Background:

Nieve was born to a well off Elvin family from Morning Glory Grove. She was a beautiful and much loved child, well liked by her peers. Nieve lived a charmed life. Until one day while strolling through the forest Nieve met Algen. Algen was a mortal woodsman. Nieve had never met a mortal, nor had Algen an elf. After that first meeting Algen and Nieve met in the forest many more time and developed a fast friendship that eventually grew into love. Nieve's family was not thrilled by her friendship with the mortal but tolerated their daughter's inquisitiveness in the mortal ways. However a romantic interest in a mortal was not to be tolerated. When Nieve declared her wish to marry the mortal, Algen, her parents were furious and forbid Nieve to see Algen. So Nieve, unable to give up her love for Algen ran away in the dead of night to be with Algen. The two traveled for weeks and eventually came to the mortal village of Larvathia where together Nieve and Algen started a life and a home. For 5 years Nieve and Algen lived happily in Larvathia and Nieve believe she had found a perfect love. She knew she was right to disregard the warnings of her parents on how fickle mortals could be and the far greater fear of what Nieve's life would be like as Algen aged and she did not. Nieve was young and had no time for such concerns. She was in love. However Nieve was naïve to disregard the concerns of her parents, because before the creeping hands of father time could start to crumble Nieve's happy home the hands of fate stepped in and showed Nieve just how fickle the mortal heart could be.

One night as Nieve and Algen lie sleeping a spark sprang from the open hearth to the kindling pile beside it and began what was to be a blazing fire. Algen jumped from the bed to fight the fire and began to yell to Nieve to wake up and flee the house. However before Nieve could leave the bed the rafter above her cracked and fell on her. Algen ran to Nieve and was able to remove the burning timber but the damage had been done. Long after the fire was doused the ugly scars it left behind on Nieve's face and body remained. The once beautiful Nieve was now ugly and disfigured. She became withdrawn and paranoid. Algen became more and more distant. This hideous, withdrawn creature was not the elf he loved. In his mind, since they had never been officially married he saw no reason to feel obligated to stay with her. So in the dead of night just as Nieve had run from her family, Algen ran from her. When Nieve awoke that morning she found Algen and all of his belongings gone. The village folk would tell her nothing and shunned her from their homes. It seems her parents were right. Mortals were a fickle breed.

Unable to bring herself to return home, Nieve took to the woods and became a loner. She developed a great disdain for mortals and found friendship only in the animals of the forest. They became her friends and her family for the animals never judged a scared elf.

Nieve became a druid and spent her time protecting the balance of nature and her animal friends. It is through these practices that Nieve came upon a traveling army who had with them horribly deformed animals. Nieve heard the animals' screams at night and knew these were not a natural breed. She began to follow the army to discover more and hopefully help them. During her journey, a mortal near a large pyramid discovered Nieve. Typically she would have had no interest but this mortal seemed to have information about the army so she joined him in search of his party in hopes that they may have further information that might help her to free the animals enslaved by the army.