Princess Rowena Krollnar - Lendyl

Glantrian Princess of Virgaard, Vicequeen of Dragonsdale, Chancellor of the Princes.

Note: Special Thanks to Giovanni Porpora for having so well detailled Lady Rowena - I simply had to adapt her background to the campaign I'm involed in.

Born in AC 968

History: Rowena Krollnar was born the daughter of Haak Krollnar and Nejla de Wajden in AC 968. Her father was no family man, and no sooner was Rowena born, that he had left his family to go adventuring into the Elemental Plane of Fire. Thus, Rowena spent her childhood in Vystaar, a small mountainside village in the Viscounty of Bergen, raised by her mother and her mother’s family. Rowena enjoyed long walks to the mountains and iced baths in mountain lakes. She befriended some lupins of the Flaemish Shepherds clan living in the mountains and from them, she learned how to use herbs for healing and other purposes.

Rowena was sent to study magic at the Great School relatively late, after her mother’s death in AC 966. When her estranged father won the Awards Festival for the Barony of Alderturm in AC 984, she refused to attend his proclamation. She had only seen him a few times in her life, and she decided to remain at the Great School instead. Lord Haak was terribly dismayed, but he had come to realize just how bad a father he had been, and let Rowena live her life as she pleased.

During her stay at the Great School, she was the subject of the amorous attentions of many students and even a teacher, but Rowena had fallen in love with a certain Aalbanese student, Maximilian Hiltier. Not wishing to raise scandal for a relationship with a non-Flaem, the two lovers agreed to keep their romance a secret. They succeeded for four years until she discovered she was pregnant.

Rowena knew she could not seek assistance from her mother’s family (who were vehemently Flaemish), and decided to approach her father. Though not more open-minded than the average Flaems, but loving his daughter more than anything else, Haak surprisingly agreed to help the two lovers.

Lord Haak offered Maximilian a discreet position in Alderturm, and made an official declaration that the father of Rowena’s child was a young, very eligible—and recently deceased—Flaemish aristocrat. Lord Haak spent much care in organizing the charade, from the solemn ceremonies between the Krollnars and the aristocrat’s family (which earned him an important and wealthy ally) to Prince Vanserie Vlaardoen’s casual and obtuse remarks about Rowena and the deceased aristocrat (which, of course, was taken as factual and true). Unfortunately, the Krondaharan enemies of House Linden had discovered the truth of the matter, and threatened to blackmail the young Aalbanese and spark a public scandal. Pushed by his love for Rowena and by his loyalty to Haak, Maximilian decided it was best if he would leave. He was unfortunately killed by a Red Dragon while travelling across Bergdhoven.

At first Rowena’s loneliness was eased by her father’s attentions, but soon after Haak himself was called by Prince Vanserie Vlaardoen to an important and dangerous mission to the Elemental Plane of Fire.

In AC 990, Rowena accidentaly invoked a creature from the Abyss and was seriously wounded and lost her child during the fight that followed. The scare on her left cheek also dates from that unexpected encounter. 

While she had just recovered from her demoniac assaulter, she received news of her father’s death. Prince Vanserie himself had survived the mission and returned. He offered to Rowena, together the title and rank of Baroness of Alderturm, but nothing could allay Rowena’s grief for her father, nor her growing resentment towards Prince Vanserie.

Wishing to remain alone, Rowena nominally accepted the position of Baroness (and delegated the tasks of ruling to her father’s loyal retainers), but took no pains in hiding her hatred towards the Prince. She also announced publically that she would marry any young man who would manage to slay the demon that wounded her, if given a proof of the deed. 

During the Festival Awards of AC 992, Lady Rowena appealed the Parliament to accept her bid for the open Viscounty of Bergen, the place of her birth. Prince Vanserie, still guilty for her father’s death, personally rallied support for Rowena, but many of the lords already favored her stand. Rowena returned to her birthplace as its ruler and was determined to remain there the rest of her life, since a young and handsome noble man, the new Prince of Virgaard, brought her the head of a creature well-known to her. Res pecting her word, and gradually falling in love with Vaëlmir, she accepted to marry him in AC 1007. She then left her Viscounty vacant to the Glantrian Nobles' greed.

The couple had several years of pure happiness, and Rowena gave birth to three wonderful childs, Wynona, the elder daughter, Etheldred, first son, and finally Drake, a young boy with obvious progeny dispositions. 

At the end of AC 1014, while having a lonely walk in the hills around Mithrandyl, Rowena was abducted by a party of alphatian spies. Before being teleported, she had just the time to see a doppleganger shifting its appearance to her features. She was finally freed several weeks after by glantrian agents of the Council, and was saved from imprisonment by her sister-in-law, Ithîldin.

Rowena returned to Virgaard, only to discover her husband had been slain during a duel with a huge dragon, while she was still held in captivity. She underwent a few days of cataleptical schock and came back to life  thanks to her children love and care.

Since AC 1015, Rowena’s disillusion at her husband death was balanced by her great success as a teacher at the Great School of Magic. In fact, after years of prodding by her peers and colleagues (including Harald of Haaskinz), Rowena eventually agreed to accept a teaching position, and became a major participant in the activities of the Glantrian intellectual circles. She established the Library and Museum of Planar & Fire Lore in Ambreville.

As Rowena improved her magical skills, she finally found the courage to venture into the Elemental Plane of Fire. She soon became a habitué, traveling there along with her comrades. Together, they verified, appended and updated much of the information gathered by her ancestors.

The Wrath of Immortals left Rowena with the satisfaction of achieving the Fourth Circle of Fire Elementalism but with the great sorrow at the death of Prince Vaëlmir.

 Personnality:  Rowena is stubborn and persistent, but not foolishly so. Once she has decided an undertaking, she is determined to fulfill it, unless she realizes it is beyond her own skills. But even so, Rowena is bound to improve her own skills, until she is well capable of completing the task. 

Rowena is uncharacteristically tolerant towards non-Flaems. However, she has understood that she could not single-handedly change the status quo, so had done her best to conform to Flaemish ways—or, at least, appear so. But since Lady Juliana has become the Princess of Bergdhoven, Rowena has boldly become truer to herself and her beliefs of racial tolerance and acceptance.

For a long time, Rowena has been struggling to make people notice and respect her for her intelligence rather than her beauty. On one hand, she declines social events and frivolities, preferring to intellectual gatherings, where she could display her learning and cleverness. On the other hand, Rowena has developed a studied neglect of her physicality—the carelessly draped veil, the untended scar, the lack of jewels, the wisp of loose hair—all meant to downplay her physical appearance. Unfortunately, Rowena’s beauty still manages to shine through. Only recently has she accepted this double-edged gift, and learned to make use of her beauty to suit her purposes.

Rowena does not particularly like to meddle in political affairs, and she was used to leaving the burden to her Spokesman. Meanwhile, the death of her husband obliged her to get more and more involved into the web of Glantrian Politics. Her political stance as the Princess of Virgaard is constantly in support of her Allied Houses, but tends to opposition of House Singhabad,  whenever the occasion arises. 

Socially, Rowena is on very good terms with the Vlaardoens. Since Rowena realized that Vanserie left Glantri and his daughter, trying to achieve personnal ambition schemes, she ceased to admire the former Prince of Berdhoven. Meanwhile Rowena greatly respected Lady Wilhelmine Vlaardoen, recognizing her role as symbol for all the Flaems. The Princess of the Flaems admired Rowena’s scholarly attitudes and shared her curiosity towards Flaemish history.

Rowena had contrasting feelings toward Lady Juliana Vlaardoen, when Juliana was still the heiress to the Principality of Bergdhoven. Rowena appreciated Juliana’s tolerant attitude towards other races but disliked her laziness in magical studies. Upon the so-called treachery of Juliana’s parents, Rowena turned out to be a valuable support to the young Princess, more than any of the other Flaemish nobles. Juliana is grateful for Lady Rowena for this, and she has always been and admirer of how Rowena manages to mix her beauty and her cleverness.Where Lady Rowena has earned the respect of Princess Juliana for her tolerant attitudes towards non-Flaems, she has earned the misgivings of the other Flaemish nobles, Lady Sinaria Verlien, Former Countess of High Sonden, and Lord Pieter Vandehaar, Baron of Oxhill. Being a distant relative of the Vandeeker Family, Rowena distrusts Baron Pieter Vandehaar, since she suspects that he was somehow involved in the slaughter of the family. At the Great School of Magic, the majority of students and other teachers hold Rowena in high esteem. The exception is partly due to a good degree of envy.

What She Says: " "

What Others Say: " "

Appearance: Rowena Krollnar is a statuesque beauty, a little over six feet tall, and of a pale complexion, evidence of her non-pure Flaemish blood. She had bright blue eyes and blonde hair with fiery red highlights. She changes her hairstyle often, alternating between loose and long tresses to tight and traditional Flaemish headdresses. She has recently started using herbal concoctions to keep her face and her hair free from any sign of aging.

The one remarkable feature of the Princess of Virgaard is the large garish scar on the left side of her face. But rather than being unsightly, the patterns of the scar actually enhance Lady Rowena’s features, not unlike an elaborate tattoo or so much carelessly loose strands of her hair.

Lady Rowena never dons jewels nor uses perfumes, though she has often been noted to have a natural fragrance about her. In public, she favors long flowing robes which flatter her figure, and an occasional veil on her face, of blue (to match her eyes) or gold (to accent her hair). On recently has she taken up wearing traditional Flaemish dresses.

 Combat: For a long time, Rowena has been a scholar and a theorist, rather than a practitioner. In her early days, when she had to confront an enemy, she relied heavily on protective spells, conjured or summoned creatures, and the good old teleport spell. As time passed and her powers grew, she learned to use more offensive spells, mostly based on elemental fire, of course. 

Rowena’s collection of Flaemish spells and magical items is not the greatest among the Flaems, but it is the most unique, as since she has personally researched and recreated them from the ancient Flaemish books.

Lady Rowena Krollnar, a 15^th level human  Wizard, Fire Elementalist of the Fourth Circle :

THAC0 --; #AT - (double specialization at saber) ; Dmg 1-x+x; SA ------, Magical Items; SD Resistance 90% to Charm and Sleep; AC ---; hp --; MV 12; ML ; AL True Neutral.

Str 12 Int 17 Wis 11 Dex 13 Con 12 Cha 17 Com 20.

Under Construction

Favored Spells:

1^st level

Languages: Flaemish, Thyatian (Glantrian and Aalbanese dialects), Elvish (Alfheim Dialect), Alphatian. Rowena speaks foreign languages without any accent.

Known Proficiencies: ancient history (Flaemish), botany, geography (Bergen), herbalism, meditation, mountaineering, planar lore (Elemental Plane of Fire, Ethereal Plane, Quasi-Elemental Plane of Ash), quick casting, reading/writing, spell combination, spellcraft, spellflash.

Equipment: