D&D character Thalia

Some say I'm evil, others might even say I'm crazy. Most probably think I'm both. But they're all wrong. All my life the world has taken from me, ruined my life, so it's only fair that I return the favor. I want the life that is rightfully mine, no matter the cost.

My parents died when I was three years old. They died protecting me. I was playing with some of the older kids in the village square when the attack started. The other kids scattered, leaving me alone, I didn't know what to do, where to go and I started crying when I nearly got trampled over. Until these two strong arms wrapped around me and lifted me up, like they always did when I needed help. I knew my dad was always going to be there to save me. When we got home my mother had opened the secret crawlspace where we hid our valuable stuff and was emptying it. Dad set me down next to it and sat on his knees next to mom and glanced at her before smiling at me. I should have known something was wrong back then, that something was going to happen. My dad hugged me first, telling me to be brave and that it would all be over soon. Afterwards my mom pulled me close, her eyes brimming with tears, I told her not to cry, everything would be fine like always. She just hugged me tight, apologized, and before I could ask why she murmured a spell and I was paralyzed. The two of them gently laid me down in the crawlspace, put my favorite doll next to me and covered me with a blanket before planting a kiss on my forehead, saying goodbye and closing the crawlspace. They left me there in the dark.

What felt like an eternity later I started hearing a ruckus above me. It sounded like the door got kicked in, my dad was shouting, my mom was screaming before I heard her chanting some spells. I was terrified, but my dad was really strong and my mom was the most powerful sorceress in the entire village, surely this would be over soon and they would have saved everyone, right? I tried not to listen to the fighting just above the floorboards while I kept reassuring myself, until...

Until I felt this thick, gooey, warm liquid drip on my face and heard the most terrifying sound ever. I think whatever had attacked our village was laughing, the very sound of it filling me with dread.

The thing stayed for a while, stomping through our house, knocking things over, grumbling in a language I couldn't understand, it seemed to be looking for something. It finally left after shouts in that same guttural language came from outside and I softly started whimpering, hoping they wouldn't hear.

Several hours later I felt the effect of the spell fade and I started sobbing harder and screaming for parents, for help, anyone... No one ever came.

After a couple days I woke up to the sound of hooves, scared the things had returned looking for survivors I kept as quiet as I could, until I heard a gentle female voice speaking the common tongue. I tried to yell for help but my voice was too hoarse and my throat too dry from not drinking for days, so instead I started hitting and kicking the door of the crawlspace, hoping they would hear it and free me. After finding and freeing me, the woman and her two companions cleaned me up and fed me. They tried to ask me what had happened and I answered as best as any three year old could. They then brought me to the nearest orphanage, which was a few villages over. Each night I begged the woman to let me stay with her, each night she told me she would come get me when I was old enough. I never saw her again.

I want to say that the orphanage was the worst place on earth, they bullied me because I looked different from them. I have pale white skin, with eyes as pale blue as the sky in the morning and hair as black as the night. My dad always said that I looked just like my mom, that I was beautiful, so why were they trying to tell me otherwise? They stole my pillow, or wet my bed at night, or tripped me as I was walking, took my food, the list goes on and on and on, until one day he stood up for me. He was a few years older than me and got in a lot of fights, all of which he won, so kids listened to him. He took my hand and led me away from them, we were inseparable ever since that moment. His name was William. He made this place heaven for me.

On the night of William's sixteenth birthday he asked me to sneak out of the girls' room and meet him under the willow tree where we had carved our initials in to mark it as our spot. I ran my fingers through my long hair, hoping it didn't look like a mess before climbing out the window. He was already at our tree, impatiently pacing back and forth, and broke into a smile when he saw me approach. He walked up to me and I grinned as I hugged him and said "Hi, birthday boy! What was so important that couldn't wait until morning?" ruffled his shaggy dark blond hair as I pulled back and smiled. He blushed a little and looked away before answering "I just wanted your face to be the first I saw when I turned sixteen..."

I giggled the way fourteen year old girls do when they're nervous and sat down to stare up at the starry night sky. "Don't be so cheesy, Will."

He sighed and sat down next to me, "I meant it, Thalia, I..." He sighed again, "I don't know how to...how to say this."

I looked at him curiously, William was never at a loss of words. His green eyes looking at me in a way I didn't quite understand, he lifted his hand to my chin and pulled face closer to his and suddenly he kissed me. I was shocked. It felt like a million butterflies were set loose in my stomach, and then it stopped and he was apologizing over and over, "I shouldn't have done that, I'm so sorry, Thalia, please forgive me, I -"

I looked into those beautiful eyes of his and said "No," before kissing him, "I love you, William, so don't you dare apologize."

He grinned from ear to ear, "I love you too, Thalia," we spent the rest of the night talking and kissing under our willow tree. He asked me to marry him a few years later, I truly believe we are destined to spend eternity together.

We lived happy together for several years, we bought a small farm together that we worked on, we let villagers in need of money work on our farm and gave them extra food when the day was over, everyone knew we would always help anyone. The produce we didn't use ourselves I took to the markets. I was a pretty good saleswoman, but whenever I saw some orphans I couldn't help but sneak them an apple or some gold to buy something, I knew their lives were tough, I just wanted to make it a little easier for them.

Shortly after my twenty-first birthday had passed I found out I was with child. I didn't know how I would tell William, of course we had talked about having a family, but he always talked about having one in the future, when we had enough gold to never have to worry about a single thing. And here I'd gone and ruined his plan. Will found me a few hours later, still in my night gown, on the floor, hugging my knees to my chest. He got on his knees in front of me and touched my forehead, "You don't feel warm, what's wrong?"

I just shook my head before staring at my feet. He sighed and stroked my cheek before pulling my face up. I made the mistake of looking into his eyes, the little smirk that came over his face told me he knew he would get the truth now, so...I told him we were having a baby and closed my eyes, expecting him to be upset with me. Instead he pulled me up, twirled me around and said that was the best thing I've said since I've accepted his proposal. After we celebrated privately he said the whole town deserved to know, so we went to our favorite tavern and celebrated until it was dark out.

We were walking home, dancing would be the more correct term for what we were doing, and William was singing the heroic tales of our own baby, it made me giggle like a young schoolgirl. Don't get me wrong, Will can sing, but he's no bard. But then he came. That abomination. A vampire. He said he could smell new life in me, that that was his favorite meal. That my baby was going to be this monster's food. He advanced on me and I backed up, looking for ways to defend myself, when William attacked him. He knocked the creature to the ground and they wrestled for a while. The vampire got the upper hand and Will looked at me, his face all bruised and bloodied, he yelled at me to run, but I couldn't leave him. I flung myself at the vampire, scratching at his face, yelling the few spells I knew, kicking and screaming at him, I just wanted to either help my husband or wake up people who could. The vampire just chucked at my feeble attempts before throwing me into a tree, knocking the air out of my lungs. I could only watch and sob as he drained William.

Next he came for me, I protected my stomach with my arms, trying to scramble away from him, I didn't want him to take the last thing I had of Will's. I screamed as he broke both my arms with ease and straddled my legs. I begged him not to, but he just grinned at me, making sure I saw his bloodstained fangs. William's life force dripping from that monster's teeth... Before he could do anything I started begging him to end my life, to let me join Will, but that just made him laugh. The pain that exploded from my abdomen next was indescribable, it's like being ripped apart. Well, I suppose I was.

I woke up dazed several days later. I slowly sat up, my head spinning from the slight movement, and took in my surroundings. Clean white walls, white tiles on the floor, six beds on each side of the wall, some people with bloodied bandages covering parts of their head or arms occupied a few beds on the wall opposite me. There was a nurse scribbling away in notebook at a desk beside a window. She noticed me sitting up and scurried over, pushing me back down on the pillows, but I resisted and croaked for William. Surely if they could save me they could save him too. They had to have saved him, he's my everything, my very soul. She just looked at me sympathetically while shaking her head. When I asked about our baby she just ran away from my bed. I don't remember much after that. I spent most of the time crying, barely touched my food and asked every nurse or healer why they were too lazy to save the two things that were the most precious to me. After a while they stopped coming to my bedside.

After my wounds were healed I was free to go home. They offered to walk with me, but if they couldn't even bother to try saving Will, why would they help me if I got attacked again?

I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I walked through the village. They were all just hiding in their houses, peeping through their windows like they had when Will died, probably gossiping about how I lost him...how I lost our child...And it's all their fault. After everything we did for them they just sat back and let us be attacked, they listened to to my screams...and not one of them had come to our rescue. So why do they deserve to live more than they did? Why did our unborn child have to pay for their cowardice? Why should pathetic scum like that be allowed to have children when they stole that away from me? My rage kept building as these questions were repeating in my head as I walked on. When I reached the front door to our house I snapped. The villagers had left flowers for William, as if they cared. They, who sat safely in their homes, just listening while he was being slaughtered, to his child being torn out of his wife, pretended to care, unfortunately for them, I know the lying scumbags never did.

I started destroying the traitors' flowers, this caused a few villages to come out of their homes to get a better look at me. Someone tried to stop me but I shrugged them off. When I finished I glared at everyone, they were all responsible for what happened, they had to die. My vision grew red as I started slaughtering the entire village, no one was to be spared. I laughed maniacally, firing spell after spell, completely covered in blood, with parts of my hair singed from my fire spells. What felt like minutes actually lasted hours, but finally the job was done. Through the smoke and fire I could faintly see the outline of a dragonlike figure, but I didn't care anymore, I've killed the ones responsible and I was exhausted. I went inside and got my staff and packed a traveling kit and started walking until sunset before settling down to sleep. The echoes of their screams made my dreams ever so sweet.

The next morning I got up, gathered my things and headed to the next village. They all looked at me strangely, I couldn't stand the looks they gave me and this indescribable rage came over me once again, making me butcher this village too. At least I got free food and new clothes out of it.

My journey went on like this, soon I became well known in the lands and people knew not to look at me, they brought me offerings in hopes of surviving, I asked them of news of vampires and eventually was brought to a necromancer. He told me there was a way to get my William back. That he would teach me. He also told me that there were rumors of a nest of vampires in Greenest. First I need to kill those, I will never have William as long as there are vampires walking the earth.

And so I set out to Greenest.