents that the elementalists loved to change the weather a lot for training reasons. As Ravyn looked around, she saw no sign of any elementalist casting spells. As best as Ravyn could through the storm, she made her way towards the Abbey. But the bad storm was weakening her fragile body rapidly and she only made it halfway until she dropped to the ground and fainted.
A young, blonde-haired and well-built female warrior who wielded a hammer just so happened to be on her way to the Abbey along with a couple other people trying to get to shelter to protect them from the storm. This young female was none other than Devona. She was praised as being a tough but caring woman who helped others in dire need. Devona looked around as she was running towards the Abbey with the other people she was with. She noticed Ravyn's body on the ground looking motionless. She looked at the two people and said, "Go on! Make your way to the Abbey quickly! Tell the gate guards that Devona sent you and they will let you in." The couple nodded in agreement and moved on while Devona went back to get Ravyn. Devona kneeled down and looked at Ravyn's physical features. "How on earth could this young girl survive? Her body is very frail and her skin very pale. But nonetheless, I must bring her to Mhenlo lest she become one of the undead." Devona lifted Ravyn's body up in her arms and proceeded to go to the Abbey.
When they arrived at the Abbey, the guard was about to ask Devona why she came but looked at Ravyn's lifeless body and knew. He immediately opened the gate and rushed inside with Devona. As they went inside, they could see all of the people that were in dire need of help. But there were only a few priests to go around. Devona turned to the guard and said, "Get Brother Mhenlo out here while I try to find a place to rest this young girl." The guard nodded and went off. Devona slowly walked around and had a sympathetic look on her face as she looked for a spot to put Ravyn down. She found a spot that was somewhat far from the entrance and slowly and gently placed Ravyn's body on the cot. A young but bald-headed man came out with the gate guard. The man was dressed in the traditional monk clothing and had a complex tattoo on his hairless head. This was Brother Mhenlo, one of the best monks in all of Tyria. He saw Devona and said, "The gate guard said you were here with another poor victim of the storm." Devona didn't say anything as she showed the monk Ravyn's lifeless body. "Oh my. I shall try a simple healing spell on her but if that doesn't work, then I must use the resurrection spell. I pray to Dwayna that this little girl is still alive." He knelt down, put his hands on Ravyn's body and then started to chant the ancient language of Dwayna, Goddess of Life and Air. Mhenlo's hands started to glow with a gold aura as the healing spell was starting to be cast. Soon the gold aura extended to surround Ravyn's lifeless body. After Mhenlo was done casting the healing spell, he placed his hand on Ravyn's neck. He felt a slight pulse and smiled. "Give her some time to recover but make sure she's still warm otherwise that slight pulse won't be there for long." Mhenlo got up and tended to the other people in need. Devona was about to leave the Abbey until Mhenlo insisted that she would watch over Ravyn to see if she would still live.
The next morning, all of the people except Ravyn slowly awoke and found some food next to their cots. Mhenlo came in and said, "I have provided you all with meals prepared by the other Abbey monks. You may eat it here or carry it back to your home." The people chose to eat at that moment. Mhenlo looked at Ravyn and seemed a bit worried. I hope the healing spell actually worked… After the people finished their meals, they all left the Abbey to go back to their homes. When the last of the crowd left, Mhenlo turned around and noticed a slight twitch from Ravyn's body. Devona had just woken up at this time but since she slept next to Ravyn, she noticed the twitching also. Soon Ravyn's eyes were slowly opening which was a good sign that the healing spell worked. Ravyn opened her eyes to notice that she was in the Ashford Abbey along with Mhenlo and Devona. She smiled a little bit with the strength she had. Mhenlo put a hand on Ravyn's forehead and said, "Try not to do too much as your strength needs time to recover. We made you a good meal to help you gain some of the energy you lost as well as put some weight on you." But with the lack of strength, it was hard for Ravyn to do anything. So Mhenlo and Devona helped feed Ravyn her meal.
Each and every day that passed, Ravyn started to show improvements on her health. It was about 3 years since that storm had hit and Ravyn started to look more mature. Although her skin was still pale, she seemed to be much more energetic than she ever was. Ravyn had told Mhenlo and Devona about her family being robbed by bandits and the warrior and monk decided to train her to become a hero just like them. Devona would train Ravyn during daylight in the ways of the hammer and Mhenlo would train her at night in the holy magic of Dwayna. Ravyn was trained for about 10 years until that day when The Searing had happened. Armed with the strength of Balthazar and the purity of Dwayna, Ravyn set out on a journey with others to save Tyria from even more destruction.