Born into the world from a wife of a poacher in the King's land, Esailia had a rough start to life. It was not for lack of love or care from her parents. But she learned to conserve food and drink from her mother, was trained to walk silently on dry leaves by her father, even taught herself how to climb trees to avoid dangerous animals of the forest. But most of all, she was a prodigy with a bow and arrows. She could hit the eye of a sparrow flying by nine times out of ten. Fell a stag in a clean shot to the neck or eye. She and her father went out hunting often, while her mother foraged near the hut for herbs and berries.

It was a hard life, but a rewarding one. Living by skill and cooperation. But it was not meant to last.

Soon after Esailia came of age, she was hunting alone in the forest, when she heard hounds howling and men shouting and whooping. A royal hunting party. She'd learned of those early in her life. But something was off. They rarely came this far from the castle...and then it hit her, the sounds were coming from the direction of her home. She raced home, hopping from tree branch to tree branch, before taking a controlled fall to the forest floor to pop back up sprinting.

She arrived just on the edge of the clearing where her home had stood, and was greeted with the sight of a burning pile. The royal party had killed her mother and father, and burned the hut to the ground for good measure. It was this act by the Royal Family that caused the death of King Lanver a few years later. A single arrow to the eye. Woodland experts were called from across the land to identify the arrow of sparrow fletchings, hand carved shaft, and a flint arrowhead. But they all said it was unique. Not any that were sold by merchants or of known hunters of the area. The King's son took the throne, and declared the forests off limits by hunting parties until the murderer of his father was found. It was not to be a short declaration...
over a century later, a father of three children was staring at his empty storehouse, and sighed before putting up his bow and quiver. He slowly closed the door and started walking back to his family's home, a small shack that barely held them. He had never overstocked, never let meat go sour. He respected his prey, giving them clean deaths where he could. He never allowed his wife to forage too much, making sure she kept some of whatever she took in its place so it may repopulate the area.

An arrow whizzed several yards in front of him to hit the ground near the door, making him jump with fright. He looked around frantically, fearing the authorities had found his poaching off the King's land, but to no avail. The father slowly approached the arrow, and quickly noted the sparrow fletchings. He looked around again, but as before, saw no one. He tugged the arrow gently from the earth, and hurried inside. It was a warning and a blessing, this arrow. He had heard bandied around illigal taverns that there was a spirit in the forests, making sure balance was kept, and that those greeted with a sparrow arrow should pray they have not caught the ire of the Guardian of the Balance. Alas, nothing ill happened to the hunter or his family. But the next morning, when he opened the door to his storehouse to retrieve his bow, there, hanging from the center of the room, were three stags, cleaned and salted.

"Thank you, Guardian of the Balance..." He murmered. Above him in a tree branch, Esailia smiled before darting off into the forest...

The legend quickly grew from there, with overhunting being punished, and respect to nature being rewarded by this Guardian. Soon thereafter, some even started saying it was a woman clad in light leathers and green cloth, carrying a living bow. Others say it was a spirit of a panther, taking the form of a human to exact revenge against those who killed her. Other such stories were exchanged, one even including that wisps followed in her wake, and all the while Esailia lived in relative security in the Deep Woods...Until she had a visitor.

Arndias had heard the stories, and scoffed at them. superstitious nonsense, he called them. It was just a girl with a knack for hunting! On top of that, he had been to the castle, and had seen the wanted poster for a murderer in the woods. a bounty number with quite a few zeros made him pack up, get his steel armor on, and head into the woods to find this 'Huntress of the Wood'...Several days later, his large body was found at the border of the forest closest to the castle, with a single arrow between the helm and chestplate of his armor, the same sparrow fletchings. But there was also a note attached to the arrow, which soon found its way into King Ornelis' hands, which read
"Bring your mercenaries, bring your hunting parties. Bring your Royal guard, bring your armies. The Forest does not forget. The Heart of the Wood does not forgive. The Ember of Vengeance has not died. Your fore-father upset the Balance, and so will you."

"Steward!" Ornelis called "Prepare a hunting party of the finest hunters and hounds of the land. We are ending this. Now."

It was a grand chase. But not even the best laid plans, nor the most honed instincts, could overcome a pack of hunters and their well-trained hounds. Esailia died not by a few arrows, but a slow, painful one as she bled out by her neck as King Ornelis watched on...It was a hunt to be remembered by all the land. To those that support the Crown with cheering, and woodland peasants with mourning. for the Huntress they owed their lives to. Esailia was buried by the father of three, and a few of his companions, atop a small hill in the forest. The father looked down at the rather small woman, her simple bow much like his, and nodded "She was a fine archer, and the best hunter any of us knew. I swear here and now to keep the Balance." He looked up at his companions as he continued "We live or die by the Hunt. Spread the word. The Guardian of the Balance has not died. She lives on in any who wish to protect this land."

They all headed off in agreement, never knowing quite how true that was...