Theala Acer

Theala is of average height for a cut dragonborn, she is however lithe and slender with a thin waist. Her figure is more hourglass shaped than most dragonborns.

Theala has an odd color for a dragonborn, her scales varies from light gray to gray in coloration, looking little like the rest of her family or subrace.

Theala has a short snouted face, fin-like ears and four long horns.

Theala has lost her left arm at the elbow and has an advanced prosthetic in its palce.

Theala has a connection to the shadow weave because of her father's experiments and teachings which allows her to cast certain spells and summon a bow made from shadow stuff.

Theala wears a custom armor made from fur, leather and dark steel. It has a similar design to a breastplate. She also only wears armor on her right arm as her prosthetic is tougher than her armor.

Theala is skilled with swords, daggers and an expert with the bow.

Theala Acer was born in A4 630 on the 20th of Alnakhas’Ir in the Grayfall Ginnels. Her mother was Thrix Acer (a cut) and her father Malcor Acer was an infamous member of the Esoteric Circle. When Theala was 11 she would get a younger brother, Axthen. They lived a sheltered life in Bleakburn, Theala was rarely allowed outside the house except when she was with her mother, but she was mostly kept at home where she was homeschooled by her mother and sometimes lectured by her father on advanced topics such as magic and the history of his family’s work which started two generations before him with his grandfather Hevzin Acer who was part of Hexan’s order and was made a Waorin by them because of his research into the shadow weave. He traveled to Bleakburn where he became part of the Esoteric Circle as his family was a legacy family within. He would go on to teach Theala a few things about magic, including how to summon shadow weapons, but her talent for magic would not develop for years, until she found a connection with nature.   It was in A4 643 when Theala was 13 and her brother only 2 when her father had brought home some of his work from the Esoteric Circle that their family would face devastation. He had brought it home as the Esoteric Circle had earlier told him to stop his work and take a break, as his work had become dangerous, but he didn’t listen to them and brought the work home instead. He had worked on a device which could channel the shadow weave and make anyone a master at it, but when he thought he had made a breakthrough, the device would blow up instead. The shadows would not only consume Malcor, but also Thrix. Theala jumped in front of her younger brother and would badly hurt her back and have her left arm completely disintegrated.   Theala grieved her parents, but not long after their death came the Esoteric Circle who claimed what they could from their home and what scraps were left of the device and his resources. They had warned him off what could happen, but they were not sympathetic towards the result. As he had broken many of the circle’s laws and cost them thousands of gold in the damage he had done, they decided to mark Axthen with a Shadow Mark which made it so their shadows could find him at any time and claim him. Theala was given the debt her father had gotten into and had to pay them 25 000 gold before the mark would ever be lifted.   As Theala was without parents, a home and missing an arm, things did not seem bright for her. This was until she was asked by some mysterious men to follow them to a location within the defense district known as the Velvet Theatre. She was there taken to meet a cut dragonborn by the name Alkeeth Folle, who had worked with her father Malcor when he was not at the Esoteric Circle, his research was somewhat known by him, and he was saddened by his death. He did want to help Theala and her brother, so he set her up with an advanced prosthetic and promised to keep it in good condition as long as she needed him for it. There was a catch to Alkeeth’s gift however, the prosthetic was advanced and had cost him much to give, so an associate of Alkeeth’s known as Dorran Kirsch had helped sponsor it. He was a former member of the Esoteric Circle and wanted to keep an eye on Theala as he knew the device Malcor had worked on had the potential to imprint on a person. He believed this had happened to Theala and wanted to study her and her improvements while taking notes and testing her potential. He offered to mentor Theala during this period and to train her in his own field of work, which was bounty hunting. Theala saw no downsides to this offer as she needed money to pay back the Circle, but also someone to rely on now that she had to take care of her younger brother.   Theala would start a new life with Dorran as mentor, a life she would quickly grow to hate. Dorran was not a noble man, or well intended, quite the opposite. His habits of drinking and whoring was upsetting for Theala who often had to help him get home from one of his long days. He was also an impatient teacher who would often become abusive towards Theala when she failed his instructions. He would use a nine tail whip to remind her of her failures and to “keep her in check” while they trained. He believed that the shadow weave could only be connected to through anger and strong negative emotions, which he “helped” sow in her to focus her mind. His work was also distasteful in Theala’s eyes as his bounties were often unofficial bounties obtained through shady contacts, there were rarely any sport or challenge to find, mostly executions and injust murder. His private habits were also taken into the workfield, it was not uncommon for Theala to have to do all the hard work while he was drunk or wanted to see how she fared against his enemies. The worst aspect was, however, when Dorran had exploited either a contractor or the target in a way where he could force himself on them, Theala always knew that a contractor or target being a young woman would end in a horrible scene she could not stand to witness. Moments like those made her thankful for one of Dorran’s comments when he had walked out of the house of a target who had “persuaded” him to not kill her, “You are lucky you are such an abomination”.   The years with Dorran were very tough on Theala and she began to find herself unfaced by his behaviour and tough training, but she always believed it was necessary to buy a better life for herself and her brother. This changed in A4 648 when Dorran had gotten another contract to kill a man who had taken the contractor's wife for himself. A common contract for Dorran, but a part of it which Theala was not informed off before the deed was done was the extra payment for killing the woman and the child she had gotten with her new man. Dorran had made easy work of the man and woman, but Theala could not watch as Dorran was about to strangle a child in its crib. Theala didn’t hesitate and quickly slit his throat, saving the child, while regretting not having saved the couple as well. She got the child away through some contacts and claimed the bounty on the entire family. From there on, Theala would use the associates she had gotten through Dorran to take jobs she wanted. She would focus much more on criminals and monsters. These contracts would earn her more gold, reputation and the challenge would excite her. The following years of Theala’s life were filled with more exciting jobs than she had done with Dorran. She would mostly work contracts on monsters and on people she deemed deserving of their fate, no longer would she harm innocent people or dishonor her contract and contractors. She also worked with the Goldenclaw to some degree, yearning their trust and favor enough to benefit from their services and offer her own to them. She would work as a privately contracted enforcer for them, mostly getting what they were owed back to them, or in some cases accepting assassination missions from them. These cases were few and far between, as the Goldenclaw leaders knew her code well enough to not insult her with contracts she would not dirty her hands with.   In A4 653 after Theala had paid off much of her debt to the Esoteric Circles, she was given a very special mission by the Goldenclaw. Their leader Lazarus Tandenzel met with Theala personally, which was the first time she had met him and heard his name. He gave her a sacrificial dagger, the dagger of Arioach the Subduer, which she was going to use to kill Akhfester Venom in Evlora. The leader of the Serpent’s Blade had caused problems for the Goldenclaw in the past and his continuous cheating of death and teaming up with the Syndicate in Evlora worried them. She was allowed to keep the dagger and they would ensure she had enough gold to pay off the Esoteric Circle and enough to start a new life if she wanted to. Theala accepted the contract and began her journey to Evlora.   Once she had made her way to Evlora she began to investigate the town and any rumors of Akhfester. She would find a link between different murders which seemed to be a mixture between sorcery and a skilled swordsman which led her down into the catacombs of Evlora. The old catacombs were difficult to maneuver and she began mapping her progress over a few days. During one of these delves into the catacombs, she was ambushed by a group of adventurers who used magic to hold her in place before she could escape. She was sure they would kill her, but to her surprise, they were willing to work together. They teamed up and would eventually find Akhfester’s lair where they would fight him together and Theala would land the killing blow on him, locking away his soul and ending her contract. The adventurers were keen on learning more about her, and were willing to pay a hefty price for her new dagger, which she was willing to let go. She also contacted Lazarus to tell him of her victory, and the aid of these adventurers, which he had previously run into in a bad way. Theala convinced him to set new and neutral terms with them, which he agreed to. She stayed in Evlora for a month before returning to Bleakburn, but while waiting she spent some time with one of the adventurers, Yaxora Tayker and they talked. Theala hadn’t spent much time talking for the sake of getting to know another person in a long time, but she enjoyed their conversations, which also led to an offer of permanent stay in their town of Brinehold, one which she accepted once she had settled everything in Bleakburn.