Lapis Corde' is a small, thin, young woman appearing to be in her late teens or early twenties.  While moderately attractive, she wears shabby clothing and an oversized frock coat which hides her leather armor, numerous daggers, and rapier often causing people to mistake her for a boy.  Her blonde hair is short and looks as though she cuts it herself with a dagger (which she does).  While she is for the most part quiet and stand-offish, she has a quick temper and a foul mouth.  She despises anyone from Cheliax, and it is obvious that something extremely bad has happened to her involving the Chelish.

A frequent quote of hers is "Like the old bard sang, I touch no-one and no-one touches me."  Men who invade her personal space or attempt to seduce her are often taken aback by her invective.  Those who persist get a demonstration of how quick she is with a blade. She takes pleasure in punishing abusive men.  When not productively engaged, she drinks heavily or occasionally smokes flayleaf in a clay pipe.  Dispite her prickly nature, she has a soft spot for children, often giving away coins to street kids and, she is loyal to her fellow adventurers.

What she never divulges is that her family, Korvosan maritime traders, were killed by pirates when she was only six.  The pirates took her prisoner and sold her into slavery in Cheliax where she grew up in service to a minor Chelish government official.  After ten years of abuse, she gathered her courage, stole a kitchen knife, and killed her master as she made her escape from his estate.  She wandered for the next four years, learning how to steal to survive, and has now made her way beyond the borders of Cheliax to freedom.  Because of the years of abuse she suffered, she is highly distrustful of men and has become bisexual when it comes to relationships.