When Natala was five years old, her and her father made their way to the vast port city of Freeport in search for work and a new life. For a few days her dad did small favors and labor for some of the workers and merchants on the docks. For some nights now her father had frequented some of the bars drinking and gambling for what money he could win though that didn’t happen very often. Natala was to always sit outside and wait for her father to leave but one night a brawl broke out at one of the many gambling dens, Natala could hear shouting and cursing and stumbling and breaking going on. It was then that her father came stumbling out of the door bloodied and bruised and following him was a menacing muscular red-skinned hobgoblin, the brute picked up her drunk father and spat nastily onto his face his jaws opened wide as he screamed at the beaten male halfling. “You dare cheat me Draegar Redblade you short filth! You are nothing but a pest, an inferior gnat that needs to be squished!” The hobglobin then shoved the halfling’s skull into the side of the wet sea sprayed wall of the gambling den, Natala heard a crack then a gurgle as she hid behind some barrels at the side of the door. The monster spat at him again reached down and ripped the coin purse from the halfling’s belt then stomped back into the den like nothing happened. Natala scrambled out from her hidden space and ran to her fathers mangled body, she cried and the salty sandy air stung her eyes, she hit the ground with her small fist as tears kept running down her face then leaned over her father. “I promise daddy the one who did this to you will pay, one day. I love you.” She wiped the tears from her face and and stood up and disappeared into the night.
The tiny halfling girl scooted through the crowded streets of scurveytown a snip hear and untie there she stumbled over one man, her tiny hands catching herself at his waist. “Sorry sir.” She slightly smiled and made her way to an alley way to count up the coin purses she had been able to snag thus far today. She beamed in delight, just a little more and she wouldn’t have to worry about food this week. She saw a somewhat better than poor halfling making his way toward the entrance to the Eastern District. She hastily made her way towards him running like she was in a hurry to get somewhere, she was about to stumble and slice his coin purse off of his belt when the other halfling a male grabbed her wrist without even glancing back and pulled her to stand next to him. “You know you should really watch who you try to do that little trick with, if I was anyone else who had noticed you would probably be a dead child right now.” He smiled and wiped a smudge of dirt off her cheek. That was the beginning of Natala’s new life, the male halfing was a powerful known ruler of the Eastern District known as Finn, he took the small halfling child into his home that day and raised her as his own for some years.
Natala was now fifteen, she had been living with Finn and worked for him now for about eight years. I guess he liked her gift of being a thief for he advanced those skills and taught her all he knew. She was like a daughter to him and she frequently helped out with his other followers known as the Syndicate. She would spy on people for his gain or those that betrayed Finn or sought to cheat him and overthrow him. She stole from those people too, and others, she was good at what she did she helped bring in a lot of income for her family and business. For the next couple years she had been following and keeping an eye on Draegar Redblade, the hobgoblin that had murdered her father, he had built up over the years and gained rank in an area of Freeport he now called Bloodsalt. It was gonna be more difficult than she thought getting rid of him. One night she noticed he was meeting with many cloaked men over near the sewers entrance. She tried to get close enough to over hear what was being said, over the years she had picked up the hobgoblin language and could understand their speech pretty well now. She heard something about an important artifact known as the Jaundiced Altar, it also sound like these cloaked figures were trying to find this artifact but were having difficulties, also something about it being worthwhile to him if he could find it for them, one of the cloaked figures handed him a folded piece of paper and whispered something into the hobgoblins ear, then the word martial records and some deeds to the merchant district stuck out. The cloaked figures then nodded disappered into the sewers, Draegar grinned and retreated back towards Bloodsalt. Over the next year Natala dug up as much information as she could about this artifact, she knew Draegar was wanting to take over all of Freeport for himself, to turn it into his glorious Naval stronghold with him as its warlord, she had to stop him no matter what, if she could find this altar first and somehow steal it and move it somewhere he couldn’t find she could possibly slow down his march towards power. She had so far found out the altar was an important artifact to the cultist known as the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign, maybe thats who those cloaked figures were apart of.
It was ‘the’ night for Natala, she had been tipped off on the possible locale of the altar in a hidden area of the sewers located under the Merchant District. She made her way there and successfully found the hidden locked door that lead down to stairs that would take her to the artifact, she worked at the lock for a few moments and finally got it to unlatch, she made her way down the winding dark stairs and came up to a room which glowed with a yellowish haze. She stepped inside and to her amazement there it was, disgusting and foul, it looked as if it was made of obsidian and marble but throughout the rock looked as if blood and innards and fat of creatures streaked in veins across it, it was horrific looking. Just when she was about to construct a device the help move it she heard a deep voice coming from the hall of stairs, it was human but sounded vile. She was able to find a place to hide before the man reached the room. He walked up to the altar and slid his hand across it, the marble apparently looked to be covered in some sort of grease, the man grinned and then started to talk to himself. He ranted about how this was just the beginning, that all of Freeport was in his reach and that he would see it burned and then he would take it upon himself to rule this place. He cackled dryly then took his leave. Natala was able to escape this night luckily. She wasn’t able to do anything with the altar, she was scared to even touch it now. Over the next few days she followed the mysterious man around, he looked like a noble it was rumored that he was the Sea Lord’s cousin, so he was the cousin of the ruler of all of Freeport. This was interesting to her so she kept with her new hobby for a bit. For some months she broke into the mans house, his name was Mendor Maeorgan she found out, she swiped documents and letters from his study and even some random gold he would have lying around. It seemed though that Mendor had caught onto this pretty quickly and one night she was captured by guards who were hiding out in his manor waiting for her to strike. She couldn’t believe she was fooled so easily. That next morning as she stood trial for her burglary there was Mendor he smirked and handed one of the judges sackful of coins, the judge glanced at the female halfling and sighed before giving out his sentence. Natala was to be put to death for breaking into a nobleman’s house and stealing important information and property. Her last night in prison though she was rescued by Finn who had sneaked in and broke her out, he told her to run for it, to leave this city and never return. She thanked him and did as he asked but this would not be her last night in Freeport, she would survive and wander along this world from town to town so she wouldn’t be caught again, but one day she would be back, she would expose Mendor for his vile evil doings, taking the power from those the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign worshiped and using it for his own malicious plan, and she would also avenge her fathers death, she had to to this, but for the time she would run, she would be a lone rogue and a thief but she would be back, she swore on it.
Personality
1. How do others perceive you in social interactions? (i.e. Cheerful, Talkative, Reserved, Charming, Witty, Relaxed) Witty and sarcastic
2. How optimistic are you?(i.e. Enthusiastic, Hopeful, Fatalistic, Grim, Self-assured, Brooding) Self-assured
3. How trusting are you? (i.e. Gullible, Open-minded, Skeptical, Suspicious, Naive, Trusting)Open-minded and suspicious, she usually will find out what she can about someone before opening up to them, just depends on the person.
4. How assertive are you at a decision point? (i.e. Humble, Adaptable, Commanding, Timid, Easygoing, Impatient) Adaptable most of the time but can easily become impatient
5. How conscientious are you about following rules? (i.e. Scrupulous, Pragmatic, Dutiful, Honest, Flexible, Wild) Rules, I didn’t think there were any. Hehe
6. How empathetic are you? (i.e. Kind, Stern, Thoughtful, Protective, Hard-hearted, Oblivious) Actually more isolated like something is always on her mind but she is also very kind when she isn’t thinking about the past and only to thise she has close realtionships with, if not she is kinda silly and likes to play games with others tot ake her mind off things so she can sometimes get kinda annoying.
7. How courageous are you in dire straits? (i.e. Brave, Competitive, Steady, Cautious, Reckless, Fierce) Cautious for the most part
8. How do you feel when faced with setbacks? (i.e. Stoic, Driven, Happy-go-lucky, Vengeful, Bold, Impassioned) Vengeful, like you couldn’t tell by reading my characters background lol.
9. How are your nerves? (i.e. Calm, Skittish, Restless, Impulsive, Patient, Unshakable) Impulsive and restless
10. Do you have any unusual mannerisms? (i.e. spinning dice or shuffling cards) While sitting she likes to spin one of her daggers on whatever surface is in front of her table or what not while staring blankly at the hilt.
Background
1. Why did you decide to be an adventurer? How old were you then and how old are you now? Natala just now decided to be an adventurer after having to leave her home of Freeport, well more like was forced into it then really decided.
2. How did you acquire your class? If you’re a fighter, for example, you might have been in a militia, come from a family of soldiers, trained in a martial school, or be a self-taught warrior. Natala had to learn to be a thief when she was a young child, she had to pick up that life to survive, it’s all she knows, she was raised as a thief also.
3. How did you acquire your starting equipment? Did you assemble it piece by piece over time? Was it a gift from a parent or mentor? Do any of your personal items have a special significance? All her equipment she got from Finn back in Freeport, the first dagger he gave her is very significant, it was like saying here this will help you survive use it well and live so that you can accomplish anything, it’s usually the dagger she is often seen spinning and playing with.
4. What’s the worst event of your life? My father being Murdered
5. What’s the best thing that has ever happened to you? Finn taking me in as his own daughter and helping me grow.
6. Do you stay in contact with your family? What do relatives think of you and your chosen career? Finn and the Syndicate are the only family I have, I have not kept in touch with them cause I had to flee Freeport, I don’t expect I will send them again anytime soon.
7. Which cultures did you interact with as a child? Did those interactions influence your language choices? When I was a child I grew up in the streets and had to get street smart to survive I also picked up on the goblin language from spying and following the hobgoblins of Bloodsalt back in Freeport.
Appearance
1. Are you tall, short, or in between? Short, average for other halflings like me.
2. What sort of build are you? Solid and muscular, or lean and wiry? Slim and agile
3. Are you male or female? Young or Old? Young adult female.
4. What skin color are you? Hair color? Eye Color? Slightly pale, blackish brown hair, brownish red eyes.
5. What distinguishing characteristics do you have? (i.e. Jewelry, clothing, tattoos and birthmarks, hairstyles and colors, and posture) Usually dress in dark brown to black leather so as not to be seen at night easily, I keep my hair tied up in a ponytail most of the time with a few braids running over the top to the band holding the ponytail. Posture is usually cautious and calm when she is in the zone if not and she is relaxed and cutting up she can be more down to earth and silly and likes to play fun jokes on people like continuously pick pocketting items from friends but then giving them back.
