Valice
 VALICE R O A R  Λ P P E Λ R Λ N C E Her dark eyes, with their accent of deep amber in a ring about the edge of her iris, are given more attention by the face-framing cut of the front of her soft, straight copper-blonde hair and the black eyelining and lashes that is part natural and part glossy black kohl. Her eyebrows are dark and expressive, eyes large, eyelashes thick and feathery, and her lips luxuriously ample, soft, and glossy smooth. Her skin has a warm, glowing tone and her nose is just slightly upturned and sharp. She wears earrings on her slightly protruding, round ears that dangle charms made to look like swords. The back and sides of her hair are swept behind her ears and bound together to make a pair of long, thick pigtail braids- incredibly voluminous and heavy and long enough to reach her mid thigh even while braided. The ends of the braids are held by a metal cylinder decoration. Valice is of average height with most of that height coming from her long, athletic legs supported by wide hips. Her sensuously curved torso is, by contrast, exceedingly trim and slender topped with round, larger than average breasts that look even a bit larger compared to the the thinness of her torso. While the assets of her chest are largely hidden by the taut, sleek shape of her flat breastplate the construction accentuates the slenderness of her waist. The width and bulk of her shoulder, arm, and hand armor also serves to highlight the slimness of her waist, along with the width of her hips and the harness of belts she wears to support the armor on her hips and thighs as well as some equipment and her hammer. A panel of quilted, rich yellow cloth hangs from low on the harness in front and back, down to her greaves and armor boots. A bolero is strapped over the top of her breastplate with panels of cloth in the back displaying her personal forge-mark, the burning heart. Her gauntlets, while matching the style of the rest of her armor and shield, do stand out. They are bulky, oversized even, and the plate over the back of each hand bears a large orange tourmaline overlain by a heart shaped frame. It can be seen to pulse and glow like the coal bed of a forge as Valice calls upon her divine magic. Her heater shield fits nicely across the top of her slender back when not worn on her arm and once again bears the burning heart mark. B Λ C K G R O U N D Bridgton is a town built on a large bridge built in an earlier age that spans a wide river. Whomever built the bridge must have been massive, as Bridgton has been able to divide its width up into avenues and streets. It has a higher than usual accommodation of Inns, trading posts, warehouses, and shops catering to travelers as there is a large population of merchants and seasonal traffic. Visiting Bridgton was a prostitute who, as best as anyone can tell, was named 'Red Roary,' 'Red Roar,' or typically just 'Red.' She was part of a caravan and after becoming pregnant during a long stop, decided to stay in town to carry the child to term. She was friendly with the town blacksmith, Osgalandur, who was otherwise not personable and talked little. Red was not well liked and didn't stay any longer than she had to after her child was born, a daughter that she and Osgalandur named Valice. Most residents of Bridgton assumed that Osgalandur was the father as he took the girl-child after Red left town. Osgalandur wasn't much one to talk or listen to town blather concerning Valice and only ever claimed she was his niece- the rumor mill didn't believe it but Valice never questioned her Uncle Os. Luck held, however, as Osgalandur's appreciable skill at the forge provided for himself and the girl up until her mid-teens. She trained a bit, mostly through watching, and helped run the shop- being much more personable than her Uncle. She made a friend only a couple years older than her, Arvetta. Arvetta showed Valice the wonders of the nightlife, dragging her into plentiful nights of carousing and revelry. Their relationship was a bit unusual, however. Arvetta was the local herbalist's daughter, was engaged from a young age, and quite a prude some would say, or devoted to her future husband others would say. But she certainly had an interest and imagination for the erotic and her subject, muse, and proxy was Valice. Valice, for her part, learned she had an appetite for such things, and though she would often complain about how hard this and that was to get out of her hair, or that her ripped garments would need mending, she never did complain about the things Arvetta led her to do with the travelers and town men, even though Arvetta herself never went further than arranging and watching the meetings. Through these night adventures Valice already knew some of the thugs that started to show up at Osgalandur's smithy. Osgalandur was careful to keep Valice away from whatever business the thugs, claiming to be a guild (more of a gang, really) called the Heavy Scales, had with him. Osgalandur tried to keep Valice out of it up until the thugs visit resulted in Osgalandur's arm being broken quite badly. Before a miracle healer could be summoned infection got into the blood and the bone despite the herbalist and apothecary's best work. The arm had to come off and, to his credit, Osgalandur survived despite incredible odds against him. He couldn't work the forge as he had before, however. During Osgalandur's infection-induced fever state and his long recovery Valice tried to put what she gleaned from watching her Uncle to test at the anvil. Turns out she wasn't bad. She cut her teeth on shoeing horses, and once she got the basics down her skills developed quickly. In the ingot and spare tool storage she found something and began to work on it at night- just as well, Arvetta was soon to be married and had her own duties. The first time the Heavy Scales returned she learned what had drawn them there. Osgalandur had overborrowed and mounted a massive debt. Turns out Osgalandur was a gambler and pretty good at hiding it, at least from Valice. She tried to keep on top of the deadlines the Heavy Scales set, but there was no way she could be as effective as her Uncle had been- which had also proven not to be enough. Still, she toiled. The climax came when she managed to meet a scheduled payment, she slept with her feet on the coffer holding the gold coins but.. she had a blind spot for her Uncle. In his depression and hopelessness the one-armed, ex-blacksmith, gambler took the payment and absconded to the gambling den. Valice was beaten pretty badly. Osgalandur languished in a haze of liquor and shame. To work through her pain and anger Valice set her efforts to her night project. This was a dangerous time for her as she barely slept between whatever she toiled through the night with and her daily schedule of trying to get enough done to both live and pay the Heavy Scales. The next time the Heavy Scales visited, they came early- they didn't intend to give Valice time to lose this payment. They didn't knock or come at a reasonable hour, they picked the lock and entered the shop, catching Valice fitting the parts of her project she had completed. A slim, durable breastplate, bulky gauntlets and arm plates, a helmet, a warhammer, and a shield. They didn't even recognize her in the mostly dark workshop but what they did recognize was the quality of the armor. They attacked, Valice fought back. Valice had somehow beat an ancient power into the plates of her arms and hands, giving her a ridiculous strength and igniting a divine spark in her. Things would change after this. |