When I started painting this picture for my good friend Jaro, I didn't know it would turn out to be an epitaph to the character.
Ezra Habhaïn was a human ranger in the Pathfinder campaign that I DM for, Erlenfeste. After a rough start with our group (she later confessed that she toyed with the idea of slitting all our throats in the night), she quickly grew to be one of the most integral parts of the party.
The young ranger grew up alone in the forest and learned to rely on no one but herself. All that time spent away from society helped her become a reliable ranger, but it came at the cost of always feeling a little bit alienated in society. She was a pragmatist, caring not for fine cloth nor money, and was always happiest when she could see the stars from her bedside.
Not long after her 17th birthday, she found herself in the icy tundra of Belkzen's Reach, herself and her party surrounded by an army of orcs under the reign of a powerful cleric of Zon-Kuthon, the God of Pain. In a last-ditch effort to save her friends, Ezra put her everything into a desperate shot of her trusty bow. She managed to grievously injure her opponent, but thus made herself the target of his powerful magic.
Ezra died a hero, her body disintegrated by dark magic and strewn across the cold wasteland by uncaring winds. This marked the first true character death in our campaign and was a very emotional moment for myself and my players. Jaro retired playing their ranger after almost 10 years of gaming and will stay in the party with another character — which I will have to draw at some point. Goodbye, Ezra Habhaïn. May Pharasma judge you worthy after your journey down the river of souls has ended. The world will be a colder and less friendly place in your absence.