Hilde Voelker, Deposed Princess

Hildegard "Hilde" Voelker, Deposed Princess of the kingdom of Eingard.

Hildegard Voelker was born as the only child of King Hansen Voelker of Eingard, a vassal kingdom of the Sacred Primus Imperium. She was a small child, born premature from a complicated pregnancy for her mother, who died in childbirth. She was often wracked with health problems in her early years, and so was often kept secluded from the rest of her father's court, her only frequent companion being her father's court mage, a longtime friend of the family. Even as she grew up and her health improved, her father continued to keep her in seclusion, with her servants and tutors as her only regular companions. Despite this, she was able to receive an adequate education even as she had no real friends.

Hilde took an interest in physical activities and learning to fight in order to uphold her family's tradition of being the Imperium's frontier defense. Her slighter frame, however, necessitated that she supplement her physical fighting abilities with magic in order to keep up with more robust warriors. She learned battlemage techniques from her court mage and was thus able to become a competent fighter by the time she had reached her majority. Unfortunately, her father's dotage and declining health after the death of his wife had led to neglect of his realm and duties, culminating in a coup by a rival Imperium vassal seeking to gain the kingdom's prestige as First Guard of the empire. Cast into exile, Hilde barely avoided capture and enslavement when her kingdom fell and she took to the road with her family's sword and her own wits to right wrongs and earn an adequate living.
It was during her travels that she freed an enslaved Dragonkin, the Paladin Vaszilek Zavroth, who had been captured during a conflict between the Imperium and the Obsidian Isles. Indebted to her, Zavroth now serves as a long companion and manservant, sworn by oath to service to her family. Eventually, the two fell in with a group of unlikely adventurers, and they have enjoyed the company ever since.