Aisling Flameswirl
| Race | Gnome |
| Class | Wildfire Druid |
| Background | Sage |
| Alignment | TN |
| Age | 86 |
Aisling Flameswirl was born in Shimmerbrooke. In her late teens, she was an apprentice to the local wisewoman, mostly gathering herbs in the forest and preparing simple cures.
One day when she was foraging north of the village, she was surprised by a thunderstorm. Lightning struck close to her and it was not long until the resulting forest fire had spread all around her. Running for her life, she kept getting cut off by wild flames that grew ever closer.
When the situation was almost hopeless, with charred hair, choking and almost blinded by the smoke, she heard a high-pitched voice below her say "Do not be afraid." Before she could react, she was no longer in the flame's grasp, but standing on a cliffside upwind from the blaze.
A small being of pure fire was hovering beside her. "It is lucky I found you. The fire needs to destroy in order to renew, but it was not yet your time." Its voice carried over the howling winds, and each droplet of rain that hit it hissed off as steam.
"What... are you?" was Aisling's first words, her eyes still watering from the smoke.
"In your language, I am Smolder," said the flaming spirit. "I heard your cries for help, and so I came."
The fiery being was no more than a meter long, shaped like a weasel or raccoon, but with a large bushy tail. It had a friendly face with distinct markings. It was clearly not of this world, but it also had an air of familiarity.
"What started the fire?" asked Aisling while she inspected her singed hair and charred clothes.
"This time, it was lightning. Other times, it is careless mages, or incursions from other places. It does not matter. All forests must burn in the end, and I will be there to guide it through."
"Guide it through what?"
"Renewal. Destroying the old makes room for the new. It is not an easy process, but it must be done. A forest that never burns is a forest in decay."
Aisling had a thousand questions she wanted to ask, but Smolder spoke first.
"I must go see to the forest. You should be fine now, as long as you stay upwind," it said before darting away. It looped around in a circle before dive-bombing straight for Aisling, who was too awed to act. Smolder impacted her chest, but instead of an impact, she just felt a warmth inside her, immediately soothing the pain from her burns.
As Smolder darted away, Aisling yelled out to it.
"Wait! Can I help you do it?"
Smolder stopped in mid-air, turned around slowly. With its head tilted to the side and its paws in front, it slowly descended down to Aisling's level.
"You want to help me guide the forest? It is not normally work for untrained mortals."
"You saved me from the flames and healed my wounds. The least I could do is help you. I promise I will do my best."
"Very well. We have much to do."
"Thank you, Smolder. For everything!"
Appearance
Aisling has flaming red hair that she keeps long. Her face and hands are usually a bit sooty. She dresses in multi-layered dark leathers and carries an ever-burning staff.
Smolder, her Wildfire Spirit, takes the form of a red panda that darts through the air.
- Gnome: Forest
- Background: Sage (MI: Wizard)
- Chromatic Orb, Firebolt, Prestidigitation
- L1: Primal Order: Magician
- L4: Elemental Adept: Fire
- L7: Elemental Fury: Potent Spellcasting
- L8: Resilient: Constitution