Character Notes - Vanya Bennett

Vanya Bennett

Half-Elf Bard

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Appearance: Fair skin, blonde hair.  Likes to braid colorful ribbons into her hair.  

Background: The spoiled offspring of wealthy landowners, Vanya was trained by some of the finest musicians. But when her parents lost their fortune, Vanya set out on her own to see the world and become a famous performer.

Personality: She is a bit egotistical but has a kind heart.  She likes being the center of attention.  She thinks her performances make the world a better place.

Inspiration: Marsha Brady.  Hear me out.  I was having trouble reconciling her Good alignment with her self-centered attitude.  Then I thought of the Brady Bunch.  Marsha is easily the worst of the Brady kids, always caring more about her looks than people's feelings.  And yet, even the worst Brady kid is still more compassionate than the average person.  

Vanya wants to help people.  Whether it's because she actually cares, or because she wants the accolades of being a hero, the end result is the same.  And I believe she has the potential to grow more depth as the campaign goes on.

Name: I came up with her name by playing with the word "Vanity".  Originally I named her "Vanara", but I never could remember it.  So I changed it to Vanya.  The surname "Bennett" means "Blessed".

Future Levels: Assuming Roll20 lets me add "custom" subclasses, I plan to go with the College of Glamour (from Xanathar's) at level 3.

Story: All I know about the campaign so far is that we're starting out as members of the Daggerford Militia.  Vanya doesn't seem like the soldier type, but militia can always use healers.  I thought it might be funny if there was a call for Clerics, and she signed up pretending to be a Cleric (of Sune).  

Here's the timeline I'm working with, assuming nothing contradicts with how the campaign starts out:

Vanya's parents lose their fortune.  I haven't really settled on what happened, I'm thinking her entire town might have been razed by Orcs or whatever enemy army is active in the area.  Or maybe her parents just made some bad investments.  But she left with their blessing, because they wanted to save her from dealing with their problems, and they even gave her some traveling money.

Vanya had already been wanting to see the world and pursue a music career, so she heads to the most cosmopolitan place she knows, Waterdeep.  She has trouble making it in Waterdeep because, well let's face it, everybody heads to Waterdeep.  It's such a big city, her name is drowned out in a sea of aspiring bards.

So she heads to Daggerford, which smaller, and close enough to Waterdeep to where she can head back when she wants to.  She thinks that if she can make a name for herself here, eventually her fame will travel up to Waterdeep via travelling caravans and whatnot.  

But by now, she's used up her money.  She decides to look for more stable work so she can eat, and plans to pursue her dreams on her time off.  And that's when she hears that the militia is hiring.