John - You'd sounded on Monday like you were interested in some sort of backstory for the characters.
I haven't been able to write down anything resembling a coherent timeline, but here are some notes regarding Kara's history. (I went ahead and generated names. Feel free to change anything if needed to jive with your history.)
Youngest of 5 siblings. 4 older brothers:
Bláinn (Fighter)
Glóinn (Fighter)
Drofin (Cleric)
Nordrin [Deceased] (Rogue. Killed during Marcus War.)
Ulfrun - Father, Rogue/Fighter (Retired after Marcus War partially due to nagging injuries sustained during the combat, mostly due to pleading by the wife after the death of their son- a rogue who was growing up to be "just like his father.")
Austri - Mother, Cleric
When she was very young (pre-War) Kara would often sneak out of the underground through a secret passage found by Nordrin. She was also caught often, leading to many scoldings by a worried mother. Ulfrun, a rogue himself, found the wanderings about in secret and restricted areas amusing, dealing out milder punishments for "being sloppy enough to get caught" rather than disobeying them.) Austri later provided the Cure Light Wand the moment Kara was schooled enough to cast from it.
("If you're going to keep wandering around out where it is dangerous, you keep this with you so you don't end up bleeding to death somewhere while you're lost in the woods. Now come inside before you're eaten by a bear.")She played frequently with a group of gnome children- an experience which left her with a moderate understanding of the gnomish language, and the belief that she can actually sit down and have a conversation with burrowing mammals. ("Snuffles understand every word I tell her...
damnit. She just doesn't always listen."
This time before the war includes a nearly 10-year friendship with one young gnome named Wizzle Omnigear - Alchemic Engineer whizkid extrodinare! (When Wizzle wasn't accidentally setting himself on fire attempting to make a rocket pack using alchemical fire and hollowed-out reeds/bamboo, his tinkerings were what got Kara interested in Dwarven engineering. This later inspired the Crossbow-o-Doom.)
She has not seen or heard from the gnomes since the migration to the new Gnomehome. When hearing the announcement that scouts were being recruited for a trip to that area, she jumped at the opportunity.
