Bellenora

Bellenora is a striking woman: strong in body and spirit, the confidence with which she carries herself means she strikes a commanding figure. A surprisingly tall woman, the First Sword of Braavos at least looks as a Bravo should. Arrogant, ostentatious in brightly coloured finery, and with a sword upon her hip that she knows how to use. Her figure is athletic, if still marking her as woman - the art of water dancing is more demanding on agility and finesse than it is on physical strength. Bellenora has a strong face, with a bold nose and a usually judgemental expression that earns her a harsh handsomeness rather than a soft beauty. Her hair is one of her greatest sources of pride (and vanity). Falling down to her hips, it is usually kept braided and piled atop her head to keep it out of the way. It is the only mark of her Tyroshi origins, dyed a deep tyrian as is the fashion in the Free City.

Her dress uniform is as over the top as expected; perhaps even moreso, a sign of compensation for her penniless youth in slavery. Bellenora's usual dress is far more practical than her uniform, and she is not a foolish woman. No fool can survive as First Sword for long. In defence of the Sealord, she wields the traditional bravo's blade in one hand, and it is in her other hand that Bellenora differs. Uncannily skilled with a blade in either left or right, the First Sword fights with a sword breaker in combat as well - a parrying dagger with slots running through the length of the blade, to entrap the blades of her foes.

## Biography

Bellenora was not born in Braavos. Indeed, her life was far from the the affluent place of position it is now. The First Sword of Braavos was born the daughter of slaves in Tyrosh; her father and mother both served in the household of one of the powerful family heads, one that Bellenora never bothered to learn the name of. While it was hard for slaves to have a private life, Bellenora's parents managed it, in a way. Theirs was a mostly peaceful life; as peaceful as the life of a slave could be, anyhow. Poor and oppressed, Bellenora was never educated as a child, never experienced the world outside the slave slums, but knew that it wasn't right. Oppulence was everywhere, and in Tyrosh, it was as ostentatious as it came. It wasn't hard for a sharp-eyed child to see that discrepancy, and think that it wasn't fair.

As soon as she was old enough, Bellenora started working in the kitchens of the great house alongside her mother, the young girl - far too young to work in truth - found herself a scullery maid, cleaning dishes all day. When she did get out of her work, Bellenora was mostly out with her friends, running in a gang on unruly children. Bellenora found herself quickly at the forefront of the group; she was confident, a natural leader, and not afraid to get into a scrap to prove her worth. The young children enjoyed dodging their way through the city, stealing when they could get away with it, dodging through allies and across roofs. Bellenora swiftly became skilled at Acrobatics as she made her escapes. The gang of children was constantly in trouble, but they never took the risks they were running seriously - until they became real. As they grew older, they inevitably grew more daring in their antics. Too daring. When Bellenora was eleven, her gang had stolen from a market stall as they tended to do, and were running from the the guard. The slowest, for once, didn't run fast enough. The boy was captured, and hung in the square in the next day.

That heavily affected Bellenora. She felt guilty for his death; the plan had been her idea, after all, and he was one of hers. However, the girl had little time to dwell upon the death of her friend, and it would continue to haunt her. When she turned twelve, her and her parent's master's son had come of age - and decided to celebrate by taking Bellenora's mother to his bed, whether she wanted it or not. Bellenora's mother did not want to be taken to the young noble's bed, and in the ensuing struggle, raked her nails across his face.

The story was inevitably twisted, and slaves were always expendable. Bellenora never found out what happened to her parents. She was separated from her parents first, as they were forced to watch her be dragged away and never see their daughter again. Her master had little interest in keeping the girl, and as Bellenora was growing into an attractive girl. She would fetch him a good price in the markets of Lys. So, Bellenora found herself loaded onto a slave ship, stripped away from her family and friends, to be sold off to a new master.

Her temper proved to be her bane upon the ship, for slavers were far crueller than her old masters. Bellenora was beaten soundly, and thrown deep into the brig with the other 'problem' slave - an old man, scarred and battle-worn, thin from neglect of being thrown in and near forgotten. It took a few days to even get a word out of the man, but eventually he broke. The man gave little to start with; simply a name of Belisarus, and a short admittance of being a mercenary whose debts had gotten the better of him. It seemed that his own stubborn temper as akin to her own, and instead of being sold as magister's bodyguard, he was being passed on to Ghiscar to fight in the pits instead.

The initial conversations were short and scathing, Belisarus mocking Bellenora for being as angry as she was, yet powerless, dismissing her dark wishes for escape and revenge, and telling her to accept her fate.

The Stepstones seemed to be determined to prove a different fate, however. While heading through the Stepstones, the ship was attacked and boarded by pirates seeking riches aboard, and Belisarus' words proved to be a facade. As soon as the sounds of battle reached them, the old mercenary had shaken off the shackles he had slowly unlocked with a makeshift pick, lured the worried guard close enough to their bars to subdue the man and take the key that would set them free. Belisarus was merciful enough to free Bellenora, and didn't complain when the girl stuck by his side - merely warning that it would indeed be dangerous. The old man and the girl snuck their way past the battle, through the ship until Belisarus found what he was looking for, locked away in a chest in the captain's quarters. Bellenora had never seen a bravo's blade before, and she scorned the blade as a weak looking thing.

That opinion changed when Belisarus stepped outside, and joined the pirates in their attacks. He moved like water, slashing and piercing faster than others could raise their weapons in response. In that moment, Bellenora knew she would become a fighter like he was. The pirates, as the fight ended, grudgingly agreed to take Belisarus to not throw him with the rest of the prisoners in thanks for his help; he didn't deny it when Bellenora claimed to be his apprentice, simply snorting derisively.

The old man never told Bellenora to leave; but he did make it clear how hard his training would be. She was unsure why he took her on to train; she was, after all, just a little girl. But Bellenora never asked, and Belisarus never expanded upon it. For two years, Belisarus and Bellenora were pressed onto serving on the pirate ship, raiding through the Stepstones. Belisarus protected the young girl from any of the other pirates, but didn't train her in the art of water dancing, as he eventually told her it was called. 'Not yet', he said. Instead, Bellenora simply learned how to fight, and the basics of combat. It was then that Bellenora realised a natural advantage that she had always just accepted proved to be a great aid in combat. Ambidextrous, Belle could fight as easily with either hand, a great aid when clambering over rigging.

With their two years up, the pirates finally allowed Bel and Belle to drop off at Gallowstown; Bel spent much of their gold they had accumulated from prises in getting Bellenora a bravo's blade of her own - what they were left with was enough to let them live by. Finally, Bellenora's own training could begin. It was odd to start with; tasks such as balancing herself blindfolded, being sent to catch stray cats, maintaining perfect posture. As eager as she was to learn how to use the blade, Belle knew that the moment she lapsed in her discipline, Belisarus would leave her. So, she followed along. Finally, she began to train with the blade - but even then, it was just wooden ones to start with.

It took two years for her to be considered *good* with it, in the eyes of her master, and to become a true Water Dancer. The timing was fortunate. It was then that Belisarus received word on where the man he had been hunting for a long time was, the man who had seen him sold into slavery. When the next ship came, master and apprentice were on their way to the Disputed Lands, to track the man down. It took two years for Belisarus to track down his old mercenary company, and haunt them long enough to set up a trap for the man who had once been his partner. If the fight had been one between two people of name, then it would've been legendary. As it was, it ended with the traitor dead, and Belisarus choking on his blood in Bellenora's arms.

With her master dead, Bellenora considered herself lost. Being in the Disputed Lands saw plenty of work, and Bellenora saw discrimination for the first real time. Without Belisarus, she saw a deal of dismissal as a young woman with a bravo's blade - if they ever saw her fight, it started to raise that low opinion fortunately. She was a skilled fighter, and her ambidexterity drew attention to that. She ensured she only worked with companies that served the Alliance, as Bellenora swiftly grew to be enamoured with the ideals of Braavos - of a meritocracy, equality, and their fight against slavery. It was hard to find that sort of work, however. It took Bellenora too long to figure out that Myr was perhaps not as against slavery as Braavos was.

After four years of frustration (and experience), Bellenora decided to concentrate her fight against slavery further, and made her way once more back to the Stepstones. It wasn't hard to find like minded pirates, encouraged by Braavosi ideals... and coin. For two years, she served with the boarding party of a crew, capturing and looting slaver ships, and ensuring those who were captive were freed from their chains. Bellenora did as well make two of her closest friends aboard the ship, both ex-slaves like her. Mors, a Dornishman who served as surgeon aboard the ship, and Serala, a Myrwoman who scouted the horizons from atop the mast. Mors, who was at least partly educated, would teach Bellenora how to read and write, the ex-slave finally becoming Literate.

It wasn't until the ship made a stop into Braavos two years later that things truly changed. Even on their few days in, Bellenora fell in love with the freedom of the city. Taking her leave from her friends, Bellenora decided to settle within the city. She had enough money for her piracy to keep her afloat, and it didn't take long to figure out the world of the bravos.

Bellenora knew she was a skilled water dancer; far more than most of the bravos in the city. Yet, obviously, she was not taken seriously, certainly not to start. The dull looking woman was more a point of amusement for the bravos, and her initial challenges were laughed at. Bellenora responded to the mockery by throwing herself into the life of the bravo, determined to beat the arrogant young men who had lived a life of ease, and dared to dismiss her. Most of her gold was spent on new clothes, on a deep Tyrian dye for her hair as was the style in her home city. She emphasised her effeminate Tyroshi accent with pride, knowing that everything that set her apart was crucial. Eventually, some truly arrogant bravo decided to duel Bellenora - and she beat him *handily*.

That was enough, at least, to set her reputation. The challenges were regular after that, and Bellenora won them all. The bravos, to begin with, snarled at this woman who invaded their space and dared to challenge them. As Bellenora proved herself, however, she eventually began to just be accepted. Ignored once more, and not because of mockery this time - but because of the skill she had proven. Bellenora was a master. She quickly fell into the ways of the bravo, of luxury and opulence and not caring a damn for the world.

After the First Sword died in 297, the call went up once more for bravos to attend upon the Sealord, to take the tests that would see the new bodyguard named. Initially, Bellenora dismissed it - for she was still just a woman, and not even a local to boot. However, as the call started to come to an end, Bellenora decided to go for it. She loved Braavos for what it stood for; and staying a preening bravo her entire life would not accomplish that. Indeed, her decadent life with no goal had begun to sicken her, and this could give her purpose.

Bellenora was surprised more than anyone when it was her who was named First Blade, who had passed the trials that the Sealord had devised. For that, she was grateful to old Belisarus. The First Sword had been a matter of mind, not just strength with the blade, and she had been trained well. She was overwhelmed to start with; given command of the Blades, the Sealord's bodyguard, and having to deal with the jealousy that came from other numbered Blades, chief among the bodyguard. After all; her grudging acceptance as a bravo hadn't changed her gender.

She swiftly came to enjoy the responsibility however. With her *Peacemaker* in hand, the Valyrian Steel blade that marked her office, Bellenora proved as loyal to the Sealord as she knew she would be, ready to throw down her life to a man who was proving to be nothing less than inspiring. As well, old friends have started to wander back to Braavos, not that Bellenora has secured such prestige. Both Mors and Serala, and while many of the Blades are still uncertain, Bellenora has come to trust the Fourth Blade, Maro Castelo, more than most.

While she is unhappy travelling to Sarnath - a decadent city of slavery dressed up to look pretty, in her opinion - Bellenora does not falter from the Sealord's side, and will continue to stand by him no matter what.

## Supporting Characters

* Maro Castelo, Fourth Blade and Friend (52) - Archetype: Warrior (Water Dancing)
* Mors, Healer and Friend (41) - Archetype: Medic
* Serala, Scout and Friend (34) - Archetype: Scout