Post by hubertbartels on May 7, 2023 14:20:57 GMT -5
Alessa
Alessa stands 5’ 7” in her bare feet, a slender young woman with brown skin and long black hair. She dresses in bright, loose clothes with gaudy gimcracks that catch the eye. On her back is a long-necked lute and at her hip is a short sword. She made her living as an entertainer in taverns and inns.
Coming from a small town deep in Rhodasha, Alessa grew up in grinding poverty which left her with a disdain for the oligarchic merchants that ran the county. Her musical talent, her good looks and a witty tongue brought her from the impoverished countryside to the rich, bustling port city of Gaitola where she made a living singing and busking in the sailors’ taverns.
Alessa also used every opportunity to add to her small stock of coin, sweet-talking drunks and scamming locals into parting with their silver pieces – but never enough to bring the authorities down on her. Until a few days ago, when she was talking up a young, well-dressed man at the tavern where she was busking. He wasn’t very interesting, talking about his responsibilities and duties at the bank but Alessa kept pouring him more wine. Even in his cups, he held tightly to a leather pouch, claiming that he was never supposed to allow anyone else to see its contents. He claimed that he was supposed to meet someone here but would not say any more.
Having finally succumbed to the wine, the young man’s head dropped onto the table. After pocketing a few silver coins he left on the table, Alessa got up and went to get her long-necked lute and play. At the end of the evening, he was still there.
When she approached the table, his skin had taken on a cold waxy sheen; his tongue was swollen and stuck between his teeth. He had been poisoned and the leather pouch had been taken. Alessa looked around and saw that barkeep talking to two men in armor. She quickly took her long-necked lute and left through a back passage.
The next day, Alessa was leaving her room when her landlord mentioned that a group of thugs was going up and down the alley, inquiring about a young musician that was supposed to have taken something from the Bank of Talos. Alessa returned to her room, threw everything into a carrying bag and left through a window. She ran down to the wharves, looking for the first ship headed out to sea.