Ismay Cwenhild

Sparrow (ˈspɛroʊ, born Ismay Cwenhild ˈɪzˌmeɪ , 6th Mid Year, 702) is an Eastern Dominion mercenary, smuggler, and former monk. One of the original members of the Altareth Monastery, and the famous mercenary group The Birds of Prey, she is now a part  of the philanthropic adventuring party, The Rose's Thorns.

## Appearance

Ismay stands at 5’ 7”, and weighs 170 lbs. Hailing from Eastern Dominion, her skin is deeply tanned, and her hair is a very deep brown. She has light green eyes, and dark rosy lips. Due to her upbringing as a monk, she appears outwardly un-athletic, but is quite sinewy, due to her focus on callisthenics and gymnastics. Ismay wears unadorned clothing, featuring a leather top and pants, canvas cloak, and singular blue sash as a spot of colour. When in combat, Sparrow is also equipped with Might, a hulking glove weighing in at 50 lbs on her right arm. In this form, Ismay also sports runic tattoos.

## Personality

As the Duchess of Anceton, famous solicitor of The Birds of Prey, once said, “Sparrow’s faults outweigh her strengths”. Ismay is stubborn, choosing a side in a conflict and sticking to it, even when at fault. She is deeply suspicious, not trusting those she would even call associates, always suspecting sabotage or treachery. Her quick temper is legendary, famously starting the Riot of Bartha’s Barkeep in 734. When associates turn into friends, however, she is deeply loyal and will defend them tooth and nail even at cost to her own person. Despite the Birds of Prey’s legendary slogan, “We’ll do anything for the right price”, Ismay seems to adhere to a strict moral code of her own division, stubborn to break or even bend what she deems unfit or wrong.

### Likes

* Whiskey
* The Outdoors, specifically grasslands
* Winter and winter weather

### Dislikes

* Sewers
* Large cities, except taverns
* The heat

## Biography

### Early Life

Ismay was born to parents Sam and Laura Cwenhild on the 6th of Mid Year, 702. Ismay was an unplanned pregnancy to Sam and Laura, at the time 22 and 20, but was very loved all the same. Ismay’s earliest years were spent playing in the wheatfields of the Baron of Cwenheath’s estate, where her father tended crops and her mother worked as a kitchen maid to the Baron’s family. Eventually, Sam and Laura came to the conclusion that they could no longer ampally provide for Ismay in terms of food or education. They entreated the Monks of Altareth to take and raise Ismay to adulthood. Despite Altareth’s policy of only taking in orphans and abandoned children, they made an exception for Ismay and brought her into their fold.

### Altareth, Monastery of the True

Ismay was brought Altareth, where it resided on Mt. Fusaea in the spring of 711. She was initiated along with a group of 10 children to the monastery, where she began daily training of monastic stances, advanced education, and various language courses.

#### The Soul at Altareth

When Ismay was 13, the Soul of the Dominion came to Altareth. All monastic orders in the Dominion operated within the same guidelines; each monastery had a leader, called the Head, who was elected by their peers to lead their monastery inline with monastic values. The Soul of all monasteries was an independent organisation, not loyal to any one monastery, founded to regularly audit the monastic orders to ensure they were still upholding Dominion expectations. During this audit in 715, Ismay, a novice at the time, was called in to testify to a man under the name Inquisitor Alabaster[12]. Though extensive records of Inquisitor’s Alabaster birth and career within the Soul can be found, the individual, along with any transcripts of his conversation with Ismay, have been lost and no recorded date of his death have ever been submitted.

#### The Slaughter of Altareth

Transcripts of various inquiries while the Soul was at Altareth do not give any indication of misalignment with the Dominion’s rules, nor do they point to anything nefarious occurring at the monastery. However, despite the lack of evidence, the Soul invaded Altareth on the 22nd of Evening Star, 719, and executed Masters Sondra, Hindu, Sika, Julius, Farrowyn, and Munyatta for sedition, treason, intent to undermine the Dominion, and various other infractions of the code of the Prefecture, along with 13 other Fledgling monks who resisted the Soul’s efforts to carry out justice in what is now known in the region as The Slaughter of Altareth. Ismay is recorded by the Soul to have been amongst the novices rounded up for rehabilitation, but she was promptly reported missing 3 days later and does not appear in any further monastic Dominion records.

### The Birds of Prey

Ismay drops off official records in 719, but reappears on the Dominion’s map in 729 as a member of a new mercenary group registered as “The Birds of Prey”. The Birds of Prey are recorded to have done 24 jobs for the Dominion, and are suspected of doing 17 jobs for various Alliance city-states, along with 11 counts of theft, 7 counts of armed robbery, 4 counts of arson, and 1 count of  public indecency.

### Departure from The Birds of Prey

In 736, The Birds of Prey are recorded to have picked up an unnamed contract[17] from the Dominion. The details of the contract are unknown as they are classified at the time of Queen Celestina’s death, but it is known that The Birds of Prey were unable to complete this contract, the first of its kind. Listed amongst the members who attempted this contract, Ismay is not one, which indicates that she departed from the Birds of Prey in or around this time.

## Relationships

### Anora Hawke

Ismay Cwenhild is known to have entered into a relationship with General Anora Hawke in 729, around the same time that The Birds of Prey were created. The relationship has been described by many onlookers as “tumultuous, passionate, and frankly, terrifying”. Both Hawke and Cwenhild have been reported to ‘throw chairs, beer steins, and various tavern accoutrements’ at one another and other patrons during rows, followed by “voracious snogging that was obscene and uncomfortable to view”. Despite the excessive mood swings within the relationship, the pair stayed together for 7 years, only apparently breaking up at the dissolvement of The Birds of Prey’s last contract.

## Fun Facts

* Ismay is named after a local noble of the Dominion who visited the Baron of Cwenheath while Laura Cwenhild was pregnant, causing her to fall in love with the name and give it to her daughter, hoping she’d be as beautiful as the woman who inspired her.
* Ismay’s favourite food is Steak Pie, a Fuscean delicacy that is enjoyed by the common folk in winter time.

## Quotations

“Look at her that way again and I’ll rip your cock off” -*Ismay to the Duke of Eno Alora shortly before their expulsion.*

“If someone beats me in a drinking contest, drown me in a flagon of whiskey.” -*Ismay, on winning her 17th drinking contest.*

“She’s the most beautiful woman alive. No, I wasn’t talking to you Bluejay, you blue hag." -*Ismay’s famous last words before The Riot of Bartha’s Barkeep.*