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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shayuri" data-source="post: 3940645" data-attributes="member: 4936">Eee...actually, as long as I'm here, I'll pitch my concept. I touched on some basics before, but it's fleshed itself out now...In years past, a fiendish cult of unusual size and power sacked a small village on the outer borders of the realm. Those they did not kill in ritual fealty to their hellish masters, they kidnapped and brought back to the deep mines and caves they had taken residence in.----Time ago, the Astresian Church responded to this threat with a mounted contingent of knights and paladins. They tracked the evil to its lair and found it well fortified. Astre was with them though, and they fought through the barricades and warriors. They fought through spell and trap. They faced unnatural fear, but their courage did not fail. They faced mighty illusions of magick, but they were not swayed. They slew the cult to the last screaming man and woman, and recovered the few townsfolk that survived.----One of the young women rescued grew round with child afterwards. She did not recall what had happened during her captivity, though the nightmares persisted to that day. Fearful of what the baby might be, she tried to sneak away to have it and kill it alone...but was discovered and a midwife summoned. The baby seemed perfectly normal, but the mother would not have it. The midwife, not knowing what else to do, brought it to one of the houses of Astre, in hopes that it could be raised with the blessing of God.----Thorn is an orphan, raised by the good nuns of an Astresian refuge for children in need of a family. Astre is, after all, the great Father, and He loves all children! Well...most children. Thorn earned her nickname from the longer and more accurate moniker 'Thorn In My Side.' Sometimes shoe. Embracing it as a badge of honor, her real name dwindled from neglect and has since vanished from all but early records.She was reckless, feckless, uncontrollable, inconsolable, impious, disingenuous, and worst of all, contagious. Not only did she take perverse joy in wreaking of havoc, but she inspired other kids to help or do the same. Unable to simply kick her out due to her youth and their vows, the sisters did the only thing they could...kept ratcheting up punishments until Thorn finally felt obligated to make a dramatic escape. An escape aided and abetted by the nuns themselves, though subtly enough that Thorn never knew her daring midnight flight ("to be a pirate") was exactly what they wanted.Out on the streets, Thorn was surprised at how hard things could be, and nearly went back several times. Each time though, despite cold and hunger, she managed to stick to her guns. She even came up with a plan. Using a bit of the magic she'd been so careful not to let the nuns know about, she disguised herself as a young boy...a role she played well enough to be taken on as a cabin boy on a ship.The captain of the Bountiful Voyager was a 'gentleman adventurer' by the name of Nigel Squireson. Unlike most adults Thorn had known up to then, he seemed to enjoy her wild streak and even encouraged her roguishness. Even when the jig was up and her true nature was revealed, he kept her on as cabin 'boy,' with the understanding that she'd maintain the disguise for the purpose of the crew. For her own safety and to assuage superstitions. Impressed with the moxie needed to have made such a pretense work for so long, he decided to take Thorn under his wing and teach her in the ways of sword, stealth, and trickery that were his tools on the high seas and ports.In time, despite all she'd learned with Nigel, Thorn returned to the land and its comforts. Having mastered the dual arts of steel and spell, she felt ready to make her own way in the world, and was determined to do just that.</blockquote>

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