Description

Personality

Quick witted, sarcastic, very loyal and trustworthy except she can't trust others back.
She ironically tries to hide and not drawn attention to herself. Ess is a surviver first, sometimes lacking morale which can
get her in trouble at times. Ess won't sugar coat the truth and sometimes being blunt makes her seem heartless and cold, but she
is quite the opposite.Alluring and saucy at times, usually proving deadly, she is mastering deception.Her demeanor is
just naturally a tempting flirt, her voice is soft and even in harsh moments it never rises, making her
appear mocking and patronizing to others. She loves to laugh but finds it scarce. Her greatest weakness is
empathy and how she can not always control her shifting.
She vows never to fall in love,(but longs for the companionship) and has few friends because
she finds most creatures to be evil, although the friends she finds are for life. She holds many secrets...

Equipment

Black silk hooded cloak, knee high laced boots, she carries an array of poisons
which she will use by themselves or applied to her throwing knives or silver-lined sword (falchion style) engraved in a forgotten language..the
meaning unknown to her, and several daggers hidden along her body.

History

It seems like she never is allowed to stay in one place for very long, as much as she tries. She was no more than 7 when she last saw her brother Ian. It was late one night in her tiny village of WhirlWind, on the outskirts of Blackhurt and her father Dirk had left their home in a panic at the stirring of women's screams. Dark armoured figures broke into their home, slashing wildly at her father. Her last memory of him was his silent scream, eyes bulging as his head smacked into the wall, impaled upon the mounted deer's antlers. Ian tried to barracade Ess's door, but the wood split as they rammed into it full speed, knocking Ian to the ground, unconcious. Ess never knew if her brother lived. She was taken that night, as were the other girls of the town.

She was taken to Blackpond as a slave by mercenaries with a dark agenda. She first lost her innocense only after a week, made to be the sick fantasies of evil men and women, for a nominal fee. When she tried to rebel, they'd beat her. When she submitted, they'd beat her. When she thought she was broken, defeated, one of the girls introduced her to their "benefactor" Tye, who was even more evil than the rest. She had just reached a delicate age where her gift began to manifest. It lasted only for a few moments, as she lye in bed praying to the stars to be someone else...anyone else. To escape this secret life of the flesh. Ess began to cry and it frightened her so when she tasted that metallic iron upon her lips. Quickly she wiped at her eyes, blinded temporarily. A thick, sticky ooze streaked her pale skin. She jumped to the window, staring blankly at her reflection as it melted from the spitting image of her brother Ian, back to her sad features. That was the first time.

Tye was revealed Ess's gift after his nightly visit with her. He was startled into thinking she was a boy! He liked the idea at first and tried his damndest to teach her to use that gift at will for his own pleasure's. When she refused, he carved a deep, vertical cut underneath her left eye.

"I know you didn't mean it," she whispered. Smiling sweetly as blood poured down her cheek, she reached between his legs with one hand, the other reaching for his short sword left lazily on the floor. She leaned in slowly to kiss Tye deeply and as he bit her lip, she thrusted the blade between his ribs, twisting hard.

"You like boys so much...", she teased, "I thought you wanted to know how it felt to be stuck like a pig!"

As soon as she retracted the blade, Tye's personal guards came rushing in and knocked a hilt of a sword into her head and all went black. When she had awoken, she was lying naked in a dark, cold room. Heavy breathy creeping from each corner as rough hands grabbed her and spat in her ear, "This will take the fight out of you...."
They beat her, raped her, and cut her so bad, she would never know the joys of being a mother. Her "owner" thought she was dead. Ebony was her name and she enjoyed Ess's torment just as much as the men did. But to Ebony's dismay, Ess lived.

Months went by as she healed, where she was put on "light duty" for her owner. She feared she'd never get that foul taste out of her mouth. But she had a lot of down time for once. She spent hours remembering Ian and her father sparring in the early evenings while she milked the cows and gathered water from the town well. Using a broken chair leg, Ess began to mimick those memories, attempting to teach herself those lost dances.

When she was allowed to go to the market for her master, Ess scowered the book shops gathering everything she could find on plant life and the healing and poisoning affects of each.

'Why don't I just make a run for it?', she thought. 'They'd find me..and I"m not strong enough.'

Years went by as she partook in her private lessons. One day, Ebony didn't wake up from slumber.

"Poisoned!", the streets rang out in mixed fear and glee.

Ess only smiled, even though she was not free, Ebony's brother took over the buisness.

Ess took advantage when the occassion arrised for her to flee about 15 years ago, escaping with only a few slit throats on her way. In the evening one dark, starless night, she heard the screams of war as Blackpond was attacked, yet again. The battle had spilled into the street in front of her "home" and she couldn't ignore the perfect distraction for her to slip away.

I wonder if it's Newhaven again, or another nameless army pissed off at this beautiful city, she thought sarcastically

Somewhere in the deep forests, beyond the city, she came across a silver-greyed wolf cub, trapped in a make shift snare. She took pity on the creature, thinking how it reminded her of herself. Ess calls her Tala, meaning wolf, and the loyal loving beast has yet to leave her side. She did find Newhaven before they closed off their gates. There, she kept to herself. Unfortunately all she has known is the business of flesh and continues her own personal solisitation, sometimes just robbing them blind. Ess longs for something more, like most do. She is always keeping an eye out for someone she may be able to trust, who may help her continue her studies with the sword and poisons alike.