Marihka (mah-RUHK-ah) "Rook" Aldwir is a Dalish elf from Clan Iserahmis, living largely in the western Green Dales in Antiva. Her father, Kendril, was Nevarran originally, captured by slavers and trafficked in the Tevinter Imperium before escaping and joining Clan Iserahmis as an adult. Her mother, Leilani, grew up in the clan, a daughter of one of the founding families, and fell in love with the handsome newcomer who joined her family's crafting trade. Eventually, the two of them married, and Leilani went on to give birth to twin girls, Marihka and Mirwen. Each of the twins had one dark brown eye and one hazel eye, opposite from each other.
Marihka discovered her magic when she was eight years old, after an unfortunate incident with her twin and a few other children playing near the marshes and animating hidden bog bodies. Thankfully, no one was harmed before the adults heard the commotion and came to dispatch the corpses. Her mother was appalled, as death magic was an unheard of specialty among the Dalish that she knew, but Marihka's father, having grown up in Nevarra, was much more accepting.
As a mage, Marihka was trained by her clan's Keeper and First. Althought the Keeper, First, and Second were all trained in Elvhen lore and language, the role of Second in Clan Iserahmis was largely involved in ceremony, as it would be the Second who would be responsible for performing rites in the absence of their superiors. This included funerary rites, which Marihka was particularly interested in and terrified of, given her magical talents. However, her Keeper took the opportunity to build her skills in flame magic as well, for although the Dalish didn't burn their dead, they burned torches around the burial site to guide the dead. (That flame was also an effective repellant against the undead was explained later, when Marihka became more comfortable with her abilities.)
When they were about sixteen or seventeen, a particularly harsh fever swept through Clan Iserahmis, and Mirwen, training as a healer's apprentice, fell ill treating clan members. Recognizing the irony of a death mage tending to a healer, Marihka tried her best to nurse her twin back to health, but Mirwen succumbed. Devastated, Marihka's impulsive nature nearly led her to try to reanimate her sister, but the other healers intervened. Marihka did insist on performing Mirwen's funeral herself, burying her twin with her staff and instead crafting an entirely new one for herself. When it came time to take vallaslin, Marihka took Falon'Din's-the Elvhen friend of the dead.
Marihka's education in Elvhen history led her to be interested in joining the Veil Jumpers, who were more than interested in having an expert in death magic on their teams exploring ancient (potentially guarded) ruins. Although her parents were reluctant to part with her, they also understood how painful staying with the clan had become, and so they encouraged her goal to travel to Arlathan Forest, where she had been with the Veil Jumpers until the pursuit of an ancient map put her whole team in deadly peril. Making a split-second decision to keep everyone alive at the cost of losing the artefact, Marihka earned the annoyance of her leader Strife, but gained Varric's attention and gratitude as one of her resuees.
Varric: that one like college-level sports coach that every player idolizes. Relationship is neither personal nor professional but a secret third thing.
Bellara: their shared history with the Dalish and with the Veil Jumpers makes them fast friends, which both of them need to release pent-up yap sessions.
more to come...
Mirwen Aldwir: Marihka's twin sister. Not a mage herself, although she trained alongside the clan's First as an apprentice of the healing arts. When she died from a fever, Marihka buried Mirwen with the only staff she had ever used and started fresh, hoping her death magic might better guide her twin in the afterlife.
Kendril Aldwir: Marihka's father, originally Nevarran, although he spent a large portion of his life in Tevinter as a slave. Growing up in Nevarran culture, although he was not a mage himself, he wasn't shocked by Marihka's apparent talent with death magic.
Leilani Aldwir: Marihka's mother, the daughter of one of the founding families of Clan Iserahmis. Craftswoman by trade, with little familiarity with magic, death or otherwise.
Strife: Leader of the group of Veil Jumpers Marihka joined in Arlathan Forest. Another former Tevinter slave, he reminded Marihka a little of her father at first, although his sometimes-ruthless attitude led them to butt heads often and heatedly.