Born in the quaint town of Gunvald to Kamilla and Erling Black-Ice, Jasper enjoyed a privileged and comfortable life. Surrounded by siblings, Jasper was overlooked for the most part, but put under the same pressures as the rest of his siblings. Erling and Kamilla were demanding parents, both of them led successful careers and businesses, expecting the children to inherit them. Erling ran a blacksmith and Kamilla served as a town militant or mercenary. Versed in fighting and metalwork Jasper was accustomed to some forms of hardship, mainly harsh combat training and long hours cleaning the smithery.

Jasper's eldest sister Klara was the sibling that Jasper grew closest to. Klara was placed under an unusual amount of scrutiny by their parents who kept her in the house at all times. Despite Klara's situation, she was particularly kind to Jasper even with their age difference. However, Klara soon grew weary of her situation and left home unannounced. The 7-year-old Jasper was left devastated and he soon began to grow to hate home.

Once Jasper grew to the age of 12, the same age Klara was when she fled home, he followed suit. Determined to find Klara and repair their relationship, Jasper headed southeast hoping to pick up a trail. Soon after his daring attempt at making his way through the world, Jasper found himself stranded in the Solvra Mountains. Turned around and emaciated Jasper mistakenly headed north and found himself on the outskirts of Eljudnir. Trying and failing to break into a home in an attempt to steal food, Jasper found himself at the 'mercy' of an old blind woman armed with nothing but a knife.

Plagued with guilt at trying to rob her, he introduced himself and apologized profusely. This woman introduced herself as Alva Kant and happily invited him to stay. Exhausted and hungry Jasper happily agreed. Then the days turned to weeks, then months, and then years. Jasper relished his life with Alva. Alva was suspiciously rich and thus lived very comfortably, especially in a tiny village such as Eljudnir that had little more than fishing. Jasper's skills dulled and his dissatisfaction with his life was easy to ignore while he was warm and well-fed.

After roughly 3 years of spending his days running errands, caring for Alva, and sleeping, Alva's home was broken into. Her shady past as a gambler and smuggler caught up with her and 3 thieves to whom she owed money attacked the home. Jasper fought to protect them but he had grown complacent in his training; swinging wildly he hit all but one. Having struck Alva in a vital spot, the final thief had her bleeding out before Jasper killed him. There as she died Alva muttered words to Jasper that he would never forget. "Do something with your life. Get off your ass."

Shaken by Alva's harsh words Jasper fled the home, vowing to do as she said. He resumed his search for Klara, training as he went. As that winter came to an end and the current year of 1141 began he wandered into the capital city of Askr on the spring equinox. He had hopes of finding a trace of Klara but instead was drawn into a plot against the government to start a war.

I’m Riley Stella, and I’m a sophomore at UMich majoring in either biology or neuroscience. This is the first DnD campaign I’ve ever been part of, so I’m still a bit of a beginner. Before this campaign started, I only had a vague idea of who I wanted Jasper to be, but from session 1 on the allure of being a goofy and impulsive teenage boy was too good to pass up. Now, as the story progresses, Jasper is growing in complexity as he has to face harsh truths and dark secrets regarding a sister he thought he knew. In the end, he has two choices — continue to run from his problems, or finally confront them head on.

Contact Riley: rstella@umich.edu