Nothing  is known about Mreth’s family or past. She was found at the age of two outside a Bree farmer’s estate. He was a widower. His wife and son had died of illness years ago and now, as an elderly man, he decided to take in the small girl and raise her.

 

From a young age, she was told the truth about her origin: he was keeping her in his home, but he was not of relation; no one knows the land she came from, or her parents; and she would probably have a difficult life ahead of her. All of this was accepted with resignation, and she never thought to believe otherwise.

 

The farmer had kept her hair short. He was not used to girls and had only known how to groom a boy. She was dressed in his son’s old clothing when she was old enough. Her training in being a farmer began at a young age as the farmer meant to leave her his farm as he was already an old man and his life expectancy was already bleak. It was a solitary life for the girl.

 

Unfortunately, Mreth never seemed to grasp even the basics of farming. Her guardian often quipped that she could kill grass. After a couple years of failure and not the slightest bit of improvement (not for lack of trying), she was sent to the local minstrel for apprenticeship. Not much was interesting about little Mreth, but the farmer had often caught her singing with a golden voice as she attempted to work the land and knew she had some talent in that field.

 

With what little she owned, she moved out of the only home she knew to learn the basics of music and life. Mreth found that she picked up musical knowledge quickly. It was comforting to be able to learn something well, as she had begun to consider herself dull witted after her inability to perform even the simplest tasks on the farm without something going wrong. She thrived under the minstrel’s tutelage, learning first the lute and then the harp. She knew enough to play the flute after that and even the bagpipes slightly and then, finally, the drum.

 

Her voice never needed much tutoring as it already held a rich sound naturally. She was taught the importance of a minstrel, though most do not really care about the intricacies of the profession. They were keepers of history, for in a land when reading was not always available and when war penetrated even the safest of lands, it was necessary for someone to pass on the tales. History, if not learned, is doomed to repeat again and again.

 

Most of the world’s history is handed down through song, whether silly songs or more breath taking ballads, but no one really thinks anything of it as they sing them to their children at night. Mreth became proud to become one of the few who would give the gift of knowledge to everyone of the realm. It was an honor she continues to ‘wear’ through all of her travels, and something she takes quite seriously.

 

As to her own future, she wishes only to be the best recorder of history that she can be. To fight the evil that surrounds them is an encompassing goal, as well as to write it all down for the next generation.

 

She has never attempted to begin her own family, or even to become close with anyone else. She understood  that she had no family ties, no house to claim. No blood ties that would be an honor or dishonor to her name. She did not know if her family were thieves or warriors killed in battle. She did not know what land she came from. She had no dowry or anything to offer anyone else. It was all this in mind that keeps her from even thinking about a life with her own family for she was undesirable in both past and appearance. Her age was, also, beginning to work against her as she was no longer a bright young miss at 31.

 

Mreth traveled for most of her life after her apprenticeship was over. It was a lonely life, never having a home of her own and only having her horse as company. Eventually she would take an extended break within Bree. Within the Pony she would run across a talented minstrel who told her of The Red Company and introduced her to an officer of the group, Mactire. 

 

She began to settle down after finding herself a kinship and even bought her own house in Picklin. Now she continues to push forward toward her goal along with the assistance of friends, something she had never allowed herself the luxury of before. And so it remains to this day.