Ilaria, the Thief of Braavos

## Ilaria, Thief of Braavos

Ilaria

Ilaria is a thief of common blood, although she does not know her parentage, as she was brought into a makeshift orphanage where her Orphan Mother took care of her, told she was born somewhere in 236 AC. As she grew, a life of crime surrounded her and those she knew, making her skills in thievery flourish, as they needed the stolen coin to pay for food. In adulthood, she begun to forge a path for herself, becoming a menace to the rich of Braavos as she became the infamous thief of the city.

## Appearance

Ilaria stands at just over 5' 6, making her the height of most other women, although with the small windows she can manage to sneak through, some would believe is smaller. Her face is sweet and innocent, giving those who meet her a false assumption upon first glance, never realising who she truly could be. Her smile is devious, showing off her sharp jawline, although highlighting her softer cheekbones. Her brown hair reflects with her piercing blue eyes, hiding the great wealth of knowledge that has given her the reputation she has earned. She is quite lithe, which isn't surprising with the line of work she has herself involved in, helping her to make her living.

She prefers to wear her leather and fur jacket, stolen from some poor noble sod on a cold, midnight heist. She made a few adjustments to it, adding a few buckles to make it fit better to her smaller frame, also sewing on a cloth hood as well for her nights out. Tight trousers usually accompany this look as well, as any excess slack could mean life or death when running from the guards should a job go wrong.

Her signature mask is what she is infamous for, it's fairly basic in its red and black colouring, but it sharp angles and shapes make it memorable. Those in Braavos who see it know exactly who they are dealing with, and how hopeless the chase truly is.

## History

She never knew her mother, although she was often told by the Orphan Mother that she was born in 236. Cold, wet, and extremely filthy, she was taken into the children’s home, a lone woman, no less than 60, caring for 16 children, poorly at that, but she tried her hardest. Ilaria grew up in this large family, and soon, when most had matured over the age of 10, she was 10 at this time, one of the bigger kids, a boy no older than 16. He told Ilaria that she could do good for her new mother, but to do so she would need to get a few things for them. What she was introduced to was a thievery ring, where the children would go out and steal various items, and leave them places for their carer to find, allowing her to think it was lost, and not stolen. This generally helped the ‘family’ as they were fed well enough, but Ilaria was good at this, she was someone who was brought in because of her small frame, and could get into places others could not, but she soon was doing jobs even the bigger kids were doing within a few years. At the age of 14, she became the head thief, the one who did the harder jobs, and stole from those richer than the normal targets.

It was short lived though, as at the age of 16 the carer grew ill due to her elderly age, and soon died, leaving the children with no mother, and nobody to look out for them. The younger ones looked to Ilaria to be their new mother, but in both fear and mourning, she ran away in the dead of night, abandoning the children to their own devices.

She has looked out for herself ever since, stealing and pilfering to survive, her life in the beginning was rough, she lived on the street for the next 3 years, sleeping in whatever abandoned alleyway she could find, stealing food and small amounts of coin from the markets. At 19, she had it with watching the rich display their wealth with no regard for the poor, and so she decided one night, to rob the house of one of the minor families. That night, she at like a queen, and still had money left over, it was the greatest night of her life. She continued to rob minor houses for the next 4 years, until she had some minor wealth, and purchased a mask, as well as better thieving attire, other than her old rags. She also managed to purchase a house in one of the poorer areas, but she was not done yet. The next 3 years she has become a menace to Braavos, and it’s upper class citizens. Now at 26, her recent more daring escapades have many families requesting an audience with the Sealord to handle the matters of the ‘Thief of Braavos’ and her criminal activities. Her Mask is now renowned and fear in the streets, and the Braavos guard is beginning to get closer and closer to her whereabouts, and her stay in Braavos is becoming more risk than what it’s worth. But the one thing that has met her fantasy, the legendary Valyrian Steel, apparently priceless, nabbing one of those might make her *very* rich.

## Recent History

Her life took a drastic change in 281 AC as she was contacted by none other than one of the Targaryen's themselves, Valarr Targaryen to be exact. He offered her wealth beyond imagining should she be able to do one thing, steal the Dragon Egg under the ownership of the Hand of the King, Aerion Blackfyre. This mission was on a scale Ilaria could not yet fathom, but she decided she would undertake it regardless. Teaming up with Adario, another thief in Braavos she had a scuffle with earlier, they set out after being given three Gold Dragons by Valarr to get them going.

They went aboard the pleasure barge "*The Silver Joy"* that was going around the coast before heading to Kings Landing, using one of Gold Dragons to get aboard. Making friends with the only group aboard, whom were all Braavosi as well, they sailed to Pentos to get some more customers, which they came in droves. Outnumbering the Braavosi at least 3 to 1, it was not hard for Ilaria to bring tensions between the two cultures as their divides were easy to exploit, creating an opening that had been in the making for a couple weeks. As she raised distrust between the two peoples, she set of the now ready tinderbox by kidnapping on of the Braavosi girls, locking her in the ships safe, which held all the valuables. Taking the girls necklace she always wore, she placed it into one of the Pentosi's bedrooms, then having Adario, whom she had convinced the captain to become a guard, search the room. As the final party was being thrown Adario marched to the upper level of the ship to accuse the Tyroshi of the kidnapping, Ilaria was hidden in the bowels of the ship, stealing whatever she could carry. The vault proved to be full of great wealth, the rooms not much so unsurprisingly. As the chaos above deck begun to get out of control, Adario slipped away, the pair of thieves took one of the wooden rowboats, rowing to the port of Kings Landing, before hiding themselves away with their ill gotten gains.

Here, they would be quickly introduced to the Game of Thrones by an unwelcome group of guards arriving at their hideout just days after they had landed, the (now deceased) Master of Whispers Daemon Darklyn quickly learning of their presence through the use of his spies. As Ilaria was knocked unconscious by the invading guards, she awoke to Daemon sitting beside her, a platter of fruits in hand, offering her his protection, if she accepted. Unwillingly she accepted, being allowed to leave soon after with a note. Finding a panicked Adario back at the hideout, they picked up their gear and loot, moving to an Inn in Flea's Bottom, using the note given by Daemon to cover their costs.

She begun to get back into the swing of things, scoping out a manse to get away from the arguement caused by the previous event. She backed out of it halfway, returning to the in before apologising to Adario.

Then would begin her quest to hunt for the Dragon Egg, finding information about the Hand, giving them a solid structure to begin their adventure upon. Soon after, she begun to scope out the Red Keep itself, looking for details of whether they could get through the front door. They had found layers upon layers of defense instead, Ilaria quickly realising the fruitlessness of this idea. While the walls were climbable, and the guards buyable, the sheer amount would be too intimidating for this master thief to think this was possible.

Trying another angle, Ilaria searched the cliff faces behind the Red Keep with a rowboat in the harbour, although this did not go very well. Spotted by Gold Cloaks almost immediately, Ilaria realised she would need much more on this job, as it seemed to be bigger than she could chew.

She begun a search for a Thieves Den to find such friends and allies. Leaving bait in the form of jewelry in a crowded market, she spotted as a brave thief swiped it under her watch, beginning the chase. Ilaria and Adario tailed the amateur thief to a bar, in which they confronted and convince him to show them the theives guild he belonged to. They would be introduced to a old decrepit building that blended in with the other buildings around it in Flea's Bottom, and as they entered, saw it was home to many a thief. They met the Guildmaster, and to prove themselves, they needed to steal a marked crate from a Harbour warehouse. The pair of thieves managed to do so with little challenge that night, handing it to him, and becoming full members. Little did they know though, that Darklyn has sent a spy to follow them, and now had the location of the Thieves guild that plagued their city. Upon returning the next day, Ilaria found the Den to be up in flames, as the Gold Cloaks had raided the building, leaving it all in flames.

They begun to have plans in response to this, Ilaria believing they had no other option than to build their own. Stealing from markets and the rich districts alike to garner the wealth needed. This did not come without sacrifice, as Adario did get arrested during their Noble District Heist, and had to be released after Ilaria bribed the guard around back to get him out. Then, as they were scoping out a brothel for another job for quick cash, they had been caught by guards, and after a brief chase, Adario had been captured once more for breaking the curfew set by the plague. Having to wait quite a while, Adario was soon released as the cells filled up with more violent criminals, there was no room for him, so he was thrown out. The stolen goods they had accumulated they sold through a man named 'The Talon' a new found Partner in Crime for Ilaria, and a great friend to have for what is to come.

With their newfound wealth, they purchased a merchant Cog, haggling it down so that they were able to afford the refurbishment of it, as well as some certain additions. Now that they had their base of operations, they needed thieves to fill its ranks, and who other than The Talon would provide such a thing. Ilaria tried to find thieves herself, but it seemed that The Talon had deeper connections within the city, as 26 thieves would answer the Talons call, much more than what she was expecting.

With her Guild finally established, she could now focus upon the Dragon Egg once more, checking the streets to and from the Red Keep to see how successful their escape might be through this way. Ilaria had found obstacles the whole way through, the guards knowing were to be stations so that escape to any of the gates would be difficult.

As Ilaria had her own investigations, one of her spies had tried to follow Jaehaerys Targaryen into the secret entrance of the Red Keep, but was caught before he had done so. Told to get Ilaria to meet with him, known to her only as the 'Violet Prince' she unwillingly met with him, to make a deal that she was to become one of his spies against Tyrosh. Establishing a spy ring there with her influence from Braavos, she did what was asked, before going back to her main goal.

She begun to search through taverns, looking for rumours about corrupt Gold Cloaks that she may be able to put in her own pocket to have someone on the inside. This did not go well as she was tricked by an undercover Gold Cloak posing as a commoner leading her to this corrupt man, and blowing her cover as soon as the nearest patrol came past. She realised what was going on quite quickly though, and had managed to leave the Gold Cloaks in the dust, though she would need to lay low for a while.

During this time, she met with Vaerona Otherys whom had arrived upon her boat *The Black Dread.* Seeing as Ilaria lived on the harbor, it was hard for her not to see this, and her meeting with Vaerona was destined to happen. In this conversation, Vaerona calculated that she was speaking to the Thief of Braavos, and with a tense response, a deal was made in return for immunity in Braavos should it be completed. Ilaria agreed, although worried this may distract her from her main goal of getting the Dragon Egg belonging to the Hand of the King.

Asking her fellow thieves, Ilaria found out about a corrupt Gold Cloak under the name of Hugh, and when the heat died down, decided to go out and find him. She found him in the brother the thief told Ilaria he would be in, and after a brief chat, a deal was made, and some gold was exchanged. She now had someone on the inside to feed her information, which could be a great boon should he find something. She met with him once more a week later, finding out about the discord that had been created between the King and the Small Council as quite a few had been fired from their positions. Leaving with this information unsatisfied, she would need to find the information herself, especially the more important parts of the plan.

So she set out to find the secret entrance to the Red Keep once more, using the old rowboat to see if there was anything, but sadly, there was not. While doubting whether there was one at all, she persisted in her search for the entrance, quickly finding it on land with a closer inspection. As curiosity befell her, she decided to follow the path, right until she reached the dungeons of the Red Keep, and being subdued by a Gold Cloak on duty. Quickly arrested, she made a false story of how she was working for the king which they did not buy for a second. They called for the King himself, Daemon Blackfyre in which had a brief discussion, and Ilaria's anger got the better of her, insulting the King who responded to sentencing her to death. His mistake was to not kill her then and there though, as he had left, scheduling her death in a few days.

Ilaria would not so easily die though, realising she could use her belt buckle as a lockpick, she toyed with it a bit, before picking the lock to her cell successfully. Now with her cage unlocked, she snuck out, managing to make a few steps before a patrol which turned around the corner spotted her, and raised the alarm. As she ran to find the secret entrance tunnel to use as her exit, she managed to lose the chasing gold cloaks, only to find two guards standing before the exit. She manages to sneak past them, escaping into the tunnel, to her freedom.

After she escaped, she immediately went to see Vaerona, and after a small verbal berating from her about how much jeopardy this could have caused, Ilaria was order to go to Tyrosh, and find the lost Targaryen Dragon Egg. During this conversation, they had managed to capture a spy, but they did not realise there was another who had seen everything, and managed to get away. As Ilaria flee'd to her ship, a man attempted and failed to kidnap her, and bring her before the King, which he confess after little interrogation.

As Adario chased her aboard, the pair of thieves would flee Kings Landing, heading for the safety of Tyrosh. Once they arrived, they scavenged for the Dragon Egg within the ruins of the old Targaryen Manse, managing to find the extremely valuable item in the ruins, their mission now complete. What they had missed, was a spy managing to see what they had dug up, returning to their master to give them the important information. The thieves would begin their return to their boat, but other powers may try and interrupt their escape, to get a hold of the Targaryen Dragon Egg.