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Sumina is of an average height and build, with long, pink hair and hazel eyes that usually have a very tired, sleep-deprived look to them, on account of her being very tired and sleep-deprived.
Her father is human, and from him she has inherited a mostly human frame and appearance, with the exception of the rosy tint of her hair, the pointed tips of her ears, and an otherworldly, starry gleam in her eyes if one looks closely enough, all of which she inherited from the astral elf lineage of the Heartleaf family.
She is normally dressed in clothing that befits a lady operating such a long-standing establishment, although she's usually very quick to don a simple apron in order to help out wherever she's needed (or short-staffed). At her hip hangs a magical Bag of Holding, out of which she produces a seemingly countless number of magical items to help her tasks, from Gloves of Mage Hand, to healing potions to have on-hand when a tavern brawl inevitably breaks out.
The young Heartleaf innkeeper is the very picture of well-mannered courtesy, with a lovely and pleasant voice that will never hesitate to ask a guest if there's anything she can provide, will always have stories about the Eldeflower to tell, and will always say "Good morning," and "Have a nice evening, valued guest."
However... this customer service facade is liable to crack at almost any given moment, come the first sign of stress. Of which there are very many. From enthusiastic adventurers causing chaos in the tavern to high-brow VIPs complaining about thread counts, there's no shortage of excitement at the Inn that often falls squarely on Sumina's shoulders to deal with. When this happens, her more candid, long-suffering and at times impatient side comes out.
Still, she is undoubtedly the hardest worker in her family, and she is constantly working herself to the bone in order to make her stint as Innkeeper as prosperous as memorable as it would be for a relative who would have hundreds of years to do what she does. Even given access to so many worlds, Sumina rarely ventures beyond the inn's entrance, preferring to stay in and catch up on work and occasionally indulge in needlecraft even on her days off.
She may not wish to experience the multiverse in the same way that her adventurous family does, but if there's something she'll venture out into another fantasy realm or a modern city for, it's good food. After all, the ingredients and dishes that a place can produce are defined very much by its world, its people, and its offerings. She'll come out to a Michelin (or equivalent) place any time.
Lastly, she's a terrifying drunk, which is why she tends to stay away from imbibing. Be warned!
Some ~1800 years ago, a sorcerer of the Heartleaf family was possessed of an idea whilst milling about their home, the Astral Plane: what if, much like the transient nature of the astral sea, they built a transient place of respite, one that would connect planes and worlds like Sigil, the City of Doors?
Thus was the Elderflower Inn established. Using starlight and a mysterious pact with an astral being, the Heartleaf family built a magical inn that could reach other planes and worlds by detecting fluctuations in the veil that separates realms. At first it was rather a quaint little bed & breakfast, but over its centuries of existence, as it passed through a handful of generations of astral elves in the Heartleaf family and as it reached more and more places, continents, then realms, the inn truly became something a bit bigger with items, decorations, fixtures and furniture from across the vast multiverse and its endless, myriad offerings.
Nowadays, the Heartleaf family - having made adventuring and innkeeping the family business - continues to develop and build on what its founder, Bemere Heartleaf originally envisioned. When a Heartleaf strikes out on their own venture for the first time out of one of the inn's many doors to grow and harness the power their magically-inclined bloodline affords them, they return with new arcane offerings to improve the magical structure and features of the inn. (And also, knick-knacks. So many knick-knacks. That may be a bit of the, hm, draconic bloodline shining through.)
Though born to this storied line of sorcerers, Sumina seems to lack any true trace of their arcane talent in her blood, a rarity in their lineage. This has never caused any ill feelings amongst her family, but it did still set Sumina apart at times, despite everyone's best intentions. Ultimately when it came time for parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings to embark on their grand magical adventures together, Sumina would be left at the Elderflower. Instead of going on her own adventures, she inherited the inn's operations when she came of age, and with great urgency. Unlike most of her fully elven relatives, Sumina has a shorter lifespan with which she can leave her mark on the Elderflower.
...Which is just as well, because while Sumina has no magic to herself, she'd long since discovered that she has a talent that most other members of her family do not: a sharp mind that is filled not with arcane musings (though it sometimes is filled with such) but one that knows how to solve problems and run a successful business. An eye for organization that sees the staggering collection of magical items they've collected and thinks to put it to use. As innkeeper, she has also made it her mission to organize the family's extensive library of journeys and adventurous findings - a monumental undertaking in itself, given its coverage of almost two thousand years of whacky hijinks.
No matter how exhausted or overworked she is, Sumina truly does love the Elderflower Inn and the role she plays in its upkeep. She may not have it for as long as most of her family, but to her, it's all the more reason to protect this mystical place and allow others to feel its wonder just as she had when she was growing up running through its hallowed halls and gazing up at its brilliant stained glass windows and playing hide-and-seek in its many little nooks and crannies.
It's just that someone's got to make sure she won't run herself into the ground, and make sure she stops to breathe once in a while, if only to ask: who is Sumina Heartleaf, outside of the Elderflower Inn?
Doubtless, it's a question that would likely require her being taken out of her beloved inn to answer. But until such a time, Sumina busies herself with delving into the mysteries of the inn's beginnings.
After all, the precise origins and nature of the Elderflower Inn's magical workings have, over its two milennia of existence, only become more mystified and nebulous even to members of the family itself. It is universally acknowledged that starlight is the driving force for its power, but how did Bemere manage to secure such a constant source of it? And how does it manage to do what the City of Sigil does, even on a much smaller scale, ostensibly without the influence or ruling of an entity such as the Lady of Pain?
These are the questions that Sumina seeks to answer, somewhat, by delving deep into her ancestors' journals, even if it's driven initially by a desire to simply catalogue them. While she tries to discover the truth from within, her cousin, Elenaril Heartleaf, seeks to find the truth from elsewhere, retracing her ancestors' adventures in search of answers. Surely, there are clues about their home out in the multiverse, where the inn has left its mark.
Though unbenknownst to them both, they may not need to look much further than Sumina herself. When a half-elf is born, it is said that their souls are either their own, much like a human soul, or that of an elf trapped in the mortal vessel of one mixed with a human. Sumina, it seems, may be an extremely rare case of both, in a way. And as luck would have it, it seems that the piece of another's soul that dwells within her may just belong to Bemere herself.
And how else might they discover this, until Elenaril's path brings her before none other than the solar dragon with whom Bemere formed a pact thousands of years ago? The selfsame dragon whose blood now runs through every Heartleaf's veins? Who turns out to be their great, great, great, great grandfather?
Possessing for himself another shard of Bemere's soul, Elenaril returns to the inn with the revelation, only to be faced with another when the shard begins to resonate with Sumina, who had up until that point been utterly incapable of anything magically inclined beyond using enchanted items. The resonance, however, draws the attention of ill-intentioned groups (cultists, one may argue) who detest the existence of an entity that rivals Sigil and the Lady of Pain. It seems the humble innkeeper, then, has less humble origins...
🏠 Take a peek at the inn here.
INVENTORY✦ Martial arts: Since Sumina always had trouble picking up magic, her family instead put her through martial arts training in her youth in order for her to be able to protect herself. Sumina's training specializes in a more flexible, fluid fighting style called the "Way of the Drunken Master," which relies on unpredictable movements. This training also gives her some proficiency in hand-to-hand combat, though she's arguably out of practice and, ironically, finds these abilities come to her more easily if she's had a bit to drink, herself.
✦ Sorcery... sort of: Though yet unbenknownst to her at her canon point, the sliver of her ancestor's soul which resides within her and has now resonated with another piece of that ancient soul affords her access to the sorcerous abilities her family's lineage should have given her, but had been blocked off from her up until this point. Without knowing this, Sumina cannot intentionally cast sorcerous spells— however, this may change when she's put in grave danger and that sliver of Bemere's soul sees fit to intervene to protect her kin. Sumina would fall unconcscious as this happens, as Bemere takes over. As a sorceress, Bemere favors elemental spells but would focus on protection; only a sliver of her former self, she would only be able to cast the most basic, low-level spells.
✦ Barrier tattoo: In another effort to give Sumina more protection in place of magical abilities, she was given a magical tattoo which essentially embeds a Barrier spell into her skin. This acts like a magical defense which makes it a bit harder for her to be hit.
✦ Proficiencies: As a Dungeons & Dragons character, Sumina has areas of specialities, or proficiencies, in which she has higher chances of success when performing tasks associated with these specialities. For her, these are: Acrobatics, Arcana (magical knowledge), History, Insight, Medicine, Performance, and Persuasion.
✦ Half-elf traits: Sumina has inherited a few elven traits from her mother beyond the physical features of her ears and eyes, namely, the ability to see well in the dark, and a magical resistance against being charmed and immunity against being put to sleep with magic.
✦ Artificer lenses
✦ Gloves of Mage Hand
✦ Ring of Prestidigitation
✦ Barrier tattoo