Thunderborn Family/Cadewyn

Cadewyn was born on a calm night, where her screams disturbed the neighbors, telling the world of her spirit from the moment she drew air. Born with dark hair that curled only at the ends, and storm blue eyes, no amount of skin darkened her skin. She would spend hours outside, but all she got was dirty. All in all she was girl more suited to the pursuits of the neighbor boys than the lessons her mother tried to teach her. A merchant’s daughter, she would be expected to help with the inventory, and keeping a house that spoke of quality, and endorsement of her future husband’s abilities.

She had known who her mother preferred for this husband since she was 5 years old. And she hated the boy, blaming him for the lessons she must endure. She lived for the time when her gram, her father;s mother, would have her to mind. In secret with her gram, who had been a witch, a warrior of the woods, a noble’s bed warmer, and much more (according the her gram’s own stories), she learned about weapons, and surviving in the wild, both hot places and cold.

Her gram’s stories were her window to the wider world. For her parents would never go where trade was not safe, where travel was dangerous, where people did not follow laws and morals. So they never went anywhere, to be sure. She longed for it, to travel, to test herself against others, to prove to her own soul she was as she felt. That she was more than a marriageable asset to her family, and more than a child bearer to such a husband. But that was all she could expect. Until she met him…

Daxion was her father’s cousin. For every moment her father tried to live down his mother’s more wild ways, buying deeper into the gentility of mercantilism and the pretense of civility, there was a story of Daxion. Oh he was brave, and noble to be sure, like some story hero. But he was not suited to a storefront or dinners and parties. And he was counterpoint from her gram to every lesson her parents tried to teach her about being a lady. But what sealed her fate was the day they met as adults.

He was traveling through, from one adventure to the other, but stopped to say hello to his cousin on her birthday. Perhaps it was that he had not seen her in 6 years. Perhaps it was his smile upon her opening the door, so reckless and joyous at his arrival. But that first hug, one of family in greeting, sparked something. A week’s stay became a month and by the end of it her home was divided. Her father demanded Daxion prove himself more than a poor wanderer. Her mother was heartbroken over the loss of a better match. Her grandmother tried to dissuade Cadewyn from settling so soon. And Daxion seemed to agree with all of them.

It was then, that the call went out for Knights to bolster Xavax’s forces. It seemed the solution, as far as everyone was concerned. And so Daxion went. But so did Cadewyn. For every argument about Daxion’s unsuitability applied to her as well. They are pledged to each other, until they have earned renown for their name and until they have proven they are each other’s best match.