She tends to take up little space, her movements light and quick, until she becomes either irritated or comfortable. In the case of the former, there will be more emphasis and rigidity to her movements, with a subtle widening of her stance and straightening of her shoulders. These small adjustments give her a more confident air, making her seem slightly less delicate and more threatening. In the case of the latter, she will seem less tense, more likely to take up space with her movements and sprawl when sitting, though the wariness never entirely drains away. Tight lips relax to a more amused quirk at the corners, and a restless curiosity becomes apparent. Still, there are few she has ever been truly comfortable around, and that is unlikely to change.

Born in the wide, desolate coastland of Lusk, just north of the mountainous land of Yulia, Ima already had few prospects. She never knew her father, just as her younger, half-sister never knew hers, since their mother was a prostitute. In a land where the aristocracy threw lavish parties while the commoners starved, simply surviving was a struggle. From the time Ima could run, she took to thieving, as did most children living in the slums. The city guards rarely cared unless the rabble wandered into more prosperous sections of the city. She was raised in abject poverty, yet never knew anything different.

Since children tended to go missing in Lusk, especially girls, Ima spent most of her childhood passing as a boy. Her mother kept her her in breeches and cut her dark hair ragged and short. Since the active girl could hardly be isolated, it was the best her mother could do for her. From necessity, Ima grew to be cunning and street smart at a young age, developing quick hands and quicker feet. The tiny, dark haired girl became adept at blending into the background, though she was only one of many skilful thieves in the city.

Her small successes often meant the difference between dangerous scarcity and having enough to get through, especially when her sister was born six years later. Little Esra inherited her mother's grey-blue eyes, along with fair hair. It was a combination that would always mark the child out as little more than slaver's meat in the impoverished slums. Their mother was careful to keep the child isolated as possible, and Esra never grew out of her timidity and frail health. Ima began taking bigger risks out of pure need. She was forced to think on her feet, to determine whether the outcome was worth the danger, and to learn well the first time, since any mistake could be fatal. Still, she was soon able to defend herself well, both with her wit and with weapons.

When Ima was only eleven, a dreadful famine swept through Lusk. Though displaced farmers swarmed to the cities, within a year, fishing also began to fail. It was a time of more desperation, violence, and riots than Ima had ever known. Even much of the nobility found themselves far in debt and overextended. More than one unfortunate lord found himself a mere scapegoat to the very rabble he had so carefully ignored. The country was disintegrating rapidly, and Ima's efforts yielded less and less reward.

Suddenly, Ima's unstable world was shattered. Her mother was stabbed for a couple concealed coins one day when she went to what was left of the market. By the time Ima found her, she had been bleeding out for some time, beneath the notice of all but the shopkeeper who had dragged her out of the way of his scanty business. Ima was able to get her mother home and tend her, but it made little difference. She did not last the hour, much less the night. With that, Ima and Esra were ejected from the only home they knew, even if that home was a brothel.

There was no future left for them in Lusk, and no hope. They became refugees and traveled slowly southward, their pace hampered by Esra's ill health. The weather remained damp and chilled, and it was not long before the frail girl took a turn for the worse. Ima was coming to the end of her wits, sure she would lose the only family she had left. Their fortunes turned when a wizened old trapper found Ima trying to steal from one of his snares. Though the man was pitiless at first, something about Ima's manner and stubbornness caused him to have a change of heart.

Though Ima was wary of the man, she had no other options. They sheltered in a small hunting cabin. With the slightly improved diet of the creatures the trapper caught, Esra gradually pulled through. Though Ima tended to stay close to her sister, she learned small tidbits from the man, mostly through observation. The weeks passed and Esra regained her strength. When she was ready, she and Ima slipped away in the night. Ima was not big on farewells, though at Esra's insistence, they left a couple tokens of gratitude: a bouquet of wildflowers, and a carved bear emblem on a thin leather cord.

They soon entered Yulia, but the strict codes and stricter enforcement made it difficult to blend in, especially for two foreign girls still learning the language. Even with Ima's high level of care, she was nearly caught more than once. They once again moved on, stealing tidbits to survive and narrowly avoiding trouble where possible. Pradus, already conquered, presented similar problems to Yulia. Even more so since many of the citizens had been forced into near slavery and had little worth stealing. Miriand was only marginally better, with plenty of the nervous, superstitious, and distractible folk that Ima could easily pickpocket. However, within a year of their arrival, Miriand came under attack by Yulia. As it was obvious the nation would not hold out long, Ima and Esra once again became refugees, fleeing to Aressa.

In the capital city, Ima found a more ideal environment for her trade, and enough of the well-to-do to prey upon. She was able to blend well into the less reputable society of the city. After some time, Ima's skills and stubbornness were recognized, and she was able to find a mentor of sorts in a man known as Hox. She shifted from simple street cons and pickpocketing to burglary and lockpicking. Her ability to learn fast soon proved vital, since Hox's teaching methods often involved leaving her to figure a way out of messy situations.

The years passed, and Aressa held out a long while against the threat of Yulia's conquest. Even when Yulia managed to disrupt the monarchy and take hold, little changed in Ima's day to day life except for an increased caution about appearances. Still, as time went on, Esra's condition worsened. She needed expensive medicines that Ima could hardly afford with her best hauls, medicines that were past her skills to steal. As Esra's need became more desperate, Ima had to reach higher, and that became her downfall.


Her final target was a noble, Lord Beauford, who was popular among the people as well as moderately wealthy. Though he was a noble of Aressa who had capitulated to Yulian rule, he still had more covert dealings, especially with the resistance movements and the black market. It was through this that Hox heard of the man and some of his acquisitions, and he recommended that Ima target the noble. She was hesitant about the job, but too desperate to turn it down. Though it was a near thing, Ima managed to get out with plenty to take care of Esra even after Hox got his cut.

However, when she arrived at she and Esra's room, she knew something was off. Their landlady's home itself was uncharacteristically quiet. The door creaked open to reveal a darkened room, with Esra nowhere in sight. Ignoring her better instincts, Ima crept into the room, hardly believing her sister would disappear. Suddenly, a candle flickered into light, along with the taunting voice of an Inquisitor. "Well, well, if it isn't Lord Beauford's assassin."

Ima hesitated only a moment before she lunged across the room, breaking through the thin glass of the window and landing on the adjoining roof. She dropped into the alleyway, but her progress was halted by the waiting guardsmen who stilled the struggling girl with a solid blow to the back of her head. She awoke in a prison cell. Ima was framed for Lord Beauford's murder and sentenced to execution. In one move, the Inquisition had taken out a popular leader while avoiding riots from those who followed him, able to pin the murder on a burglar who was proven without a doubt to have been there the night the lord had been assassinated. Ima was set up knowingly by her mentor, betrayed by the very man who had taught her for years.

She was, of course, offered an alternative: to enter the walled lands and bring back a secret of magic. In return, her sister would be taken care of and they would be freed. Esra, of course, would remain little better than a prisoner until Ima succeeded, leaving her with an uncertain time limit. Knowing her sister's very life was at stake, Ima accepted without hesitation.