Born to an elven father and a human mother, Elowyn is the eldest of four siblings. While her father wasn’t entirely absent, his work as a Zhentarim assassin kept him away for long stretches of time. Elowyn’s mother had grown disillusioned and resentful of her husband’s criminal lifestyle, but she endured it only for the sake of their family, doing her best to shield the children from the darker aspects of her father’s profession.

 

Thanks to her efforts, Elowyn and her siblings had a somewhat average, if not modest upbringing - until her untimely death. At just fourteen years old, illness claimed her mother, and Elowyn and all of her siblings were sent to live with their father’s sister, Leticia.

 

Although the children always had food in their mouths and a roof over their heads, they were not happy in their aunt’s home. She had two children of her own, and the addition of four more made for packed quarters. Additionally, Elowyn’s aunt had disapproved of her father’s relationship with her mother, so the children were treated with resentment and left to look after themselves.

 

The neighborhood was their playground, and they ran wild through its streets, causing all kinds of mayhem with the other local children. Elowyn, a bit bolder than the others and eager to impress, often led the charge. In her younger years, her mischief was mostly harmless, amounting to petty theft, broken windows, and disturbing the neighbors. As she got older, her propensity for mischief evolved into lock-picking, dagger-throwing, and the reselling of stolen goods. She truly was becoming her father’s daughter.

 

Despite her mother’s earlier attempts to keep the family separate from the Zhentarim, she couldn’t protect them entirely. Mysterious visitors would appear at their home, speaking in hushed tones with her father behind locked doors before he would vanish, sometimes for weeks at a time. Elowyn never knew why - only that he worked for these people, and he had to obey them.

 

Then came the mission that changed everything. Not long after Elowyn came of age, her father was sent on another assignment, partnered with his longtime friend and fellow assassin, Morvir. Only Morvir returned. Sent to assassinate a high-ranking member of a rival gang, their target proved too dangerous, and the mission went awry. Her father had been killed by one of his cronies.

 

The loss of her one surviving parent hit Elowyn hard. Though he had been distant and she - like her mother - occasionally resented him, she had loved and admired her father in her own way, treasuring the rare moments they shared. But out of necessity, she had to put her grief aside. With their family’s provider gone, someone had to step up.

 

That someone was Elowyn.

 

With her uncle’s promise to look out for her, she followed in her father’s footsteps, joining the Zhentarim to provide for and protect her family. Under his mentorship, she honed her skills, earned a reputation of her own, and eventually adopted a name that paid homage to her father’s legacy:

 

Little Thorn.