Belissa Morgann (Nevermind)

Belissa as she appeared in her first adventure

## Description

### **Appearance**

Belissa is a young human woman with pale skin and light blue eyes. She is 5'4 with a thin build and wears leather armor over dark clothes. Her pale blonde hair is worn long, meticulously covering the back of her neck and shoulders. Multiple scars are present across much of her body, with blade wounds on her face and arms and burn scars across her back, neck, and thighs. She has several piercings, most notably her eyebrow and several on either ear. She speaks with a low voice that can at times become monotone. Following her pact to Eldath, Belissa has the ability to change her eye color to a radiant gold, though she often chooses to leave her left eye the original blue.

### Personality

Belissa's personality can be best described as dour. At the beginning of Curse of Strahd she has a very pessimistic outlook on life and those around her. She is untrusting, even openly hostile towards those around her and most remarks are made with some level of sarcasm. Belissa would easily explode into fits of anger at perceived slights and often resorted to foul language and insults before moving to blows.

Following the events of Curse of Strahd, Belissa is friendlier, but still often leans toward pessimism and believes that good things only happen to her through fierce determination or pure luck.

## Biography

### Background

Born and raised as a follower of Eldath, Belissa had a happy childhood while her parents worked to heal those around them. Her parents ran an apothecary in the outer ring of Amphail and lived in an apartment above the business. When she was 9, a group of criminal gnomish salesmen convinced the local cult of Eldath that the gnomes had access to purified water had been directly blessed and had healing properties, which is why they had such long lives. Amphail is a town of greed and payments made from townsfolk to the travelling band drained the parish of their resources in the cult's attempt to care for the townspeople. When the money stopped coming, tragedy began befalling major families in the community. Belissa's father was a captain of the guard and a staunch believer in the power of faith and hope. His position in the guard and his public acclaim made the Morgann household a well-known name in the community. Eventually, it came as little surprise when their home was set on fire in the night. The shop was lit first, trapping the entire family inside. The uncomfortable heat woke a young Belissa, who immediately began to panic. A rafter fell in front of her parents' room door, trapping them inside. Belissa tried to move the burning log but wasn't strong enough. as beams fell around her, she found herself both trapped and blind. She passed out from smoke inhalation with the last thing she heard being her parents praying to Eldath for protection. When Belissa was found, a small beam was lying across her upper back, which had burned through her clothes and charred her skin. First assumed to be another corpse, she came back to consciousness surrounded by members of the church of a goddess that didn't save her parents. This was the beginning of Belissa's nihilism and the first spark of hatred in her heart.

Belissa was placed temporarily with her aunt and uncle. Her aunt was a religious zealot and believed that although she never wished for children, Belissa should thank Eldath for finding her worth sparing and needed to dedicate herself to the goddess's service. This lead to larger and more explosive arguments until eventually Belissa was thrown out to be an urchin should she not repent and submit to the cult's ways. She blames the gnomes for draining her family of their resources, but curses Eldath and her followers for not saving her family. It's never occurred to her that her parents' prayer was for her protection and not their own.