Alondra Saltspray

# Backstory

### Early Days

Alondra Saltspray was born in a small fishing village along the east coast of Lercius. Born to wonderful wonderful parents, Buff and Allo Saltspray. She group up on her father's boat, practically living on the deck during the busy season. She and and her brother Hots worked tirelessly during their adolescence to ensure that the Saltspray family fishery was the most successful one in their town, and eventually all of Lercius. These years formed her work ethic, and changed the course of her life altogether.

She begin working on her father's ship at the age of five, and she spent the next two decades on the deck of a ship far more than on land. During these years, she would become close to a young man on her father's ship, Terry Yakhealer. She came to think of Terry as another brother, someone to be trusted and let in when she would push others away. She was incredibly hot headed, while he was always calm and collected. She considered them a perfect pair, and him someone she loved dearly. Eventually, she would realize that she loved him as more than a close confidant, and he her. They were married on Alondra's 25th birthday, and they were gifted a ship by Hots to start their own little enterprise in another town, so that they might spend the rest of their days together, growing and building their own legacy.

Within ten years, their legacy had become evident. Their fishing business was moderately successful, and they were able to live off of the funds that came from running their business, while leaving the small things to trusted employees. More important than their business were the three children they were blessed with in the decade since their marriage. Mango, Habanero, and Cajun were her pride and joy. She planned on teaching them how to sail when her youngest reached the age of five.

### The Tragedy

One night, while Terry was out on business, securing trade rights with a local village, bandits attacked her humble little village. They came running down the boulevards, attacking businesses, shaking merchants down for money. The bandits had come to the village before, but never in such large numbers, or with such impossible demands. She hid her children in the attic of their home, the largest building in town. While not the richest family in town, Alondra's family was certainly the most well known, and their large house, a symbol of their pride and her own flamboyant nature, was a beacon in the darkness for the marauding bandits. They would destroy the town, and eventually her home, and her children. They had to be stopped. Growing up around unruly sailors, Alondra knew her way around a brawl, and so planted herself right in the entrance way to her property, dead set on not allowing any the monsters in her home, or near her children. It wasn't long before they found their way to her.

She watched as the bandits set fire to buildings of folks who refused to pay their ludicrous demands. She shuddered as she watched building after building go up in flame. When they reached her, this band of a dozen bandits stopped. Without a word, Alondra threw a sack of coins on the ground.

"100 Platinum, 250 Gold, 800 Silver, and 28 Electrum. That's all I have. That's probably more than you've ever seen in your entire life. Please, move along," she said, standing firm.

The bandits just looked at her. In unison they laughed.

"As if. You gotta have more than thet in yer little house eh? Es fine, even if yeh don't, we'll just take the deed. We ken sellat for a lot more 'en what you've given us eh? Or we can burn it to the ground."

"Burn it. There's nothing of value in there. Like I said. The money is all I have. The house is basically worthless. We've mortgaged it out to so many different banks. A boat is a money sink, and we have a whole fleet of them. Sorry, but the coin is all I can offer you. please go." She was bluffing. Hard.

There was nothing she cared about in that house worth saving, even the house was worthless to her. But she couldn't allow them inside. She knew what these men were known for, culling the children of a village, to send a message to the entire locality. The bandit that seemed to be taking charge relented for a second. Alondra's heart swelled. *I did it.* Her heart deflated just as quickly as she watched the man's eyes flash toward the house, and a smile creep upon his face.

"I didn't know you 'ad tykes, ma'am. that's certainly of value to me."

Alondra spun around in horror, and saw Habanero and Cajun poking their heads up, looking through the window. A flash of pain burned through her sided, and warmth spread through her gown. A scimitar poked out from her side, blood pouring out and saturating the wool of her dress.

"That's for lying, bird." the voice of the bandit was right next to her ear. Her senses were revolting, pain sending them wild, but she tried to stay up. She focused on the strong, acrid garlicky breath of this lumbering skunk of a man. "But don't werry none. i won't kill yeh. Nah, I need someone to survive to spread the word. Plus, I like to make 'em watch when I gut their lil' ones like a fish." The bandit leader walked away, leaving his blade, plunged into her side. She watched him toddle off, and felt several pairs of hands begin to grab at her, to hold her upright, grasping her arms, chest and throat. So that she could watch it all.

She grit her teeth and she watched as the brute kick down her door.

*NONONONONONONONO*

No

***NOOOOOOOO***

She pulled forward abruptly, and felt a pair of hands slip from her arms. Reflexively she grabbed at her side, pain flaring through her she pulled out the scimitar and began to slash wildling at the hands still grabbing her.

The bandits behind her swore and cut them, loosening their grasp on her as she darted forward, scimitar gripped tightly as she rocketed across her courtyard toward the garlic bandit. All pain was suppressed. She had to focus on the man in front of her. Nothing else.

She was dimly aware of arrows piercing her, but she had to keep moving. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the flickering heat that had come with the arrows.

*Right, they shoot flaming arrows. Not important. Not now.*

She lunged into the open door, and scimitar raised and ready to-

A crossbow bolt landed in her chest. Then two, then three. She fell to the ground, to see the bandit leader standing on the stairs, training his hand crossbow on her.

"I really like to have the mommies watch their kiddies die, not the other way round. But it'll have to do. We was gonna let you live, you stupid idiot. Ah well."

Cold washed over her. She felt herself drifting away, her blood pouring out of her, and the cold embrace of death gently enrobing her. Until it wasn't.

Suddenly heat smothered her. She was on fire! She gasped as air filled her lungs, and her clothes began to burn ferociously. She started to put the fire out, until she realized that it wasn't burning her. It was real fire, the smoking pouring off her cotton dress proved that. But it wasn't burning her. She saw a small ball of flame flicker to life in her hand, and she jumped back in shock. Slowly, she began to see her skin crack and flake off, revealing a jet black layer of skin underneath.

"What the *fuck* are you," the bandit said, shakily.

She didn't know how much time had passed. only that by the time she came to her senses, she was standing in the middle of a field, nothing but ashes and piles of lumber around. *No,* she thought, *this isn't a field. This is the village. My village.* She looked around in terror, as she saw the entire village, or what remained of it, in smolders. She raced around the village, the burnt corpses of the villagers and bandits lying strewn about the area. The apothecary gone, the mayor's home gone, the tradestore burnt to nothing.

She stopped in a familiar lot, filled with a tall tower of ash. She slowly walked toward the remains of her home. Over the next ten minutes, she found them. She saw better in the dark for some reason, but she would have found them is she were blind. She moved the charred corpses of her children out of the piles of ash and stared at them for what seemed like an eternity.

*How much of this was the bandits. And how much of this was me?*

She didn't want to know the answer. The sound of a horse galloping echoed through the barren town. *More bandits. Good. I need to hurt something right now.*

She stepped out into the road, this white stallion running toward her full speed. She just wanted to destroy it all. The horse, the bandits in that wagon, everything. She felt a great fire well up within her and she screamed. A pillar of fire roared out of her open palms, engulfing the horse and the occupants of its carriage. She watched it burn, and listened to the dying whinnies of the horse and the voices in the carriage. *No, voice. Singular.*

She blinked. Tears welled up in her eyes. She knew that horse. She raised it from a foal. And she knew that voice, loved that voice. She ran to the carriage, ripping open to the door, only to see her husband staring at her in horror, being eaten by the flames. Her flames.

"What have you done to this village, you foul beast. If you harmed my family... if my children, if my wife is hurt I'll... I'll..." and he was gone. Consumed by the flames.

The remaining embers of the village were put out over night and a heavy storm moved overhead. Alondra stood in the rain. Unfeeling. Unemotional. Just empty. When the storm ended, and day broke, she walked back to her now vacant lot. And stared down into the great puddle before her. Her fair skin was gone, now replaced by this coal black skin. Her bright red eyes, the eyes that Terry had called his little rubies were now taken over by these glowing yellow... *things*, and her hair just gone. Instead she had a roaring fire flowing down her back. She looked around at her village. At her children. At her reflection. For more reasons that one, *didn't recognize herself.*