Sample Bio for the website
Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 8:54 am
(Edited after I've had more time on my hands...)
"Beadle's breath, what more do you want from me?"
Amethyst Beadle, the once meek, slender, and graceful tavern maid who later gained notoriety as the Tenebrae who reigned over the criminals of Southside during one of the bloodiest periods in recent Lithmorran history, now remains little more than a legend, her name merely spoken in curses and tales of great evil. The tale of bloodshed begins when, after being convicted for the murder of the Grand Inquisitor Machivel ab Lanseiliv, she escaped from prison mysteriously after killing several guards and wounding others.
Rumors spread like wildfire after the event, which some believe to be near impossible: "The woman fights like a demon", or "Only a mage is capable of moving with such speed". Amongst those wounded were the Justiciar Rafael Aria, Commissioner Amdair ab Lassider and Knight Paere de Laerne, who were later to take charge of the hunt for Beadle. On the other hand, whispers sprung up amongst the Southside, with Beadle claiming that the Justiciar and Cardinal, who had interrogated her, had both betrayed her, obtaining coin and information from her before ordering her execution.
And thus Beadle's 'reign of terror' began, purportedly in her search for retribution. As the Queen's Guard set out looking for her, the woman went into hiding in the secret headquarters of the Brotherhood of Common Goods. Bolstered by the coin provided some time ago by the Count Olither ab Chettle, she rebuilt her empire, recruiting members and rearming herself with weapons and allies.
The Cardinal of the Holy Order was her next victim; the Queen of Lithmore received a letter demanding ransom for his life, and was sent a severed body part of the man each day the ransom remained unpaid. A hand, foot, and eye made it through to her; finally, the Cardinal's head, with an eye already gouged out, was found on the sacred altar of the church itself, to the horror of a few elect churchgoers. The search for Amethyst was heightened, with a reward of 30,000 silver offered he who brought the Queen her head. The body parts, given to the keeping of the Church, are now holy relics, and the martyred Cardinal was accorded the title of Saint Jochen ab Blackwell, by the High Synod.
During this time, the Brotherhood of Common Goods stooped to a series of new lows - instead of simply remaining common thieves and pickpockets as dictated by tradition, rumors tell of them being united into a crime syndicate that would stop at nothing to achieve their goals, not even the shedding of innocent blood. They were said to have formed alliances with even the mages, notably one Arten ab Rael, a notorious mage who escaped his own pyre through magical means.
The Prince of Lithmore, Vaedrian ab Harmon, was next, his body delivered to the Queen in all its gruesomeness with the throat slashed open, despite the ransom for his head having been paid. As revenge to the Queen, perhaps, for the war waged against her. Following his death, the Crown ordered all existing members of the Brotherhood to be killed on sight and hung from the city gates, until such a time as their Tenebrae was brought in, dead or alive. The skeletal remains of Brotherhood members who died in the slaughter remain by the gates to this day, a reminder to all of the justice of the Crown. The Brotherhood regained the support of the South, however, by donating a third of its proceeds from the ransom to the orphanage and the almshouse, as well as to the families of the South.
During the Royal Council, an uproar was caused by a rumor that she sought to assassinate the Queen herself in the midst of the people flocking to the palace. Security was promptly tightened and, be the rumor true or otherwise, nothing untoward happened during the Council, and the Queen was not harmed.
After several months in which much of Lithmore lived in fear, hiring bodyguards and refraining from venturing to the South alone, Beadle's head was brought to the authorities by one Jack Tipper, surrounded by huge controversy as to the man's allegiances and motives. A strange person with a mostly unknown past, Tipper himself later murdered the Justiciar Rafael Aria after being summoned to his office to receive the payment.
Much suspicion remains as to the authenticity of Tipper's claim of having killed Beadle, and her death was never publically announced. Indeed, further rumors abound of two figures who slipped into the Daravi ranks, providing information of the movements of Lithmorran troops to the Daravi Sultanate as 'revenge to the country that betrayed them'. To this day, no one is entirely sure as to whether she has truly died - or if she is merely lurking in the shadows, biding her time for retribution.
"Beadle's breath, what more do you want from me?"
Amethyst Beadle, the once meek, slender, and graceful tavern maid who later gained notoriety as the Tenebrae who reigned over the criminals of Southside during one of the bloodiest periods in recent Lithmorran history, now remains little more than a legend, her name merely spoken in curses and tales of great evil. The tale of bloodshed begins when, after being convicted for the murder of the Grand Inquisitor Machivel ab Lanseiliv, she escaped from prison mysteriously after killing several guards and wounding others.
Rumors spread like wildfire after the event, which some believe to be near impossible: "The woman fights like a demon", or "Only a mage is capable of moving with such speed". Amongst those wounded were the Justiciar Rafael Aria, Commissioner Amdair ab Lassider and Knight Paere de Laerne, who were later to take charge of the hunt for Beadle. On the other hand, whispers sprung up amongst the Southside, with Beadle claiming that the Justiciar and Cardinal, who had interrogated her, had both betrayed her, obtaining coin and information from her before ordering her execution.
And thus Beadle's 'reign of terror' began, purportedly in her search for retribution. As the Queen's Guard set out looking for her, the woman went into hiding in the secret headquarters of the Brotherhood of Common Goods. Bolstered by the coin provided some time ago by the Count Olither ab Chettle, she rebuilt her empire, recruiting members and rearming herself with weapons and allies.
The Cardinal of the Holy Order was her next victim; the Queen of Lithmore received a letter demanding ransom for his life, and was sent a severed body part of the man each day the ransom remained unpaid. A hand, foot, and eye made it through to her; finally, the Cardinal's head, with an eye already gouged out, was found on the sacred altar of the church itself, to the horror of a few elect churchgoers. The search for Amethyst was heightened, with a reward of 30,000 silver offered he who brought the Queen her head. The body parts, given to the keeping of the Church, are now holy relics, and the martyred Cardinal was accorded the title of Saint Jochen ab Blackwell, by the High Synod.
During this time, the Brotherhood of Common Goods stooped to a series of new lows - instead of simply remaining common thieves and pickpockets as dictated by tradition, rumors tell of them being united into a crime syndicate that would stop at nothing to achieve their goals, not even the shedding of innocent blood. They were said to have formed alliances with even the mages, notably one Arten ab Rael, a notorious mage who escaped his own pyre through magical means.
The Prince of Lithmore, Vaedrian ab Harmon, was next, his body delivered to the Queen in all its gruesomeness with the throat slashed open, despite the ransom for his head having been paid. As revenge to the Queen, perhaps, for the war waged against her. Following his death, the Crown ordered all existing members of the Brotherhood to be killed on sight and hung from the city gates, until such a time as their Tenebrae was brought in, dead or alive. The skeletal remains of Brotherhood members who died in the slaughter remain by the gates to this day, a reminder to all of the justice of the Crown. The Brotherhood regained the support of the South, however, by donating a third of its proceeds from the ransom to the orphanage and the almshouse, as well as to the families of the South.
During the Royal Council, an uproar was caused by a rumor that she sought to assassinate the Queen herself in the midst of the people flocking to the palace. Security was promptly tightened and, be the rumor true or otherwise, nothing untoward happened during the Council, and the Queen was not harmed.
After several months in which much of Lithmore lived in fear, hiring bodyguards and refraining from venturing to the South alone, Beadle's head was brought to the authorities by one Jack Tipper, surrounded by huge controversy as to the man's allegiances and motives. A strange person with a mostly unknown past, Tipper himself later murdered the Justiciar Rafael Aria after being summoned to his office to receive the payment.
Much suspicion remains as to the authenticity of Tipper's claim of having killed Beadle, and her death was never publically announced. Indeed, further rumors abound of two figures who slipped into the Daravi ranks, providing information of the movements of Lithmorran troops to the Daravi Sultanate as 'revenge to the country that betrayed them'. To this day, no one is entirely sure as to whether she has truly died - or if she is merely lurking in the shadows, biding her time for retribution.