Havine Shalehammer

"“They tell me that I’m a hero. That without me we would have lost. I just did what I could to help, anything more than that was sheer blind luck. That’s all. Just luck. If I were really a hero, I would have saved more.”"A half-dwarf Cleric of Pelor, Havine was part of the adventuring party, New Dawn.

History
Havine Shalehammer (previously Gracewood) was born and raised in the town of Stonebend, nestled in the foothills of the nearby mountains. The town's nearest neighbors is a Dwarven town (Dunn's Gate), with whom they did a lot of trade. The people of Stonebend traded in lumber.

Childhood
When she was nine, her parents, Ivan Gracewood and Leesa Tailor, both died from an unnamed illness that killed them within a week, too quickly for them to make any preparations. No one else in the town became sick. They were cremated, as is traditional of followers of Pelor, the sun god, and after a brief visit with a family friend --Aungor Shalehammer-- she was taken in by the temple of Pelor. Though stubborn and hotheaded, she found solace in the temple life, and came to appreciate her time there. She devoted herself to becoming a Cleric.

The Rebellion
When she was sixteen her town (and many others) rebelled against their lord, and instead of continuing her quiet studies inside of Stonebend's most prominent temple, she was sent to help heal the wounded. The battlefield was her teacher and she learned quickly. She had to. Through her hard work and dedication, culminating on their final, victorious battle, the troops had begun to see her as a good luck charm. She was always right there when she was needed the most, and saved many who would have died without her hasty intervention, including the commander of the militia, Olivar Thorne. The men and women of the Militia took to calling her 'The Stonebend Shieldmaiden'. Even after the rebellion was over, their side victorious, the nickname never quite faded.

But the rebellion had taken a heavy toll on Stonebend. Havine berated herself for not doing more, for not saving more people. People praised her for her heroism but she barely knew what she was doing. How could she take credit for deeds that seemed to her no more than luck? She had stumbled upon the young man an inch from his grave on accident. She'd been ducking for cover and tripped over his broken leg. The arrows she deflected with her shield were a coincidence; once she'd even been shielding her eyes from the sun, trying to get a better view of the battlefield.

Life After War
After all the fighting was over, she tried to live a simpler life. Returning to the temple to seek solace in her god and what work she could do healing the sick and wounded. But the praise of her neighbors eventually weighed too heavy on her soul, and so she took to wandering the neighboring lands, helping others in need. But sometimes the villagers recognize her name, and other veterans from other villages try to swap old war stories over their meals.

But she keeps close to home, roaming the foothills and the mountains, helping those who need it. She tends to spend her winters in Stonebend, staying in her room in the temple, or rarely with Aungor Shalehammer, wherever he might be.

Her Parents
"'They died when I was nine. An illness, they said, that crept up on them both and took them before the week was out. No one else got sick, just them.'""She stares at him, jaw clenched, something pained and angry stirring deep in her chest. It reminds her of when she was a child, when Father Beauregarde said to her, 'They're gone, child. They're gone, and no amount of fighting will bring them back; not from this.'She'd refused to accept it. Denied it. Angrily and loudly until they'd sent for Aungor and he'd had to force the grief out of her. He wrung the tears out of her and made her feel her pain, and--'" Leesa and Aungor  -- When they adventured together, the two of them were a couple. When Leesa found herself pregnant (a very rare occurrence between humans and dwarves) she decided that instead of telling Aungor that she would go back to Stonebend and rekindle an old relationship with her childhood sweetheart and pass Havine off as his. (Ivan was a doting father and a good husband, who Leesa  did  love). She knew that Aungor was not the type to settle down and have a family, and she cared about him enough to not put that pressure on him. She always assumed that she'd have the chance one day to tell him the truth, but she died before it could happen.

Becoming an Adventurer
Shortly after beginning her annual travel to the villages outside of Stonebend in the late Winter of 4284, Havine stumbled upon the wounded tiefling, Relentless. After healing him and making sure he was alright, the two of them decided to travel together through the surrounding area for a time, eventually forming a romantic relationship over the course of six weeks.

Havine was then contacted by Aungor Shalehammer, asking for her assistance in dealing with a situation in the forest outside of Dunn's Gate. The two of them traveled to meet him, and also encountered Tally, Kitrick, and Medericus, along with Jasttor and Ilweth.

Together they confronted undead within the forest, including the raised body of the guardian of the forest, Albion. He informed them of an evil necromancer named Chogrim who was responsible for the undead, and the group deduced the necromancer must be in the nearby town of Stonebend.

Leaving Aungor behind in Dunn's Gate and parting ways from Jasttor and Ilweth, the party headed to Stonebend, where they discovered that Havine's mentor, Father Beauregarde, was an unwilling ally of Chogrim's. Beauregarde himself was responsible for the death's of Havine's parents as well as the rebellion that had shaped Havine's life.

After killing Chogrim and seeing Beauregarde banished from Stonebend, the group returned to Dunn's Gate where Havine told Aungor what had happened. It was then that Aungor took Havine to the magical sigils protecting the dwarven city beyond the gate, where he confirmed his suspicions that she was his daughter. The two of them spoke at length about this development before Havine and the rest of the New Dawn set out to find the Metalhearts base, their quest laid out before them.

However, not long after arriving in Zhayeria, Havine received word from Aungor that he needed her help, causing an argument between her and Relentless, ending their relationship when she left the group to go to him.

Items of Note

 * Bag of Holding Returned to the New Dawn
 * Ring of Exponential Value Returned to the New Dawn
 * +1 Shield
 * +1 Mace

Known Affiliates

 * Olivar Thorne - Captain of the Guard in Stonebend, fellow veteran of the rebellion.
 * Father Beauregarde - Havine's mentor, once-leader of the Temple of Pelor in Stonebend.
 * Phoebe Glenn - Havine's childhood friend.
 * Issak Forrester - A fellow acolyte at the Temple of Pelor in Stonebend, Havine sees him as a little brother.
 * Susanna Prim - A fellow acolyte at the Temple of Pelor in Stonebend, Susanna took over Beauregarde's seat as leader at Havine's suggestion.