Belinda Heathertoe's page

Summary
Belinda Heathertoe is a halfling woman in her fourties. She knows she's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and has had to learn the hard way that people will take advantage of her if she lets them. Belinda has spent the last year running from the authorities and rethinking what she wants from life. She's vowed never to let anyone fool her again, and she's ready to start leading the adventurous life she's always dreamt of.

Background, personality and appearance
The birth of Belinda Heathertoe was accompanied by ill omens. Violent storms raged on the sea the night she was born in the Dockway district of Magnimar. Her fate seemed sealed from birth when her parents saw the birthmark on her forearm, in a pattern eerily resembling a skull and bones. While growing up she was quite the concern for her parents, who noticed that she wasn't all that bright and prone to fantasies of an adventuring life. She was already in her thirties and her parents had almost given up hope, when a happy ending seemed to present herself. Belinda had caught the attention of Leigh Bunswurt, an ambitious young halfing lad. He courted Belinda for a while, she fell madly in love with him and with his grand plans and within four months they were married. Leigh started a merchant business, calling it the "Heathertoe Trading company" in honor of Belinda and took her aboard his ship. It soon turned out that the shipping life was different than Belinda had thought. Leigh relegated her to the ship's kitchen and let her do cleaning and repair when she was free. She worked on his ship for the better part of four years in this way: he was clearly taking advantage of her, but she was not sharp enough (and too much in love) to see it.

The truth became painfully clear though, when Leigh ran afoul of the authorities. It turned out that his merchant's company was mostly a front for smuggling illegal goods. When he could outrun the authorities no more, he showed his true colors and shifted all the blame to Belinda. He posed that it was really her business (it even carried her name), and he mentioned the birthmark on her forearm (which she had kept secret, except to him), pointing out that someone carrying the mark of Besmara would surely be the mastermind behind these illegal activities.

It was only by sheer luck and determination that Belinda managed to evade capture. Broken-hearted, dispirited and wanted by the authorities, she fled on the first ship she could find. She eventually found her way to the Shackles, awakened to the grim truth and with a new view of life: She knew she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she had other talents to make sure no one else would ever take advantage of her. She took to wearing the yellow of Calistria and vowed that those who would try, would suffer. She also knew that, to lead the life that she had always wanted, the adventuring life of her children's books, she would have to take that for herself. She embraced the fate that seemed ready for her since birth, gave an offering to Besmara and set about looking for a ship in the Port Peril that would take her. The Formidable Maid had seemed like a decent place to begin and the night had started well, until the ale had disagreed with her and she started to feel light-headed.