Although not of Varisian blood, I was raised as part of a nomadic tribe. My mother (Nastasia Milovich) was a Ustalavic noble who grew infatuated with an elven smuggler that was passing though the city. They engaged in a very brief affair which neither expected nor wanted to turn into anything deeper. He inevitably left, and soon after, my mother discovered that she was pregnant. To be pregnant out of wedlock was bad enough, but to be a mother to a half elven child was something that she wanted no part of. Nastasia hid her pregnancy as best as she could, and after she delivered the baby, she had her midwife tell everyone that the child was stillborn. In actuality, my mother had the midwife simply remove the child from her estate, not caring what would become of her only daughter. The midwife was from a Varisian family, and brought the child to her sister (Esme)at a nearby camp. Esme was thrilled to raise the baby, since she’d never been able to have a child of her own.
My adopted mother treated me no differently than had I been her own child, although she would make sure that I always hid my more elven features (primarily, the pointed ears) with a bandanna or a head scarf. I knew that she could not have been my biological mother, since we looked nothing alike, but she would never tell me anything about my birth parents. In time, it became easy to put out of my mind, since I spent my life downplaying my elven heritage anyway. I met Dr. Lorromar as a teenager, and was fascinated with his tales of the various creatures that were out in the world. Dr. Lorromar traveled with our caravan for a while, and I would accompany him and Luka to the ruins. Although he was originally not thrilled with this (since he figured I would be a hindrance and most likely get myself killed) I was able to hold my own against the creatures they encountered, and his objections ceased.
Sadly, our caravan was attacked wandering undead, and Esme was grievously wounded. On her deathbed, she told me the truth about my parentage. After she died, I immediately left the caravan to meet and confront my mother. Which went about as well as could be expected. Nastasia was quick to buy my silence with a large sum of gold, and sent me on my way. Because of her clearly uncaring treatment towards her own daughter, I grew disgusted with not only Ustalav, but the nobility in general, Since my adopted mother had just died, I had no real desire to return to the caravan, so I spent time simply traveling though the countryside. At one point, I was attacked by bandits. Although I was able to defeat them, it further cemented in my head that the people in Ustalav were oppressed. I happened to come into contact with Dr. Lorromar again, and, after hearing about what I’d been though, strongly recommended that I visit some of his contacts in the Church of Desna.
After receiving my Inquisitor training, I spent my time ensuring that travelers were not being accosted, primarily by undead. It was during this assignment that I learned of Lorromar’s death.
Description: Although obviously not Varisian, she very much adapts their style of dress. Talena’s long blonde hair is braided in parts and adorned with feathers and other ornaments. She has Varisian tribal tattoos, as well as a large butterfly on the left side of her ribcage to honor Desna. She continues to hide her pointed ears with a headscarf.
