Breindel is fourteen years old. She has lived most of her life in a mountainous region, tending flocks of sheep with her elder brother, Cenhelm. She was very athletic and competitive, being able to fearlessly fight off raiders from the sheep while using her shepherdess's rod as a quarterstaff. She has honey-blonde hair, luminous silver eyes, and several long, straight scars running vertically down her face. (more on those in a bit)

An eight-year-old Breindel was thrilled when a traveling band of performers came through the small shepherding establishment. She especially adored the leader, a black-haired elf bard named Steffen. His stories were incredible and powerful and strange; she had never heard the like of them before. They had a ring of truth, as well. It wasn't difficult to memorize the tales after one hearing, she had a keen ear and most of the shepherds' history was orally related anyways.

Steffen seemed to take careful notice of her as she sat with rapt attention during his songs, and on the last night of their stay, she knew why. Steffen called her into his portable tent and told her that the stories he had sung were true, and that if she was willing, that God had called him to anoint her as one of His prophetesses, known at that time as Keywielders. He told her of an enemy who would try to kill her if she accepted, but she was not afraid of death. She of course was willing--she saw the truth in his eyes as he spoke of this God--so he sang a soft blessing over her, handed her a small package wound with plain thread, and ushered her silently back to her home.

Inside the package had been a plum-colored, metallic Key, which Breindel took to wearing around her neck. A time after the performers left, she summed up the courage to tell her brother about the God she served, and willed him to believe. He did so, and soon after, their parents followed. The news spread like wildfire, especially since Breindel could now heal the sick, see visions, and cast out demons. In time the entire small community had believed. Breindel couldn't have been happier.

They soon realized her importance, after she reluctantly told them what Steffen had said about an enemy trying to kill her, and they devised an escape route should the village ever be inspected and found guilty by the occasional legion of soldiers coming from Heilaga Miasto. They were careful to change up their nomadic pattern to avoid the confrontation as long as possible, but in June, four months after her fourteenth birthday the village was finally found and inspected. The soldiers were sent by the enemy of the God the village served, and when the soldiers discovered that, a sorcerer was turned out against the village as the soldiers slaughtered the inhabitants. Breindel and Cenhelm had been out tending the sheep, but Cenhelm noticed the flames consuming the village and tried to get Breindel to run. She ignored him, running to the village with her Key flaming violet in her hand. She battled the sorcerer valiantly, but after seeing her brother killed as well, her energy finally gave out and she fainted.

She was taken back to Heilaga Miasto, her Key confiscated--which the enemy seemed to fear more than her--and was tortured for two months. (this is where she got the scars on her face, and her limp). Part of this torture involved the enemy--who could not seem to bear being around her--to inject some of the venom coursing through his veins--pure darkness and evil--into her. It worked to some effect, she was weakened greatly and could no longer be in his presence due to the pain it inflicted, but he still felt unease around her.

She is introverted, can be witty on occasion--though in a quiet, deadpan sort of way--gets tired easily, and is very self-conscious. She is angry that she can no longer run or dance or even look in a mirror without pain--whether physical or emotional--and she still grieves the loss of her village, believing it to be her fault. Yet her trials strengthened her trust in God, and she is still able to cast out demons and heal the sick, though she becomes very weak afterwards. She loves singing the portions of the Book she memorized to Steffen's tunes, and she is generally mild-mannered and quiet. If someone is wrong, she will quietly confront them, but will not press the issue if they are unwilling to listen.

Do you know what happens to your family? How old were you when your were taken to Heilaga Maisto?

*hands it over to Bri*

Breindel: *softly* Yes, I know what happened. The destruction was thorough. I saw my brother killed. Nearly nothing remained of the village by the time I got there...*sighs quietly* I was taken there a few months into being fourteen.

Aww... I'm sorry. What are your plans for the future? What are your dreams? How has being a Keywielder affected your personality?

Breindel: *almost inaudibly* I'm sorry, too... *louder* the future? *smiles* I'd like to be married someday...but...I want Jaegar hurled from his throne before I wed and have children. I want them free from the fear that any moment their faith will be tested as black-clothed men bearing swords and torches storm their home...*meets Eliana's eyes, hers gleaming a clear silver* I would not have them live through that. *thinks for a long moment* ...being a Keywielder has made me more responsible. I'm less rash than I was. I feel braver, though it isn't the normal type of brave: it's a quiet steadfastness that usually only comes when I feel there is nothing left but fear. I feel older, and I try to help others as best I can...I'm the first Wielder in many years, it's said--the Eleventh, even--and I want to set an example of what the Twelfth will be like when he or she comes. *smiles a little more*

Who do you confide in?

What's your favorite thing to do?

Do you ever regret accepting Steffen's offer?

*thinks for a moment* ...God is my confidante. I'm sure someday I will open up to others, but now He is the only one who understands.

*smiles* my favorite thing to do...I love to be outside. Just sitting outside and watching the clouds, or listening to birds, or anything. It's so peaceful. Though I miss the heather waving on the slopes of my old home...I've never seen anything so pretty as those, in the cold morning mist as the sun turns them pink...*becomes thoughtful*

*starts, surprised* regret? *quietly* no, I do not regret it. I would love to have my family and friends with me, but we would still be lost, and it would be miserable indeed. If I had to do it over again, I would have chosen the same way.

If I may ask, how did you get away? What have you been doing since? But maybe that's delving into the plot of your story

*smiles rapturously* I was taken away, rescued by the power of He who Is. *frowns a little bit as her fingers run over her right arm* Since then...I haven't done very much. He told me what I must do, now I simply wait until He is ready for me to do it.

What would you give, if anything, to be able to move like you could before?

Do you find it hard to trust others? Why?

If you could have one thing in the world, what would it be and why?

*rests her quivering chin on her hands* I would say I would give anything, but... I know that is not true. I would not give my faith...it's all I have left. But...anything else...no, no I can't say that either...*tangles her fingers in her cropped hair, the ends poking through the gaps like tufts of dry grass* I...I can't think about such things...Even if I gave all I have to be healed...it wouldn't matter...


*composes herself a little* I don't struggle to trust others, though maybe I trust them a little less than before... I do not hide things from others, but God is really the only one I deeply trust now.

*sniffs quietly* ....I want to be with my family.... *wipes a moist line from her cheek* ...I...I'm tired of the--the suffering here. The anguish... Both my own and that which I've caused others... I want so badly to finally see Him. *rapturous whisper* My God. *turns her eyes to the floor again* but I know I cannot until I have fulfilled my purpose in His plan.

Does she trust the strangers around her?

Why did they torture her? Did they have something specific they wanted her to do, or something they wanted to turn her into, or did they just do it because they wanted to? Did she feel like she had any way to stop the torture, but refused to, or did she feel completely out of control?

Does she think she made the wrong decision to run back and try to save her village, leading to her capture and her crippling?

Does she feel she is not as useful now, after being so badly hurt?

No. She doesn't trust Ryver for anything, and she thinks she's seen Tinsley somewhere before....

They tortured her because 1) Jaegar didn't want to put out her light, not at first. He wanted her to revoke it, to remove it from herself. 2) when she refused to do this, the torture became more intense (because her faith had increased and she became even more painful for Jaegarto be near) and Jaegar had it done simply to watch her suffer--in his twisted mind he felt he was getting back at God for casting him out of the heavens, even though it hurt to be near her. Even if there had been a way to stop it at that point, Breindel wouldn't have done it. Her faith was the one thing that kept her sane. She felt completely out of control, because they didn't tell her to revoke, and the thought never crossed her mind.

Yes, I believe she does. Because she would have had her brother with her, too, instead of fighting a losing battle in a burning town.

Oh gracious, she feels miserably useless. Because the Key uses her own energy to perform its actions, she is limited with what she can do as a Keywielder, now, as well.