Wyssal was born free, the daughter of an apothecary in a small town near near Oenopion, and she spent her youth as any other halfling might. In her 24th year he town was raided by a band of gnolls sweeping across Nex and she was one of many robbed of their freedom that day.
She endured grave abuses, being beaten and starved and mocked, by the wretched gnolls as she was traded from tribe to tribe until finally being bought to be the house slave of a my a merchant living in Katapesh. Her youth faded quickly as the years past and though she never lost the resentment she felt to all those around her she became accustomed to her life.
A few short months ago Wyssal, now known as ‘Gran’ by her fellow servants and slaves, was gathering supplies from the family’s cellar when she heard a cry from one of the young children, the second generation of this family that she had raised. Immediately afterward she looked to the doorway of the cellar and saw a small scorpion scurrying underneath, fleeing down the steps. Gran Wyssal felt a sort of premonition then and rushed to hide the scorpion in her sleeve. No sooner had the scorpion begun crawling along her arm, making it’s way around her back, than the door was flung open by her master’s wife. The woman was frantic and half-mad, demanding that Wyssal help her find the infernal creature that stung her son. The boy did not survive.
In the weeks that followed Wyssal kept and guarded the scorpion, which had revealed itself to her as her familiar. The scorpion taught her how to make manifest her will and how to afflict those around her with unease and pain. Less than a week ago she used these new skills to slay her former master, lulling him to sleep and slitting his throat, before stealing what supplies she could and riding into the desert.
It did not take her long to come upon the Garavel’s caravan, and she was fortunate that she did, for she was running low on supplies and might not have made it out of the desert alive. However, Garavel recognized the old woman as an escaped slave and only after a demonstration of skill, Wyssal’s failed attempt at escape, did he promise to free her if she assisted in protecting the caravan on it’s journey.
