Background
Zheva was born in the West Shroud the middle child of five daughters. Free of most responsibilities she often snuck out of home to seek out her father, from whom she learned to play the violin. The tribe’s Matriarch as well as Zheva’s Mother and sisters disapproved and did their best to rein her in, teaching her the essential survival skills of the hunt.Zheva wasn’t enamoured of the Gridanians, her tribe being active raiders and poachers, but the ever growing danger posed by the Garleans and the desire for adventure and purpose were stronger. So, far too young, she decided to leave, joined the adventurer’s guild for a turn or so…where she eventually watched the terrible events unfold at Silvertear Lake. This was the final straw for her and what led her to join the Order of the Twin Adder causing a great deal of friction with her family.She faced considerable prejudice as a Keeper, but eventually made the rank of Corporal just before the calamity. She fought and was seriously injured at Carteneau…after which she took a brief sabbatical as many did, needing to recover and to try to find out what happened to her family.Eventually she found her family and learned what had become of them and their tribe. Much of her tribe was lost, including the Matriarch. Her own family had lost two of her sisters, the eldest and the second youngest, her father was never found and is presumed to have died. The loss and grief served as a bridge to rebuild ties with her family, but ultimately chose not to remain with them as they worked to rebuild in the North Shroud with other survivors from their tribe.She returned to the Twin Adders and served with the Eorzean Alliance against the empire to liberate Gyr Abania, and was involved in many of the subsequent battles and engagements both in and out of Eorzea, including time volunteered with the Ilsbard contingent in Garlemald following the Empire’s collapse. She rose to the rank of Sergeant First Class through her years of service, but never higher, perhaps in part because of lingering prejudices or perhaps because she never aspired to any higher rank.She has a love of the violin, and with this break from fighting she has been taking up a different kind of bow though she struggles to find a place to practice. Music has been her salve, a way to help heal from all the things she experienced in her years of service, but also the last connection she has to her father. She is extremely secretive about this hobby...though it is unclear why this is.She recently injured her wrist and the resulting nerve damage has since been on medical leave. Her future career now in question, she's doing some soul searching, trying to figure out what comes next.
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