Rena Lanford

"'This lass has endured a sad fate. What will the eternal passing of time expect of her?' ~ Portrait B"Rena Lanford is a villager from the village of Arlia on the planet Expel. She is one of two possible starting characters, the other being Claude Kenni. Rena lives with her adoptive mother, Westa. Her adoptive father, whose name is never mentioned, died in Rena's youth. Rena is the biological daughter of Reema, Director of the Heraldry Weapons Laboratory of Milocinia. Her biological father is unknown. Additionally, Rena has an aunt through Westa, Rachel.

Choosing Rena as a starting character will allow the player to admit Dias Flac into the party, but will permanently preclude Leon D.S. Geeste.

Character
Rena is innocent, carefree, trusting, and naïve -- even to a fault. Rena is known throughout Arlia to greatly love the Shingo Forest for its serene meadows and animals. There she spent countless hours in meditative solitude.

Rena peaceable and innocent nature changes over the course of the game. Early on, she is exposed to betrayal by her childhood friend, Alen, who kidnaps Rena in order to forcibly marry her. Throughout the game, she confronts enemies like Indalecio who are irredeemable, hellbent to destroy and harm others. This contrasts sharply against her own innocence, growing up in the sleepy village of Arlia. A profound glimpse of her changed nature occurs if Claude falls in battle: Rena will cry out, and vow not to forgive the enemy.

Growing up, Rena had two childhood friends, Alen and Dias, who continue to play a large part in her life. Alen desires to be her suitor. According to Star Ocean EX, Alen had made overtures to begin a relationship with her for years. Rena sees Dias, seven years her senior, as an older sibling she never had. Years ago, Arlia was devastated by periodic raids by bandits. In one such raid, Dias's own family was taken to the Shingo Forest and murdered. Since then, Dias left Arlia shortly thereafter to study the art of swordsmanship, but Rena and Dias never forgot about each other. The horrific deaths of Dias's family continue to tinge their conversations, which are laden with guilt and shame.

Rena is the only inhabitant of Expel that knows healing magic without the aid of a Heraldic crest. Expellian Heraldry Arts is attack-based and must be artificially endowed by the application of symbological tattoos on one's skin (a Heraldic crest). Her unique gift of healing is because of her true heritage as a Nedian, and she shares this ability with Noel Chandler and other Nedian mages.

Rena wears two keepsakes of her biological and adoptive families. The first is an energy stone, fashioned into a necklace, which was given by her mother Reema for her birthday. The second is a gold crescent hairpin, a family heirloom, given by Westa. Both items play crucial roles in the story development.

History
Rena's spent the first few years of her life on the planet Nede, with her mother and possibly her father. Rena's parents were stationed at a Heraldry Weapons Laboratory, on behalf of the Nedian government. While the precise events are unclear, the Heraldry Weapons Laboratory was destroyed due to an accident involving one of their projects. The enormous explosion was contained to the planet by a combination of energy shield and by time-shifting much of the explosion into empty space far in the future.

Shortly before the destruction, Reema transported Rena off the planet. Before departing, she gave Rena a pendant made of energy stone as a birthday present. The transportation did not work. The same processes that would time-shift the explosion also time-shifted Rena (something Reema suspected, but risked anyway, in the minuscule chance of saving her daughter's life).

Rena was sent to Expel, 700 million years into the future. She was found nestled in a transporter pod in the Shingo Forest by Westa. Unable to conceive on their own, Westa and her husband raised Rena as their biological daughter in the village of Arlia.

Rena learned the truth of her adoption years later. When Westa's husband died, a funeral was held, led by the village priest, Marshall. That night, the priest spoke at length with Westa to console her; in that discussion, Westa mentioned the truth of Rena's past. Unbeknownst to the both of them, Rena was not asleep but upstairs, quietly listening. However, Rena learned only what Westa knew: that Rena was found in the Shingo Forest. It is only when Rena ventures with Mayor Narl into the Heraldry Weapons Laboratory that she learns the complete story of her past.

According to the Priest, Rena changed on the day of her father's death, becoming dour and losing her cheerful demeanor. "[Rena] is quite a pitiful girl," Priest says to Claude. "Since she lost her father years ago, her spirit has been completely broken. . . . She certainly must be lonely."

Despite Rena's deep spirituality and faith in the Hero of Light, she has not attended church in years. When Rena enters Belding Church, Young Girl bemuses, "It's so unusual to see you at church. I hope it doesn't snow." Rena may have ceased attending church after her father's death, though the true reason is unknown.

Rena noticed that the children of the town carpenter, Mr. Bossman, were lonely. She took time each day to read and play with them, and tell them stories of the coming Hero of Light who would save Expel. Mr. Bossman's son notes that, "[Rena] is usually so happy when she tells us the story [of the warrior]." Her depression seems lifted when she speaks of the Hero of Light, and she re-acquires her the cheerful attitude she lost the day her father died when around Claude.

Strategy
See Combat strategy: Rena Lanford.

Private Actions
See Private Actions: Rena Lanford.

Items
See Items: Ashton Anchors .Like Bowman Jean and Noel Chandler, Rena uses knuckles. Like other spellcasters, she strongly favors weapons that grant a bonus to Heraldic abilities.

Trivia

 * Rena is the only female protagonist in the entire Star Ocean series.