Pat loves books. Growing up in the tiny Elven homestead of Iel Themar, the elders were often amused and even confused about her. They all kept saying she'd grow out of it, but she never did. Even after her 100th birthday, she still would nearly always be found nose-deep in a book. And not just any book, but studies of botany and herbalism, genealogies of famous families of all races, dry histories of far off lands, and the most staid accountings of events both large and small. By the age of 150, well after her time came to grow into a more balanced existence, she was facing consistent pressure to learn some usable skills and get to work in support of the homestead, but she would not change. Were she not living in a village of elves, it is fair to say others would be frustrated with her desire to learn about skills but not practise them. Instead, when a monk passed through and told fireside stories about Deneir, the God of Writing, she decided she had found her calling there. With an impulsiveness unheard of for an elf, she got up the next morning with the travelling monk and left her home for the first time in her 175 year life. For decades, she trained at the monastery to Deneir. These monks believed that true study of writing and writings could only be achieved with a perfectly unclouded mind, and an unclouded mind could only be achieved through a well maintained body. She trained in athletics daily while simultaneously practising her calligraphy, reading, and memorization skills. She excelled at reading, appreciation of handwriting, memorizing of texts, and the physical work itself, but was a constant source of frustration to generations of mentors when it came to her calligraphy. Pat had skill and control, but lacked beauty. Her lines were straight. Perfectly straight. Impressively straight. Clinical and precise, but not belying a hint of emotion or beauty in the way her elders expected. She went on her pilgrimage at age 250, a fitting age she thought, and traveled the world in search of interesting developments in handwriting and scroll-keeping. He pilgrimage lasted 5 years and she returned to the monastery with a sackful of treasures she had found. They were placed in the display and archives, as always, and she spent 10 more years training and studying at the monastery. Now a full monk in the Order of Deneir, they were happy years in which Pat was allowed to do everything she had always wanted - read and write. But, as visitors were rare, she grew listless and determined that she needed to go out into the world and bring the wonders of writing and script to the people who had clearly forgotten how wonderful it is. She very quickly met up with the Faun's Heart circus, where she joined as a Tarot Card expert. This, she thought, was the perfect way to travel the world and excite people about writing. It helped that the calligraphy of the tarot cards spoke to her and she was adept at interpreting them. The circus, however, was as frustrated with Pat as her old elders in the monastery: she lacked flash. So, in an effort to reinvent herself for her employer, she made up a new identity as a performer and took the name "Pat", thinking it would make her more relevant to the locals. She redecorated her stand in black and white and exceptionally clearly written signage and was proud of herself. It didn't work. To this day, she has the least attended attraction in the Faun's Heart, but she remains undeterred. She will find the answer, make herself relevant, and excite all these people who have never understood how anyone could be so interested in writing. The answer is almost certainly in a book somewhere.
