Name: “The Shrouded Spellsetter”, “Black Face”, “Black”(to friends)
Theme Song: Tank! Cowboy Bebop

Age: 25
Gender: Male
Class: Spellsetter


Class Ability:

-Advanced Enchantment: Giving inanimate objects magical properties. Could be as simple as making a pair of boots feel lighter, or as complex as making a sword perpetually be engulfed in flames.

Spellsetters generally use this ability to augment their garments with high resistance against magical attacks.

-Spellsetting: The art of setting a spell within an object. So that by simple contact with the object one can cast the predetermined spell without on-site preparation or concentration. This leads to the possibility of dizzying bombardments of spells that the Spellsetter can unleash in rapid succession.

Weapons:

-Gloves of Firebolt: Gloves that have the firebolt spell set into them. Allows the wearer to cast firebolts from his hands. They speed through the air like an arrow and explode on contact with the first surface they encounter. The impact is roughly similar to being with a medicine ball. Each glove holds a maximum of ten charges.

-Staff of Shockwave: A short, wooden, and misshapen staff that has the shockwave spell set into it. The shockwave spell sends out a spherical shockwave that nocks anything in a ten foot radius away from the caster. A large bear would be lifted off of it’s feet and fly around five to six feet back. The staff holds a maximum of three charges.


Size and structure: While not particularly muscular or fit, he keeps in running shape and has quite a bit of stamina.

-Height: 5’ 11”
-Weight: 149 lbs
-Build: Average, Non-muscular, proportional.


Appearance: Black keeps a strange appearance that is most likely classified as hidden. He keeps virtually all of his body covered, showing no part of his body except a small sliver of his face. Which is still hidden by his most treasured “piece of clothing“. A small enchanted amulet creates a pitch black orb that covers his entire head, the break being two yellow orbs where his eyes should be. This is the staple of “The Shrouded Spellsetter”.

The wide brimmed hat seems to add a extra few inches to his height, giving him the appearance that he is taller than he actually is. A large, purple scarf covers his mouth an nose region. (for more description of clothing, see picture, it‘s what he always wears.)

*Spolier*
His skin is a light tan. His hair is dark brown, almost black. He keeps his hair short, but it is unruly and slightly curly. He has a short beard that covers most of his face. His eyes are a dark brown. Here’s a pick with his undisguised persona in it. Hes the one getting swindled*Note* This scene in no way reflects him in anything other than his facial features. *Note*

Personality: Independent, confident, and strong willed. Black acts as though he is the king of his own country, the only rules that apply to him are his own. Which there are few of in the first place. He sees the world as his oyster, to take for his own enjoyment. He has no problem taking advantage of people if it gets him what he wants. Especially if it involves making a fool of someone who thinks very highly of themselves.

He has a weak spot for money, enjoying most the acquisition of it. Which gives him a pleasant feeling of accomplishment. Though his personal goal is to gather enough wealth to rival the treasury of a king, his true motivations most likely lie in the lifestyle he keeps. Being given a task that someone can not themselves accomplish, planning and gathering his resources, then accomplishing the task. In a sense, he most enjoys challenges that involve problem solving.

To most people, especially other men, he keeps a façade of being aloof and unpredictable, simply because he enjoys watching them squirm as they try to figure him out. It gives him a nice feeling of a small internal power trip that comes with having people fear his unpredictability. That certain amount of unpredictability is something he prides himself in.

To those who he considers friends, a very select few, he is loyal and genuinely cares about their concerns. Becoming one of his friends takes a certain personal respect on his part. He needs to see that an individual has certain qualities that he sees in himself and therefore respects. Intelligence, ambition, strong free will, and novelty to name a few.

Home: Born in Elden, grew up traveling, Guild-house in Fein. Located within a medium town near the border.

Back-story:

~Legacy~

The Shrouded Spellsetter. A hero, a legend, a legacy. The visage has it’s origins within Nosit. When out of apparently nowhere, a powerful magician appeared. Bringing a strange form of magic akin to enchantment, what is now commonly known as spellsetting. The disguised man made a name for himself by being a powerful “Mage for hire” that commonly took jobs that mage colleges would boycott. Which they often did for political reasons. He quickly grew in fame and infamy formed a powerful guild that grew in power and influence for nearly thirty years. Until one day, he simply disappeared.

It was nearly two decades before anything so much as a whisper was heard of the Shrouded Spellsetter. Then tales began to spread of a similar man who had started taking jobs in Elden. An so the legend grew once again, of the powerful and independent mage. Until, just like the previous one, he disappeared seemingly into thin air.

~Urchin~

The fourth generation of “Black Face” was born as a orphan street urchin in a rather large Elden city. His mother a unscrupulous lady of the night, his father a unknown tenant. Even in his earliest memories, he was on his own among the beggars and thieves in the streets of the bustling city. During this time of stealing food, running with child gangs, and nights spent alone on the hard cobblestones of the alleys, he learned the most important rule of his young life. Money, is the only thing that matters. It was what you lived on, what made the rich smile, and what gave people their power. He had none, so he was unhappy, most of the time unfed, and powerless.

Sometime when the young boy was barley into his second decade of life, he had a chance encounter with a robed traveler. He though because the man had such a wide brimmed hat, that he would not notice the small boy as dipped into the strange figure’s pockets. He was wrong. The man caught the young boy as he dipped into his pockets, then dragged him into a deserted alleyway. The boy was terrified, he was sure he was going to die as the two yellow orbs glared down at him.

However, the man did not kill him, instead digging his hands deep into his pockets. The boy opened his eyes after a few seconds to find two hands outstretched before him. One, practically overflowing with gold coins, the other holding some strange carved, wooden artifact that glowed slightly. “Which one do you want?” A scratchy voice imitated from the faceless head. Taken aback, the boy merely opened his mouth, unable to form words.

“I said which one! Choose boy!” The scratchy voice said in a louder and more commanding tone. “The gold!” The boy piped up, immediately sounding terrified. “Hurm…” The man stuck the items back into his pockets. “Why?” The man asked in a guarded tone. “Hey! Give it over! You said……” The man bent over cutting the boy off as their faces were a few inches apart. The brim of the man’s hat touching the boy’s forehead. “I said, which one do you want. I never said I would give you anything.” The boy gulped at the intimidating tone of the man. “Now…” He continued. “…Why, did you chose the gold. Or rather, why did you not choose the more interesting object?”

“Well, I…” The boy went silent. The man straightened back up, turning to leave. “Wait! Because I knew what it was!” The boy stammered. “I didn’t know what that other thing was. I didn’t know how much it was worth, or, I knew exactly what the gold was worth, but not the glowing thing. I hadn’t seen it do anything else, even though I thought it could be worth more. I chose what I knew, not what I thought I knew.” The words pored from his mouth, as he tried to explain, mostly to himself.

The Figure turned back, looked at the boy standing in a huff. He stared for a second, the broke the silence. “I guess you’ll do…” He mumbled mostly to himself.

~Student~

“What?” The boy asked, somehow expecting an explanation.

“Come to the city exit just after dusk.” The man reached into his pocket. “If you do, you’ll find much more where this came from.” He said as he threw a single gold coin to the boy then turned on his heel and strode back into the street.

The boy thought on the offer for a long time, but in the end his curiosity and want of money got the better of him. However, when he arrived at the designated place after dusk was nowhere to be found. Just before he was about to leave, he was approached by a old, white-haired man with a long beard.

“Well, shall we set out then?” The old man said in a raspy that the boy recognized from earlier. The man had started walking toward a horse drawn cart. “Hurry up boy.” He said as the boy quickly heeded his words.

Over the course of the next twelve years, the old man and the boy spent most of the time traveling. The old man, taught the young boy as his personal pupil. Teaching him as he had been taught as a young boy, always pushing, trying to get the boy to unlock his potential. The old man did not hold the boys hand in his teachings, rather he was constantly pushing him off ledges, forcing him to think and learn on his feet.

The old man also told him a little about the legacy of the Shrouded Spellsetter and what it meant. To use the guise as a path to immortality, to be forever known and unknown. The boy was at most marginally receptive. All he really cared about was that he was no longer trapped in perpetual poverty.

~Identity~

One day the old man simply died in his sleep. The boy, now a man of roughly twenty two, found him dead one morning. Thus the legacy was passed on, unexpectedly and with no closure between student and master.

The young man wondered for a time if he should even take up his master’s old mantle. Eventually he decided to go ahead with it, thinking the legacy would give him more advantage than hindrance. He also liked the idea of holding the knowledge of his true identity over people’s heads.

For a year he wandered mostly aimlessly, taking on quite a few jobs by himself. Soon he gathered enough gold to start his own guild, knowing many would be drawn to the Legacy of his mantle.

Guild: Leader of HHH

Guild misc info

-HHH only takes payment for services up front. They have a full refund policy, but have never had to enact it. They have allways always "Preform the task in compliance to the specifications that were given to them."

-Over these two years, Black has kindled many ties with some rather influential merchants in Fein. Their fame has seen rapid and almost exponental growth over the two years since it's founding.

-Here is a floor-plan for the HHH guild-house.

-Lucinda Garret (Guild NPC): The resident barmaid and house cleaner for the HHH guild-house. She is 14 years old, 4'9" tall rather plain looking. She keeps her shoulder length black hair in a bun most times and has dark brown eyes. She dresses plainly most times, keeping an outfit that would be consistent with her profession. Though she secretly adores fine clothing and jewelery. She is quite good at cooking and cleaning and is over all a hardworking person. She has a warm personality and is friendly towards those she has not met before. That being said, she still has a few quirks, mostly associated with her "family" the HHH guild members. She has developed a crush on Black because of his "daring rescue" of her and often enjoys doting on him. She is friendly towards most people, but slightly jealous of the women in the guild because she naively sees them as a threat to Black's affection. Be she doesn't hint at that a lot (except for when like Vivian gets to go on trips alone with black to meet clients, or she sees him in the company of a particularly attractive woman she does not know). She treats Loke sort of like a little brother, scolding him whenever he makes/leaves a mess. Besides her periodic shows of jealousy towards Vivian, she respects and somewhat idolizes her strength. She sees Bryndis as a little overbearing at times and Lucy doesn't like being compared to someone who dresses up like a man, even if Bryndis used to be a barmaid like her. However, as time passes, Lucy seems to be warming up to the woman more. Ultimately, she loves the members of HHH like her family and wouldn't know where she would be without them.

Guild History:

~The Origin and the Gambler~

After long thought on the matter, Black decided to base his soon to be founded guild out of Fein. The country had had a history of remaining neutral in the large conflict between Elden and Torin. So Black thought it the perfect place to ensure that the guild he would create would not be hampered by the recently escalating conflict between the two long time enemies. In fact, he predicted that the economy of Fein would undoubtedly grow as the two focused less on crop yield and more on the size of their armies. Which would be the perfect environment to grow a guild from infancy.

While traveling along towns close to the border, looking for a potential guild-house, he got saddled with a bit of luck. He noticed the rather cheery fellow that was playing cards at one of the tables in the inn. Something about the man peaked Black's interest, but he couldn't put his finger on it. After watching him for a while, and noting at a few of the cheery fellows tells, he joined the game. Thinking he would make a few quick gold coins. However, things didn't go as planned. The man seemed to have the best luck with cards that Black had ever seen. The other player quickly got out as the card game became a heated battle between the two men. Black was baffled, the man almost always seemed to get the card he needed just at the right time. It wasn't until the young barmaid tripped while carrying a tray of drinks, after being yelled at by the innkeeper, near the man that Black figured it all out. The the path of the drinks an the tray should have led them to soak the man, but they didn't. They all missed him, he didn't get a drop on him. Viewing this scene of amazing, no, magical luck led Black to his conclusion. This man was a "Gambler".

Black had heard of the strange variety of magician from his master, who had told him of many of the odd magicians of the land. He had said it was Black's duty to know, because he was one of them. Though Black had disagreed on the duty part, he had payed close attention. Knowing that the information would be useful later on.

Once Black realized that he was facing a Gambler, he nearly bowed out of the game. However, before he could, a plan hatched into his mind. This inn was big and in a good location, it would make a fine guild-house. He noticed as the Gambler tried to stop the young barmaid's bombardment of apologies with a large grin, that the man was kind hearted. Black knew he could use that to his advantage.

After a rather large sum of money. The Gambler's luck was just too much for even Black. He respectfully admitted defeat after thanking the man for a great match and bid the man call him Black, a name he had heard one of his master's old friends call him once. The began to get up to leave, but Black met him on the way to the door. He told the man what he thought to be a slight dis-truth, that the young barmaid was being held captive by the innkeeper. An he planned to force the young lass into marriage when she came of age. He knew that the barmaid was the innkeeper's niece by the way he addressed her and that he was a glutton for verbal abuse on the girl, he even suspected she didn't see a dime for all of her hard work. But he hadn't really seen anything that might constitute the claim he had made. Still, he needed to be sure the kind hearted Gambler, Loke he had learned his name was, was on his side.

"You see that young barmaid? Her uncle, the Inn owner, I believe is holding her hostage and plans to force her into marriage whenever she comes of age. I think that if we work together, we can save her." He said to Loke in a serious tone. Noticing that he gad gotten the man attention, he quickly laid out his plan. He would engage the innkeeper in a card game and manipulate him into eventually betting the custody of his niece. Loke would back him up from afar with his unique skills. With Black wit and Loke's luck, they couldn't loose. The Gambler briefly pondered the plan, then agreed.

Black feigned being intoxicated, walking up to the innkeeper and admitting he had lost quite a large sum of money. "But, you know.....if I had one more chance, I'm sssure I could get it back." Black said for the third time as he "accidentally" knocked over the full shot glass that the innkeeper had just given him. The Innkeeper finally took the bait and offered to play cards.

It was quite easy to figure out the mans tells, for he hung them on his face like jewelry. Black played the long game though, slowly winning more and more. And becoming more and more sober, as the patrons crowded around to watch the intense game. Loke simply sat a few tables away, doing his thing. By the time the innkeeper realized that Black wasn't as drunk as he appeared, it was too late. He had lost too much for his pride, or his business, to allow. Black eventually got a huge pot going, with the man betting the rights to his inn and all within it. Black made sure to do this before suggesting that he bet his niece, for he knew the man cared more for the inn. After Black won the inn, the man became enraged, like Black had assumed he would. He threw around accusations like arrows on a battlefield. Black, remaining calm, gave him one last chance. Black's bet, everything the innkeeper had lost, verses the custody of the man's niece. A coin flip would decide.

A small peep came from depths of the circular crowd, the young (and rather short) Barmaid, had heard the terms of the bet. The innkeeper grumbled, reserved in the thought of loosing the very last thing he owned. The man looked down at the floor, trying to think. Black kept his face straight but allowed his eyes to dip down to the floor. He needed to think of a way to get the man to go along with his bet. Black grinned under the blackness that covered his face and pulled out a gold coin. "How about if we use this?" He said confidently as he held it up to show the man. As Black turned the coin, it showed not only two faces, but two heads. The man was furious. Black held up his hands, "Don't worry, I only win if it doesn't land on heads." he said with a soothing tone in his voice. The man's eyes widened. "You all heard him!" he exclaimed to the crowd. "You can't take it back now you sonofabitch! Ha! Do it then!" He impatiently urged Black.

"Very well." Black murmured before taking a couple steps forward, then flipping the coin up into the air. All eyes where on it as it went up, then came down, flipping and flipping. They watched it as it passed back by Black's hand, which he moved to the side to avoid catching it. Then they watched as it fell down to the floor, and stuck skinny side up in a tiny crack in the floor. Black grinned, the crowd gasp, the innkeeper fell to his knees, the crowd roared, and suddenly Black found himself being embraced by the young barmaid. Who exclaimed, in a strange twist of fate, that she had been held captive by her uncle and that he had planned to force her into marriage when she came of age. Surprised, but to missing a beat, Black gave a shout that all drinks where on him for the night. As the crowd roared once again, he also pointed to the old innkeeper and asked them to remove him from the establishment.

After the subsequent heavy party ended. Black, now in possession of his new guild house, asked Loke to join his guild. After all, Black knew that a true lucky charm could come in quite handy in the guild business. Loke accepted. The young barmaid also insisted that she work for Black to repay him for freeing her by staying on to keep the inn/guild-house clean. After all, she had no where else to go. She even offered to do it for free. Black kindly accepted her offer and Loke refused the part of non payment, much to Black's slightly concealed annoyance. Loke asked Black what the name of the guild was, unsure Black simply went with the initials of the inn HHH, the Hide the Hog and the Herring. After a few months and a few low key jobs, the name stuck. Mostly because Black refused to have the expensive hanging sign of the inn replaced.

~The Mind Walker~

About a year after the guild was founded, Black was making progress with his guild. They were growing in slight renown, mostly due to Black's legacy, but more importantly Black was beginning to form a large web of contacts amongst many of the wealthy merchants of Fein. The upfront payment policy had been a necessary hampering, causing a slower than perfect growth of influence. Despite that, Black knew that he was one of the first people that the well off merchant' of Fein would turn to if they had something that needed to be done and the only one who was guaranteed to get the job done. It was around this time that a strange white-haired woman with bandaged eyes and metal hands burst into the guild-house.

At the time, Black was away and came back to find that Loke had agreed to let the injured woman take refuge in the guild-house out of charity. Barring his momentary anger at the impulsiveness of his gambler, he noticed something strange about the woman. The woman introduced herself as Vivian and they began to talk. Eventually, after some discussion, Black found out that she was a Mind Walker that had gotten into a dispute with a group of rogues and though she had killed them, she had had not come out unscathed. She had heard of the guild, more specifically of Black's legacy, and she offered her services as a guild member if Black would allow her to stay. Black had heard much about Mind Walker's from his master, most of it being about how powerful and scared of them he was. Thinking she would be a useful addition to the guild, he accepted her offer.

After she had recovered though, she began to question Black about him being able to increase the strength of the enchantment on he gauntlets. Which had been heavily infused with magic by him. For a while he dodged the questions, he was uncomfortable with discussing his legacy. Though his master had never told him, he assumed it was against policy to tell people that The Shrouded Spellsetter was a generational mantle and not a single person. Most people speculated that he and the original where not the same, but people generally tended to addressed him as such. Probably because the romantic nature of a faceless and immortal wandering mage. Regardless, he had no idea how to improve her gauntlets and did not even know how his predecessor had done it. Or even which of his predecessors had done it. So for a while he just dodged around her questions and her in general.

Eventually he got tried of being so insecure about dealing with Vivian and her request, deciding to deal with it once and for all. He knew he could not lie to her about his legacy, so he would have to either tell her the truth or make her leave. After a long time of analyzing and over analyzing, he still could not decide. So he decided to simply leave it to chance and flipped a coin, though he sent Loke out on an errand before he did it. Telling the truth won out over making her leave. Committed to his decision, he did not want to have Vivian holding the information over him in regards to the two others he had come to "caring for". He called Loke, Vivian, and even Lucy together. Then he told them the truth, not the "all" the truth, but some. He said that he was not the original Shrouded Spellsetter, that it was generational and he had been trained by the previous incarnation. He made sure to express that this information should not leave the guild. Though it seemed like quite a small confession, it was a big one to Black. He had never really trusted anyone with such knowledge.

This let Black finally tell Vivian that he could not at the moment increase the power of her hands, but he did promise to be on the lookout for information on how to. Through this, Black was able to get Vivian to go on certain client meetings with him. Which proved very useful and let their relationship improve. The experience also let the Black come to trust the guild members more, though he still hid is true identity and past from everyone but himself.

~The Cross Dressing Swordsperson~

Nearly half a year after the incident of Black's small confession to the rest of the guild, things were going smoothly. HHH had become a household name amongst the rich and elite in Fein. Many large farm owners had crop up rich nearly over night due to high profits coming in from the war between Elden and Torin and the resulting competition had led to many jobs for HHH. The influx of jobs had given a large boost to Black's growing web of contacts, and for the first time he began to establish true ties with important people outside of Fein. Wanting to capitalize on the occurrence and take root abroad, he went through a time where he began to only take foreign jobs. It was during this time that HHH got it's next guild member.

The job was a realities simple one, it just needed a bit of discretion and luck. An arms merchant inside Torin had sold a treasured copy of his weapon design to one of his middlemen, but had decided to double-cross the man. HHH was to steal the documents that contained the design, the only copy, and return it to the merchant. Black took Loke with him to steal the documents from the middleman's warehouse, which they had thought to be unguarded. After all, the middleman had no reason to suspect that his supplier was going to double cross him. Unlucky (or perhaps luckily) for HHH, the middleman was uncharacteristically paranoid over his new perchance and had decided to hire a mercenary to guard the warehouse.

The mercenary, named Bryndis, turned out to be quite the opponent for Black and Loke. He noticed their entrance early and took the documents on his person, remembering how the middleman had stressed their importance over all else. After a long and drawn out war of guerilla tactics, Black and Loke eventually cornered the mercenary. However, that was when he made an offer to give up without a fight. He noticed, through Loke's banter, that they were part of a guild and he wished to join in exchange for giving them the documents without a fuss. Black, who had been impressed with the mercenary, agreed and the three completed the job.

However, when they got back to the guild-house in Fein the were surprised to find out the truth about Bryndis. Who it turned out was actually a woman and even changed personality with her dress. Black handled the surprise with grace, knowing that this did not change much. She had still given him much trouble in the warehouse and there was still the matter of the test he had planned for her.

Just under a week later, on the next job he took only Bryndis with him. During this job, Black planned to test Bryndis to see if she could stand up as the swordsman she claimed to be. They were going to infiltrate a large plantation and Black needed her to provide a distraction for the guards while he planted documents. They split up and Black quickly completed his portion of the mission. He found Bryndis had finally been cornered in the courtyard by nearly a dozen guards. Though he held back instead of coming to her rescue, watching as one by one they rushed her and she dispatched them. Finally the last of the guards fell and Bryndis, looking exhausted, let out a sigh of relief. However, before she could catch her breath, nearly a score of much better equipped men filled into the courtyard. Becoming serious, she readied herself.

Black then took his Que to step out of the shadows and address the group. "Ah, marshal! I see you have finally arrived!" Black exclaimed as the group of men parted to let a clean cut and well dressed man through. The night ended with Black and Bryndis leaving inconspicuously as the score of men began to tear apart the plantation looking for evidence of Treason. In the end Black was quite pleased that Bryndis had proved herself to be a capable addition to the guild. He later filled her in on the information the rest of the guild was privy to about his legacy as the Shrouded Spellsetter.

~Current Status~

Now, HHH fame is mostly among the merchants and influential in Fein. Their reach in other countries is more limited, but is growing rapidly. In fact, Black has a plan to make their renown among influential circles in both Elden and Torin spike rapidly. HHH is not very well known among the general populace however, being little more than the guild that the Shrouded Spellsetter is a part of. Though this is because their client base does not really reside in public circles. Black has made sure however that the town the guild-house is based in thinks of them very fondly. Both publicly and privately "donating" money to the town.


Relationships:

HHH Loke: To Black, Loke is mostly a novelty. Albeit a useful one. If not for his unique form of magic, Black would most likely have little to no use at all for the man. However, that does not mean he does not value the man. After all, he "does" have his unique form of magic, and Black finds that very useful. Black thinks of Loke as a reverse bluff, a knife disguised as a children's toy. Unassuming in appearance and personality, but incredibly useful and to most unpredictable. Black likes useful things, so he likes Loke. So he keeps Loke happy. He knows that many of the things the guild does may not naturally satisfy the Gambler's heart of gold, but he makes sure to do whatever he can to often make sure they do. Whether it be a well placed rationalization, or taking on a job that plays to the plight of the downtrodden. Ultimately Black aims to keep his symbiotic partner in a sense "fat and happy". Upholding his end of their mutual gain because ultimately, Loke is worth it. Hell, sometimes Black even finds himself genuinely refreshed by Loke's carefree attitude.

HHH Vivian: Out of all the guild members, if Black had to choose a second in command, he would probably choose Vivian. Not that he would ever be willing to relinquish that much power. Though it does say something about the amount of respect he holds for her. Not only is she a valuable asset in her Mind Walker abilities. Seeing her calm demeanor coupled with her conviction to know and focus on what she wants, is something that Black admires. Mostly because he sees similar qualities in himself. Vivian is on of very few people that Black would ever consider asking for advice. Perhaps the only one. Though this may be due to the fact that she is the only one he his been known to let his mental guard down around. The instances may be rare, but being unable to lie to her successfully has weakened his ability to withhold personal concerns or uncertainties. Which he would normally keep to only himself, tending to trust no one else with this knowledge. Reflecting on this, he has been slightly disturbed by his willingness to trust Vivian with what he considered so much. Though he has been unable to come up with a way to reconcile the situation, even leading him to question his whether it is necessary to do in the first place. Opting to wait for more information, he has decided to treat her as sort of a experiment and continue developing true trust for Vivian. To see if his natural response to this situation is to his gain or not.

HHH Bryndis: Black thinks of Bryndis mostly professionally, as his soldier. When she his dressed is a man, he simply adores her unquestioning, serious, and capable attitude. It makes her a very useful asset to his team. He slightly wishes she would just stay that way, not reverting to her more "boisterous" persona. However, it is a quite acceptable cost for such a good melee combat expert. Something that makes her so much more valuable considering the relative lacking in of close range combat specialists in his group. It is also not as though he doesn't like her woman persona, she can actually be quite entertaining at times. Ultimately, Black thinks of Bryndis as a great addition to the guild.

HHH Barmaid Lucy NPC: Marginally useful and on occasion, slightly bothersome. She does a good job keeping the guild-house in clean shape and makes food and beverages that are quite good. That said, she is not exactly an irreplaceable asset. To Black she only slightly more than any regular person he might hire to clean the guild-house. Most of the extra value lying in her high amount of loyalty that stems from her juvenile crush on Black. Which was quite easy from him to spot. Being the object of one's affections means that they will never double cross you. Though her doting comes as a mixed bag to Black. That surprise hot meal that she so often brings to him breaks his concentration just as often as it gives him a well needed break. Though he makes up for her distractions by toying with her emotions on occasion, giving a suave flattery or compliment. Which sends her red as a beet and scuttling quickly away, practically exuding embarrassment. A sight which leaves him with a soft trickster's chuckle.

Extra: