Devona, Part of the Paw Patrol

Character Name: Devona

Name Meaning: Protector

Age: 30

Date of Birth: May of 3980.

Race: Beorning.

Residence: Vales of Anduin.

Profession: Devona is one of the bear-guard, a fierce warrior who serves for the protection of her clan.

Appearance: Devona is marked by her wild red mane of hair, and her Beorning height. She stands at 8’3”, tall even for a woman of her kind. She has an oval face and bold lips, bright eyes and strong, meaty arms. She constantly adorns herself in braids, bright linen and wool, and is one of the few of her people who still greet with smiles.

In bear form she is roughly sixteen and a half feet in height, with thick brown fur.

Personality: Devona is a warrior, and as such has two different personas. There is the Shebear that roams the wilds with power in her roars and blood on her claws, and there is the Gentle Giant who adores shiny baubles, loves her animals, and her family. One could think they are meeting two different people.

She is a natural protector, and will never go on the hunt in an active sense. She will, however, fight until the death to keep something, or someone, safe. Many a goblin and many a warg have met their end with her obsidian claws, and if she has any say in it, many more will continue to do so.




Parents:

Dreng, father. 64. Retired patrol.
Lora, mother. 62. Gardener, honey-harvester.

Sibling(s): None.

Spouse:

Banan, deceased. Father of her daughter.
Raedan, 34. Huntsman of the forest.

Children:

Ellette, daughter. Five. “Little Elf”.

Grandchildren: None.

History:

Devona was born as the only child to two shifters and was among the first Beornings born to a clan of her own. She did not understand how lucky she was, though her parents have always remained cognoscente of the safety and family Beorn’s call had offered they and their dear daughter. To watch her play and tumble with those who also were blessed in size and power, to not have to haunt the forests like a ghost, lonely and protecting towns that would fear her—it won their loyalty immediately, and Dreng and Lora became avid supporters of Beorn and practitioners of the Beorning way immediately.

They raised their daughter to be as well.

Devona, as it turned, was aptly named. As a cub, she was content to roll about and play with others of her age and size, though there was something about her that was inherently seeking to shelter and protect. She would tell other cubs to be careful, and was the best watchful eye to keep the more adventurous spirits from running too far out of the village.

She always admired her father and his duty with the bear-guard, and much to her mother’s dismay, decided to follow in his pawsteps. The moment she was old enough, Devona began to train herself with the others of her age. She could see the work that the bear did was good, and protecting the wilds and the villages of the wood was something that spoke to the young girl. She had a very special gift; it was almost wrong to use it simply to gather honey when she had the strength and wherewithal to use it differently.

The day of her first patrol was one of pride for herself and her father, and while her mother was also happy to see her daughter achieve her goal, her heart was not so taken in joy at the thought of her daughter beginning her patrols in the high pass. She told Devona she might come to regret such a decision, and that if she decided to leave the patrols, she would have a proud mother regardless.

Devona dismissed her mother’s words for the naiveté of her youth, and threw herself completely into her work, and for a time, did not even have the time to look around and realize how much time walking the forests and passes was stealing from her.

It was not until there seemed to be another rash of cubs born that Devona realized life did not end at the patrols. She, though, was a mighty warrior by this time and not so easily spared from her work. So it was that Devona insisted on keeping up the charade of bliss and content, while her heart began to wander. It became a secret, almost a shame, that she thought of settling with a home and cub of her own.

And it remained that way for a time, until she was on a patrol under the guide of Banan, one of the guard’s most formidable warriors at the time. He was a mighty bear of a leader, great and powerful, with a roar that could silence the whole forest should he wish it. Devona had always thought highly of him for the way he lead the small bands of patrols through the mountains, the fortitude he showed in battle, the way he had thrown his life to the protection of others. What she had never suspected was that that bear, too, wished for something greater than constant grief and battle.

It might have remained a secret to them both had their patrol provided some sign of goblin or warg, but the route was empty, and so to fill it conversation passed between them. The more they spoke, the more gnawing the loneliness came to be, and the two mighty warriors caved to such feelings, seeking to fill the void they shared with each other instead. Both regretted such impulse, agreeing to not speak further or press what had happened into something more than it had been. Devona had thought that would be easy to do, for while Banan was one she admired, he was not one her heart yearned for in the truest sense. She had not anticipated, however, that she would find herself with child by that fateful slip.

While the woman wished she could be elated, for indeed she had desired a cub, Devona sought to keep it under wraps for as long as she could. Grimbeorn, the chief, was counting on her to keep her duty, and she imagined her work as part of the patrol would relieve her of her child in an organic matter through her constant shifting. Devona could not simply allow herself to abandon her posting.

Banan, though, was far more observant than she had expected. As soon as he had learned of the cub she was carrying, the man had been insistent that she take a break from the work in the passes. He wed her, and while their home was not one of passion and love between them, it was one of respect and love for their child. When Ellette was born, both of them felt fulfilled, and Devona mused there were worse things than having a husband like Banan who was a good, solid Beorning with devotion and heart full of love for their daughter.

Ellette loved them both fiercely, and carried their spark within her. Banan and Devona could laugh at her antics, and see the adoration each other held when they looked upon the fiery-haired cub. When Ellette passed her third spring, Banan asked if they could, perhaps, have another. Devona had agreed, knowing that the child would be a joy to them both. They both arranged to begin work at trying once he returned from his next patrol, and Banan left with a light step.

It was the last Ellette or Devona ever saw of Banan, for he was overwhelmed by orc and warg. Devona was told he was so mauled and disfigured that the patrol had not even felt it wise to return him to the village. They did his sky-burial in the mountain pass where he had patrolled and devoted his life, and came home with naught but the news.

Ellette was devastated, not understanding why her Papa Bear was not coming home again, and why her Mama Bear was dazed. Devona mourned his loss, though not in the way of a lover. He was a friend, a good father, and had been an asset to her people. In those ways she had missed him, and in honor of his memory she vowed to return to her work as part of the guard.

Dreng and Lora were left to keep Ellette while she was gone, and Devona once more threw herself into keeping the village safe. With Banan gone, there was much to make up for.

The next year, while on patrol, she stumbled upon a pack of warg encroaching on a small woodland home, and Devona, hearing the screams of terror from inside, leapt to action with a few other of the patrol. The family had been in awe that such large bear had come to their rescue, though more so when they had changed to towering men—and a woman—to ensure they were all right.

Raedan had been in a different sort of awe.

He had, of course, heard the rumors that there were intelligent bear about the woods. Raedan, while he had never seen one himself, had felt them in the woods. His family had long been settled into the Vales of Anduin, setting up farmstead in the shadows of the thick trees. Even in the time he could remember from his own childhood, he knew the Vales had been changing in danger. While talk of darkness was abounding through those that travelled through, there seemed to be very little that actually managed to reach his family there.

When he met Devona and her kin, he understood why.

He looked for her and her kind daily after that, trekking through the woods. His wherewithal eventually won him her attention, and Devona met him once again. The single meeting turned into a few, and it was not long before Raedan had made it known he was very much in love. The admission made Devona happy, for she loved him, too.

So it was she brought him back to meet the clan.

Devona and Raedan were married, and with Raedan working part-time with the tolls and keeping eye on young Ellette, Devona is able to take to her routes once more with almost full attention. However her joy, she is dangerous to stumble upon, should you have ill intent: she has a very lovely family to get back to, and she will paint the stone with your blood if it means returning home to them.