Elise is lean, wiry and athletic in build. She is above average height for a human woman, but possesses little in the way of bulk or weight on her frame; instead, her physical strength derives from conditioning, stamina and inner grit.
Though she appears quite attractive and youthful, there is worldliness about her that suggests wisdom beyond her years. Her demeanor nevertheless is caring, friendly but determined.
Elise has large blue eyes and wavy sandy blond hair, which she keeps groomed and cut to just below shoulder length. In most cases, she keeps her hair tied back in a pony tail for practical purposes, or has all but her hair bangs hidden beneath her mail coif when armed.
Height 5'10
Weight 121 lbs
Hair Color Sandy Blond
Eyes Blue
Personality:
In spite of her troubled childhood, Elise is the model of optimism and hope. The city of Korvosa maybe a cesspool of crime, but it never seems to bring Elise down, nor does she ever stop trying to help those less fortunate than herself.
Intelligent, charismatic and outgoing by nature, Elise seems to draw energy by interacting with all manners of folks in Korvosa. She readily makes time to help the young and destitute in the city, feeling a clear affinity to their plight.
When faced with clear corruption, cruelty or exploitation, Elise's otherwise cheerful disposition is replaced by steely determination and seething controlled anger. In some cases, Elise can be righteous to a fault, finding little common ground with those in the underworld, yet she has enough wisdom of age to step away from a battle she cannot win.
Background:
Elise was youngest of three children born to Victor and Ellyn Warden, merchants and traders in the city of Korvosa. Her father was a fifth or sixth generation native to Korvosa, while her mother was of Ulfen descent. Her early childhood was a happy one, until her parents came upon hard times due to a gambling problem her father secretly harbored. Eventually, his debts were called, but little money or credit was available to him. Growing impatient, the crime lord debtors began to finally escalated to an assault that took Victors life. The Warden family was ruined after Victor's death, and Ellyn and her children were forced onto the street. Tragedy became a regular occurrence for Elise in youth; her older brother was killed in a mugging, and her mother was taken by the plague. Orphaned, Elise and her remaining brother Edgar fell into the service of Gaedren Lamm.
Raised with a strong sense of self-worth and moral character by her mother, Elise was immediately resentful of the type of petty crime she was required to commit for Gaedren. While she hated working for Lamm, she found some comfort staying close to her brother, who like her was strong, athletic and charismatic. Unfortunately, Gaedren began to fear Edgar's strength, and sold him off to a crime boss as muscle. Alone and without guidance at the age of fourteen, Elise started to openly rebel against Gaedren. Beatings, abuse and terror resulted, but never seemed to deter her from trying to throw off his shackles. Eventually, she began to organize a revolt among some of the older "Little Lamms" in Gaedren's service. Catching wind of this, Gaedren had decided that Elise had become to much of a liability and had her tortured and dumped in unceremoniously in the street as an example to the other children.
Luck, or perhaps fate intervened from Elise though, and she was rescued by some Iomedean missionaries. The missionaries brought her to a temple of Iomedae in Korvosa and nursed her back to health. Leaders in the church saw great potential in the orphan, and trained her to be a leader among men, and a devout follower of Iomedae. Having spent the past three years with the Iomedaen church, she was cultivated a strong sense of justice, grace and compassion for the plight of her fellow citizens in Korvosa. Now of an age, she will attempt to make her own mark on the world... starting with bringing Lamm to justice.
Timeline:
The total time passed since Elise escaped the clutches of Lamm has been approximately four years. Nearly an adult when she attempted to lead the Lambs away from their cruel master, she was at the age of seventeen, nearing the end of her usefulness to Gaedren anyway, making her expendable to him.
