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This page provides a simple browsing interface for finding entities described by a property and a named value. Other available search interfaces include the page property search, and the ask query builder.

List of results

• Bosco Caputo  + (Bosco had a good upbringing with a family …
  Bosco had a good upbringing with a family on the very fringe of nobility in a minor house sworn to Velanosa. An able warrior, he was always quick to the blade and to the fight and learned martialry from his father, and crafting from his mother. He dreamed of being a knight and earning this through valliant effort. And he did. Everyone was proud; young, capable and destined for greatness. It didn't quite work out that way though. Fortunes come and fortunes go, and after an early swing to favour there followed an equally potent downward spiral. A mix of bad decisions, inpugned honour, and a haze additiction culminated (in a long, drawn out episode) in being disowned. There followed a trying period, kicked out of house and home and left to wander. The money dried up, and the addiction couldn't be fueled and hard choices had to be made. The swinging of the pendulum of fortunte led to an apprenticeship with an old master northlander smith in Ischia; the man was childless, and took pity on Bosco, guiding him out of the deep hole he'd fallen into. They developed a mutually beneficial arrangement and Bosco plied a trade as muscle and arms while mastering his trade in the small and soon to be terminated Caputo family. Good times come to an end though, and with the passing of the old man after extended illness, Bosco was left with skills but no venue or patron. He has ultimately travelled to Arx to seek fortune or favour - without the social skills to pursue a business venture of his own, and having a most unfortunate past, he's left to hope that fortune is ready for an upwards swing.
  hat fortune is ready for an upwards swing.)
• Braelynn Deepwood  + (Braelynn Deepwood comes from a long ling o …
  Braelynn Deepwood comes from a long ling of people comfortable with the woods and the forest. Though most of her family chooses to remain homebound, Braelynn found at an early age that she enjoyed walks through the forest and learning about the various trees and other plants that grew there. She would often reference them as her "Serenity Walks" and indeed would come back refreshed and relaxed after. Over time that interest in the forests and plants in general only deepened and now she finds herself the go-to expert for all things horticultural among her family and extended family. She was close to her cousin Joxur, and as he moved to the city she enjoyed receiving letters from him. She was particularly proud when he was named Sword of Deepwood, and wrote him a glowing letter of congratulations. But gradually her walks in the forest for serenity proved to not give her the calm she wrapped around her like a cloak, and she grew more and more restless. Until at last she decided the only solution was to go visit her extended family and explore new horizons and new forests - and so she came to Arx.
  and new forests - and so she came to Arx.)
• Bran Ravenseye  + (Bran became the chieftain of his tribe at …
  Bran became the chieftain of his tribe at a young age, and married young as well, having fallen head over heels for one of the tribe's young shaman's and talented weather eye. A beautiful redhead, Gudrun; charming, and bright. For a few years everything seemed great for them, their raids on the Northlanders and Thrax successful, with few casualties and a decent amount of plunder returned with them. They weren't immune from other tribes and clans raiding them, however. It was not long after the birth of their first child, a daughter, Aella, that his wife was taken. He spent a few years trying to find her, not ready to give up. All the while Sorcha, Gudrun's younger sister was helping to raise Aella. Eventually, he was convinced that she was lost, likely dead. And he remarried, taking Sorcha as his new wife. With Sorcha, he had other children, though most didn't have Aella's fiery temperament. Still, he loved them all. Roguish Cadern, inquisitive Rosalind, and collected Triton. He led his tribe as best he could, settling disputes with his neighbors with trade and diplomacy as often as the sword, or at least he tried. When Crovane and Blackwood bent the knee to Redrain however, he sensed the change in the times and knelt with them, before abdicating in favor of his eldest, Aella. It was time for the younger generation to take charge, though he would shepherd them along.
  arge, though he would shepherd them along.)
• Branimir Eswynd  + (Branimir has outlived his father, the firs …
  Branimir has outlived his father, the first War Chief he served, and then his older brother, and now he serves his nephew. All these lords change like the tides but Branimir is the rock that has seen it all and survived it all. Alongside his male kin he's survived 2 wives and a handful of children, though as many still remain and he's content with that. In younger years Branimir was a creature of great violence, he desired blood, victory, and most of all GLORY, until in the same raid that took his brother, he took an axe to the face, lost an eye and nearly died. Something changed while he lay bleeding on the ground trampled by friend and foe both. His blood lust finally quenched while he soaked in his own. After that, he saw the world differently, and where many reavers are consumed by gloom after such grave injuries, Branimir was filled with a new vigor. He also awoke with a belief in the Spirits, leading many of his kin to worry that so nearly dying had cracked Branimir's mind as well as cutting out an eye. He still fights when he must, but rather than being the one to advocate for the sword first, he became the one to call for it last, and there are few whose calls are louder than Branimir One Eye!
  se calls are louder than Branimir One Eye!)
• Branwen Stormfeather  + (Branwen has no memory at all of her format …
  Branwen has no memory at all of her formative early years, knowing only what she's been told from those of House Ravenseye. Nearly all of their clan in one night was wiped out, decimated by another tribe of crazed Abandoned. That they obviously weren't sane was probably the only reason she and a very few others survived the massacre. Each of them were hidden underneath the bodies of others, or fallen debris. And made neither a sound, or moved, out of fright and shock. It was a group of scouts from the Stormheart that found them, surveying the damage as they swept through the next day hot on the trail of the perpetrators. Instead of chasing after them though, they stopped to rescue the survivors and brought them back; and now, the Ravenseye are her family. Her quiet, perceptive nature, and her love of solitude brought her under the wings of the Shaman in the group. She took to it quickly, learning both to tend to spiritual ills and those of the body. And when the calling of the Tribe was to come to Arx as ennobled Prodigals, she too bent the knee so she could follow her adopted family and tend to them there. Where she is sure that she will be busy given rumors of things that have happened in and around the city.
  that have happened in and around the city.)
• Bree Harthall  + (Bree and Brannen Harthall were born twins …
  Bree and Brannen Harthall were born twins and from the moment they were born their lives were planned out. From early formative years, Bree took to the Valrdin way of life. Chivalry! Duty! However Bree always had a very bright twist on the Valardin way. She was strange, as many Valardins are more reserved and conservative Bree never was. From her childhood she was the most outgoing, the most exuberant, the most enthusiastic. Because there are dragons out there to slay/befriend depending on the particular situation/dragon. Bree loved stories and when playing as a child often got in trouble for being so violent. Her excuse generally was that she needed to see how hard she had to hit in case it wasn't her brother she was fighting but a skeleton risen out of the earth. And so her training began early. Bree took to fighting like a fish to water. While her brother became more tactical, more keen, Bree spent her days training and fighting, interspersed with flower picking, running on the beach or watching the sunset. Though she was driven she never had an issue with the work life balance. Bree has always known how to live, even in her most prepatory years. She also became closely attuned with Gild. She would often talk to the goddess at night, worried about those worse off than her, promising Gild she would help them in the morning. It was Bree's dream to become a Knight of Solace, to protect the weary and downtrodden, but she was destined to become a knight for her house and to serve as a champion of Harthall. Brannen constantly reminded her of her duty, to house first. Unfortunately tragedy struck. In a horse race with the heir of the House, their cousin Odhran, Bree and Brannen witnessed their cousin die in an accident. Stricken by this great tragedy, Brannen finally relented and the two have recently taken their oaths as Godsworn. Foreswearing marriage, titles, children, and have instead recently been inducted as Knights Of Solace. Eager to protect the weary in the City of Arx!
  r to protect the weary in the City of Arx!)
• Bridget Pravus  + (Bridget is from a minor noble family, Hous …
  Bridget is from a minor noble family, House Mescino of the Lycene barony of Pastrazza. She is a young widow to Elonso of house Pravus. Her marriage had nothing to do with love. It was a formally arranged marriage with the goal of bringing two houses together. It was a marriage that abruptly ended with her husband's death. Upon the return of their widowed daughter, her family broke into chaos. The entire point of the marriage was to settle the dispute of a land claim. It was a minor land claim, but to her house could mean the difference between riches and ruin! The whole thing would have been easier if she had given her husband a sun before he went off and had himself executed. The only logical step to take from here was to send her back to house Pravus as a ward. It was cruel considering they were the ones to execute her late husband, but they didn't have time or resources to deal with a widowed daughter, and there were simply no other logical courses of action to take. What did Bridget think about all of this? Oh who really cares... just send her off!
  Oh who really cares... just send her off!)
• Brier Crovane  + (Brier was born in the north in the middle …
  Brier was born in the north in the middle of June as one of the first cousins of the Crovane family. Her mother was Ingrid and married into the Crovanes, while her father was Kheit Crovane. She was quick to become known for being one of the biggest handfuls out of the Crovane family's children, one who was quick to barrel into trouble just for the fun of it or to otherwise make sure that no one doubted her just because she was a 'young lady'. Her family, knowing that she would need an outlet to contain her energy and distract her, encouraged her to spend some time with the blacksmith of the village. There she tended to some apprentice-like duties and found that she loved the craft. Enthralled by working in the forge, Brier soon became less of a problem and grew into a fine young woman. There was a time that her family encouraged her to marry a young man of a neighboring territory, and so she and Yldimer were married in the winter months near her twentieth birthday. They spent ten years living happily together, but were unable to bear any new heirs due to him being secretly barren. Unfortunately, he fell three years ago in defending the north. For years she was stricken by grief, until her mother and father encouraged her to try a change of scenery and so she moved to Arx with hopes of being able to leave behind her past.
  es of being able to leave behind her past.)
• Adrienne Valardin  + (Bright, charming, born to Valardin, and gi …
  Bright, charming, born to Valardin, and gifted with a beautiful voice, Princess Adrienne might have been a storybook princess come to life. She knows, however, that fairy tales are for children. This knowledge has been painfully earned, brick by brick, as she has attended to the aftermath of raids and massacres, wars and illness with a Mercy's training so easily acquired in Sanctum. Adrienne left a courtier's life to others of her family and joined those with their hands in the dirt: a duty to her family name and a calling - or better perhaps described as a prayer - to be able to prevent suffering before it strikes. She has travelled the Oathlands to maintain her family's presence, listening to the needs of the many vassals and small villages in her purview. She has also studied wherever time and location would permit. Sanctum is a haven of knowledge, but the many Valardian domains have also invested heavily in education. Ignorance, when such resources are available, is a terrible sin. There is still work to be done in the Oathlands, but as the world turns its eyes to Arx, so must Princess Adrienne Valardin. Trouble brews. She would go there to stop it if she can.
  She would go there to stop it if she can.)
• Adrienne Pravus  + (Bright, charming, born to Valardin, and gi …
  Bright, charming, born to Valardin, and gifted with a beautiful voice, Princess Adrienne might have been a storybook princess come to life. She knows, however, that fairy tales are for children. This knowledge has been painfully earned, brick by brick, as she has attended to the aftermath of raids and massacres, wars and illness with a Mercy's training so easily acquired in Sanctum. Adrienne left a courtier's life to others of her family and joined those with their hands in the dirt: a duty to her family name and a calling - or better perhaps described as a prayer - to be able to prevent suffering before it strikes. She has travelled the Oathlands to maintain her family's presence, listening to the needs of the many vassals and small villages in her purview. She has also studied wherever time and location would permit. Sanctum is a haven of knowledge, but the many Valardian domains have also invested heavily in education. Ignorance, when such resources are available, is a terrible sin. There is still work to be done in the Oathlands, but as the world turns its eyes to Arx, so must Princess Adrienne Valardin. Trouble brews. She would go there to stop it if she can.
  She would go there to stop it if she can.)
• Brigida Fidante  + (Brigida has lived through it all. When sh …
  Brigida has lived through it all. When she was a girl, she was as fine a hunter, dancer, and player of music as any lady of the Lyceum. She was not the most beautiful of her sisters but she was clearly the most accomplished. At sixteen, she was the Golden Rose of Tor, and she had lovers on her string at twenty ranging from all over the Compact. But all idylls end. Brigida joined the Faith relatively late -- at 24 -- in part to avoid a disastrous marriage she did not want that would have sent her to the Laurents. She had no desire to join the workhorse duchy of the Valardins. Instead, she cast aside the silks of her wild life as the Golden Rose of Tor, and threw herself into a new life as a priestess. She had a solid background of Lyceum politics to bring with her to the priesthood along with genuine faith for the gods and a healthy respect for the power structures here that she could potentially grow into. She had already survived at least three poisonings before she donned her first robe. She learned quickly that the machinations of the priests were different in form from those of Lycene politics but not in kind. Ambitious people jockey for position everywhere, and the Faith is no exception. By the time she was 40, she was such a mainstay of the priests of Petrichor that there were few other names that could even be considered for his Archlector. Yet at this pinnacle she chose to stay, leading the godsworn and championing the guardian of the land rather than attempting to politic any higher.
  her than attempting to politic any higher.)
• Odile Nightgold  + (Brought up alongside those of her cousins …
  Brought up alongside those of her cousins in the ducal line of succession, Odile never knew a girlhood home but the one beneath House Nightgold's famed rose-gold arches. Viewed from the mountaintops, it was the seasonal changing of Stonedeep's landscapes that woke her to Lagoma's vast, beauteous influence and what, like her mother before her, prompted her to find purpose as a Mercy. The devastation caused by mining injuries alone meant she was often occupied, sometimes required to brave the darkest caverns and stalest pockets of air to do her work. It ought to have come as no surprise that her strength of conviction translated into a fortuitous match. She was betrothed to the heir of House Aviaron. Only, the prospect of being the next Marquessa-Consort didn't appeal to her at all. She was far from fond of her husband-to-be and she resented even more being (inevitably) reduced to marriage fodder. While it was easy enough to play the role of apologist for the Northern beliefs of her family and friends, she couldn't stomach the idea of being wed to anyone who practiced them so openly. It might have been a different story if the Aviarons were at all willing to tone it down! In the eyes of her family, she proved ungrateful and even obstinate. ...that is not to say she was any less horrified at the news of the man's ultimate end and that of his kin. Those deaths and the subsequent carnage she experienced during the Silent War did more than simply reinforce for her the power and necessity of her role as a healer. They highlighted for Odile her responsibilities to her House, all of whom could have been lost to her just as easily. With her mourning period behind her and a great deal more in the way of perspective, Odile comes to Arx for promised and much needed change.
  o Arx for promised and much needed change.)
• Bryndis Nightgold  + (Bryndis is the youngest of five, and has a …
  Bryndis is the youngest of five, and has always been a curious child. She would often go out of her way to explore the world around her, from outside the home to the darkest of corners within the home. She would watch the animals, study the bugs, draw the flowers and trees that she saw in her world. There was not much that did not interest her, both in the animate things around her, or the inanimate as well. Just because a flower was often more beautiful than a rock doesn't mean that the rock itself didn't hold its own very special place in her world. By the time she was ten she had books and books of drawings, each year they got better, more apt to actually resemble what it was that she was exploring and studying. She would watch and listen to others that were more knowledgeable about art, flora and fauna, and take in everything they offered. As she grew older she knew that it was very clear to her what she was going to do with her life. Some thought she'd become a healer or midwife. But she didn't want to do anything like that, she was very interested in the properties of the plants, of course, but even alchemy and apothecary studies weren't number one on her list outside of just curiosity. No, it was actually learning just about the world around her. How things fit together, why you'd find one particular animal and plant in one location, but find just the animal, or the plant, in another. It was when she was almost nineteen that she grew ill, ill to the point that everyone was sure that she'd die. But something changed, one night she was on her death bed, and the next morning she was up and moving around as though nothing was ever wrong. She's never really had any explanation for that, but her entire outlook on life seems to have changed after that night. She was more direct, less interested in books, more forgetful than she once was.
  n books, more forgetful than she once was.)
• Brynja Blackwood  + (Brynja was born in the wild lands, beyond …
  Brynja was born in the wild lands, beyond the bounds of what most consider civilization, the eldest child of Sigurd Blackwood. Her mother passed away when she was young, dying under mysterious circumstances, and leaving her father heartbroken. As a way of honoring her memory and helping himself recover from his grief, Sigurd taught Brynja the ways of the warrior as soon as she could stand, and she has been on that path ever since. Her father would eventually find love again and remarry. As she blossomed into a young woman, word of her deeds spread among the tribes, and she gained notoriety for her unrelenting ferocity in battle. Many great men made many great excuses when she bested them in combat, but Brynja had hardly a care -- you don't get very far with excuses. When Tolamar Brand came to assault their lands and enslave their people, Brynja was on the front lines, commanding the Blackwood infantry. She performed well, even if she received another scar or two. She was less thrilled at the notion of becoming a silk when her family decided to bend the knee to House Crovane. She will just have to make do.
  e Crovane. She will just have to make do.)
• Hiram Kelly  + (By all accounts, Hiram Kelly came from goo …
  By all accounts, Hiram Kelly came from good stock and a family that loved him well. For a commoner, his father was an apothecary held in high regard and his mother was an actress who never made it past the local entertainment. Local, of course, was somewhere halfway between Graypeak and Fen de Lire in a booming settlement called Graveway. His parents adored him, his mother in particular. He was her darling child and she was the reason he fell in love with books at such an early age, always encouraged to read any he could get his hands on. Orla Kelly could also be stern in the name of her only son as well, it wasn't an entirely spoiled childhood. She was ever on her son about his manners, believing that wherever etiquette started to unravel so too did the rest of society. When she passed, it was a great blow to the Kelly family and while it broke her husband, it pushed her son deeper into his devotion to books in order to cope with so many good memories now stained with the pain of loss. For a time, Hiram earned a living for himself as a wandering scholar with a talented hand for the quill and an inability to stay put. He was known as a restless soul amongst the villages and cities of the Crownlands through which he passed often and without ever staying for long. His polished mannerisms found many doors open for him but he only longed for the one that he could close on the ache that lived somewhere deep down in his soul. Everyone knows a stiff drink goes best with a good book and eventually Hiram learned that too. Drinking was a fine bandage for a while but when it started to unravel he found other medicines to soothe his old wounds. Expensive medicines too rich for a wandering scholar's blood. Where there is intoxication it usually isn't hard to find games of chance to get in on and in gambling Hiram at least found a way to double or triple his silver when he needed something stronger than a wash of whisky or elsewise. Not only that, he was good at it. In time it became hard to justify putting words to parchment to make a living when he could do it so much better with some dice or some cards. Eventually Hiram Kelly disappeared and it was easy enough for those familiar with him to think that he had finally found himself in the kind of tough spot that his gentleman's demeanor couldn't get him out of. Like bad news though he always turns up again and though he'd been gone for well over a year he showed up back in the Crownlands thirstier than ever to keep on in his hard-drinking and heavy-gambling ways, now nursing a mysterious wasting illness that left him an absolute puzzle to some of the finest physicians in those territories along with the kind of irreverence that often trails the walking dead when every step could be their last. Not to mention the unusual inkwork of an Abandoned nature that he now sported on one hand. Some might say it was that discourteous canny that delighted Glenys Ashford when the pair crossed paths at a little inn and tavern on Ashford lands. Others might say it was her keen mind for medicine that kept her at his side after she patched him up from a particularly bad bet with the wrong men and learned more of his mysteries. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle but only Glenys could tell you for sure.
  e but only Glenys could tell you for sure.)
• Babette Grayson  + (By the time the second daughter and third …
  By the time the second daughter and third child rolled around no one was really that impressed with children in general and definitely not with another girl. So Babette was mostly left to nannies and tutors and her own devices and she absolutely and totally thrived. Being the youngest meant that she had to be loud and somewhat pushy to get attention and she did that by just constantly talking. Non-stop. Her cheerful but endless chatter endeared her to even the hardest of hearts at home, although when she got to be too much she was shuffled off to the library. Babette would dive into the lore of the Crownlands, soaking up everything she could, learning the old ghost stories and tales of the surrounding forests and organizing ghost hunts with her older siblings that would both terrify and intrigue her. When her cousins came to visit she would cook up mysteries for them to solve and was often the scourge of Varan's existence as it was always him that was stealing the cookies from the cookie jar. She learned of the Inquisition at a young age and was determined to join once she was old enough, throwing herself into her studies so that she could impress them once she got there. As Jerrica and Varan set out on their own paths, Babette decided to be a little more dramatic and, in the dark of night, hid herself and her bag in a passing carriage bound for the city. By the time she was discovered it was too late to turn around and her first stop with her bag in hand was the House of Questions as soon as she arrived in Arx.
  f Questions as soon as she arrived in Arx.)
• Akio Nagamine  + (By thirty-five, Akio should have been some …
  By thirty-five, Akio should have been someone. He should have married for the honor of his house or to stir his own ambitions and climb the social ladder. He should have been among the ranks of the Children, running across the rooftops of the capital city. By thirty-five, Akio's name should be known to more than just his family and friends, but to his father's disappointment it was not. Akio seemed to have none of the same ambitions that had driven his family the ranks of middle nobility in the Undying Empire. This was not to say that Akio had done nothing with his life. He had spent it as a scholar, chasing a discovery that might one day put his name on the tongues of important people. The problem he found was that most of the important discoveries in the Empire had already...well, been discovered. At least that was his excuse. The beaurocracy made sure everything was well documented. The scribes of Vellichor picked up what slack was left. If you wanted to know something, you just went to the library. Then came Arvum. Then came Copper's death and the year of mourning, and everything for Akio changed. Suddenly he had a chance to docment what the Empire did not have. Suddenly he had a chance to study what Platinum did not already know. And maybe if he could return home with the results of the Platinum Shift documented, then he could find a reward worthy of his father's praise. And so he was sent with Xia, Jian, and Nyima as part of the delegation to Arx. Now he serves as Chronicler and Accountant while working his private research.
  untant while working his private research.)
• Cabrera Godsworn  + (Cabrera was a beautiful boy, the pride of …
  Cabrera was a beautiful boy, the pride of his parents. He was born large and strapping, and grew quickly. But he grew in the backdrop of chaos and war, and his parents were cut down in their prime. His mother was a knight-captain who laid down her life for Fidante in the Tor-Southport war, and his father was brutally crippled in the aftermath of the fighting; though young, he simply was in no state to care for himself, let alone his son. There was no family left who could take care of this young boy whose parents had had such high hopes for his brilliant future, so the Seraph of Tor brought him to the Faith, that he might be raised with the children who knew no other family. A child who ran and scampered among the servants of the Rectory, fitting into strange places and exploring weird corners was young Cabrera's raison d'etre. He was too young to squire when he first came to the Church-- a child, five years of age -- but somehow he managed to get places and make himself useful. His bright eyes and raffish smile were weapons of war he waged upon the Faith. He was everyone's gopher and no one's; a disciple of the Church when he was far too young to be so. He wasn't the only child of the Faith, but he was certainly one of the most vibrant. As a teen, he came to understand how he lost his family, and he was reactive about it, fierce and hotheaded and miserable. He tried to get into duels about it, but the Lycenes he challenged knew better than to duel a boy of his years, and he was given a hiding and sent back to the Rectory. He screamed his outrage at anybody who would listen, and one of the priests -- the same Seraph who had brought him from Tor -- took him back to the Lyceum to visit the grave of the cripple who had been his father. When he returned again to Arx and the service of the Church, he was a quieter, more thoughtful version of himself. While the mischief and warmth returned to him, and he would never lose the laughter or the quickness of his wits, the Cabrera who recognized the indelible part that loss had played in his development was a more sober, serious one, with a fierce understanding of what it was to be loyal to a cause, and a deep-seated recognition of the horrors of war. He squired with the templars as a youth, and as a man, he took his oaths in service to the Faith, and enlivened their quarters with lively cheer, an upbeat attitude, and a sense of humor that danced between classic soldierly raunchiness and more obscure absurdism. Resourceful and clever, Cabrera lived by his tongue and his wits, and in more than one campaign, served the Faith with sword and shield, putting his life on the line gladly in service of something greater than himself.
  service of something greater than himself.)
• Cadenza Velenosa  + (Cadenza Velenosa, eldest of a lesser line …
  Cadenza Velenosa, eldest of a lesser line of Velenosa princes and princesses, was not a very good Lycene. As a child, she did not take to her political lessons. She was frank, forthright to the point of tactlessness, and had a knack for taking exactly the wrong point from her teachers and running away with it out of sheer stubbornness. Iron will in a nine year old can be difficult to deal with, particularly an active nine year old with a seemingly endless ability to get into things. Her father was a Zaffria, and while on a trip to visit relatives at Crowned Hill, their party was attacked by an Abandoned raiding party, and Cadenza learned a lesson about heroic recklessness: that is, that if you're going to hero recklessly, you have to pick your moment, and preferably, be older than eleven. She came away from the fight half an orphan; her mother died fighting in defense of her father, and her father brutally injured defending Cadenza, and it was a lesson she never forgot. As an adult, she remembered what she'd learned about timing, but she never let it hold her back. She sailed forth with her cousin Antonio and learned the ropes, and then set forth all the further, sailing through the Mourning Isles. Allegedly she was seeking a potential alliance with House Thrax, a potential match for one of the young princes, but she slipped loose the leash and sailed still further, disappearing off the map for awhile. She turned up again far afield in Arvum on a wild adventure where she either rescued or was rescued by Lou Grayson, or maybe it was mutual. It was neither the first nor the last time that Cadenza mysteriously made herself vanish only to reappear again later with tales of dramatic nonsense and half-truths. When Lady Aislin launched her Society of Explorers, Cadenza was only not an early adopter because she was spending a month trapped in the basement of a ruined temple to Gild in the hinterlands of the Oathlands, living on an unfortunate diet of roast rat and buried roots while she tried to work out a series of absurdly confusing puzzles that would have made a lot more sense if you could remember all Thirteen gods. During the Silent War, Cadenza would have fought for the Lyceum gladly, but instead, she had accidentally gotten herself temporarily sold as a prisoner of one piratical group of Abandoned to another, following the loss of her ship to a raid. She only escaped by dumb luck and someone else's stray arrow fortuitously striking the gut of the guy who held her chain. So it was that, in trying to make her way back to Arx, speaking a mangled polyglot of several Abandoned languages badly, she has only turned up again on the shore of Southport honestly confused about how she'd arrived, with a fresh scar on her neck from someone trying to kill her for no reason she could explain, and the worst part is she had no good story to show for it.
  t is she had no good story to show for it.)
• Cadenza Fidante  + (Cadenza Velenosa, eldest of a lesser line …
  Cadenza Velenosa, eldest of a lesser line of Velenosa princes and princesses, was not a very good Lycene. As a child, she did not take to her political lessons. She was frank, forthright to the point of tactlessness, and had a knack for taking exactly the wrong point from her teachers and running away with it out of sheer stubbornness. Iron will in a nine year old can be difficult to deal with, particularly an active nine year old with a seemingly endless ability to get into things. Her father was a Zaffria, and while on a trip to visit relatives at Crowned Hill, their party was attacked by an Abandoned raiding party, and Cadenza learned a lesson about heroic recklessness: that is, that if you're going to hero recklessly, you have to pick your moment, and preferably, be older than eleven. She came away from the fight half an orphan; her mother died fighting in defense of her father, and her father brutally injured defending Cadenza, and it was a lesson she never forgot. As an adult, she remembered what she'd learned about timing, but she never let it hold her back. She sailed forth with her cousin Antonio and learned the ropes, and then set forth all the further, sailing through the Mourning Isles. Allegedly she was seeking a potential alliance with House Thrax, a potential match for one of the young princes, but she slipped loose the leash and sailed still further, disappearing off the map for awhile. She turned up again far afield in Arvum on a wild adventure where she either rescued or was rescued by Lou Grayson, or maybe it was mutual. It was neither the first nor the last time that Cadenza mysteriously made herself vanish only to reappear again later with tales of dramatic nonsense and half-truths. When Lady Aislin launched her Society of Explorers, Cadenza was only not an early adopter because she was spending a month trapped in the basement of a ruined temple to Gild in the hinterlands of the Oathlands, living on an unfortunate diet of roast rat and buried roots while she tried to work out a series of absurdly confusing puzzles that would have made a lot more sense if you could remember all Thirteen gods. During the Silent War, Cadenza would have fought for the Lyceum gladly, but instead, she had accidentally gotten herself temporarily sold as a prisoner of one piratical group of Abandoned to another, following the loss of her ship to a raid. She only escaped by dumb luck and someone else's stray arrow fortuitously striking the gut of the guy who held her chain. So it was that, in trying to make her way back to Arx, speaking a mangled polyglot of several Abandoned languages badly, she has only turned up again on the shore of Southport honestly confused about how she'd arrived, with a fresh scar on her neck from someone trying to kill her for no reason she could explain, and the worst part is she had no good story to show for it.
  t is she had no good story to show for it.)
• Cadern Ravenseye  + (Cadern was a rapscallion. A scavenger of a …
  Cadern was a rapscallion. A scavenger of attention. A thirsty little sneak who made it his business to get into things. He cherished freedom, the freedom to run amok, and clashed frequently with his older sister, with whom he had a seriously healthy sibling rivalry, especially when both were too young to temper themselves particularly. The shamans of the Ravenseyes knew what to do with a boy who wanted to get into trouble, though, and found ways to occupy him, to turn his impish mischief to good account, and to train him so that his garrulousness and wit could one day be used to the advantage of their family. He chafed at being second to Aella, especially when the House first bent the knee to the Compact. He had hoped that swearing fealty to Redrain would mean casting aside old traditions and leaping whole-heartedly into a new life, a new culture, with the people of Farhaven whose arms would surely open wide to welcome them now that they were oath brethren. He had a few rude awakenings early on before settling into his new role, and still twitches restlessly for chances to prove himself. Which sometimes means, to this day, that he has to talk himself out of a tight spot. Luckily, he always did have a glib tongue.
  Luckily, he always did have a glib tongue.)
• Cadern Blackwood  + (Cadern was a rapscallion. A scavenger of a …
  Cadern was a rapscallion. A scavenger of attention. A thirsty little sneak who made it his business to get into things. He cherished freedom, the freedom to run amok, and clashed frequently with his older sister, with whom he had a seriously healthy sibling rivalry, especially when both were too young to temper themselves particularly. The shamans of the Ravenseyes knew what to do with a boy who wanted to get into trouble, though, and found ways to occupy him, to turn his impish mischief to good account, and to train him so that his garrulousness and wit could one day be used to the advantage of their family. He chafed at being second to Aella, especially when the House first bent the knee to the Compact. He had hoped that swearing fealty to Redrain would mean casting aside old traditions and leaping whole-heartedly into a new life, a new culture, with the people of Farhaven whose arms would surely open wide to welcome them now that they were oath brethren. He had a few rude awakenings early on before settling into his new role, and still twitches restlessly for chances to prove himself. Which sometimes means, to this day, that he has to talk himself out of a tight spot. Luckily, he always did have a glib tongue.
  Luckily, he always did have a glib tongue.)
• Caelis Malvici  + (Caelis is a cousin to the main branch of H …
  Caelis is a cousin to the main branch of House Malvici. A student of herbalism, she took great joy in learning each plant and it's uses in the gardens of Southport. When herbalism wasn't enough she learned the craft of a soldier and sailor. Spending most of her late teens and young adult years on a ship, she's risen recently to Maritime Captain and uses her travels to collect and find rare herbs from port to port as well as stories of the old days. Recent trouble has recalled her to Arx to support the family and bolster alliances.
  support the family and bolster alliances.)
• Caelis Valardin  + (Caelis is a cousin to the main branch of H …
  Caelis is a cousin to the main branch of House Malvici. A student of herbalism, she took great joy in learning each plant and it's uses in the gardens of Southport. When herbalism wasn't enough she learned the craft of a soldier and sailor. Spending most of her late teens and young adult years on a ship, she's risen recently to Maritime Captain and uses her travels to collect and find rare herbs from port to port as well as stories of the old days. Recent trouble has recalled her to Arx to support the family and bolster alliances.
  support the family and bolster alliances.)
• Jian Cai  + (Cai Jian grew up among the wealth and priv …
  Cai Jian grew up among the wealth and privilege of minor nobility. She was educated enough to show a swift mind; tutored enough to be a gifted orator; and beloved enough by her mother and father to be thought the heir to the family name and the carrier of all of its honor. But Cai Jian knew that was not what she would do. She knew it from an early age, everytime she stood on the balconies of Daobujin Bo and looked across the city streets with their perfect makeup, their lack of crime, their lack of poverty. Cai Jian knew that she had a role to play in bringing perfection beyond the capital city and that she would do so with the grace granted by the Thirteen. When the time came, Cai Jian joined the priesthood and spent her time in study, in contemplation. She learned patience. She learned giving. She learned that some people needed the kind of help that offering a bowl of rice could never achieve. Cai Jian took to heart the lessons she was taught. And when Cai Jian heard a delegation was being sent to Arvum, she knew she had to go. It called to her, pulled at her. The delegation would need spiritual guidance, and so would the people of Arvum.
  uidance, and so would the people of Arvum.)

• Cai Falken  + (Cai follows a long line of hunters, ranger …
  Cai follows a long line of hunters, rangers, warrior and other woodsy-type from his family. It's what his family was good at, so he followed suit, and found his life richer for it. Didn't seem like it was even an question when he was a boy, and now that the years have passed, when he looks back to what could've been, he's since decided that he couldn't think of anything else he'd rather do. He can remember back to a time when they had no association with the Compact. While he might've been happier to have nothing to do with them, it's not like he held any kind of negative feelings toward them either. Things change, it's a constant in nature. Just as the world changes through seasons, so do people, mentalities, and all those other kind of things that he only cares to a certain degree about. He always respected the leadership in place before the Compact, so he followed suit along with the rest of them. For the the majority, it hasn't had a great impact on his life. Still in the woods, still hunts, still does what he's always done. Until he had to relocate to Arx with the rest of the Greenmarch brood. Not the biggest fan of the city life, but it could be worse. Thing changes, and nature seems to abhor things staying the same for too long.
  bhor things staying the same for too long.)
• Cailean Grimes  + (Cailean Grimes grew up in the Lower Burrou …
  Cailean Grimes grew up in the Lower Burroughs, the slums. He was the only living child of widower and a thief, Donnal Grimes. He was never expected to be much more than his father was but Cailean had natural talent and ambition. He was known for his pretty face and even prettier singing voice. His father took note and began to steal instruments which the bright Cailean taught himself to play. Eventually, a noble took notice while visiting his lover and took the boy under his wing. Soon, life became a whirlwind as he began to attend schools of Courtesans. As usual, Cailean was a natural and took to the life like a duck to water.
  and took to the life like a duck to water.)
• Calarian Grayson  + (Calarian was born yet another Grayson cous …
  Calarian was born yet another Grayson cousin amidst the usual gaggle of princes and princesses. He grew up a bright and curious child, and his knack for ingratiating himself with others was both a blessing and somewhat of a trouble; no one likes a six-year-old with a talent for negotiation. But as he grew, his family was able to direct him quite firmly to a role within the house that always needs filling: diplomacy. His life as an adult became filled with travel -- both to the houses of the Compact within Arvum and the Abandoned houses outside his family's rule. When the Bringer threat became imminent, he was tasked with dragging every single Abandoned fighter he could manage to wrangle to join in the fight. The Gold Feathers to the north of Grayson's claimed lands offered a sizable fighting force that he knew the Compact desperately needed, and so when the Chieftan declared his requirement that his daughter wed into the Grayson family, there wasn't exactly time to take back the offer and shuffle through prospective husbands for her. And so when Calarian returned with Abandoned reinforcements for the Compact army, it was also with a brand new wife. You work with what you have, after all.
  e. You work with what you have, after all.)
• Calarian Wyrmguard  + (Calarian was born yet another Grayson cous …
  Calarian was born yet another Grayson cousin amidst the usual gaggle of princes and princesses. He grew up a bright and curious child, and his knack for ingratiating himself with others was both a blessing and somewhat of a trouble; no one likes a six-year-old with a talent for negotiation. But as he grew, his family was able to direct him quite firmly to a role within the house that always needs filling: diplomacy. His life as an adult became filled with travel -- both to the houses of the Compact within Arvum and the Abandoned houses outside his family's rule. When the Bringer threat became imminent, he was tasked with dragging every single Abandoned fighter he could manage to wrangle to join in the fight. The Gold Feathers to the north of Grayson's claimed lands offered a sizable fighting force that he knew the Compact desperately needed, and so when the Chieftan declared his requirement that his daughter wed into the Grayson family, there wasn't exactly time to take back the offer and shuffle through prospective husbands for her. And so when Calarian returned with Abandoned reinforcements for the Compact army, it was also with a brand new wife. You work with what you have, after all. But Calarian did not have his wife for long. The Gold Feathers fought and died alongside the Compact's army, and Peregrine ranked among the fallen when the Bringers were finally repelled. He worked stabilize the Compact afterward, helping secure a treaty with the Nox'alfar to prevent future threats, and continued to serve both Grayson and the Crown by throwing himself into his work as a Voice and a diplomat. However, after a quiet courtship he married Marquessa Dominique Wyrmguard, setting aside his Grayson bonds to join one of the Oathlands' oldest houses in a marked departure from his former path.
  n a marked departure from his former path.)
• Calathane Drumenach  + (Calathane is a son of an old Baron in the …
  Calathane is a son of an old Baron in the fiefdom of Redrain, Hargthon Drumenach. Having decided his son needed new expereinces and to increase his knowledge of the other houses, he has sent him off to Arx. The boy grew up near the mountain ranges closer to shore and bay there known for it's ability to recieve imports and for the ability to send foeces down the coast or up futher into the northern wastelands of ice and snow. Known for his stoic resolve and love for the Queen of Games that he has been playing since he was young and has had some contact with others playing in the courts of his father.
  thers playing in the courts of his father.)
• Calaudrin Estardes  + (Calaudrin was born in Setarco, the son of …
  Calaudrin was born in Setarco, the son of a silk merchant and her husband, whose profession was probably something but by the time Calaudrin was old enough to understand adults, he was under the general impression that that profession was /layabout/. His mother frequently traveled, and he went with her, seeing the world with early cynicism, particularly when at the age of 12 he noticed that his mother was regularly cheating her clients and the noble family she worked for and pretty much everyone else. She was eventually caught, as criminals frequently are, and Calaudrin escaped the resultant potential chaos mainly by voting with his feet as only a commoner can: he lied about his age and voted with his feet, reporting to the Arx guards as though he was 18 instead of 16, as a particularly tall and cynical youth; nobody looked too closely at this until years later when he was already well-situated as a fixture of the guardhouse. See, because Calaudrin was good at it. Many young people believe themselves to be cynical, but Calaudrin found from early on that the most depressing thing about his cynicism is that it kept being outstripped by real life. He learned to read people and, generally, to find which things about people he was better off not knowing, even in the pursuit of an investigation. There are a lot of dark and nasty secrets in an old city full of such high levels of wealth, and Calaudrin learned to balance when to latch onto a problem like a terrier and dig and dig and dig, and when policework was best a synonym for 'having a smoke in a quiet corner out of the wet'. Having reached a sturdy Lieutenant's rank, Calaudrin has become a capable administrator, a master of the dire weapons of sarcasm and applied rudeness -- different from unapplied rudeness in that it is selective -- and a very, very good detective ... when he chooses to exert himself.
  tive ... when he chooses to exert himself.)
• Calevaro Stars  + (Calevaro was born as the son of a wealthy …
  Calevaro was born as the son of a wealthy merchant, his mother having died at his birth. Due to his father's profession, he had to travel a lot, leaving Calevaro in the hands of capable servants. As the boy grew older, he started to develope an interest for combat, atempting to learn how to use every kind of weapon, not just the sword. When he became an adult, at the age of 18, Calevaro decided it was time for him to finally make something with his life, eagerly joining the Valardin military. His trainers and fellow soldiers would describe him as a compassionate man, who wasn't willing to ask of someone what he wouldn't do himself. It was at the military that Calevaro found his calling: He loved to serve and to fight for a cause. His dedication eventually rewarded him with the rank of officer, a very public and personal triunf for the young man.
  lic and personal triunf for the young man.)
• Caliban Assacu  + (Caliban is an unrepentant prodigal, someth …
  Caliban is an unrepentant prodigal, something which hasn't earned him any particular goodwill, though he blends enough with the rest of the common rabble that it can be quite easily overlooked. Just where he actually came from is a question without an answer. For the most part, this is because people don't particularly care to ask, even those whose jobs often involve doing the asking. In quiet contrast to his easygoing nature, there's a certain, clinging sense about the man that speaks clear: don't bother this one. He's truly not worth the trouble.
  his one. He's truly not worth the trouble.)
• Calliope Grimhall  + (Calliope is the only child to Eugine Grimh …
  Calliope is the only child to Eugine Grimhall. Her father was known to be cruel and difficult, so her childhood was not easy. Calliope's natural talents lean towards the scholarly, leading her to be educated in the ways of investigation and researching information. She has been known to use her skills for profit, if a puzzle is brought to her, she will do her utmost to find any information helpful. There are rumours that she dabbles in the crafts as well, but it wasn't permitted in her family. Before her death, Eugine had made it known that she would entertain offers of marriage for her daughter, whether Calliope was interested or not.
  r, whether Calliope was interested or not.)
• Cambria Mazetti  + (Cambria was born an only child, much to th …
  Cambria was born an only child, much to the disappointment of her parents, who wished for a large family. To make matters worse, Cambria was a sickly youth, so there were plenty of concerns and two or three scares during her early years. Not too long after her tenth birthday, Cambria's father died during a hunting accident. Her mother refused to remarry, and remained a widower. Some said it was for love, while others claimed it was to consolidate her power and make sure her daughter was in a position to assume the mantle of rulership after her, even if it wasn't what was best for the House. Life passed, uneventfully enough, and Cambria grew into a young woman. Though no longer prone to bouts of illness, it could not be said she was very robust. Thus, while other young nobles were making their journey to Arx due to necessity or to expand their education, Cambria's mother was too fearful, and kept her close to home. It was quite likely that Cambria never would have left Ostria, except that fate had other designs. At twenty-three, Cambria's mother fell ill and died suddenly, leaving her daughter free to spread her wings and choose the course of her own life. She promptly left for Arx, one of the first Mazetti to do so in many generations. Once within the capital, Cambria immediately set about maneuvering herself in such a way as to further an audacious goal. Making use of all the political tools and resources available to her, the then Marquessa secured a favorable marriage and wasted little time in promoting a series of progressive reforms for the city-state of Ostria. In the span of a few short years, House Mazetti was formally recognized as a Ducal House before the Assembly of Peers held in the spring of 1012 AR. This is only the start of her story...
  . This is only the start of her story...)
• Camilla Pravus  + (Camilla was born a bastard, the fruit of a …
  Camilla was born a bastard, the fruit of a one-night affair between a Lady Madeline Pravus and a foreign noble. As a child Camilla was taught how to read and write by her mother, and was well on her way to learn other languages when Madeline's rapidly-deteriorating mental health took her agency and wits. Before the young girl was ten, the Pravosi noble was a shell of her former self, a husk mumbling in bed about the man who had taken her heart away. In the night when Lady Madeline finally lost her ability to communicate, withdrawing further and further within herself, Camilla was desolated. Along with the servants she stared as her noble mother was tended to by the local physicians, and seared in her mind were the sights of one of House Pravus' best reduced to nothing. Camilla could not reconcile with the fact there was nothing she could do, but before her anguish was turned to action the girl was approached by an envoy of the House of Silken Sighs of Setarco. The woman sat with Camilla and they talked throughout the night. Come the dawn, the courtier offered Camilla tutelage in the House free of charge, pleased with the conversation. None would know the nature of this conversation for years to come. The Pravosi bastard's time at the House of Silken Sighs is not publicly known, but it was, supposedly, shock full of its own trials, failures and successes. Whatever her exploits, Camilla left the place an educated courtier and the woman she is today, hailed far and wide as the best alumni of the school in decades. To those who have seen her talents, Camilla is a soulful fury with uncompromising artist vision, a desireable artiste who, once, was just a bastard, and now saw her contract acquired by the Duchess of Pravus herself. No more a simple bastard, the woman is now a highly-sought courtier whose's fame is not insubstantial. She is finally ready to meet her family, and join the Sins in Arx.
  meet her family, and join the Sins in Arx.)
• Candace Corvo  + (Candice Corvo was the middle child in her …
  Candice Corvo was the middle child in her family, right between two older brothers and two younger brothers, and went on every adventure they did. She was a tomboy terror growing up, stealing sheep (temporarily), getting into fights (often), and carrying wares from the market to her parents inn (heavy). When her brothers game of age, they enlisted in the watch. When Candice came of age, she took her sword and went straight to one of the caravans and sold herself as a guard. She's ridden riverboats laden with goods to Bastion, frozen on the edges of the Everwinter, and chased thieves through the southern city states of the Lyceum. And for ten years, the adventure and the pay were enough. Then she met Sam and everything changed. They were instantly inseparable--which caused a lot of problems because Sam was an exceptionally good thief and the Velenosians had already made a less than stellar impression on the trading caravan. They needn't have worried; she gave Sam an ally, and they tempered her tendency to violence with cunning. They married and traveled together with the caravan on their way to Arx. This is the part everyone knows, and nobody talks about: shav brigands attacked the convoy, setting the tents and wagons on fire in the middle of the night. There were screams and violence and blood, and in the end the regimented caravan was reduced to a handful of grimfaced survivors. Sam wasn't among them. There's a small band of survivors who get together and share a drink every year, and every year Candice drinks with them.
  , and every year Candice drinks with them.)
• Candido Orata  + (Candido was born the middle of three child …
  Candido was born the middle of three children in a more-stable-than-not commoner family in the city-state of Lenosia. His mother, a city guard, was the primary backbone of the household (and the person who first taught him to fight). His father was a bard in a struggling mummer's troupe that toured the Lyceum and Crownlands and was largely absent, if well-meaning when he was around. His parents never married, but it was a decent collection of relations and Candido never went hungry or felt unloved. The turning point in his life came when the Pirate King called the Gyre descended on Setarco. Candido wasn't old enough to go to war himself (and may not have anyhow, his life had limited direction), but his older sister Eugenia had joined Velenosa's army and was sent to fight. Though the Compact ultimately carried the day, Eugenia was among the slain. This was the biggest tragedy in his life up to that point and, when the dust settled, Candido felt the urge to throw himself into something vaguely meaningful. To give his mother one less thing to worry about if nothing else. He started volunteering with the Faith's rebuilding efforts, which led to him becoming a disciple of Gild, which led to him taking his vows as a godsworn brother when he was 19. Growing up he'd been an inattentive adherent (at best) to the Pantheon, but the work crystallized his view of the Faith as a way to both do something that mattered externally and get right with himself internally. And a way to make his own path in the world. The Faith as a social force offered opportunities to a common boy with both martial and interpersonal skills that few other vocations could. He squired to a Knight of Solace not long after taking his vows and acquitted himself well enough to earn a knighthood a couple years later. His personal convictions are heavily Lycene Liberal, though he's learned how to go along to get along with the Orthodox that make up so much of the Faith Militant, and he's served with general competence for the last several years. His latest assignment has taken him to Arx. What he'll make of it remains to be seen.
  What he'll make of it remains to be seen.)
• Cantus Crown  + (Cantus is the type of person to get into t …
  Cantus is the type of person to get into trouble for all the right reasons. The wrong reasons? In any case, it's almost because he saw someone that decided they needed help, whether or not they agreed. But it's okay! Sometimes they actually do need helping. He had been taking a walk, as Cantus was wont to do, and stumbled upon a brigand harassing a poor old man. After that, a couple that needed a wagon wheel replaced. Depending on how he's feeling at the telling, either he felt the spirit of wandering the world, helping folks, ooooor far more likely Cantus found himself lost, shrugged, and decided to embrace this new adventure.
  and decided to embrace this new adventure.)
• Caprice Artiglio  + (Caprice often receives praise as being one …
  Caprice often receives praise as being one of the most promising talents in tailoring from the Lyceum, but she has never felt quite comfortable with the assessment. She is, foremost, simply an artist who demonstrates her talents by weaving fabrics into stunning fashions as her chosen medium of expression. From a very early age, she felt called to be one of the chosen of Jayus, feeling a spark of inspiration from the Prince of Stories. Even as a child she would idle by shrines of Jayus and toy with dyes and clothes, working ever more elaborate colorations and blends of fabric. As a young woman, her talent was quickly recognized, and at a very young age she has been given the immense honor of being appointed the tailor of House Velenosa. Caprice is fully aware that her position might well be one of the most coveted of any tailor in all of Arvum. The Lyceum are the height of fashion for the entire Compact, after all, and House Velenosa is the height of fashion for the Lyceum. But the knowledge does not trouble her unduly She is, in her opinion and without any feelings of conceit, divinely inspired.
  ny feelings of conceit, divinely inspired.)
• Cara Ashford  + (Cara was born a daughter of House Rubino, …
  Cara was born a daughter of House Rubino, blessed by fortune with good teeth and a steady mind. A quick study, her interest in things intellectual blossomed as she recovered from an unfortunate accident -- a fire, which left her with burn scars on her legs and a lengthy healing period. Quiet -- but not especially shy -- the young lady showed promise in the arts of diplomacy and the study of history, eventually growing into a maiden well-suited to gracing a parlor or fine dining hall and engaging in polite conversation. She married a cousin of House Ashford and left the Lyceum for greener climes, adjusting with relative grace to the very different life, and seemingly through luck finding true happiness with her husband -- until he was tragically discovered among the slain of the king's retinue. How she will adapt to this change in her life, and her position among her new house and her old, remains to be seen.
  new house and her old, remains to be seen.)
• Cara Grayson  + (Cara was born a daughter of House Rubino, …
  Cara was born a daughter of House Rubino, blessed by fortune with good teeth and a steady mind. A quick study, her interest in things intellectual blossomed as she recovered from an unfortunate accident -- a fire, which left her with burn scars on her legs and a lengthy healing period. Quiet -- but not especially shy -- the young lady showed promise in the arts of diplomacy and the study of history, eventually growing into a maiden well-suited to gracing a parlor or fine dining hall and engaging in polite conversation. She married a cousin of House Ashford and left the Lyceum for greener climes, adjusting with relative grace to the very different life, and seemingly through luck finding true happiness with her husband -- until he was tragically discovered among the slain of the king's retinue. How she will adapt to this change in her life, and her position among her new house and her old, remains to be seen.
  new house and her old, remains to be seen.)
• Caras Wyrmguard  + (Caras Wyrmguard was born in the fortress c …
  Caras Wyrmguard was born in the fortress city of House Wyrmguard, Blancbier. On the northern marches of the Oathlands, Blanbier is an important bastion protecting Sanctum from the heathen shavs of the north. As a young man, Caras showed great proficiency in martial training. This is not unusual for the sons and daughters of the Oathlands but Caras took to his training with great passion and vigor. Not simply a soldier or knight, but a student of the blade, his first campaign came at a relatively young age. While he played little part as a mere boy, he knew at the time that his life would be a constant battle - and he loved it. A careless and dismissive young man, he was selfish and self-centered. Haughty and superior. Few friends, little love of or for the people of the Wyrmguard lands or his family's retainers, he sought only glory for himself. A life of battle and death and harship. This was not the life he was destined to lead, however. A small unit commanded by the young lord was ambushed on patrol, nearer the road than they had expected. Not wanting to die for their selfish lord, the other men retreated and left Caras to his own fate. Though he fought well and bravely, he was cut down and left for dead on the road, alone in the cold. It was hours before anyone came along and he thought it a specter. A vision of a goddess offering succor and kindness, healing and protection. It was no entity but a Priestess of Gild. She gave him shelter and nursed him back to health. When he returned to Blancbier he found the men who had abandoned him had concocted a story that was not true. Caras forgave them, said nothing, and renounced his title and fealty to join the order of Gild. Caras traveled to Arx for his training, learning about the plight of those in need, the lives of the common folk, the way one can change a life through kindness, compassion, and charity. Once becoming godsworn, Caras began to travel. Walking the roads of the Compact with nothing but his generosity and charity, he brought the message of Gild far and wide through all the lands of the kingdom. His return to Arx several years ago came after deep contemplation and prayer. It would be a sacrifice considering his love of the road and the far-flung people that need the blessing of Gild, but it is a sacrifice he is willing to make and one that has paid dividends as he becomes the Archlector of Gild and increases his opportunities to praise the goddess.
  s his opportunities to praise the goddess.)
• Carmen Harol  + (Carmen grew up in the Lower Burroughs. Her …
  Carmen grew up in the Lower Burroughs. Her mother was a laundress for the Mercies and her father a carpenter. They did okay as families went. As an only child she often followed at her mother's heels around the House of Solace. She proved an able helped and natural caretaker as a young child. It was when her mother insisted on her getting some schooling that her sweet demeanor faded. Carmen had a very keen mind and the stupidity she saw in the classes had her speaking out. It also had her targeted by those who didn't appreciate being made a fool of. Carmen came home angry and determined to give as good as she got. Until she hit her majority Carmen's youth was full of fighting and learning. The mercies had seen her natural gift and offered to train her, which she was happy to do. Yet she had made friends during her schooling and like most kids formed her own Burroughs gang. There were times her skills came in very handy. Her parents did not approve of her gang activities. So they brought her uncle, a Blade, to talk to her. He convinced her to give the Crimson Blades a try, where she could fight -and- use her medic skills -and- get paid for it. Seemed perfect to her. The fact that the Crimson Blades were elite helped a lot. The utter stupidity of people she couldn't help but comment on was not nearly as evident. And all her trainers actually had brains so she managed to not get in too much trouble for her smart mouth. Now six years in and through several wars she has come out a veteran combat medic. Preffering to use a small bows for protection on the field, she has become known among the blades as the Bloody Mercy. She wears the nickname with pride.
  Mercy. She wears the nickname with pride.)
• Carrick Squallborn  + (Carrick was born to a family of sailors an …
  Carrick was born to a family of sailors and raiders. His father having been a sailor that fought off raiders and his grandfather on his mother's side being a raider that attacked ships. As a boy he grew up hearing the stories of the open sea as well as the honor of different warriors. It was his dream to go explore the sea as a sailor and he did. This was his life on the open sea fighting pirates while he explored. When he came home from his adventures he would fight with others in the village to show them how to fight raiders or any others that might come to attack. This lead to him quickly showing him to be the best warrior in the village. As he traveled out when he came back home would find a new challenger appeared to challenge him due to word of his skill of arms. This lead his name to grow even while sailing as a fearsome combatant as well as talented teacher for he would show those that he faced how to improve themselves as well as teach any who wished to know how to defend themselves. Finally after years of adventuring traveling and dueling. He was called to the Ravenseye house, they had heard of his skill and asked him to be sword of the house. Seeing it as a new adventure as well as wanting to settle down a bit to start a family Carrick agreed. His new title suited him more than he thought and now on his way to the city of Arx with the Countess seeing it as a new adventure to travel.
  ss seeing it as a new adventure to travel.)
• Caspian Wild  + (Caspian was a thrall because his father wa …
  Caspian was a thrall because his father was a thrall and his mother was also a thrall, and his father's war debt was a lot to pay. Yet the Thrax fealty has spent the last few years struggling towards what the rest of the Compact would call progress, and in an early push towards some of that progress, Donella Thrax freed some thralls who were thralls only by virtue of their parents' debts rather than their own. Caspian was freed at 19, with scattered memories of his tribe's honestly piratical raiding traditions mostly subverted by the day in and day out of long hours of hard labor with tenant farmers and ropemakers and sailors. He found in his newfound freedom that what he was mainly good at was a.) hard labor and b.) knives! He took the surname 'Wild' because his parents didn't give him a better one, and became a mercenary and sword for hire, until he eventually tagged into being a duellist for the Champion's Guild in Arx on account of besting a few in combat and developing a reputation for being a real /showy/ sword for hire. Though he began as a kind of desperately hungry merc with an axe to grind, he blossomed into a delighted fighter at the opportunity to pitch his skills in the dueling ring to wealthy nobles. It was exactly the life for him. Money was suddenly easier to come by, and with money, delicious attention, heartwarming acclaim, and the love and affection of adoring crowds, at least as long as he was making a show of it. Turning to away from grim guts and leaping whole-heartedly into laughter and life, he shines with the brilliance of the bon vivant, and it's clear he's here to make a killing.
  nd it's clear he's here to make a killing.)
• Caspian Artiglio  + (Caspian was a thrall because his father wa …
  Caspian was a thrall because his father was a thrall and his mother was also a thrall, and his father's war debt was a lot to pay. Yet the Thrax fealty has spent the last few years struggling towards what the rest of the Compact would call progress, and in an early push towards some of that progress, Donella Thrax freed some thralls who were thralls only by virtue of their parents' debts rather than their own. Caspian was freed at 19, with scattered memories of his tribe's honestly piratical raiding traditions mostly subverted by the day in and day out of long hours of hard labor with tenant farmers and ropemakers and sailors. He found in his newfound freedom that what he was mainly good at was a.) hard labor and b.) knives! He took the surname 'Wild' because his parents didn't give him a better one, and became a mercenary and sword for hire, until he eventually tagged into being a duellist for the Champion's Guild in Arx on account of besting a few in combat and developing a reputation for being a real /showy/ sword for hire. Though he began as a kind of desperately hungry merc with an axe to grind, he blossomed into a delighted fighter at the opportunity to pitch his skills in the dueling ring to wealthy nobles. It was exactly the life for him. Money was suddenly easier to come by, and with money, delicious attention, heartwarming acclaim, and the love and affection of adoring crowds, at least as long as he was making a show of it. Turning to away from grim guts and leaping whole-heartedly into laughter and life, he shines with the brilliance of the bon vivant, and it's clear he's here to make a killing.
  nd it's clear he's here to make a killing.)
• Caspian Ru'Taul  + (Caspian was a thrall because his father wa …
  Caspian was a thrall because his father was a thrall and his mother was also a thrall, and his father's war debt was a lot to pay. Yet the Thrax fealty has spent the last few years struggling towards what the rest of the Compact would call progress, and in an early push towards some of that progress, Donella Thrax freed some thralls who were thralls only by virtue of their parents' debts rather than their own. Caspian was freed at 19, with scattered memories of his tribe's honestly piratical raiding traditions mostly subverted by the day in and day out of long hours of hard labor with tenant farmers and ropemakers and sailors. He found in his newfound freedom that what he was mainly good at was a.) hard labor and b.) knives! He took the surname 'Wild' because his parents didn't give him a better one, and became a mercenary and sword for hire, until he eventually tagged into being a duellist for the Champion's Guild in Arx on account of besting a few in combat and developing a reputation for being a real /showy/ sword for hire. Though he began as a kind of desperately hungry merc with an axe to grind, he blossomed into a delighted fighter at the opportunity to pitch his skills in the dueling ring to wealthy nobles. It was exactly the life for him. Money was suddenly easier to come by, and with money, delicious attention, heartwarming acclaim, and the love and affection of adoring crowds, at least as long as he was making a show of it. Turning to away from grim guts and leaping whole-heartedly into laughter and life, he shines with the brilliance of the bon vivant, and it's clear he's here to make a killing.
  nd it's clear he's here to make a killing.)
• Cassandra Laurent  + (Cassandra Laurent was born to lead and she …
  Cassandra Laurent was born to lead and she never doubted that. She never doubted her duty. She knew that she would be the Duchess of House Laurent, and that she would serve her family, and that she would serve House Valardin. But life, and the gods, had other plans for her. She was drawn early to the faith. At first she was merely a lay sister, dedicated to Gloria, to whom she felt called. But at the age of 20, while riding hard for her father's men in pursuit of a group of Shavs who had killed a priest and desecrated a shrine in one of their raids on a surrounding village, she was knocked from her horse and fell in battle. She fought her way clear of the Abandoned, but fell unconscious in the valley, separated from the others. Before she was recovered, she had a dream she attributed to Gloria, and when she woke, she knew that she could not remain the heir to her father's ducal seat. But she did something that she would never again do in her life: afraid of the reactions of her family, of her father and brother, she temporized. She hesitated. She kept finding excuses, putting off her passions for another day. When her father was in the midst of brokering a potential marriage alliance for her, however, she could no longer bear the silence. The lay dedicacy was not enough; she would serve the Faith, called to another duty than the one she had first been born to. Cassandra threw herself into the priesthood with her whole heart. She studied and worked and threw every ounce of her will behind serving the faith. It is possible that her connections to a Valardin ducal house -- godsworn though she was -- helped her in her climb through the ranks, but Cassandra liked to believe it was her passion and dedication that eventually made her the Archlector of Gloria. The pinnacle of her ambition is to be the Sword of the Faith -- and her eye lifts ever to that horizon.
  -- and her eye lifts ever to that horizon.)
• Cassia Mercier  + (Cassia Mercier grew up with a comfortable …
  Cassia Mercier grew up with a comfortable life for a commoner. A scion of a merchant family, but she wasn't particularly close with her cousins. Her mother having "married" in, while her father was the Mercier-- who died when Cassia was barely five years old. The Merciers made sure she was cared for but she wasn't particularly close with them, and her mother wasn't very interested in pushing for a family connection. Cassia has always had a strong sense of smell and as a young girl would often be bothered by strong scents. Which was unfortunate since her mother was a fisherwoman. Cassia simply cannot stand the smell of fish and so refused to follow in her footsteps. Leaving under the same roof as a fisherman drove her to learn how to create other scents. She fell in love with the act of creating perfumes, of distilling oils, and creating things that smelt _good_. ...and that's what she's been doing ever since.
  d that's what she's been doing ever since.)