Amyra Zan's page

About Amyra Zan

Social Identity of Scourge

Amyra Zan is a cheerful and boisterous Varisian “bard” from the South Shore of Korvosa. Always the life of the party and the center of attention, she’s something of a local celebrity in the district. She spends most of her nights playing in the Bard’s End, yet never seems to earn more than a sail without spending it to buy a round of drinks for the house. She jokingly refers to herself as a “professional bum,” relying on friends and fans to pay for her meals and lodgings.

Amyra is a notorious flirt with a bawdy sense of humor, and finds great amusement in flustering others. Men and women all over the South Shore claim to have bedded her, but it’s impossible to say just how many are telling the truth – when asked, Amyra is just as likely to vehemently deny the tale as she is to say it was even better than the rumors.

Amyra typically wears an ostentatious entertainer’s outfits with skimpy tops that show off the swirling, white tattoos on her torso. Her long, black hair is most often worn loose, falling just below her shoulders. She always has on a pair of fingerless gloves (“They help me play better, I swear!”) While not the most gifted caster, she does make frequent use of Mage Hand and Prestidigitation, and on rare occasion, a Cure Light Wounds spell. She’s rarely seen without her lyre.

But while Amyra is playing for barrooms by night, she is terrorizing the criminals of Korvosa as Scourge by…later…night…

*ahem* Anyway.

Scourge is a gifted Warlock with a penchant for overkill. She specializes in fire magic, a skill that makes her very unpopular in certain sections of the city. The Order of the Nail has blamed her for several cases of unsolved arson (crimes which she is innocent of) while the Acadamae officially denies that she has stolen several books from them (a crime which she is absolutely guilty of). Rumor has it she’s obsessed with the death of some elf girl no one’s ever heard of, and will hunt down anyone who was within a mile of her when it happened.

While there are numerous conflicting reports about Scourge’s appearance – the lower half of her face is covered by a mask and a flowing cloak and loose-fitting clothes hide her body - there are some things that nearly everyone can agree on. She has bright red hair, like a flame, down past her waist. Her eyes flash ruby red whenever she gets angry. And she has a single, black tattoo on the palm of her left hand that seems to be the source of her magical power.

Scourge has a dry, biting wit, and even her allies would describe her as joyless at the best of times. When she has a mission in front of her, she focuses on it with single-minded determination, setting all else aside. And while she takes on various pursuits in support of the vague notion of ‘justice’, her primary mission – the one that made her become a vigilante in the first place – has never changed.

Amrya was an unknown, travelling musician, visiting Korvosa to make a quick coin, when her wife was killed. Seeing her dead broke something in Amyra. Her disposition grew darker over time, and she stopped travelling, returning again and again to the place it happened. She very nearly lost herself to despair until she heard the tales of Blackjack. She took inspiration from the stories, and spent the following years developing a second persona of her own.

Over time, Amyra realized that a bit of personal fame would make it easier for her to finance her vigilante activities, as well as provide herself a decent alibi. After all, who would imagine the ditzy bard who can barely cure a papercut is really the brilliant pyromancer leaping across rooftops in the night? Keeping her wife’s death a secret from all but her closest companions, she became a whole new Amyra, capable of drawing a crowd. In truth, she considers the socializing to be a bothersome chore, but she recognizes the necessity of it and keeps up a good act. Music, however, is the one thing that still brings her genuine joy.