As a girl, Carmen Terpsichore had a more unusual life than most. Her family was rich, and owned a large entertainment facility. Her father believed that his children should help with the running of his business, Carmen’s older brother assisted his father in the running of the establishment, and Carmen knew that she was expected to stay out of the spotlight, and do the chores that were expected of her, cooking and cleaning as required. Her father was remarkably old fashioned, and Carmen resented this. To spite her father, Carmen became a dancer, aware that her beauty might attract unwanted attention, but deciding it was all worth it to frustrate her father.
Carmen did her job well, and one day however, she found herself entertaining a lonely adventurer, a young man who excited her about his dashing tales of adventure. The stories awoke the longing Carmen had held as a girl, hearing about those dashing young men in the old stories her mother had read to her as a girl, exciting stories full of treasure, and battles, honor and all things interesting. Carmen was smitten with this dark haired adventurer, and resolved to run away with him, for she knew her father would never accept a relationship with him. On the agreed night, she left in the dead of night, to meet up with her sweetheart, only to find him lying out on the street, with his throat cut.
Carmen was full of sadness at her lovers death, but her sadness quickly turned into anger, as she decided to hunt down those responsible. Her wonderful dancing had many admirers, and by secretly making use of the families assets,, as well as calling in favours from her admirers, Carmen was able to discover that it was her father who had orchestrated the hit, having discovered her love affair. Furthermore, she learned that her father intended to marry her off to a somewhat older man, in order to further the families fortunes. Feeling betrayed, Carmen swore to herself that she would repay her father for the grief he had caused her, and fled the city, again using her connections to escape. Aware that she was alone, but the whole world was open to her, Carmen decided she would create her own story and become an adventurer, seeking to recapture a zest for life that her previous lover had managed to install within her. Dancing was what she knew, so she resolved to pledge herself to her goddess, Calistria, and became a Dervish Dancer. Using dancing for fighting was rather new to Carmen (besides the dancing), but she resolved to learn as best as she could. Due to this, Carmen is somewhat inexperienced at fighting, although she is remarkably adept in social situations, having had much practise over the years to stay ahead of her father, and any men he might send after his only daughter, as well as being able to exploit favours for her own future personal use.
Spending many years involved in the Shackles, the lawlessness of the region appealing greatly toward her, Carmen got wind that she was being hunted again, and they had tracked down her general location, so she hoped on board a ship, heading to regions unknown and determined to lose her pursuers, while starting a new life.
