Background: When a fisherman named Rici fell in love with the most gorgeous woman he'd ever met, Andale, he left his secure life to join an uncertain one on the once-Russian flagship The Alexander. The woman rejected him time and time again, but he was determined. Eventually, the young man succeeded and two were bonded before the elders of the Alexander. Several years of both hardship and happiness ended in tragedy when Rici fell to a rival hunter over a territorial dispute. The good man left a young wife and daughter at home without means to survive save the charity of family. Andale refused a second marriage and eventually her unfathomable heartsickness turned physical; she could no longer leave her own home without suffering from severe loss of breath and barely managed to even leave her own bed. Their only child, Calsi, was beautiful and lively and wiser than her 9 years. And despite the loss of her father, she was determined to live up to his expectations of her, with no room for regret in her tiny heart. What her mother could manage to do was sew and weave while bedridden, and it was Calsi who traded her mother's handmade knits, cloth and clothing items for beads and scraps of food.

On one occasion, Calsi caught the seedy eye of a pimp. He promised her mother currency in food and medicines, and that Calsi would be well-looked after--"'asides," He said, with an oily, slithery voice, "How well could a sick woman care for a little girl anyway?" Her mother began crying.

Calsi quickly left and returned with her uncle and cousin, who shoved the despicable man out and swore up and down that if he ever set foot in their Grotto again, he'd be swinging from the underbelly of the city.

Heartened and strengthened by the arrival of her brother and nephew, Andale made Calsi promise never to step foot in the shadow district and become one of the forgotten (Those without means or those who are sold become prostitutes, selling whatever's left of themselves for food and shelter, male, female, or child). "You will never live that way, Calsi. Never. No matter what." Little Calsi quickly agreed.

Years passed, and though her mother never got better, she still managed to hang on for her daughter's sake. When her Uncle caught a fever during a hunt with his son and suddenly died within 24 hours of catching the illness, her cousin (Ishka) came to live with them. He sold off the family home (basically the space) for a good-sized bit of currency. He used it to trade for supplies and equipment to open a small booth in the main marketplace and sell his own caught food as a vendor. Calsi was with him the whole way, and since she grew up bartering with the marketers and vendors when selling her mother's handmade wares, she knew how to pitch a sale and get a bargain in the process. Ishka hunted, skinned, and cooked it, while Calsi sold it with feminine wiles and winning smiles.

They've managed a fair bit of popularity and success that helped them rise within their small Grotto. Pimps may still eye Calsi as some distant prize to be won, but they're now below her notice entirely.

Appearance: Calsi has large, striking eyes of brown-blue marble set within a heart-shaped face, narrow, angled nose, full lips, and round cheekbones. Her hair is naturally thick and wavy, hued the light, golden brown of sun-ripened wheat. Her complexion is a fair-toned olive, like her father's had been. She's average height (About 5'6"), lean but curvacious, a testament of healthy eating. She wears handmade clothing made primarily of artfully cut and stitched ratskin and scraps of other found fabric, all tailored by herself or her mother, to include pants, boots, vest, and a pocketed leather apron.

Personality: Calsi has a steadfast character, dutifully built to idolize her father, whom she reveres as a personal hero. She's fair, hard, and all business when it comes down to it. She loves a good laugh, but not at the expense of another's feelings. She's hunted in the levels with her cousin, but never alone - Ishka wont allow it - but she can maintain a hunter's isolated, predatory mindset if she needs to. She openly shares with those who need and deserve it, as she remembers starvation and fear after her father died and her mother had a breakdown... that incident taught her to be strong and carry on, meeting each setback with a new direction instead without a second thought.

Character Goals: Calsi has already been through hardship and fear and death. Yet... she lives in a bubble, like the rest of the Alexander, a prison in the air they can't ever escape from. Fear of starvation is a constant, subconscious companion for the people in this world. Calsi, with the support of her cousin Ishka, has managed to succeed where others have been swept away. It's time to shake things up for the girl, throw her to the wolves or into the lion's den and see how well she fares on her own...