Lady Sir Arya Venkyr, The Nightingale of Everlund

"Being a noble, Bars, does not make me helpless." The helmet came off, and the knight shook out a long mane of dark auburn hair. Gray eyes sparkled above her smile and sunlight danced across her smooth, lightly tanned face. Arya Venkyr was a songbird clad in steel feathers. More than a few passersby caught their breath. "Nor does being a noble lady."

"Of course not, lass -- I mean, Lady Sir Arya," Bars stammered. "I said nothing of the sort."

"Were you going to say one of those things, perhaps?" She put her hands on her hips and raised one crimson-dashed eyebrow.

-- Excerpt from Ghostwalker

Lady Arya Venkyr is a valiant -- if young and impetuous -- knight-errant of Silverymoon. The only child of widower Rom Venkyr, a wealthy and prestigious lord in Everlund, she ran away from home for a life away from rules and restrictions. She stands about six feet tall, and she has auburn hair, steely gray eyes, and a witty smile.

The symbol of House Venkyr is a nightingale upon a gold crescent moon emblazoned on a gold field, and Arya is often referred to as the Nightingale of Everlund in honor of this sigil. She bears the shield of her namesake, Aryena, an Illuskan princess of legend, which always passes to a female heir in her honor.

The only daughter of a knight who had wanted a son and whose mother had died in childbirth, Arya found that she preferred male friends. She learned swordplay from Bars Hartwine, a paladin's son and squire, and skulked the streets with Derst Goldtook, a lowborn mischief-maker, pickpocket, and, when he got older, general rake and scoundrel. Theirs was a lifelong friendship that would translate into an unshakable bond.

In Uktar of 1367, in her eighteenth winter, Arya fled home for Silverymoon, taking her family's ancestral Nightingale shield. There, quite accidentally, she met Dove Falconhand on the road and aided her in driving off a gang of bandits. This led to a meeting with Dove's sister, Alustriel, and the beginning of Arya's friendship with the High Lady. Alustriel became, to Arya, a sort of kindly, older-sister figure to replace the mother she had never known.

The following year, she aided in an action against a band of fiends out of Hellgate Keep, tagging along despite the best efforts of Grandmaster Alathar, head of the Knights in Silver. In honor of her efforts -- luck more than skill, she would say -- she was inducted into the knighthood in her nineteenth winter. In 1372, she was instrumental in thwarting an attempt on Alustriel's life and so earned greater honor in the knighthood. Alustriel offered Arya a promotion, but the young knight refused any title beyond Knight-Errant.

She threw herself down and snatched her sword from its scabbard. An arrow drove into her side, through the plate, and she screamed from the sudden flame that swept through her. Had she been unarmored, the shot would have been fatal.

"Arya . . . run . . ." he gasped against the pain. He reached down and grasped his sword hilt. "They come . . . for me . . ."

She caught his hand and held it tight. He looked up, and the resolute fire they had known burned in her eyes now. She stood and towered over his prostrate form.

"Let them come," said Arya, her voice cutting like a knife.

Half a dozen dark figures stalked out of the trees, steel glittering in their hands. Arya -- sword and shield ready -- stood alone to meet them.

-- Excerpt from Ghostwalker

In the Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR), Arya Venkyr rides under the Silverymoon banner as a Knight in Silver. Her deeds and beauty inspire townsfolk, fill Alustriel with pride, and entirely confound her father.

Due to her friendship with the High Lady, the Nightingale often finds herself on critical missions for the fledgling nation. Her old friends and fellow knights Bars and Derst ride at Arya's side as well. Together, the three share adventures of untold heroism, noble aim, and off-color humor.

At the end of Tarsakh, the three travel to Quaervarr for the Greengrass festival. There they plan to seek refuge from Lord Rom's harassment, visit Arya's estranged step-uncle Dharan Greyt, and -- while they're there -- complete a secret mission for Alustriel and the Silver Marches. All in a day's work, for the Nightingale of Everlund.

Or so she thinks.