Farin, Child of Stone

Character Name: She goes by Farin, but her true name is Farὶs.



Name Meaning: “Travelled One”.



Age: 80.



Date of Birth: October 13, 2930.



Race: Dwarf.



Residence: She was originally from the Iron Hills, but moved to Erebor, then to Moria, and now wanders freely.



Profession: Farin considers herself a professional wanderer, though she is well aware that it makes her very little coin. So, to earn her keep, she takes to hunting, and brings meat and pelts back to towns to peddle. She also has skill enough to work odd-jobs for blacksmiths, since her father was a rather skilled one back in the Iron Hills. 



Appearance: Farin is a sturdy four feet, one inch tall, with wild red curls, and a close-trimmed beard of the same color. Gold and silver beads are braided and strung between the curls, and various utilitarian braids crown her as well. She is stocky, and to a human, elf, orc, or even a halfling, she appears very masculine. There is a trace of dwarven femininity to her, though, if examined by one of her own people. Most chalk it up to her being a rather delicate male, though anyone who knew Farin himself, not Faris, would know that Farin was never one to appear soft.


She has bright green eyes, and wears light leathers built for a man. She always has a bow with her, a quiver stocked with arrows, and carries two short swords at her hip for when she decides to go Florentine.



Personality: Farin is a voyager; she is not content to sit at home surrounded by stone walls and see nothing but the Lonely Mountain's interior. She is, perhaps, a bit more dreamy than some of her sure-footed kin. While she loves stone-places the best, she has developed a strange appreciation for things that are green. Not only do these places provide her with food and shelter, but she has found a little bit of beauty in it. 

Farin, to put it mildly, is a romantic. In the sense of clinging to stories, upholding traditions, and dwarven interests. She idealizes heroes of old, particularly the Sons of Durin, who she saw when they passed through the Iron Hills when she was very small. Thorin Oakenshield was, to her, the finest king she had ever laid eyes on. And the nobility of his character had enthralled her, to the point where she asked to learn everything about his heroism. When she heard of his fall, and those of his nephews, she was grieved. She has refused to dwell on the fact that Thorin, son of Thrain, succumbed to dragon sickness, and instead is eager to remember that he is buried there in honor, Orcrist glowing blue in herald of incoming danger. 

True to dwarvish fashion, she is not fond of elves. She loves stonework, gems, and has an eye for shiny things. Still, she doesn't own much, as she is always on the road going from one place to another. So if she cannot easily carry it, she has no use for it. 

She pretends to be her brother so that she is not babied. Since dwarf women are relatively rare, she would often be treated as special, and kept close under watch of the mountain. But she had dreams to see Middle-Earth, and thirsted for an adventure of her own.







Parents:

Gimlain, 200. Father. Blacksmith.
Balnala, 180. Mother. Merchant for the blacksmith.


Sibling(s): Farin, 90 (Presumed deceased).



Spouse: None.



Children: None.



History:

Farìs was born in October in The Iron Hills, and became the jewel of her family. Dwarven females were rare occurrences, all families having more sons than daughters. It meant she was showered with dresses in silks, and velvets, paraded around at an early age, and introduced to many families for consideration in dowries.



None of which Farìs wanted.



Farin, her elder brother, had the freedom to leave the Mountains as he wished, and their parents never batted an eye. Farìs wanted that same ability. Farin pitied her, but had little assistance to offer. In an attempt satiate Farìs' wanderlust, he brought her stones and beads from everywhere he went. However, instead of helping Farìs grow content in their home in the mountains, it nearly fanned her desire brighter. She believed wholeheartedly that the most amazing, wonderful things, came from outside the mountains. 

One day, one of those things passed through. It took the shape of Thorin Oakenshield, and his young nephews, Fili and Kili. Farìs had been young at the time, but the moment she had spied them, she was smitten and enthralled. She could not help but think there was something noble about the King Under the Mountain, and in the short time the Sons of Durin were among her people, she became convinced that they were the greatest of futures for the dwarven people. If anyone was going to be able to take back Erebor, it was the King she had seen, and wished immediately to follow. She turned to study the story of Thorin's adventures, and each time she reread his exploits, she grew more and more convinced he would be finest king the Mountain had ever seen.

Thorin's expedition to take back Erebor ended up proving successful, though not in the way the King or Farìs had imagined. Her family was one of the ones to move into the Lonely Mountain and start the process of rebuilding, and heartbroken the line of Durin was diminished, she left the Iron Hills for the first time to head toward the Lonely Mountain itself. Erebor was every bit as grand as the stories she had read, and she felt drawn to the rich history the old halls harbored. 

Thorin was laid to rest beneath the mountain, still holding the elvish blade that would alert the whole mountain of approaching trouble, and Farìs chose to remember the King Under the Mountain as the protector, and valiant leader of her people rather than the one who had succumbed to greed in his final hours. 

Life continued for the family, for the most part in a normal fashion. Farin once more picked up his wanderings, and Farìs was kept under lock and key in the Mountain's heart. The population at the mountain was growing steadily, as refugees came from the Blue Mountains to settle back in their homeland, and Balin, son of Fundin, began to recruit for a group of able-bodied men to liberate Moria.

Farin left for another one of his adventures, and this time he never returned. With no word from him, but also no body, the family was happy to think that the dwarf was still alive and well, just caught upon the roads and unable to turn home yet. Farìs, in the meantime, was picked by a well-off jeweler to be his bride, and Grimlain was quick to accept the offer. Druick, the jeweler and silversmith, was considered quite a match.

Which is why, the evening of the ceremony, Farìs took some of her brother’s leathers and left Erebor for Dale to avoid it. When she got there, she was mistaken for a man, and that was when she had the idea to change her very identity to that of her brother's, which she has been doing ever since. She intercepted the Moria liberators on their way to the mountain city, and under her brother's name fought valiantly alongside the others to free Moria from orc hold. Even there, though, Farìs--now Farin--was not satisfied. 

She has been wandering the wilds ever since, passing as her brother to anyone she met, and avoiding Erebor. She is always concerned she will one day run into someone that knew her and her brother personally and will be able to tell them apart, but she has collected many new rocks and gems for her collection that her brother had started for her in the Iron Hills, one that she still carries with her to this day.