Rift character summary
Name: Yelena
Occupation: Field researcher and teaching assistant
Employed by: Quicksilver College
Specialty: Pyromancy
Relationships/family: Orphan
Quote/core ideal:
While relaxing at The Blunted Quill after a long day of saving youngsters from blowing themselves up, an intoxicated colleague asked Yelena what in the name of the Vigil an Ascended was doing teaching apprentices instead of battling the rift invasions. Yelena smiled, put down her tankard, and responded:
"We Ascended have to eat, too, you know. Not that it's any of your business, but did you know that my salary is paid by Sanctum, rather than by the college? No, I can see from the look on your face that you didn't. Sanctum pays me to be here because they believe as I do: that this is going to be a long war, and we must prepare the next generation.
I spend plenty of time on the front lines, but when I am here, I'm not fighting for the present. By giving my students the best guidance I can, I fight for the future of our world, because I believe in the hope of the Vigil. I believe that I was restored to life for a reason: to give the people of Telara a day in the sunlight, without fear of the long shadow of the Shade that Aedraxis cast upon us.
Those in my care have never known life without battle. Every day, every single day they have drawn breath has been under the clouds of invasion, of constant intrusion from the planes. Every class, every lesson is conducted with the knowledge that it might be interrupted at any moment by a rift opening above their heads.
On the battlefield, I am merely one Ascended. In the classroom, I lead and instruct Telara's future armies. With the blessing of the Vigil, it is my task to mentor them and train them to take up the burden of defending our world while the scholars here and elsewhere work tirelessly to find a way to restore the Ward to its original strength and close the planar gateways forever.
There was once a time when none knew the name of Regulos, Devourer of Worlds. The sooner we end his tyranny, the sooner these children can stop being weapons and start rebuilding Telara's peace.
I fight for the future because I believe Telara has a future. A future free of the exhaustion of relentless struggle, uncorrupted by the taint of the dragon cults. A future devoid of perpetual conflict and strife. A future that includes a civilization that is able to progress and thrive; a future unpopulated by faces wearied and spirits eroded by the necessities of survival. Where magic and technology provide peacetime marvels, rather than wartime munitions.
I teach because I believe a future exists where my students are free to decide what and who they will be."
Yelena smiled wryly, pausing to take a sip of her ale.
"Thus endeth the lesson."
Occupation: Field researcher and teaching assistant
Employed by: Quicksilver College
Specialty: Pyromancy
Relationships/family: Orphan
Quote/core ideal:
While relaxing at The Blunted Quill after a long day of saving youngsters from blowing themselves up, an intoxicated colleague asked Yelena what in the name of the Vigil an Ascended was doing teaching apprentices instead of battling the rift invasions. Yelena smiled, put down her tankard, and responded:
"We Ascended have to eat, too, you know. Not that it's any of your business, but did you know that my salary is paid by Sanctum, rather than by the college? No, I can see from the look on your face that you didn't. Sanctum pays me to be here because they believe as I do: that this is going to be a long war, and we must prepare the next generation.
I spend plenty of time on the front lines, but when I am here, I'm not fighting for the present. By giving my students the best guidance I can, I fight for the future of our world, because I believe in the hope of the Vigil. I believe that I was restored to life for a reason: to give the people of Telara a day in the sunlight, without fear of the long shadow of the Shade that Aedraxis cast upon us.
Those in my care have never known life without battle. Every day, every single day they have drawn breath has been under the clouds of invasion, of constant intrusion from the planes. Every class, every lesson is conducted with the knowledge that it might be interrupted at any moment by a rift opening above their heads.
On the battlefield, I am merely one Ascended. In the classroom, I lead and instruct Telara's future armies. With the blessing of the Vigil, it is my task to mentor them and train them to take up the burden of defending our world while the scholars here and elsewhere work tirelessly to find a way to restore the Ward to its original strength and close the planar gateways forever.
There was once a time when none knew the name of Regulos, Devourer of Worlds. The sooner we end his tyranny, the sooner these children can stop being weapons and start rebuilding Telara's peace.
I fight for the future because I believe Telara has a future. A future free of the exhaustion of relentless struggle, uncorrupted by the taint of the dragon cults. A future devoid of perpetual conflict and strife. A future that includes a civilization that is able to progress and thrive; a future unpopulated by faces wearied and spirits eroded by the necessities of survival. Where magic and technology provide peacetime marvels, rather than wartime munitions.
I teach because I believe a future exists where my students are free to decide what and who they will be."
Yelena smiled wryly, pausing to take a sip of her ale.
"Thus endeth the lesson."