Elanee

Elanee was an elven druid from the Mere of Dead Men. Elanee is best known for her aid to the Kalach-Cha during the latter's quest to destroy the King of Shadows.

"I am Elanee, once of the mere where dead men rest, now no more. I have little use for titles or names, such things speak of the ways of cities and walls."

- Elanee

Description
Thin and graceful, Elanee was most at home in the wilderness, where her spry muscles and keen senses served her well, and she typically dressed in the earthy toned robes typical of druids within her order. Like most wood elves, Elanee had high cheek bones, pointed ears, and pale skin with a coppery hue to it that glistened slightly. Young by elven standards and physically attractive, Elanee had a rugged beauty to her accentuated by her fine but often tangled copper colored hair. A few of the Kalach-Cha's companions commented that she did not bathe as often as they'd prefer, but her beauty and grace was nonetheless remarked upon by several the hero met.

Personality
Calm and reflective, Elanee was not generally prone to taking aggressive action and had a sound mind. In times of moral conflict, Elanee was often a voice of gentle charity or calm benevolence, advising the Kalach-Cha to take actions that would cause the most benefit for all. While she could sometimes be intrigued and infuriated, and particularly disapproved of the Kalach-Cha's companions Bishop and Neeshka, Elanee rarely made shows of emotion for any extended period of time and instead maintained a sober stoicism and curiosity.

Like many druids, Elanee was disdainful of civilization, preferring the untamed wilderness for a home and she felt a kinship with many of its animals, including her beast companion Naloch, a badger. Upon arriving on Neverwinter she lamented the amount of natural resources, such as stone and wood, which had gone into building it.

History
Elanee was born and orphaned over a hundred years ago when orcs came spilling in from the Sword Mountains and drove her people, dwarves, and humans deep into the Mere, where they were cut down in the fog. There, her wails caught the attention of the Circle of the Mere, who took her in and trained her to be a druid. She lived there for over a century, under the guidance of the Circle, watching settlements such as West Harbor grow up and out of the swamp and others, like Redfallow's Watch, fall.

As a final test for the Circle, she was asked to live among the people of West Harbor, likely to keep an eye on the Kalach-Cha as they grew up. However, there was some disagreement between the elders of the Circle as to whether Elanee was ready and she never ended up being tested in this way.

Watching over the Kalach-Cha
Eventually, Elanee was made a druid herself. After the battle that nearly destroyed West Harbor, the Circle of the Mere took interest in one of the survivors of the battle, a young child who had been pierced by a shard of the Sword of Gith. Elanee was given the task of shadowing the Kalach-Cha, as the child would eventually be known, and keeping an eye on them to watch for developments. For several decades this was Elanee's task and she watched as the child grew.

Gradually, Elanee's interest in the child became more personal, to a degree that caused discomfort amongst the Circle. She would spend whole months away from her other duties, watching the child from the shadows and the fog, keeping them safe from harm whenever they ventured into the swamps. In later years, the Circle would regret giving Elanee the task that they did, believing that the experience "corrupted" her.

When githyanki searching for the Sword of Gith under the command of Zeearie discovered the location of the shards from the battle, they laid an assault on West Harbor with a band of duergar slaves. Elanee pleaded for the Circle to intervene but they chose not to and so Elanee simply watched from afar as the village was once again nearly destroyed, weeping over its destruction.

Travels with the Kalach-Cha
Elanee would shadow the Kalach-Cha for some time after the battle, watching as the Kalach-Cha recovered another shard and left West Harbor, heading along the High Road towards Highcliff. Though Daeghun spread rumors that the Kalach-Cha would be heading towards Neverwinter, Elanee and the Kalach-Cha's enemies were able to see through the deception and track the hero anyway. Fortunately for the Kalach-Cha and their new companions Khelgar and Neeshka, Elanee was able to hinder the bladelings pursuing the Kalach-Cha for some time, before revealing herself to them along the Road.

After dispatching the Kalach-Cha's enemies, Elanee made a decision. She offered to join the Kalach-Cha and guide them through a short cut through the Maiden's Glade, a druid sanctury within the Mere. However, when they arrived they discovered the Mere's beasts gone wild, driven to feral savagery by an unknown cause. After investigating, Elanee and the Kalach-Cha came upon Kaleil, a fellow member of the Circle, corrupted and causing unrest in the sanctuary while trapped in the form of a dire bear. The group was forced to slay him to bring peace back to the surrounding areas and in his dying breath, Kaelil revealed that the Circle and its elders had been lost, and that Elanee and Naevan were all that remained of their circle. Mournful for her fellow druids, Elanee nonetheless left the Mere behind to help the Kalach-Cha in their journey towards Neverwinter, leading them to Highcliff where, after dealing with a local crisis, they boarded a ship to the Northern Jewel.

Though at first Elanee felt out of her element in Neverwinter and was rather uncomfortable it was not long after, that she met a druid from Neverwinter Wood who advised her, after being aided, to go to the Skymirror, a powerful druidic scrying device capable of contacting anyone who had touched its waters, and try to contact the other druids of the Circle in hopes of finding out what is corrupting the Mere. With the Kalach-Cha's help, Elanee managed to contact Naevan who told her not to return to the Mere and that he would send for her soon. However, due to circumstances beyond his control, Naevan would not follow through on his promise.

Fate
Elanee would stay with the Kalach-Cha for some time, aiding them in several tasks. The two would grow close, perhaps even intimate, though Elanee would never speak exactly as to why she had chosen to follow the hero. As the Shadow War began to loom over the horizon and the hero, now Knight-Captain of Crossroad Keep, began to gather allies, it was suggested that they search out the remnants of the Mere. Elanee, however, was unsure of whether to look, though she knew the Mere better than any. To aid her, Bishop and Daeghun were both recruited and would together, with Elanee, lead the Kalach-Cha to the Circle's new hiding place in the Vale of the Mere.

To Elanee's surprise, she would discover that the Circle was almost wholly intact. However, the Circle's motives had been twisted and corrupted, as had the Mere around them, and they refused to aid the Kalach-Cha, in fact believing that the King of Shadows was but a different part of the natural cycle and that, through his help, civilization's encroachments upon the Mere would be repelled at last as the cities died and everything was returned to the land. Naevan, their leader, had disagreed, and for this they had trapped him in the shape of a tree, though he was still able to voice his opinion, trying to dissuade their madneses.

The Circle would try to convince Elanee of their way, going so far as to reveal her reasons for aiding the Kalach-Cha and indicating that her interest had become too personal. Elanee would, however, see through their corruption and refuse, helping the Kalach-Cha to defeat the druids and restore Naevan to his true form. The experience would be deeply troubling for Elanee and it is unknown if she would continue to help the hero or, in the hope of doing what good could be done for the dying Mere, join Naevan, the last remaining member of the Circle aside from herself.

If she chose to follow the Kalach-Cha, as seems likely, she would later participate in the later siege of the King of Shadows' fortress within the Vale. There she may have perished, during the collapse of the fortress, crushed beneath a falling piece of stone.

Behind the scenes
Elanee was voiced in Neverwinter Nights 2 by Ursula Abbott and is the only viable romance interest for male PCs (the Kalach-Cha). She is arguably the most developed of the companions, having numerous interactions with the player as well as an important role in the campaign's story. Some of these were removed however, such as a quest in which Elanee would enlist the help of Naevan to build a park at Crossroad.

Appearances

 * Neverwinter Nights 2
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer (mentioned only)