Elara has deeply sun-tanned skin and wind-whipped auburn hair tied back in several messy, practical braids adorned with sea-shell ornaments. Her eyes are a striking shade of teal, reminiscent of shallow coastal waters. She wears salt-stained scale mail over rugged green and brown leathers, often with a hooded cloak that smells of brine. She carries a longbow slung over her shoulder and two shortswords at her hips, looking every bit the survivor of the wild shorelines.

I am fiercely independent and blunt to a fault. I have spent more time listening to the wind and waves than to the polite conversation of high society, and it shows in my lack of tact. I am cynical about the motivations of most leaders, believing that only the ocean is a truly honest force in the world. I prefer the company of seabirds and the quiet rhythm of the tide to the noisy bustle of landlocked cities.

Born on the merchant vessel 'The Gilded Gull', Elara spent the first eighteen years of her life with the horizon as her only constant. Her father was the master of the ship, and she was expected to follow in his footsteps. However, Elara was always more interested in the jagged cliffs and hidden lagoons they passed than the cargo they carried. Her life changed forever when a violent storm and a pirate ambush occurred simultaneously, shattering her ship against a nameless rocky coast. Elara was the sole survivor, or so she believes. For a long year, she lived as a hermit on those desolate shores, learning to hunt coastal monsters and track the movements of the sea creatures that washed up with the tide. This isolation sharpened her senses and turned her into a protector of the boundary between land and water. She eventually flagged down a passing ship, using her nautical knowledge to earn her keep, but the woman who returned to civilization was no longer a simple sailor. She had become a ranger of the tides, a nomad who feels most at home where the spray hits the sand and the laws of kings have no reach. Now, she travels from port to port, taking jobs that lead her into the wilder parts of the coast and searching for any trace of her lost crew.