Background courtesy of 5e Tools "This Is Your Life"

Serena Richards is the oldest of two children of Roland and Hikari Richards, a modestly successful couple from a modestly successful farming town. The Richards are Serena's adoptive parents; she was left with them by a mother who abandoned her there in infancy. It's whispered about town that her father vanished without a trace to fates unknown. Some of those tales can be fairly fantastic in nature, considering her development over time proved that Serena is not quite human.

Her adoptive mother, Hikari, is a milliner in the town, as well as an artist and free spirit. Roland thinks very highly of himself, higher than warranted, as he is the town magistrate. Her younger sister, Jorunn, works with their mother in the millinery shop. Together, this helps them maintain a fairly comfortable lifestyle. They have a sizeable house, due to Roland's position in the town, and they have many "family friends" that call on them to court favors with the magistrate.

Serena was raised to be polite, respectful, and mindful of laws and traditions. She always thinks the best of people, and frequently overlooks many of the less-savory aspects of her father's actions "because that is the business of bureaucracy". It is obvious to outsiders that Roland was disappointed not to have a son. Serena grew up learning to fight and engaged in many such activities that were unseemly for a young woman. Hikari encouraged this, however, knowing how dangerous it can be for a woman in the world.

Her first job as a de facto bounty hunter came by pure happenstance. She stumbled upon a man intent on burglarizing the town smithy, stopped him, and brought the man to the local constabulary. Then it happened again, and again. After that, Roland began using his position as magistrate to send his adopted daughter on "special assignments" to find and bring in those not working for the "greater good" of the town. Excited to have a purpose outside of the threat of hat-making, Serena set about her new semi-official position with great aplomb.

Now well past the age of being appropriate to be single, Roland declared the engagement of his daughter to a fellow councilmember. Asmund Payne is a rather boring man, in Serena's view, a widower and friend of her father. After the engagement was announced, Serena made a point of taking more jobs away from town, going deep into the forest in search of bandits and highwaymen. Maybe a traveling circus would come through the area, and she could escape with them, learning how to wrestle bears and ride elephants...