Dawn Raven
First Post
Ah! Tis muy aesthetic. I love it, and you for providing it. I think Arathi will have to be kept for another day, because I've written yet another story that spurs my creative engine.
[sblock="Les Ghentel, Githyanki Warlord: Ex-Gambler, Ex-Pirate, Ex-Slave"]
The Laughing Gallows is a terrifying place to grow up, and yet, the same aspects that make it so also make it far more entertaining to those who stay. Les was one of these. Orphaned at birth for unknown reasons, she grew up in Lady Wendle’s Orphanage. The orphanage was not too far from Notrim’s Singing Sails and was supported by several pirate captains who were always looking for new, and cheap, crewmates. Les enjoyed the constant change that, in her mind, was epitomized by the isle.
She grew up in her own enigmatic ebullience performing various chores for Lady Wendle and taking care of the younger children. She slowly grew into a role of the lead child and would help run the entire facility. Of course, like most of the children, the day came that she was drafted onto a pirate vessel as cheap labor. It was, after all, the intent of the orphanage. Les was naught but a deckhand for several years being forced to scrub wood and kiss boots to keep herself from being thrown overboard.
However, this was no life of adventure or excitement. Sure the occasional raid did occur, but Les had no part in these. Rather she was forced beneath the deck by an intransigent captain who did not understand her fair hand at combat. It was not long before she chose to wander off for a new position, ignoring any threats of future violence if she didn’t return to the ship. Notrim’s Singing Sails provided an entertaining position that let her swiftly graduate to a key role in running the gambling tables. Notrim recognized her skill with others and her ability to expeditiously calculate how to achieve prime results from the customers. But this was not a position to last.
Her former captain, a man known as Siegfried Frosteye for his stiff gaze and one blind eye, noticed her while he was gambling away at Notrim’s. Not wanting to stir up any trouble, the corrupt human took a small fee and sold Les off to the captain. She was ambushed by several armed pirates while on her way back to the small shack she called home. Les was taken onboard the Wesling, the name of Frosteye’s ship, and beaten near to death for desertion. Afterwards she was kept below as a galley slave. This grueling position lasted for only two weeks before a battle occurred on the Wesling. Les managed to escape her bonds and help the invading ship against Frosteye’s crew. Unfortunately, even with her help, the other crew failed. As a last resort she leapt off the stern and soon blacked out. She awoke on the sandy shores of Daunton with no money and no contacts.
Les calculated her chances of survival and did not like the idea of spending her life as a beggar or thief. Her wanderings through the city and her investigations into possible escapes from her poor lifestyle led her to the gates of a small facility known as Tymon’s Barracks.
The warrior Tymon was a former military captain who now ran a small fighting academy that tailored to those in the lower socio-economic neighborhoods. Les walked to his gates and went right in, knocking out anyone who tried to stop her. She approached Tymon himself and declared that he should take her in as an apprentice. When asked why, she simply grinned and proclaimed that she would take on any of his current students and show them up.
After several duels, Les was battered and torn. It was then she had to face Renauld Wexington. He easily beat her in skill at arms and with physical strength. The battle was very obviously stacked in his favor. It was then that Les performed what many at the school still claim was ‘cheating.’ She used her inborn gith skills to leap upon a nearby roof. She tore the shingles from the top, ripping skin and nail from her hands, and tossed the stones at Renauld until he surrendered.
It was this action that likely caused her to gain Tymon’s appreciation. She did not have the physical brawn or skill to overcome some of the other students, but her keen mind, tactical awareness and refusal to lose allowed her to take advantage of terrain and openings others did not see. Over the years she grew fond of Tymon and became a constant rival to Renauld who strived to join the military and become an outstanding captain.
She stayed at Tymon’s Barracks for three years until she was 21. Les realized that there was little else that her master could teach her. Additionally, even if he did, she had no desire to stay in Daunton all her life. She took what she could, bid farewell to her master and began to plan her way to getting back at Frosteye. Her resentment of her former captain had grown like a tumor on her heart. The young gith decided to join the ranks of mercenaries in hopes that she could gather a fortune and one day stride upon the deck of a ship all her own.
Personality: Les is like the ocean. How do you describe someone so? She is constantly changing, always on the move and can go from friendly to vicious with little warning. Her harsh lifetime has had a tremendous effect on the way she values lives and possibilities. Some would call it avarice, Les calls it realism.
Description: Les stands a little shorter than other female Gith, being only 5’ 1”. She has narrow features with wide, almond-shaped brown eyes. Her hair is an eclectic collection of colors. While typically silver, she puts red, gold and black highlights through its length. She likes to braid it into several braids each consisting of hair from each color intertwined around one another.
Her long ears are pierced by several gold rings each and her left cheek bears the scar of a sword strike which she has elaborated upon with her own scarification to make into a cat-eye.
Les’s armor is bronze chainmail beneath a blue tabard and a pair of black leather boots. When not prepared for battle she prefers to wear silk shirts and leather pants with numerous bangles and necklaces. Her primary weapon of choice is an elaborate chain with small silver rings ending in a circular ring of spiked and barbs. Each spike is flat enough to have a single symbol engraved upon it. Les uses each symbol to represent a part of her life. Currently there is a ship, a coin and a mailed fist engraved upon three of the spikes.
[/sblock]
[sblock="Les Ghentel, Githyanki Warlord: Ex-Gambler, Ex-Pirate, Ex-Slave"]
The Laughing Gallows is a terrifying place to grow up, and yet, the same aspects that make it so also make it far more entertaining to those who stay. Les was one of these. Orphaned at birth for unknown reasons, she grew up in Lady Wendle’s Orphanage. The orphanage was not too far from Notrim’s Singing Sails and was supported by several pirate captains who were always looking for new, and cheap, crewmates. Les enjoyed the constant change that, in her mind, was epitomized by the isle.
She grew up in her own enigmatic ebullience performing various chores for Lady Wendle and taking care of the younger children. She slowly grew into a role of the lead child and would help run the entire facility. Of course, like most of the children, the day came that she was drafted onto a pirate vessel as cheap labor. It was, after all, the intent of the orphanage. Les was naught but a deckhand for several years being forced to scrub wood and kiss boots to keep herself from being thrown overboard.
However, this was no life of adventure or excitement. Sure the occasional raid did occur, but Les had no part in these. Rather she was forced beneath the deck by an intransigent captain who did not understand her fair hand at combat. It was not long before she chose to wander off for a new position, ignoring any threats of future violence if she didn’t return to the ship. Notrim’s Singing Sails provided an entertaining position that let her swiftly graduate to a key role in running the gambling tables. Notrim recognized her skill with others and her ability to expeditiously calculate how to achieve prime results from the customers. But this was not a position to last.
Her former captain, a man known as Siegfried Frosteye for his stiff gaze and one blind eye, noticed her while he was gambling away at Notrim’s. Not wanting to stir up any trouble, the corrupt human took a small fee and sold Les off to the captain. She was ambushed by several armed pirates while on her way back to the small shack she called home. Les was taken onboard the Wesling, the name of Frosteye’s ship, and beaten near to death for desertion. Afterwards she was kept below as a galley slave. This grueling position lasted for only two weeks before a battle occurred on the Wesling. Les managed to escape her bonds and help the invading ship against Frosteye’s crew. Unfortunately, even with her help, the other crew failed. As a last resort she leapt off the stern and soon blacked out. She awoke on the sandy shores of Daunton with no money and no contacts.
Les calculated her chances of survival and did not like the idea of spending her life as a beggar or thief. Her wanderings through the city and her investigations into possible escapes from her poor lifestyle led her to the gates of a small facility known as Tymon’s Barracks.
The warrior Tymon was a former military captain who now ran a small fighting academy that tailored to those in the lower socio-economic neighborhoods. Les walked to his gates and went right in, knocking out anyone who tried to stop her. She approached Tymon himself and declared that he should take her in as an apprentice. When asked why, she simply grinned and proclaimed that she would take on any of his current students and show them up.
After several duels, Les was battered and torn. It was then she had to face Renauld Wexington. He easily beat her in skill at arms and with physical strength. The battle was very obviously stacked in his favor. It was then that Les performed what many at the school still claim was ‘cheating.’ She used her inborn gith skills to leap upon a nearby roof. She tore the shingles from the top, ripping skin and nail from her hands, and tossed the stones at Renauld until he surrendered.
It was this action that likely caused her to gain Tymon’s appreciation. She did not have the physical brawn or skill to overcome some of the other students, but her keen mind, tactical awareness and refusal to lose allowed her to take advantage of terrain and openings others did not see. Over the years she grew fond of Tymon and became a constant rival to Renauld who strived to join the military and become an outstanding captain.
She stayed at Tymon’s Barracks for three years until she was 21. Les realized that there was little else that her master could teach her. Additionally, even if he did, she had no desire to stay in Daunton all her life. She took what she could, bid farewell to her master and began to plan her way to getting back at Frosteye. Her resentment of her former captain had grown like a tumor on her heart. The young gith decided to join the ranks of mercenaries in hopes that she could gather a fortune and one day stride upon the deck of a ship all her own.
Personality: Les is like the ocean. How do you describe someone so? She is constantly changing, always on the move and can go from friendly to vicious with little warning. Her harsh lifetime has had a tremendous effect on the way she values lives and possibilities. Some would call it avarice, Les calls it realism.
Description: Les stands a little shorter than other female Gith, being only 5’ 1”. She has narrow features with wide, almond-shaped brown eyes. Her hair is an eclectic collection of colors. While typically silver, she puts red, gold and black highlights through its length. She likes to braid it into several braids each consisting of hair from each color intertwined around one another.
Her long ears are pierced by several gold rings each and her left cheek bears the scar of a sword strike which she has elaborated upon with her own scarification to make into a cat-eye.
Les’s armor is bronze chainmail beneath a blue tabard and a pair of black leather boots. When not prepared for battle she prefers to wear silk shirts and leather pants with numerous bangles and necklaces. Her primary weapon of choice is an elaborate chain with small silver rings ending in a circular ring of spiked and barbs. Each spike is flat enough to have a single symbol engraved upon it. Les uses each symbol to represent a part of her life. Currently there is a ship, a coin and a mailed fist engraved upon three of the spikes.
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