Princess Rowena Stewert

The arrival of Princess Rowena Stewert, the last child born into the current generation of Laniveer royalty, was a welcomed event as were the births of her siblings, the fact that she was born on the Spring Equinox taken as a good omen as the winter was particularly harsh and she was seen as a blossom who would chase the last of the dreariness away. From her first day drawing breath she was doted upon, loved beyond measure and not just by her parents but by her older siblings as well who were enamored by the tiny princess.

Even from a young age it appeared that Rowena was a natural diplomat and would go out of her way to soothe over the hurt feelings of her childhood companions she spent time with. She was quick to try and make friends with the other children, those of noble birth as well as the offspring of the commoners who made up the staff and would often sneak little sweets and pastries from the kitchen to share with her playmates.

Once she was of age her education began. Academics were interspersed with lessons in etiquette and how to properly run a royal household., the latter subject something her mother herself taught her. Her mind was kept occupied but so were her hands and such hobbies as needlepoint and tatting (lace making) were taught by her kindly nurse maid, an older woman who was looked upon as a grandmother by the Stewert children. These hobbies were soon added to with lessons on how to ride horses, dance and in the art of falconry.

Rowena was not even ten when the war began, still a child innocent of such atrocities as killing and other nightmares combat on such a large scale brings with it. Her parents did all they could to shelter her including forbidding talks of the fighting and even politics to occur where she could hear. It was her parents way of protecting her but Rowena was not about to allow herself to be kept naive. In what might be considered an act of defiance out of the girl, she would sneak books about politics out of the library, swearing she'd learn about such things on her own, the king and queen's desire to shelter her be damned, each book poured over for hours at a time.

Like many battles of history, the war lingered on and soon Rowena became a woman. By this time the king realized it would be advantageous to send out someone in his stead to act as ambassador or, barring that, a gatherer of information. The quandary laid in just who to send. By this time all his children were grown up and were already faced with obligations of their own. That left only Rowena who volunteered to assume the role that was so sorely in need of being filled.. There was some hesitation from the king at first as he did not want to send his younger child out into the world, dangerous as it could be, but she insisted and he eventually had to relent. Accompanied by a large amount of royal guards and the brother of hers assigned to act as her adviser, the princess went out into the world, facing whatever the gods had in store for her.