Kornelia Sonnenstein

Kornelia was born in Erdgeist on a twice-removed branch of the Sonnenstein family tree. While technically a relative of the King, Kornelia is roughly 63rd in line for succession to the Molten Throne, and that number increases year by year as scholars bicker about primacy and inheritance law. Family members regarded her heterochromia as grounds for removal from the line of succession, which suited her just fine. Her mother Adelheid feared that some ambitious cousin would come knocking and take Kornelia away to destroy her pale witch eye and "purify" the family, so Adelheid pushed hard for Kornelia's acceptance into the Forgefather's service as quickly as possible to keep her safe.

After decades of holy service bringing her barely to adulthood, Kornelia's latent wild magic surfaced, causing all of her hair (and fledgling beard) to fall out and grow back the next morning. Even senior clerics started referring to her as the Cursed Child, which did not bode well for her future advancement in the clergy. Kornelia grew tired of being treated as an object by everyone, so she started learning magic that would change her appearance and help her disappear. Before anyone could formally kick her out, she stockpiled money from her mother and staged her escape.

She found a second-hand set of half plate armor and a weathered battle axe before she left. When she donned the armor she played the part of a dwarven soldier with a weak left arm to explain her lack of shield, and she traveled south into the Dales, taking whatever jobs came her way to pay for rides and meals. She hid a small fortune in a bag of holding tucked under her clothes that nobody ever discovered. She experimented with taking on different genders and species, even short humans, but she decided that staying close to the truth would keep her the safest. When pressed, she said her powerful family had started making decisions on her behalf, so she had to get away from the whole situation.

She arrived in Fellport and nobody even looked at her twice, witch eye or not. She decided to embrace her magical nature and enroll in the College, eventually settling into the Alchemical Department. It took her five years to get her Certificate of Competence in Alchemy, but she made some good friends and a solid reputation during that time. Her fascination with transmutation came through during every party where she asked someone to drink some glowing, smoking liquid or other. The results randomly and harmlessly changed the drinker's features somehow, wearing off in about an hour, but everyone laughed at the funhouse versions of themselves after drinking Kornelia's Alter Brew.

This gave her the idea to open a bar with a portion of her stored wealth, allowing her to change her appearance whenever she felt like it, and to make money from people looking for magical entertainment while drinking. She found a promising building just across the Lift from the College on 10, and opened the Alter Bar two years ago. It's popular with the student population, and she's positive several fey have come to visit and laugh at the silly mortals on more than one occasion.

She maintains a connection with the College, giving a talk twice a year on unexpected uses for magical training. A couple of dwarven diplomats have visited her, acknowledging her connection to the royal family. She usually sells their gifts, though a desperate noble gave her his platinum geode to intercede on his behalf. Kornelia's words changed exactly nothing, but she kept her promise and so she kept his gift without guilt.

Kornelia still has the witch eye on her right side, starkly pale in comparison to the dark brown eye on the left side. Her coal-black hair hangs straight to her shoulders, and she wears her beard cropped short. She uses her Alter Brew, illusion magic, and alter self to keep everyone guessing about her true features when she tends bar, and her Quickened and Subtle spell metamagic keeps everyone guessing about where her spells stop and her concoctions begin. She smiles often now, though her face still isn't used to that particular expression.

She's still quite young at 57, but she's finally succeeding and telling her own tale despite the decisions that everyone has made for her at every step during her youth. She enjoys making people laugh and taking their coin for the privilege, and that's enough for her. She lives alone and goes out with friends when she can, and she doesn't care to engage in any sort of romance at the moment. She's still involved with dwarven politics whenever diplomats come find her in Fellport, but she revels in being the black sheep of the family, judiciously using profanity to make her positions clear.

Kornelia Sonnenstein
Mountain Dwarf Wild Magic Sorcerer/Alchemist Artificer (Level 3/4) (She/Her)
(Acolyte Background; No Feats)
Str 16  Dex 10  Con 16  Int 16  Wis 10  Cha 12
Arcana +6, Deception +4, Insight +3, Religion +6

Part of T.W.Wombat's Fellport project, detailing the city and the world of Beneterra.
For all city posts, see the Fellport Index. For posts about the wider world, see the Beneterra Index.