Brisa Finnrisdottir (BREE-suh FEEN-rees-doh-teer)

Brisa is Marked according to the Einborn Tattoo Marking System. Her complete Inventory of Ink (with brief explanations for these markings) is noted below. It should be noted that all of these marks were earned from her brief time as a slave in Dolorn and remain unaltered from the day Adrianna rescued her from her owners.

Informative Marks

• Sex Mark: Intact
• Possession History: processed into slavery during the Learning Age range (childhood)
• Nape Mark: identifies her as a Half-Elf from behind
• Keen Streak: shows above average intelligence, which may or may not be considered a positive trait for a slave
• Mind Stripe: indicates mental/behavioral abnormalities that do not impact everyday life (given for her lack of emotional/vocal expression and seeming lack of social skills)

Problem Marks

• Violence ("Vi") Mark: two counts of violence against a free member of the owning household
• Snoop Brand, eye connected: caught reading restricted information
• Escape Line: made multiple attempts to escape from her owner
• Liar's Mark: proven to have lied during initial market processing to conceal the ability to read and/or use magic

While many of Brisa's outstanding abilities are the result of hard work and skill, her main capabilities that would be considered inherently special are her limited uses of magic. Her particular development of the innate magics inherited from her father are not profound in terms of strength but have manifested in cantrips and minor spells not commonly known by Moon Elves.

Brisa constantly wears multiple layers of clothing, which she uses to conceal any variety of items on her person. A loose tunic or shirt, vest, jacket and/or cloak are all standard apparel with trousers and belt. Brisa never goes anywhere unarmed, but the facial tattoos which show her to be a slave often make it illegal for her to carry a weapon. Her wardrobe makes it easy to obscure her standard daggers and other equipment regardless of where her travels find her at any given moment.

Brisa wields two daggers when she fights, both of which were recently made to be magical weapons. In addition to these and the general tools common to thieves and spies, Brisa produces small pouches of hand-mixed powders to serve as smoke bombs. One mix creates a thick smoke that completely obscures vision in a wide area, and the other creates a poisonous cloud that can be deadly if inhaled directly. She generally carries at least one of each on her person if not more.

Childhood

Born in a rural farming community, Brisa's early childhood was hard. Her elven father was a degenerate gambler who was constantly plunging the household deeper into poverty. When his debts became too great, he began taking loans from powerful merchants in Neras and promptly became unable to pay them back. Owing a small fortune he couldn't pay, one of his creditors came to Brisa's home with armed thugs to abduct the girl and her mother. They were thrown in a caged wagon, shackled, and carted away on the long road south toward Dolorn.
As is often the case for family members sold simultaneously into Dolorn's slave markets, Brisa and her mother were separated immediately and processed for sale. Her first tattoos were applied the first day according according to the Einborn Tattoo Marking System standard and she was sold to a wealthy guildmaster in less than a week.
Brisa exhibited staunch resistance to her bondage and her first two weeks as a slave saw her earning a multitude of "Problem Marks" including two counts of attempted violence against members of her owning household. She often acted up and received many punitive measures including several concussions from being beaten for disobedience.

Liberation & Adolescence

While resisting her owner in the midst of running errands, Brisa earned herself yet another beating in broad daylight. As Fate would have it, a rare sort of person was roaming the streets of Dolorn: a fervent opposer of slavery who possessed a kind heart and the courage to resist overwhelming odds. An Eladrin woman intervened by administering a beating to the guildmaster before absconding with the young slave girl, fleeing the city under hot pursuit. After taking her far away from Dolorn and evading several slave hunting parties, the Eladrin offered to give the girl a fresh start where she'd be treated like a person and not a slave. Her rescuer, Adrianna Ennyn-Tirn, began teaching Brisa to read and survive in the wilderness while they traveled north. In the process, Brisa began to observe that Adrianna paid many of their travel expenses by picking pockets and lifting coins from locked shops after hours. Through observation, she began to learn the basics of thievery.
Knowing her lifestyle was not conducive to fully rearing a child, Adrianna entrusted Brisa to one Finnri Herison of Tarkin's Point. Finnri and his two adopted daughters took Brisa in and gave her a stable (though stern) family environment in which to grow. Dealing with so thoroughly traumatized a young child, not even 9 years old, involved many challenges. Nevertheless, Brisa quickly considered Finnri her father in place of the gambler who led to her enslavement and she took his name as her surname in the typical Gehrish fashion.
Finnri, a weaver by trade, exhibited some inconsistent and erratic behaviors that Brisa was compelled to investigate. She learned that her new father was a low-profile spy for Eladrin savior, reporting on current events and notable people in and around Tarkin's Point. Finnri noticed her knack for sneaking and observing and, at Brisa's insistence, began to teach her the basics of low-profile espionage and stealth. Like an owlbear to honey, the young girl excelled and expanded her knowledge of the thieving skills Adrianna had established. She continued growing as a thief and spy in Finnri's house with her father's acceptance (though not always permission) until she was old enough to live and work on her own.

 

Career

Brisa had an affinity for local ravens throughout her teenage years, using her free time to domesticate scores of them between her formal and trade education. Having inherited some of her biological father's innate Elven magic abilities, she developed the ability to create enchanted metal bands for placing on a raven's feet which would aid in navigation as a messenger bird. To make a legal income, she began to train and sell trained messenger ravens. Adrianna, in need of a trusted contact to serve as a communication hub in her intelligence network, knew Brisa was a perfect fit. Brisa, who always had a strong independent streak, had never forgotten that she owes her freedom to Adrianna and began to travel and train full-time with her new employer. Adrianna taught Brisa advanced tradecraft in thievery, espionage, and combat for the next five years until Brisa was as capable as the Eladrin in virtually all professional metrics. Brisa became a traveling agent in this intimate spy network, selling ravens as a front and earning a reputation throughout many of Yvard's major cities as a vendor of the finest and swiftest messenger birds to be found. Brisa, like Adrianna, was initiated into the Ochre Pact at age 24 and quickly gained a reputation under the alias "Dinen" as one of the finest thieves, spies, and spymasters in that esteemed criminal community. Though she doesn't take Pact assassination contracts, her reputation within the Pact makes plain that this is a personal choice and not a lack of skill; even the Pact's greatest assassins actively avoid crossing her for fear of her skill.
Over their years together, Adrianna and Brisa have become a covert powerhouse. In personal circles, Adrianna openly considers and refers to Brisa as her daughter. Brisa, while never referring to Adrianna as her mother, has never disputed this interpretation of their relationship. The personal nature of this relationship between Dinen and Surili (Adrianna's alias within the Ochre Pact) is completely unknown within their professional circles outside Adrianna's network. They have gone to great lengths to ensure that Adrianna's spy network remains independent and unknown to the world's criminal leaders.

Brisa only discusses her romantic/sex life with those whom she trusts completely. Which is fewer than half a dozen people. Even when it does come up, she says little about her gender identity or preferences directly. But these trusted few know her to firmly identify as a bisexual female with a tendency to engage more frequently with male sexual partners.

Given her cold and passionless personality many people assume Brisa to be asexual. Those people are incorrect. Brisa is a sexually active person, though she seems far less susceptible to the overwhelming urges and attractions most other people seem to experience. She has never compromised her work or values for the sake of carnal gratification and seems to have no tolerance for anybody attempting to seduce or initiate sexual activity with her. She engages on her terms, and no others.
She is, as far as anybody close to her is aware, aromantic. She hasn't described herself as such but has never been known to have a romantic relationship or be interested in forming romantic attachments to anybody. Those who know her best have never heard her mention romantic ideas, even with regards to her sexual activity or partners.

Brisa has an education on par with many members of noble houses; literacy, linguistics, history, tactics, arcane theory & practice, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and nature/survival skills are all well within her knowledge. Her ability to learn and retain things is truly exceptional.

"Legitimate" Profession: Trainer and seller of high-quality messenger ravens with custom-enchanted leg bands to aid navigation & speed

True Profession: Spymaster & Agent for Adrianna Ennyn-Tirn's international spy network

Most of Brisa's professional achievements are unknown to all but her, Adrianna, Adrianna's adopted son Del, and Finnri. She has no need to boast of them and knows well the effect of letting her accomplishments become amplified in the rumors of the Ochre Pact. She does not correct aggrandizement of her feats except with those named above.
One public accomplishment of Brisa's is her current status as a highly wanted fugitive in Barid Hold for multiple charges of espionage. These charges include breaking into the king's castle and reading many classified documents for the king's eyes only. Such a status among the world's leading nation in espionage practices is truly a testament to her capabilities.

Brisa's traumatic abduction as a child and subsequent traumas from her time in slavery are widely considered (by those who know her past) to be the reason for her underdeveloped emotional capacities. She often, though not always, understands sarcasm but doesn't use it. She reads and understands the emotions of others frighteningly well, but seems genuinely incapable of displaying or even feeling most emotions that aren't rooted in anger or immense sadness.
This applies to affection towards loved ones as well. She does not display affection for anybody, even Adrianna. Dinen does not shake hands, clap a shoulder, hug, caress, take anybody's hand, or kiss. Yet she does allow Adrianna to do all of these displays of affection to her openly, constantly, and without resistance or avoidance. She will sit still for hours while Adrianna plays with or braids her hair even though she looks indifferent or impatient. But Brisa does not do these things for anybody, not even Adrianna. Her fondness for a person can be assumed, though not fully determined, by the extent to which she speaks to them in casual settings (see the "Speech" section below)

Similarly, she seems to lack any inherent value to the lives of people she isn't close to. Walking up to a stranger on the street and killing them in cold blood is well within her capacity and she will experience no remorse or second-guessing of her actions. The lack of value shown in Einborg for the lives of slaves is generally blamed for this development within her psyche.

A mind as keen as Brisa's is exceedingly rare. She learns and retains new information and patterns at a genius rate. Very few people see this side of her because of her intimidating reputation and coldly indifferent presence. Brisa's mind seems particularly adept at processing her senses and extrapolating information for details that typically go unnoticed to well-trained eyes. Her hearing is exceptional, her eyes perceive threats long before they can cause damage, and her mind can break even the most complex codes or ciphers. She has cracked and memorized every major code and cipher used by Baridian intelligence agents to the extent that many of these secure systems are no long taught to new spies. New methods of cryptology were developed in Barid Hold because someone (known as Dinen) was discovered to have compromised the standards. Brisa then compromised said new methods and constantly keeps up to date on the current cryptological practices of the Hold, which is widely considered the nation with the most extensive and capable espionage practices.

Given all of the mental and behavioral abnormalities attributed to her myriad childhood traumas, it's very obvious to see that Brisa Finnrisdottir could easily be a world-class villain on a scale rarely seen in Yvard's recorded history. But her dauntless loyalty to Adrianna and willful obedience to the Eladrin's moral guidelines prevent her from steering into any truly evil paths. Above all else, Brisa is a staunch pragmatist. She has no qualms about using morally gray or outright dastardly means to accomplishing an end, but that end will always be either what pragmatism demands or in service to Adrianna's sense of a greater good.
Dinen has no moral compass but Adrianna. She knows, accepts, and chooses this out of her steadfast obligation to serve the one who saved her from a life in bondage and trained her to be a powerful, independent woman. Adrianna knows that some questions about Brisa's methods are better off remaining unknown, but the trust she has for her spymaster's ability to do what's right for the circumstances is absolute.

Brisa will tolerate great discomforts with no sign of discomfort, be it physical or social. Very few things get under her skin, but those that do usually result in swift and devastating violence against the offender. The following taboos are guaranteed to find yourself on the receiving end of her wrath and often with no warning:

• disrespecting or insulting Adrianna or Adrianna's adopted son Del (severe beating)
• threatening Adrianna or Del (severe beating, probable follow-up observation and assassination if threats show signs of becoming real)
• treating Brisa like a slave, or even calling her slave (instant death in broad daylight)

Repay the life given freely by Adrianna Ennyn-Tirn through steadfast service. Especially because Adrianna asked nothing in return for saving Brisa from slavery.

Brisa is brutally protective of pomegranates. She'll buy or steal them whenever they can be had and will not share them with anybody except Adrianna. And even then, only half the time. The only time she's inflicted pain on Adrianna's adopted son Del was when the arcane trickster put an illusory pomegranate before Brisa that even she could not see as fake. The boy admittedly knew the risks and Adrianna only intervened when it was time for them to gather for supper.

Monotonous, sharp vocal tones define Brisa's speech. Unless speaking on topics of espionage, where every detail is important, she regularly uses abbreviated sentences that are often grammatically incorrect but still coherent. Single- or double-syllable words are used as much as possible in casual speech. Using more than this and speaking with proper grammar are signs that she is fond of the conversational partner and currently in a decent-to-good mood.