Aeleandria was born in the city of Leth Deriel to parents Sederean and Aeleansa, who live there to this day.
Aeleandria's father, Sederean, is a bounty-hunter seeking wayward criminals on behalf of the authorities at the Gallows Tree, and has been all of his adult life. He is a man hardened by his work and he will not forgive Aeleandria for her choice to follow the path she does. They have not spoken since she fled from their home in anger and humiliation.
Aeleandria's mother, Aeleansa, is a seamstress, working with fine Elvish fabrics to prepare garments for sale in the shops of Leth Deriel and for trade with other provinces. Aeleansa is a forgiving woman, especially of her only child. She believes in goodness within Aeleandria, but cannot bring herself to accept the reality of Aeleandria's life. She blames herself for allowing Aeleandria to trail after her father at the Gallow's Tree, thinking that the experience corrupted her from childhood.
Her thieving began when she was little; littler than even her parents suspect. Before her elvish adolescence she would skip into the shop her mother sewed in and greet her mother and the proprietress. They would share a cool drink and a snack with her, and while the adults would come in to help a customer, young Aeleandria would sometimes sneak coppers out of the money chest. The amounts were always small enough to go unnoticed.
When schooling with other elven children, she even tried a scam and profited a few more coppers.
As time passed and she grew, her father took her along to the Gallows Tree where the criminals of Leth Deriel were processed and imprisoned. Here she saw all kinds of criminals, most she counted as beneath her and her family. But, there was the occassional rogue that caught her attention.
Once, she witnessed an escape by a dark elven rogue that was brought in for processing. One moment the thief was in the hands of the guards, the next moment one of the guards was face-down on the ground and the rogue was barrelling out the door. Her father was put on the case and managed to track the rogue down and bring him in, but meanwhile in the evenings he recounted the experiences to his wife and daughter. Aeleandria soaked up the stories and found herself quietly hoping the thief would escape.
On the night that Sederean came home and announced that he had finally bagged the escapee, Aeleandria crept silently from their home and raced to the Gallows Tree where he was kept. She padded past the sleeping guards and came to the edge of the criminal's cell.
He was sitting up, on the floor, his dark eyes watching her every move. He cocked his head to her, curiously. Nervous of his gaze, she began examining the lock to his cell. He whispered to her through the bars to look in his bundle on the table for a small mahogony case.
She found it, and opened it to find a set of lockpicks, each in its own velvet case, to prevent each from rattling against the others. Whispering all the while, he coached her movements till she picked open the cell.
Grinning broadly, the rogue stepped out of the cell, knelt down and whispered his thanks. He gathered his bundle and crept out of the jail, leaving her with the lockpick and advice to get scarce.
Moments after he had vanished, she crept out as well, but her foot slipped against a table leg and woke the guard. He quickly took stock of the situation, and though she managed to run out, he informed her father that he had seen her at the Gallows Tree and that the criminal had again escaped.
When her father demanded an explanation, his mind already made up, she ran from their home in Leth Deriel vowing to never darken the door of her childhood home again.
She fled with the clothes on her back and a light elvish cloak out the Alder Bower Gate to the North. For days she wandered the woods, nearly starved, but for some wild berries and brook water.
Finally she came to a ferry and a traveller paid her passage to the bustling city of the Crossings.
Aeleandria has a spirit that longs for a dangerous challenge to be overcome with skill and cunning. She has a deep sense of honor and has taken the Old Code to heart, but she also has a cynicism towards authorities and laws.
She is generally helpful, especially to the young, and has gone well out of her way to assist with the equipping and advising of those few inexperienced that catch her attention.
Yet, she also keeps people at bay, and has had very few close friends. This may be due in part to the hurt she endured while leaving her family and heritage behind. And, though warm and fiercely loyal, she is distanced even to her close friends.