Weslen Variu, nicknamed “Wes”, was born in Tamran, the marshy, ramshackle capital of the nation of Nirmathas, a struggling country that just recently freed itself from the grasp of the imperialistic Molthune to the south.
Weslen’s father, a human, and his mother, a half-elf, run a small restaurant in the Tamran city marketplace. They grew up very poor, but always had enough to eat. Wes was taught by his father how to fish and trap crawdads from a young age. When not at school, he spent a majority of his childhood swimming, fishing, trapping crawdads, climbing trees, and jumping between the piers and pilings that make up Tamran. After finishing school at age thirteen, Wes decided that he wanted to help his family by going to work with his uncle as logger upriver in the Fangwood.
Wes spent ages thirteen through eighteen working at various logging camps up and down the Marideth river. His skills at leaping between slippery logs as they whirled down the river to market, along with his upbringing balancing between piers, and his elf-like dexterity inherited from his mom’s side, made him an asset to his uncle’s logging operation. He was also able to earn a decent living and send a small amount of money back to his parents. He encountered a wide variety of people on the river as well - when further upriver, they would often trade, talk, and drink with dwarves from the Mindspin Mountains. While Wes learned a wealth of real-world knowledge and acrobatic skills on the river, he also spent the majority of his time around foul-mouthed, poorly-mannered sailors. As a result, Wes is boastful and crude - but also funny, wholesome, and positive. It was also during his time here that he received his leaf armor as a gift from a mysterious woman whom he saved from drowning.
During his eighteenth year, the Molthuni army ramped up its attacks on logging camps in the Fangwood in an attempt to disrupt Nirmathian trade. Wes pleaded with his uncle to let him join a band of loggers, foresters, and fishermen to fight the Molthuni - he said that Wes must return to Tamran and discuss it with his parents. Upon reaching Tamran, Wes learned that a week prior, Molthuni rebels had snuck into the capital at night and set fire to a section of the city including his parents’ restaurant - all but destroying their livelihood. Fueled by revenge, Wes pleaded with his parents to allow him to join the band of fighters, who hesitantly agreed. His mother gifted him the elven blade heirloom which had been passed down for generations through their family.
Wes spent the next two years performing guerilla attacks against encroaching Molthuni encampments south of the Marideth River. His dexterity made him adept in battle; he would dodge, dive, and backflip around enemy attacks while critically wounding them with his trusted blade. He became notorious for tripping enemies in battle in order to gain an advantage over them. His elf-like perception and familiarity with the woods helped him detect, and therefore disarm, traps long before others even noticed them. Wes’ squad grew richer after every battle, plundering gold and valuable goods from Molthuni camps and then selling them to traders on the Marideth River. After two years of on-and-off battle, Nirmathian forces eventually pushed back Molthuni troops past their borders and out of Nirmathian territory. A temporary cease-fire was called between the two nations. Wes attempted to return to logging, but ultimately grew bored of the lack of excitement and lack of money.
