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Magdalena grew up in a small town along the Sword Coast.  She was a willful child and perhaps a touch tomboyish, but not remarkably so.  As a young woman, Maggie married, and she was content to be a simple woodcutter's wife; until one cruel winter when the family had fallen on hard times.

Her husband Rupert, in order to make a few coins, found work with a disreputable sea captain who needed able crewmen to smuggle goods along the coast.  Rupert would spend time away from home, a few weeks per trip sometimes.  It was a risk, but the coin was good.  This was how the family made their way for a time.  She always worried for him.

Eventually, though, the council of lords cracked down on the black market trade (too much taxable income slipping through their fingers).  Through guild representatives, they approached Magdalena.  Rupert's life would be spared if only she would turn him in. There would of course, be a fine, and some time in the stocks.  But life could go back to normal.

She jumped at the chance, and made the deal.  She later learned just how devious guild councils could be when their coin purses had been threatened.

She saw their 'justice' firsthand when her beloved had his neck stretched for being a smuggler and a pirate.

Magdalena was beside herself.  She couldn't believe that she had been so foolish.  She was furious both at herself, and at the guildsmen who had deceived her.  Despondent, she decided to approach her husband's old captain, and throw herself on his mercy.  Instead of facing whatever sort of outlaw justice she had perhaps been secretly hoping for, the charismatic pirate leader recruited her, allowing to fill her husband's vacant place among the men.

It was a grueling few months, and nothing came easy, but by the end of the first year she was holding her own.  She had proved her worth, and eventually she went on to seek her fortune as an adventurer.

Through it all, she chose to use the handaxe as her weapon of choice.  An homage of sorts to the husband she had lost.

Maggie the Ax is a smuggler and a scoundrel.  A free spirit at heart.  As comfortable in the seediest part of town as a highborn lady would be at a royal ball.

Personality Traits
Trait 1: Maggie judges people (sometimes harshly and loudly) by their actions, not their words.
Trait 2: At times, her language can be as foul as an otyugh nest.  She is at home in the worst parts of town.
Ideals: Independence.  Maggie must prove that she can handle herself without the coddling of menfolk.
Bond:  Maggie owes her life to another pirate who saw something in her when she was at her lowest.
Flaw: Trust is a four letter word.  Maggie has been burned before, she won't let it happen again.