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ENNARIS TAVANE
— BALDUR'S GATE 3 —
these boots have seen everything.
SKILL PROFICIENCIES.
Background.
Ennaris Tavane's first memory is the argument her parents had when deciding which of them should be the one to raise her. Mother's life would be too dangerous, the woman claimed, while her father insisted that a library was no place for a toddler. Ness listened from a corner of the room and learned that she is a burden her own parents will squabble to be rid of.
She was four years old, and it's a lesson she never quite forgot.
Eventually, her father relented. Ness loved books, and seeing himself in her thawed Vazeiros somewhat to the idea of raising a child. Her mother left to continue adventuring, and neither Ness nor her father ever saw her again.
Growing up in Candlekeep, the library her father had escaped to after one hundred years of slavery in his native Menzoberranzan, Ness was a friendly, studious child. She excelled in her lessons and stayed out of trouble, certain that if she gave anyone reason to dislike her she would be sent away from the only home she had ever known. Throughout the years, she took on odd jobs around the library and its grounds to make herself useful, from cleaning to food prep to animal care, in hopes of making herself less of a burden. She made some friends, but there weren't many permanent residents of Candlekeep in her age range, so mostly she had pen pals.
When Ness was 15, Netherese wizards invaded the library. She survived the attack, as did her father, but many of her tutors did not, including one particular monk she privately considered her only real parental figure. She has had an intense and abiding hatred for all things Nether ever since.
At 20 years old, having reached maturity, Ness was faced with a dilemma: would she take orders and become Avowed, tied to the library forever, or did she want to leave and begin a new life outside the bounds of Candlekeep? She loved the library and always had, but was its care and preservation truly her life's calling? On the other hand, if she left Candlekeep without taking orders, she would be subject to the same rules as any other Seeker, and may never be allowed to return to her childhood home again.
In the end, she chose to leave, going with one of the merchant caravans headed for Baldur's Gate with intent to get a job, perhaps, or apprentice with a tradesman if she was lucky. Fate had a different plan, however, as she was abducted onto a mindflayer nautiloid on only her second day outside of the library.
Personality.
While Ness would be reluctant to claim that she had ever been mistreated in any way, the fact of the matter is that neither of her parents wanted her, and neither of them attempted to hide that fact from her. Due to this, Ness has what she would consider a very matter-of-fact understanding of her own worth; that is, that she's not special, she's no one's first choice, and she'll be lucky to find anyone who likes her half as much as she likes them. To her, this is a just the way her life is, and no more worth railing at than any other immutable fact of the world. Rather, she makes people like her by making herself useful and trying to be as little of a burden as possible, in hopes that it will forestall the inevitable moment that they find someone more engaging, more interesting, more pretty than her. This low opinion of herself can lead Ness to make self-destructive choices while simultaneously convincing herself that she's just being logical about having the least to lose.
Ness is a kind, idealistic person, rendered more than a little naïve by the ease of her upbringing—she never went hungry, she never lacked a roof over her head, and she knew only occasional periods of turmoil. Despite this, she has a degree of self-awareness, having had access to the journals and stories of people from all walks of life in Candlekeep, which keeps her from being entirely stupid about the rest of the world. This also means she can be, unknowingly, incredibly condescending, believing she understands people better than she does just because she's read a book. While this could easily be (and often is) very frustrating for the people around her, Ness manages to offset it by being extremely willing to learn, and very invested in doing right by people. When she's called out for being a condescending idiot, she may mope about it for a little while, but she comes back with a ready apology and a sincere desire to do better.
Though it's not her most defining characteristic, Ness does have a relatively strong sense of pride, which is one of the only things that can get her to become outright argumentative or difficult. She's not willing to debase herself, even if it would be the easier option, or might smooth over a botched interaction, and will balk at any suggestion that she should be willing to do so. She's not prone to tantrums when her pride is wounded, but it's very much a "Ness will remember that" situation.
FEATURES.
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