About Sasha Elena PyropeName: Sasha Elena Pyrope “The Crimson Jackal”
Stress: 0/9
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Body: 2 0/6 XP
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Special Permission: A Fine Photographic Memory Once per errand you may call on your Fine Photographic Memory to recall the exact details of something you have seen in the past. [0 load] Shadow: You may push yourself to perform an act of stealth or athletics bordering on the superhuman. —----------------
BONDS(Violetta): Violetta's brother of House Al Mari is our common enemy. BONDS(Kyra): Kyra's mother, Calista has ordered Sasha to watch her and report back. Sasha doesn't know why, although she assumes it is just a mother worried about her daughter. It doesn't really matter since she has no choice. (Kyra sponsored Sasha into the House, now both have to excel or suffer the consequences.) BONDS(Luciana): Friend: Campania, A council secretary Rival: Alaric, a mercenary -----------------
Family Heirloom: A silver griffon and garnet necklace. The garnet stone held in the claws of the griffon is from her home island and imbued with some of the power of that sunken island. She wears the only remnant of her lost family and land at all times. And occasionally it allows her to manipulate and work the Weave. [0 Load] A Fine Cover Identity: You have all of the paperwork required to infiltrate most organizations temporarily. [0 load] A Vial of Sweetsleep: A strong drug, often powdered, that renders anyone inhaling or ingesting it unconscious.[0 Load] Flint & Steel: Kept in a small case, it would be unfashionable to be caught without it. It’s also handy for starting fires. [0 load] -------------------
Description: Sasha's description can vary widely depending on what part or role she might be playing. However, on those rare occasions when she is able to simply be herself, she is a young woman beginning in the early stages of slipping toward her middle years. Still thin and waif-like, her raven black hair is cut short in the island tradition. Her skin is deeply tanned from the days spent on the docks but it still carries the reddish hue of her Garnetyne heritage. Her eyes are brown, flecked with crimson, her hands rough from working ropes and climbing rigging. She dresses in simple, affordable and practical clothing. Lightweight breeches, linen shirt, and simple gray cloak all of which allow her to easily blend into practically any Ilrein crowd. Personality: Much like her looks, Sasha's personality can vary widely depending on who she might be playing. However, what lies beneath her acting exterior is a quiet almost shy woman. Even when indulging herself at card tables of The Albatross she is more inclined to let others discuss the latest scandals or debate who will come out ahead in the latest dispute between the Calrayans and the Altori. Having witnessed through her father and many other of her fellow islanders what opiates and other intoxicants like Dreamleaf can do to a person she astutely avoids such things. Instead whether on a job or off, she is an avid coffee drinker, swilling down even the abominable stuff that Armand serves down at Stumps in the Groan with a platter of cabbage and potato dumplings. --------------------
* A child of a once proud and wealthy trading family based in the Jewel Cities, Sasha lost everything on her 10th birthday when Garnetyne sank beneath the waves of the Great Sea twenty years ago. All that remained of her family’s wealth and trading house was a single weather-worn sloop,The Laughing Jackal, filled with dozens of refugees and whatever goods or wares could be snatched from the grasping jaws of disaster. Of her immediate family only her father and foster-brother Alaric escaped the disaster. Her mother, two sisters and brother all died or were presumed to have died since they were visiting the court in the central city when the first tremors started. * After months of being turned away from port after port, the starving refugees sailed the battered ship past the Arsenal and into the harbor. Few aboard made it further into the city than the slums and alleys of the Groan. * News of the disaster of the isles had preceded their arrival and outwardly the city of Ilrien welcomed those brought so low by the Lord’s hand. A great relief fund was set up in coordination with the Bank of Brass and Bone and the Grand Council to provide for those few survivors trickling into the city from afar. Most of the money would come from accounts owned by Jeweled City families who’d traded or done business with Ilrien. Of course, as with everything in the city, grand ideas and good intentions were soon thwarted by scheming politics and the Great Game between the Houses. * While the refugees received a few loaves of bread and ramshackle apartments in the Groan, the spoils of the disaster ended up funding many other efforts and projects. The single largest beneficiary being the Fortuna Trading Company. With the competition of the Jeweled Cities effectively eliminated, the company, along with its backers and representatives among the council and various houses, saw a prime opportunity. Claiming the loss of the Jeweled Fleet would create a vast and potentially dangerous drop in trade for the city, the FTC was able to finagle council approval to use the relief fund to fuel a great ship buying and building boom. Ironically, many of the laborers soon hired by the Shipwright’s Guild to fill such an infusion of work were the very same refugees whose funds had been stolen. * Unable to maintain the Laughing Jackal, Sasha’s father was forced to sell the sloop to the very organization that had stolen his family’s wealth. Depression, drink, and poverty sent her father into The Lady’s Embrace shortly after Sasha turned 11. * Orphaned and with nothing, Sasha joined the dozens of children taken in by the Graces and Sister Superior Jhana. Under the strict tutelage of the sisters, Sasha learned a bit of the healing arts, reading, writing, and given her ability to hide, listen, and watch, many a secret as various citizens paid their respects and voiced their transgressions to the Lady’s own sisters. * Although young, Sasha was a bright, quick witted child, eager to learn and absorb all the could. Back home on the isles, like most children, she’d learned to swim practically before she could walk. Sailing, trade, and magics were part of her daily life. She learned to walk on the rolling deck of the Jackal. She’d watched her uncles barter and bargain up and down the coastlines of Great Sea. Her first words were the colorful curses used by Garnetyne sailors. Her first knife fight was with a boy who’d tried to cheat during a rigging race. She won, giving Alaric his first scar. The first of what would be many more to come over the years. And that first conflict between the two would certainly not be the last. For Alaric was also one of the fortunate few who made it onto the Jackal that fateful day. He would go on to become a fine fighter and mercenary. One of the best to be employed by none other than the Fortunato Trading Company. * When her father died, Sasha swore to herself and the Lady that she would find a way to take the Laughing Jackal back and regain some of her people’s lost wealth. Assisting the Sisters allowed her access to many a home both high and low. Always she kept her eyes and ears open. Always she learned. Learned to hide her heritage as she discovered people often grew nervous or afraid around her because ‘no one liked to stand next to those who had somehow earned such a punishment from the Lord and Lady.’ * Reaching her majority, Sasha was forced to make a decision. Either join the sisters or leave the Temple. There were rooms for a few women to shelter within the Temple who weren’t sisters, but certainly not enough for all who might wish to stay. Sasha chose to set out on her own. The natural place for her to find work was on the docks, but once again her heritage caused her to run aground. Garnetynes were considered bad luck aboard most Ilrien owned ships. * As time passed, she eventually discovered that most sailors and captains didn’t care to have her aboard their ship, many found her ruby hued eyes, dark hair, earthy-red skin exotic. This duality led to either unwelcome rejection or unwelcome advances. One night while lurking along the docks, she came across two scoundrels accosting a young woman about Sasha’s age. Without thinking Sasha dove into the scuffle, killing one of the men almost instantly as her thin knife pierced his kidney and liver as she struck from the shadows. The second ran off into the night. The young woman she’d rescued was a local girl from the Rose who’d most recently been an actress in one of the newer companies. Her name was Campania and she’d found herself alone and on the streets after she’d run afoul of the Twistjacks. It seemed one of the leads in her new company was also one of Austell’s up and coming lieutenants. The man had an ego the size of a galleon and not enough acting talent to fill a thimble. Yet with the Jacks backing when Campania spurned his advances and voiced her doubts of his talents she found herself blacklisted in the other smaller companies since they didn’t want to risk running afoul of the Jacks. She’d been destitute and on the run since. * Out of necessity, the two used Campania’s skills at disguise and acting to birth new identities for themselves. Skills that Sasha discovered she had a natural born talent mastering. This talent would lead to many identities over the years. From Old Beatrice who lived with a half dozen mangy cats in the back alleys of the Groan, practically invisible no matter where she lingered or sat mumbling nonsense to her feline friends. To the young Altorian Barnonesse Priscilla who charmed half the foreign quarter one fine summer season before disappearing with a half dozen secrets gleaned from the ultimately heartbroken suitors of several Houses. Unlike Sasha, Campania only reinvented herself once. With Sasha’s help she learned to read and write. Then with the sale of a secret here, a hint of blackmail there, and just a bit of the Lady’s Luck, Sasha was able to land her friend a job as a Council Secretary. Ever since, she’s had to work hard and play the usual games to succeed, but so far she has. In return, she passes along to occasional bit of news or tidbit of information to Sasha. * Most folk believe a city runs on trade or bread and wine or the backs of its citizens, but Sasha quickly learned that a city like Ilrien runs on information. Schemes, trades, politics, business, all are only as good as the information each individual player has at that key moment in time. What good is the Knight’s ability to jump across the board if he’s no idea a Bishop lies waiting for the move? What good the all powerful Queen, if she’s ignorant of a lowly pawn’s threat? With her talent for lurking in the shadows, disguise, and getting people to open up to her, she begins to set up quite a respectable line as an information broker. * Eventually someone (A possible Patron) at House TBD begins to notice Sasha. Notice and take a vested interest. It takes time, effort and that other urban necessity, florins, but soon enough they learn enough of Sasha’s past and who she really is to bring her into the House’s embrace. In reality she doesn’t need much convincing, while being an independent operator has its freedom’s, the profit is limited and the danger always acute. With the backing a protection of a Great House, she sees the potential realization of her dreams of recovering the Laughing Jackal and maybe even taking down the Fortunato Trading Company. Or at least capturing some of her families and her people’s lost wealth. Leaving space for potential bonds with other PC's |
