Piccola Tessere
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| Piccola Tessere | |
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| Social Rank | 5 |
| Fealty | Velenosa "Velenosa" is not in the list of possible values (Redrain, Valardin, Grayson, Thrax, Pravus, Lyceum, Crown) for this property.
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| House | Tessere |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 25 |
| Religion | Pantheon |
| Vocation | Soldier |
| Height | 5'1" |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Green |
| Skintone | Pale |
| Journals | |
| Authored By / Featured In | |
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Description
Of all the Little Snakes, she is the smallest.
Like any serpent, she has an air of cultured civility about her slender silhouette. When she speaks, she does so quietly but firmly. When she moves, it is with the grace of someone who has practiced physical arts for years. When she sits, her posture is properly strict and restrained. But it is her height – she is barely five-feet tall – that stands in contrast to her certain composure that is reflected in the flattened line of her mouth and the steadiness of her gaze.
In her eyes gleams the light of a feral heart.
Nature makes snakes precise and deadly predators. She stares with green eyes which are a little too large for her head and carry with them a baleful intensity. The skin which can be seen is laced with the scars of war, some thin and some not. Hardened hands bear long fingers; squared shoulders run to slight hips; and feminine features are nullified by dark hair cut short and left wind-swept and loose. And her demeanor carries wild fury caged in cold chains.
Though she be little, she is undoubtedly fierce.
Personality
"Practical" and "economical" are not flattering terms for anyone's personality; in her case, they would be accurate. Of all things, idolatry is what Piccola despises the most; the trauma of training and battle has taken its toll on her, and it has worn off any desire she might have to do or say anything that may be perceived as wasteful. For all intents and purposes, she is the epitome of Lycean militarism: every moment is to be treasured as a chance to achieve something greater. And for her, that "greater" is the restoration of her family's name.
Background
Lady Pierina Tessere's fortune was as bad as her House's reputation.
Her father was one of the Countess' younger brothers. When she took over the House, he served as one of her consiglieres, specifically over the House's burgeoning fabric trade. For a while, things went well, and Pierina was born as the fourth of sixth children. Unfortunately, of them she was the smallest, and she suffered the usual slings and arrows of childish insults from her siblings, family, and peers. She was given the nickname "Piccola" by her father, which since became her nom de guerre.
As went all things in Countess Lucrezia's court, her father fell out of favor after he became a target of intrigue and investigation. Unfortunately, her father was embezzling money out of the family's coffers, and he was punished severely by ostracism and the loss of his estate. Soon after, her father was found strangled in his sleep, a deed allegedly done by those with whom he had made poor deals. Her mother found little charity in the Countess' court but found comfort in booze and the arms of men.
She and her siblings scattered to the wind. Survival was not easy on the fringes of Iriscal, but it could be done. Being picked on for many years made Piccola tough and tenacious, two features which caught the eye of a sellsword company looking to increase its ranks of fodder. Two years of tagging along on dangerous missions afforded her enough to buy her own gear and horse. She soon joined a different mercenary company, and then another and another until the day a message called her back home.
The Countess was dead, and in her place was Sabine. The message had come from the new Countess - Piccola never inquired as to how it reached her - and requested her return to Iriscal. And there, she was given a command and mission: to train and lead the House's cavalry in a manner befitting the House's ambition of prominence. It would be a chance to bring her family back into the House's ruling echelons, where it belonged. And no sane Lycean would give up that chance for redemption.
Or revenge.
