Lacey Stain

**Lacey Stain**, formerly known professionally as **Agent Turaco**, is a prominent member of the Summer Knights and a former field agent of the Interplanar Containment Authority. Originally a thief, she was one of four successful candidates who joined the ICA as part of a recruitment effort, largely because no other candidates had applied. Stain would serve under the watchful eye of Agent Bluebird and remain a part of the core team while members came and went. Over the course of their life-threatening missions together, Lacey would eventually come to view her colleagues as family.

## Biography

### Early Life

Lacey was born and raised in the Plostri capital of Axis. The first child of D'Arc and Pam 'Big Brown' Stain, Lacey was a much-neglected and lonely child and subsequently developed poor social skills. Growing up poor in the city centre, Lacey took to stealing from an early age. The attention-starved Lacey failed to gain any notice from her parents, though she soon drew the attention of a guild of thieves, whom she would regularly work with on several heists in the future. The guild trained the young Lacey in the arts of theft and nurtured her talent for acrobatics by practising cat burglary.

Though her alcoholic father made more of an effort to connect with Lacey in her early youth, D'Arc became very distant once he successfully got sober with the assistance of a mysterious sect. Recruiting his wife into the organisation, the two became very dedicated to their newfound work and though Lacey became even more alienated, she was happy to see the rekindling of their relationship. The birth of Lacey's brother Shaem only served to further alienate Lacey from her family as her parents doted over and coddled their son, in stark opposition to their treatment of Lacey. Though she remained close with her brother, Shaem ultimately left Plostri to study magical artefacts in Daimeremos, eventually losing contact with his sister.

Lacey spent her early adulthood training as a Sage, initially working as a researcher to study the history of priceless artefacts. Her first job was at an auction house, in which she would repeatedly engineer burglaries with her network of thieves and split the profits. This practice ultimately got her fired and banned from auction houses across Plostri, though no concrete evidence was ever found of her involvement.

One such burglary during her early days at the auction house resulted in her associate getting both injured during the theft and taking the fall for it. When Lacey had the painting she made off with valued at twenty thousand platinum, she subsequently realised she would not be able to sell it anytime soon. Deciding to hide it until the search for it calmed down, she left the painting in a tomb in Daimeremos' Great Desert and returned to Axis.

### Joining the ICA

After losing her position at the auction house, Lacey briefly visited Daimeremos and took the opportunity to search for the painting she had hidden there now years before, only to discover her associate had found it first, leaving behind a note in which he declared it payment for the injury and prison sentence he suffered helping her steal it.

Returning home empty handed and unemployed, Lacey subsequently responded to an advertisement for the ICA and successfully completed the recruitment tasks. Though she did not seem to score especially high, the recruiter employed her and the three other applicants as no one else had responded to the advertisement.

### First ICA Mission

As an agent of the ICA, Stain and her colleagues were now tasked with acquiring various dangerous items for containment and occasionally performing other (sometimes dubious) tasks for the organisation. On their first mission together, Lacey's team were tasked with locating missing ICA agent Arthur Parsons, who they managed to track to the town of Broadford, in spite of receiving no training and lacking any experience.

The journey to Broadford wasn't easy and the team made several allies and enemies along the way, including the mysterious informant known as Old Bessie and undercover ICA agent Caroline Tobin. Lacey's abrasive personality quickly caused friction within the group. Her botched plan to escape being hunted by nobles resulted in her stabbing her colleague Kran, and he retaliated by throwing all of her luggage from their moving carriage as they made their escape.

Arriving in Broadford, the team quickly realised something was amiss in the town and that many of the residents had seemingly vanished and been forgotten. However, the group soon forgot the purpose of their mission and eventually Parsons altogether. Only by leaving the town's borders did the agents realise the town itself was under some sort of memory-afflicting magic. Their efforts to investigate in the Valley of Tombs let to Kran's death, which deeply affected Lacey enough to consider leaving the team.

Thanks to a bestiary provided by the witch Granny Ragna, Lacey and her team deduced the town was under the memory-altering influence of a false hydra, though this information came at a price. The three remaining agents, and their new associate Tio, were all afflicted with individual curses, which they each discovered over time. However, as time went on, Lacey had yet to discover her curse and eventually assumed herself unaffected. Returning to Broadford, the ICA agents and Tio gathered the town's guard, only ten of which were left and all ten of whom Lacey personally took time to get to know, as all were handsome young men. Lacey's colleague Honey took the opportunity to declare herself Broadford's new mayor and they arranged for the majority of the remaining residents to be evacuated after Honey's inaugural parade the next morning. Lacey then spent the night with Tristan, one of the town's guard with whom she'd become especially fond of.

Following the parade, the group led the town's guard to the false hydra's lair beneath the town hall in their attempt to slay it. Using her compact mirror to see the hydra without immediately forgetting it, Lacey prepared to fight the monster, only to realise they had underestimated its size and power. All the town's guard, with the exception of Tristan, and Tio were immediately slaughtered, and with no other choice, the group were forced to retreat. In order to facilitate their escape, Lacey allowed herself to be grappled by the monster and, having witnessed so much death, was prepared to lay down her life so that her remaining colleagues and Tristan might live. However, Lacey was able to escape the hydra's clutches and quickly rejoined the group, locking the cellar door behind her as the false hydra thundered after her, finally blocking it from view.

Within moments, Lacey and her associates found their memories fading, which caused Lacey to forget her self-sacrifice and immediately revert personality-wise. The massive loss of life, however, contributed to the group's ultimate decision to burn down the town of Broadford, ostensibly killing the false hydra and restoring the memories of the remaining citizens.

### Second ICA Mission

During her second mission with the ICA, Lacey's habitual thieving would make her an enemy of the prominent Eccles family and forced her to change her appearance while operating in Kozani. She would later suffer under the curse of a ghost, which physically aged her by a decade.

Lacey would ultimately be the one to enact their mission; killing the King of Daimeremos. Though conflicted over the killing, the immediacy of the situation forced Stain's hand and she murdered the king.

### Third ICA Mission

Lacey would later undertake administrative work for the ICA in an attempt to learn more of their potentially nefarious intentions (as well as earn extra money), but was unsuccessful. Her new role saw her going ahead of her team to set up the contacts for their next mission in the Great Desert of Daimeremos, which mandated the sacrificial offering of four persons to the Court of Life Vampires.

Before Lacey's team could confront their superiors on the questionable nature of their recent missions, the Silver Hand attacked the Authority and Lacey and her colleagues were immediately sent to Skenesos with only one goal; to find the bomb threatening the destruction of the ICA and causing potential genocide.

### Fourth ICA Mission

Now cut off from the larger organisation, Lacey has started her own business with business partner McKennedeigh while her and her team continue to race against the Silver Hand in the search for the mysterious bomb.

### Six Months Later...

The next six months following the destruction of Monarch tested Lacey as hers and the Summer Knights' history with the ICA was now revealed to the world. The varied responses to their actions saw many see them as heroes who averted the threat Monarch posed, while others saw them as mere pawns working for a corrupt agency. The group's elusiveness after acquiring the Summer Citadel left many differing theories as to their role in the events that led to Monarch's destruction. Notably, the Knights' official pardon of all crimes committed during their time with the ICA caused much controversy, particularly concerning the fires of Broadford and Cowling, as well as Lacey's personal role in the death of King Agathon IV.

#### *Return to Broadford*

In response to the sudden exposure, Lacey established a new identity for herself as Isabella Crumpet. Successfully forging the necessary documentation, she put Small Price Toupee, Hell Toupee and Tits & Slither under this new name to maintain her anonymity in Axis. At the time of the Summer Knights' public interview with Victoria Stern, Lacey was busy working to achieve this.

Lacey soon met with Caroline to see whether it would be possible to redact anything regarding her from the leaked information on her time with the ICA. Caroline assured her the team's files were not released to the public and that the ICA maintained conventional secrecy over its documents, but the removal of the memory magic had caused people to remember everything and an unknown mole had leaked some files to a journalist, blowing the story open. Lacey further asked if there were any records that could be erased and for any further information Caroline could give her on where information might be stored. Caroline agreed to help Lacey, but assured her information held by the USF was secured. To prove her point, Caroline gave Lacey a tour of the new headquarters' security, which she ultimately agreed to be robust. As they parted ways, Caroline assured Lacey that any purposefully released documents were redacted as normal and suggested she find a way to adjust to the new state of things.

Instead, Lacey decided to search for the one person she thought might be able to help her reclaim some anonymity and returned to the ruins of Broadford in search of Granny Ragna. Entering the woods outside the ruined town as the sun fell, Lacey hoped her need to find the witch would be sufficient this time. To her delight, the familiar smell of brewing tea permeated the forest's thick trees, as she peeled them back to reveal the small cottage. Greeting her warmly, Ragna sat Lacey down and the two shared tea while Lacey made three requests. The first was to enchant her ring once more, the second a spell to make only those Lacey chooses capable of distinguishing her as Crumpet and finally whether any magic could be cast to retract Lacey from public awareness to any extent. Lacey made it clear she was aware of and prepared to pay the toll for these spells.

Granny Ragna kindly responded that she could combine some of Lacey's wishes, but that enchantments were not her forte. Rather than any explicit magic to remove information or change identities, Lacey was offered a veil of mediocrity that would allow her to become supernaturally forgettable, but not supernaturally forgotten. Though she ultimately declined, Lacey instead enquired into magical artefacts Ragna had, though none would aid in her quest nor did any pique her interest. Ragna was, however, able to recommend a colleague and pointed her in the direction of a wizard in Broadford named Welfer. Unbeknownst to Lacey, her discussion with Ragna was overheard by a young ruby dragon who followed Lacey to Broadford and spied on her meeting with Welfer.

Upon arriving in the still-smoking ruins of the town, Lacey was overrun with the haunting memories of what transpired there, particularly in light of the further truths she now knew. Their failure to save Parsons, Boris' true loyalty, the deaths of Tio and the Broadford Militia, the blanched face of the monster filling its belly with unknowing victims - the images chilled to the bone as she past each building reduced to rubble, the remnants of lost homes and lost lives crunching beneath her feet. As she followed the route of Honey's inaugural parade, what now felt more akin to a lonely funeral procession, she was stopped in her tracks by what she saw. As Ragna had promised, Welfer's magic shop remained entirely intact - the only building for miles that stood without any damage, the absurdity punctuated by the cheery open sign hanging colourfully from the door.

Upon entering, Lacey was met by Welfer's assistant Niaro, a water genasi he had taken under his wing as his ward and his only employee after the fire. Initially mistaking Niaro for the wizard, Lacey explained her intentions and when Welfer made himself known, Lacey laid out her requests. The first was to re-enchant her ring such that without it, she would lose all her memories since its enchantment until its return to her. The second was to cast an identity spell with no one able to conceive of the fact that she and Crumpet are one and the same person, such that identifying herself as one would cause some confusion as to where the other went. While Welfer was able to fulfil her first request, he told her the second is far more difficult. In lieu of a specific spell to create the effect, he provided her with a ring that can emit a subtle illusion to convince people she is another person.

Satisfied, Lacey left Welfer's shop comforted both her newly enchanted jewellery and the knowledge that something of the old Broadford still lives, though unaware of the dragon continuously stalking her from a distance. Lacey took some time to venture over the river to the Valley of Tombs, where she visited Kran's gravesite. Despite the botched funeral proceedings his corpse had suffered, decomposition had kindly left behind more peaceful-looking skeletal remains (though in a somewhat silly pose). Leaving behind a copper piece upon his skull, Lacey left the Valley of Tombs clueless to the draconid figure soaring far overhead.

On her way back through Broadford, Lacey met Niaro again who, fascinated by her life, asked to return to Axis with her. Lacey responded by asking if she can pull a pint.

#### *Visit to Notus*

After returning to Axis with the young Niaro, Lacey put her to work at Tits & Slither and offered to house and feed her in lieu of pay until she can find her own place. The stormspeaker's weather magic came in handy for business, as Niaro was able to keep the outside seating areas warm and dry no matter the weather. With business booming, Lacey decided to upgrade the tavern with some renovations, which naturally included more outdoor seating thanks to Niaro's magic ensuring year-round *al fresco* comfort.

During the next month, Stain travelled to Notus for a week to work at and check in on her dual businesses and visit Emmett Buck for the information she had requested he gather beforehand. Having paid him for intel that might improve the month's business performance, Lacey was surprised to learn that the Eccles family were staying in Notus for the holidays. Then she got an idea. An awful idea. Lacey Stain had a wonderful, awful idea. She paid Buck to have his children cut the Eccles' hair in the night, with a plant blaming the 'ruffians' that make up so much of Notus' homeless children, who then recommended they visit Hell Toupee.

The scam turned out to be a great success and the Eccles later had their own hair unknowingly sold back to them in the form of bespoke individual hairpieces, making that month's biggest sale and gaining free advertising from the very satisfied Eccles. Impressed with Buck, Lacey decided to further pay him to spread conflicting rumours about both herself and Isabella Crumpet, as well as Silk & the Grove of Whispers, to create confusion and muddy the facts in an effort to keep herself and her tavern out of the spotlight. Anticipating his deals, she successfully haggled him down to fifty percent on the hair scam by including a weekly fee for the rumour mongering for the next three months.

With success rought from a week's hard work at both her businesses, Lacey left Notus drained. Returning to Axis, Stain arrived at Tits & Slither late in the night, only to hear a strange noise on her way upstairs. Entering the bar, she encountered a large, unfamiliar shadow that obscured the faint moonlight highlighting the doorframe and lit a lantern where, only partially illuminated in the crude warm light, she was met by the domineering visage of a ruby dragon.

#### *Infiltrating the Slave Trade*

The young dragon bowed its head into the lantern light and spoke, introducing himself as Ragathor. He explained to Lacey that he had been following her for some time and was intrigued by her seeking illusion magic, voicing some concern over its improper use. He admitted his curiosity in her and as the two spoke, the conversation quickly diverted to the topic of money. As the tension melted, the dragon apologised for his trespassing and Lacey poured them both a drink. Lacey, excited to share her material interests with someone else, began to complain about having nowhere to deposit the large sum of wealth she had accumulated, explaining her natural distrust of bank vaults as a thief. Fascinated by her draconic love of money and having regaled her with how he abandoned his kind in search of a more meaningful existence, the tipsy Ragathor plead allegiance to Lacey and offered to guard her money for her while he figured out what it is he wants to do with his life.

As the tavern's renovations neared completion, Lacey was taken aside by Silk who expressed concerns over the enemies he'd made at the fey slave trade. With their identities made public, Silk feared the slavers would come after him and pointed out that discovery of the Grove of Whispers would also put Tits & Slither in danger. With their being based in Axis leaving them more exposed than the other Knights, the two vowed to look out for one another and Lacey promised to help Silk.

She decided to infiltrate the slave trade as Crumpet, further using the pseudonym 'Viper' within the ranks of the shadowy slavers. She had Buck spread rumours to help her build a reputation within slaver circles as a trustworthy buyer, but knew it would not be enough to convince the other slavers. As Viper, she decided to stage the large purchase of a slave in order to attract the attention of the highest bidders. Bidding on a flesh golem of particularly high quality who had been brought to life with fey magic, she succeeded in establishing herself as a discreet but trusted voice within the slaver community (though regrettably at the cost of thirty thousand gold pieces).

When she tried to free the golem, however, he instead felt indebted to her and volunteered his services. After multiple attempts to get him to leave her side - including hiding from him at one point - she eventually conceded and asked if he could pull a pint. Fortunately, Barf proved proficient in manual labour and helped with the renovations, even proving to be a diligent bartender. Though he refused any pay for his labour, Lacey housed and fed him at the tavern, which was to Barf a kindness that further deepened his loyalty to Lacey and the establishment.

Having successfully infiltrated the slave trade, Lacey sought to find out any plans to come after Silk and began spreading disinformation regarding Silk and the Grove of Whispers to give them the runaround. She liberated slaves where she could, but prioritised maintaining her cover and would tell other slavers her purchases were sent to work elsewhere, while smuggling those freed out of the country. Though she offered refuge to some at the Summer Citadel, none of the slaves she liberated ended up taking the offer as they all successfully found asylum elsewhere.

Eventually, Lacey learnt the slavers had gathered a small hit squad after learning about the Grove of Whispers. Thanks to a tip from Lacey, the hit squad ended up at the "wrong end" of Suuk before realising their mistake. Though disappointed her information had been wrong, Lacey managed to play it off as merely bad intel and maintained her cover. After relaying this to Silk, the two decided the best course of action would be to get ahead of the slavers so they could take down the slave trade entirely. However, Lacey continued to be faced with difficult choices, as she was soon forced to abandon a family with small children who were to be sold. Though the parents were prepared for only the children to escape, Lacey assured them she could smuggle them all out before auction. However, she was ultimately forced to join some of the elite slavers for impromptu high tea and opium in order to maintain her cover and lost the chance to save any of them, who were all sold separately.

#### *Self-Improvements*

With the renovations complete, Lacey had hoped business would do well, but discovered the month's profits to be the lowest since Tits & Slither's opening. Assuming this was largely due in part to her preoccupation with the slave trade, Lacey dedicated herself to promoting business at and maintaining the tavern. The next month saw Lacey spend a total of two thousand gold, including further repairs, upgrades and fortifications. With Silk agreeing to work four days of the week at the tavern, Lacey split her time liaising with McKenndeigh and overseeing Small Price Toupee and Hell Toupee. Lacey trusted Caithera to ensure Silk did not touch anything or interact with anyone during the days he worked without her present.

In order to maintain her focus and discipline, Lacey decide to improve herself in an area she had always felt lacking and began daily strength training. Over the course of the next month, she made incremental progress, successfully improving her physical strength as she worked hard to keep her multiple businesses afloat. Only on the third week did she realise this had been the longest she'd gone without drinking - heavily, at least. Business slowly began to pick up again and Lacey's efforts were reflected in the month's improved sales, though she remained determined to keep increasing her monthly turnover.

Despite her improving strength and profits, Lacey couldn't help feeling anxious as she became increasingly aware of the threat posed by the slave traders. It seemed endless the number of enemies the Summer Knights had accrued over their time with the ICA and with the public now aware of their existence, she knew she would have to tread lightly. With her re-enchanted ring on one hand and her brand new enchanted ring on the other, Lacey decided to put in place her plans in case anything went wrong, knowing her friends would be the ones in harm's way if anything were to happen to her. For that very reason, she decided they must be the last people to know what she planned to do in such an event.

#### *Old Habits*

Having been set back financially of late, Lacey took advantage of a tip she'd overheard from one of the bar's patrons and decided to attempt stealing the Cup of Balls - an enchanted ancient chalice historically used at commemorative events and large gatherings. Though the specifics of its fortune-bestowing magic were of no interest to Lacey, she knew the value of such an artefact. According to her tip, the Cup was being held at the Axian auction house where she once worked and Lacey took no time quickly and subtly confirming this detail. With her knowledge of the layout, she figured this would be an easy job and recruited Étienne to join her on the heist, promising him a quarter of the sale to Babs.

With Étienne's shadow doors, the job was a quick success, so much so that Lacey had time to rummage through the auction house vault for other valuable items while Étienne replaced the original with a cheap forgery. Despite finding nothing else nearing similar value to the Cup, Lacey felt a rush of excitement she hadn't felt in long time. The thrill of the heist was a unique flavour she savoured and one that hadn't tasted this sweet since the job that led to her firing, or possibly even that fateful night with Jemi all those years ago. Still, stealing from the auction house one more time felt poetic and Lacey was in high spirits when presenting the Cup to Babs.

The Cup's sale more than made up for the difficult financial months, with Étienne walking away with ten thousand gold of his own. Lacey also managed to find two potions of supreme healing and had intended to make use of her archaeology kit to dig for additional treasure and loot, but with the end of the month approaching, she instead decided to enjoy some downtime with her new staff members, Ragathor and Silk. To top it all off, the Eccles' recommendations had led to a massive boost in sales that saw Hell Toupee's most successful month so far.

#### *Search for Shaem*

Feeling far more positive, Lacey decided to attempt making contact with her brother Shaem in Daimeremos, as she had not heard from in quite a while. Beginning to grow concerned by the lack of response, she travelled to Daimeremos to track him down, but couldn't find any leads on where he might have gone. She realised she knew so little about his life there and was only told that he'd moved on from his studies.

Though she tried not to worry about Shaem, Lacey was saddened to return to Axis empty handed, having additionally failed to find any magic items of power to purchase for herself while in Daimeremos like she had hoped. To raise her spirits, she allowed herself to be roped into a game of poker at the bar in which she won a set of corporeal paints that allow her to create three-dimensional objects by painting them, as well as a potion of longevity. Lacey tested out her new paints by creating a convincing replica of the Stone of Analox.

Lacey finalised her failsafe plan in the event of capture and interrogation at the hands of the slavers by writing letters explaining her actions and paid a lawyer to, when notified by a magical cue, collect the necessary corresponding item and have them sent to the relevant parties. Unfortunately, in all her distraction throughout the month, Lacey had failed to notice a sharp decline in sales across her businesses. For the first time since its opening seven months ago, Tits & Slither suffered a loss, though thankfully it was relatively minor compared to the recent successes. With Niaro managing to find her own place and move out of the tavern Lacey, as promised, added her to the payroll. Barf, however, remained content as a free labourer and resident at Tits & Slither.

## Personality

### Money

Lacey has discovered a passion for money and capitalism. Her love of money has steadily grown to become a defining trait of hers and the core of the system by which she personally abides. She takes great pleasure in the acquisition of wealth and is frugal to the extent of attempting never to pay for anything herself. She often refuses to help fund mission requirements and must be convinced by her colleagues, likewise taking unusual (sometimes seemingly sexual) pleasure in getting paid. Payment and the offer of alleviating debt is to Lacey a deep expression of friendship and love and she can become very emotional when others so much as offer to pay her tab at the tavern. She has been known to enjoy rolling around in gold and other priceless items. Lacey also enjoys negotiation and regularly attempts to negotiate her team's pay, often specifically her own, and jumps at the opportunity to negotiate the terms of any financial transaction she or her colleagues make. She also keeps hard copies of all her receipts along with a written record of anything she intends to expense as a work cost.

### Sexuality

Due in large part to her own vanity and self-perceived sexual attractiveness, Lacey does not cope well with sexual rejection and is often sexually aggressive with people, even those she is not attracted to. She is very sexually liberated and frequently seeks out sex both for enjoyment and as a coping mechanism. While she has expressed fluidity (or at least curiosity) in her sexuality, she appears mostly attracted to human males. Lacey regularly flirts with her teammates (usually in response to monetary transactions) and seems rather undeterred by the nature of her established relationships, as well as rather selfish in bed.

### Social Skills

Lacey appears to have a very poor work-life balance, as she does not know how to connect with people in a non-professional setting. She speaks almost exclusively in professional terms and treats relationships as business transactions. She fell into a depression during the downtime from her first mission and has spent subsequent downtime picking up extra work at the ICA. Alcohol has been a coping mechanism for Lacey and she frequently steals wine and liquor whenever she comes across it, as well as often drinking from her hip flask. Lacey spent much of her time at the local tavern and drank heavily during her downtime depression. She enjoys drinking socially with her teammates and spends hours at the tavern with them.

Lacey can be terribly awkward in social situations, often bluntly causing offence. She displays a complete lack of tact, repeatedly asking invasive and inappropriate questions and often makes sexual offers in public. She also tends to use rather inconsiderate and even insulting language to describe people and will repeatedly remind others of perceived personal faults. She often expresses confusion over - and a lack of patience for - others' emotional responses to her harsh words. Lacey has repeatedly stated a distain for polite social conventions, as she perceives them as an unnecessary farce and a way to avoid direct communication. She appreciates bluntness, efficiency and a separation of emotion from logic in others. Ironically, Lacey is prone to emotional outbursts when frustrated and will freely berate anyone who irritates her, including interdimensional demons. Lacey's brashness was tested when working with the Court of Life Vampires, as she was forced to adhere to their strict social customs, partially in fear for her own life. Her inability to comprehend their rigid customs led to a painfully over-the-top effort to appear polite at all times.

Lacey keeps those close to her at a distance, though she secretly cares deeply for her fellow team members, particularly Honey and Silk. The very real danger they've been through together, including resultant loss of life, has been a powerful bonding experience, though Lacey struggles to express it. Lacey's extremely self-confident and strong-willed nature has seen her come to blows with her teammates on numerous occasions, particularly Kran, Eldon and Freth, largely due to her priorities and bluntness. However, in spite of such misgivings, the team largely tolerate Lacey's directness as her lack of filter has occasionally proved useful in negotiations and even when confronting Verrospex the Terrible.

### Morality

Morality is a complex issue for Lacey. She stringently adheres to a largely self-serving personal code and often argues with Freth over moral ambiguities, particularly concerning the questionable nature of their work. Lacey is a capitalist at heart and sees the exchange of services for money as the law by which she lives. Though not without question, she has ultimately carried out the ICA's tasks, even those which have made a murderer of her, as they are her employers. She values the acquisition of personal wealth sometimes more than the lives of others and will sometimes rationalise dubious acts in pursuit of wealth. However, Lacey does care for her teammates, as evidenced by her sacrificial effort in Broadford (an event which she unfortunately forgot and subsequently regressed to being more self-serving). Kran's death also affected her enough to consider quitting the ICA, at the time her only consistent means of employment. She has since shown signs of maturation and seems to be increasingly dedicated to the collective benefit of Patamei, though is still mostly incentivised by financial gain.

Lacey does, however, appear to hold distain for her upbringing and in having her opinions on morality tested by Freth, has recognised the amorality of her childhood environment.

## Abilities

Lacey is a skilled thief, having developed her talents through both training and experience. Her studies have provided her a decent understanding of the world around her and she is quite perceptive and intuitive. Though not the most knowledgeable herself, her years of study and appraisal, as well as several connections allow her to often know where and from whom she can obtain necessary information. She is dexterous and agile enough to employ her gymnastic skills without being hampered by the wildly inappropriate attire she chooses for such activities. She has been known to run long distances while corseted and in platform high heels, frequently accompanied by an equally inappropriate skirt.

Lacey is also gifted in the arts of persuasion and deception, often accompanying disguises and misdirection with deft use of sleight of hand. In opposition to her nimble physicality, Lacey's loud and abrasive personality serves as an effective distraction, often fooling her targets into underestimating her (in her own words, she "plays dumb for a living"). When in doubt, Lacey usually relies on her charisma and sexuality to subdue or trick a target, to varying degrees of success.

While a somewhat competent combatant, Lacey usually employs avoidance and diversion tactics and most often makes use of ranged weaponry. While unskilled in any mystical art, Lacey's fascination with magic has led to some use of magical items and weaponry.

Lacey is a brilliant mathematician, thanks to her particular interest in money. She has displayed the ability to very accurately estimate the value of large amounts of gold at a glance and is capable of quickly doing large mathematical sums in her head. She subsequently displays an innate talent for business and has begun building her own whilst developing professional relationships and connections.

Lacey is a polyglot, having studied language in her early youth. She is fluent in Common, Elvish, Gnomish and Dwarvish.

Thanks to her ghost step tattoo, Lacey can alter her form and items on her person to become magically intangible for about six seconds at a time. This ability is limited, as she still can be hurt by physical objects passing through her and though the tattoo will eject her from a solid object to prevent her becoming trapped, this too can do significant damage to her body if she does not pass through the object quickly enough.

## Equipment

### Weapons

* **Revolver**: Lacey's primary weapon.
* **Shortbow**: Lacey's shortbow is her secondary weapon and she often carries it when threatening people.
* **Shortsword**: Though used less often than her ranged weapons, Lacey carries a shortsword, which she used to kill the King of Daimeremos.
* **Twin Daggers**: Lacey has two daggers on her person that she rarely uses, but does so to great effect.

### Magic Items

* **Enchanted Emerald Ring**: An emerald jewelled ring that Lacey stole many years ago. This ring is enchanted to protect Lacey from the memory-altering spells that camouflage the ICA. With the Central Secrecy Protocols removed, Lacey had this ring re-enchanted by Welfer to contain her memories.
* **Stones of Farspeech**: Lacey possesses a Stone of Farspeech that allows for direct vocal communication to other stones on the same plane. Lacey's particular model flips open to make contact, with contact only ending when the stone is flipped shut. She acquired ten more in Suuk to hand out to her associates. One has been gifted to Babs, McKennedeigh, Étienne, Caithera, Niaro, Ragathor, Barf and Horsey Jim leaving her with two extra remaining.
* **Magic Feathered Whip**: Found among a chest full of other valuables and magical artefacts, Lacey acquired this item in a dungeon in Kozani. It's clawed tip extends up to ten feet to allow Lacey to perform basic sleight of hand feats from a distance.
* **Necklace of Adaptation**: This blue jewelled necklace allows Lacey to breathe normally in any environment, including harmful gases, vapours, inhaled poisons and even some dragons' breath.
* **Cloak of Displacement**: Looted from Verrospex's Skenesos lair, the Cloak of Displacement disguises Lacey's location by projecting her image mere feet away from her, obscuring her true location from others as long as she is wearing it. However, anyone who becomes aware of the cloak's effects are able to see through the illusion.
* **Magic Spool**: A spool that causes the thread wound on it to match the colour of any fabric that it is touched to. Lacey frequently uses this to turn any fabric she wears brown.
* **Emmett Buck's Business Card**: Lacey obtained the business card of Emmett Buck, King of the Notus Crime World (Under 14s Division), which magically updates his location and Stone of Farspeech contact information.
* **Potions of Healing**: Lacey acquired ten potions of basic healing in preparation for her team's mission to the Underdark.
* **Courtesan's Claws**: Purchased from Babs, this enchanted collection of nail polishes grants Lacey additional magical damage when dealing unarmed strikes, the type of magic depending on the colour. On her hands she most often wears either Clear Gloss for added force or Dark Green to poison her target and Dark Purple on her feet, which strikes the target with thunder.
* **Ring of Illusion**: A ring purchased from Welfer that causes an illusion to be illuminated and dispelled at will. Though little changes about Lacey's appearance, the few subtle elements provided work with Lacey's charisma and are sufficient enough to convince people she is someone else.
* **Potions of Supreme Healing**: Lacey found these two potions buried in amongst some old wine crates while digging for treasure in Axis.
* **Marvellous Pigments**: Lacey won this fine wooden box containing a brush and two large jars of various pigments that allow her to create three-dimensional objects by painting them in two dimensions.
* **Potion of Longevity**: Lacey won this item in the poker game along with the paints.
* **Ghost Step Tattoo**: As payment for overseeing renovations to Verrospex's lair, Lacey was gifted the means to apply a ghost step tattoo in the form of a needle of magical ink. The tattoo grants her the ability to temporarily become intangible. Lacey's tattoo takes the form of a brown serpent curled around her right forearm.

### Other Equipment

* **Burglar's Pack**: Lacey retains her old rucksack from her early thieving days, containing ball bearings, string, a bell, candles, a crowbar, a hammer, a hooded lantern, opera glasses, oil flasks, pitons and a tinderbox. It is also where she stores her hip flask, purse, rations and current disguises and has fifty feet of hempen rope strapped to its side.
* **Thieves' Tools**: Lacey additionally carries her thieves' tools with her wherever she goes. These include a small file, set of lock picks, a compact mirror, a set of narrow-bladed scissors and pliers.
* **Bikini Armour**: Lacey bought a set of revealing yet surprisingly effective armour while in Notus. Customised to fit her body, the sturdy yet lightweight armour affords Lacey a decent degree of added protection.

* **Customary Suukian Furs**: A traditional fur coat gifted by the Suukian First Class Lounge. She additionally acquired some more fur pieces while in Suuk, including a sable, fur hat and boots and gloves.

* **Digging Tools**: In preparation for their descent into the Underdark, Lacey obtained digging equipment that included a shovel, a heavy pickaxe, two extra fifty foot hempen ropes, ten extra torches and extra food and water.
* **Archaeology Kit**: Lacey also bought an archaeology kit in preparation for the Underdark, which includes a set of small brushes and trowels, a small mesh screen, a measuring tape and other equipment necessary for an archaeological dig. The tools are neatly packed into a small tin box with a handle on the lid.
* **Fake Stone of Analox:** Using the Corporeal Paints, Lacey created this convincing replica of the Stone of Analox.

### Former Equipment

* **Sage Equipment**: Lacey also used to carry a bottle of black ink, a quill, a small knife, a letter from a dead colleague and a set of common clothes, all of which she has managed to sell.
* **Luggage**: On her first ICA mission, Lacey brought several large items of luggage from home containing various outfits and disguises that included numerous masquerade masks, fascinators and fans. All of Lacey's luggage was lost when Kran threw it from their carriage.
* **Cloak of the Manta Ray**: In search of an item that would allow Bollo to breathe underwater, Lacey purchased a Cloak of Manta Ray in Moroz, though Bollo's lack of funds meant she would only let him borrow it when needed. When worn with the hood up, the wearer can breathe underwater and has enhanced swimming speed. Lacey later sold this, since Bollo chose not to buy it from her and her Necklace of Adaptation made it obsolete.

* **Twin Spears**: Lacey owned twin spears for a time before selling them.

## Relationships

* Big Brown Stain - Mother
* Shaem Stain - Brother

Allies* Guild of Thieves
	+ Mortin Ianto - Former Mentor
	+ Heckle - Contact and Former Thieving Partner
	+ Jeckyl - Contact and Former Thieving Partner
	+ Jemi - Contact and Former Thieving Partner
	+ Étienne - Employee and Former Thieving Partner
* ICA
	+ Test Engineer 14 - Recruiter
	+ Caroline Tobin - Colleague and Acquaintance
	+ Arthur Parsons † - Former Colleague and Rescue Mission Target
	+ Bluebird's Team
		- Agent Bluebird - Former Superior
		- Boris M. Oplot - Former Field Leader
		- Kran † - Former Colleague and Friend
		- Honey Smith - Colleague and Friend
		- Silk Greengallow - Colleague and Friend
		- Eldon Flambard † - Former Colleague
		- Eleanor Darling - Colleague and Friend
		- Freth - Colleague and Friend
		- Bollo Burbage - Colleague and Friend
* Tio Don Marco † - Former Associate
* Granny Ragna - Ally
* Broadford Militia
	+ Nate † - Former Ally
	+ Hugo † - Former Ally
	+ Sebastian † - Former Ally
	+ Tristan - Former Sexual Partner
	+ Leo † - Former Ally
	+ Joshua † - Former Ally
	+ Rory † - Former Ally
	+ Anton † - Former Ally
	+ Jeremy † - Former Ally
	+ Adrian † - Former Ally
* Chesnut - Former Steed
* Court of Life Vampires - Professional Allies
* Le Blaireau - Informant
* Verrospex the Terrible - Contact and Ally
* McKennedeigh - Business Partner
* Babs - Contact and Friend
* Edward Bingham - Former Professional Ally
* Emmett Buck - Informant and Professional Ally
* Acolytes of Lathander
	+ Varnish † - Former Ward
	+ Sam - Former Associate
	+ Brick - Former Associate
	+ Luger † - Former Associate
	+ Bertie † - Former Associate
	+ Lenthis † - Former Associate
* Small Price Toupee
	+ Diffany - Employee
	+ Jacquelime - Employee
	+ Gamila - Employee
	+ Enneline - Employee
	+ Pethany - Employee
* Hell Toupee
	+ Abiqail - Employee
	+ Sara - Employee
	+ James - Employee
	+ Sarae - Employee
	+ Algernon - Employee
	+ Atticus - Employee
	+ Cuthbert - Employee
	+ Sarha - Employee
	+ Seth - Employee
	+ Sarah - Employee
* Tits & Slither
	+ Caithera - Employee
	+ Niaro - Employee
	+ Barf - Employee
	+ Methuselith Meredea - Tenant
	+ Alftheus Jürgenson Dwïngeldørffelar - Musician
	+ Peg - Employee
	+ Bury - Employee
	+ Phaul - Employee
	+ Fill - Employee
* Ragathor - Vault Guardian
* Chesnut-2 - Steed
* The Silver Hand
	+ Agent Albatross - Professional Adversary
	+ Lithe Woman † - Former Professional Adversary
	+ Well-Built But Ugly Man † - Former Professional Adversary
* False Hydra of Broadford † - Adversary
* The Eccles Family
	+ Patrice Eccles - Theft Victim
	+ Gordon Eccles - Theft Victim
	+ Celeste Eccles - Theft Victim
	+ Edgar Eccles - Former Sexual Partner and Theft Victim
	+ Adrian Eccles - Theft Victim
	+ Benedict Eccles - Theft Victim
* Baphomet - Professional Adversary
* King Agathon IV † - Murder Victim
* Honey Rammstein Messerschmidt Ribbentrop Von Sackville-Bagg † - Sacrifice to the Court of Life Vampires
* Brunhilde von Berger † - Adversary
* Vralos the Unforgivable - Prisoner
* Prince Georgios - Former Employer

## Trivia

* Lacey speaks with a bogan accent.
* Lacey's favourite colour is brown and she usually dresses entirely in the colour whenever possible.
* Though only twenty-seven years old, the ghost's curse Lacey suffered has physically aged her to appear thirty-seven.
* Like the rest of her colleagues, Lacey was afflicted with a curse by the witch Granny Ragna in exchange for the bestiary in Honey's possession. Lacey's curse causes only shrieking to be heard whenever she speaks Dwarvish, though Lacey hears herself speak fluently.
	+ It took a very long time for anyone to notice Lacey's affliction, due to the rarity of occasions she speaks Dwarvish, with Lacey herself still believing she was simply unaffected by Granny Ragna's curse.