Brine

Official Season 2 full-body art of Brine by Mackenzie Mullins

* Scar across her left eye that peeks out from under the eye patch that covers it
* X shaped scar on her chin

Brine is a stout halfling rogue with a heart of gold and a compulsive lying problem. She left her hometown more than a decade ago and has since established an extensive network of contacts for her work as a smuggler and assassin. Adventure is mostly unheard of in Brine’s family, and they’ve all spent decades with their fingers in the dirt. If Brine faced them now, she fears they wouldn’t recognize her — but the temptation to return, especially to see her former love, is strong.

## Description

### Appearance

Brine is a short, fat (equivalent to an IRL 24-26), stout halfling with brown eyes and pale skin so covered in freckles that some areas of her body seem to be almost patchwork reddish-brown. She has short, curly brown hair that she keeps shaved on the sides, so there's just a mop on top of her head. Her hands are rough, calloused from years of work, and she moves fast and quiet even when she isn't on a job. She deeply dislikes wearing shoes, preferring to have her feet in contact with the Earth below her, but she learned early-on that leaving footprints was a quick way to be identified by enemies; so, she wears thin black slippers she purchased from a tinkerer, magicked so they never wear out or take on a smell.

Brine dresses all in black, so she can blend in and sneak around without getting caught. There’s a scar across her left eye that can be seen from under the edges of her black eyepatch, and she also has a small scar on her chin in the shape of an x. One is from smuggling and the other is from her childhood, but she never reveals which is which. The stories behind both change every time she tells them, so no one actually knows the truth.

### Personality

Brine is a compulsive liar, but she values people and relationships a lot, so she tries only to lie on jobs and when it's necessary for her safety or the safety of her crew. She also tends to keep to herself, which sometimes makes her seem grumpy or standoffish. Once people get to know her, however, she reveals herself to be soft, and warm, and deeply loyal. It’s just that in her line of work, getting attached usually means getting her heart broken.

In addition to smuggling people to safety or new circumstances, as well as occasionally smuggling items, Brine is also an accomplished assassin who's never stated her kill count, but the way she slithers up to people without making a sound means it's possible for her acquaintances to imagine how her targets might not realize Death has come for them until after she's already slit their throats.

## Biography

### Background

Brine hasn’t been home in over a decade, and now she wonders if anyone in her tiny village would even remember her — especially since she’s covered in scars and wears an eyepatch now, jauntily placed over her left eye like it’s a fashion statement (it’s not). Brine (like sea brine) is a stout halfling rogue smuggler who plans to do one more job and then retire. She didn’t mean to start smuggling; she just wanted an adventure, and when no one wanted to accompany her, she set off alone and boarded a ferry to a town she’d never seen. There, she met a sea captain looking for hands to assist in an upcoming voyage. Brine knew the value of hard work from growing up on her parents’ farm; she showed the captain her callouses and, despite her short stature, she was granted passage as long as she didn’t slack off.

   When their ship was boarded by pirates, Brine was taken hostage. One of her fellow crew mates was taken with her, and together they hatched a plan to escape, save themselves, and also save the rest of the hostages that were being held prisoner in the guts of the pirate ship. That was her first job, and for the last ten years, she’s helped refugees, vigilantes, and even people like her who just want to be Somewhere Else escape their circumstances.

She was once followed off a ship by a cat, which she just accepted; she's never properly named them, so she just calls them "Cat" or "Shadow" and she mostly keeps them in her smugglers pack, but occasionally will let them out to do recon on low stakes missions.

### Season 1

Brine works with Winona Fytefair to prevent Karina Kinnear from organizing a flash mob ahead of the Arcaenon's announcement in 101 - Change of Fate, citing concerns about safety and the future of the movement to liberate the Weeds. In 102 - 24 Hours in Kyrthys, Brine learns about the death of Captain Ulrid Reder when she visits Haus of Huntress. She also sees Gideon Osmund for the first time in two weeks, and discovers that Gideon is going into the Wildes the following day. In 103 - Airshipping Out, Brine volunteers to go into the Wildes, as well.

## Relationships

### Acquaintances

* **Captain Ulrid Reder**: Brine has worked with Captain Reder multiple times, and the pair begrudgingly trust each other — within reason.

* **Frytha Page**: Brine rents a room from the Sandy Shore Tavern keeper, and Frytha jokingly refers to Brine as one of the colony of feral cats she occasionally feeds her kitchen scraps.

### Significant Relationships

#### Gideon Osmund

Brine once helped smuggle someone from Court and became acquainted with Gideon in the process. The two occasionally meet up for a game of cards at Empanya Tavern, a hookah bar, and Brine would never admit it (not even to herself), but she's come to think of Gideon... often. More often than she'd like. Certainly more often than is safe, for either of them, regardless how frequently their hands brush unnecessarily as they reach for cards. They never talk about feelings and Brine typically leaves their meetings with more potential targets than she'd like, but she can't say she doesn't look forward to them — you just won't hear her say it out loud.

Two weeks prior to the Arcaenon's announcement, Brine left a mixtape on Gideon's bed after a heated conversation about a joy ride that led to Brine getting put in the Kyrthys system for the first time in her life. When Gideon brings up the mixtape and tells Brine they're going into the Wildes with Adrielle, Brine makes an impulsive decision to join the party.

#### Winona Fytefair

Among Brine's network of contacts is Winona, a barbarian with a heart of gold who once worked with Brine to smuggle a loved one out of Kyrthys. They've worked together a handful of times since, and have gotten each other out of more than one tight scrape. Whenever they reunite, it's a joyous moment, though Brine is careful not to act too friendly in case one of them is suddenly ripped away or forced to leave without saying goodbye.

However, the more time Brine spends with Winona, the more she lets her guard down until it's nearly impossible to deny how much they care for each other. When Brine agrees to go into the Wildes, Winona volunteers to go, too.

#### Adrielle Hollowtide

Prior to actually meeting Adrielle Hollowtide, the chosen one, Brine learns about her through Gideon. When they do meet in person (103 - Airshipping Out), they don't get along. Adrielle thinks Brine doesn't like her, and Brine thinks Adrielle is upset about her relationship with Gideon.

#### Current

During her sky-sea smuggling days, Brine rescued a shark that got caught in one of the ship's fishing nets, and it took off before she could check for injuries. She noticed three things about the creature: It had shockingly intelligent eyes and glowing druid marks, and it seemed to hesitate before diving back into the clouds.

#### Gemma Vario

Brine has flown with several captains in Kyrthys, including the inimitable Gemma Vario. Brine trusts Gemma about as far as she can throw her, but she also sees the captain for who and what she is: A capable pilot whose loyalty can be bought and kept for the right price, as well as the only captain in Kyrthys who can successfully transport people into and out of the Wildes without anyone dying in the process.

Once, on a particularly dark night, Brine and Gemma got drunk together on Gemma's fret, and Brine admitted her lingering and deepening feelings for Gideon. Rather than actually deal with those feelings, however, Brine let Gemma distract her. They only slept together once, but Brine must admit she's been tempted more often than that.

## Trivia

* Brine was born on the 18th day of the fourth month, Ameteorn, in the year 4298.
* Brine was not born in Kyrthys.
* At 3'2", Brine is the shortest of the party – almost a full 3' shorter than Gideon.
* Brine rolls the first canon roll of the campaign: an 11 on a stealth check while moving about Kyrthys, trying to remain unnoticed.
* Brine's astrology big three: virgo sun, capricorn moon, scorpio rising.
* Brine has told many lies about how she lost her eye, like it being ripped out by a castle guard and then fed to a dog during a failed uprising.
* With everything Brine has seen, she doesn't believe that actual divinity is a real thing, despite knowing that the gods did exist.
* Brine rolls the first canon nat20 (on deception) while gambling at Haus of Huntress.

## References

1. ↑ Death2Divinity Website
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Secret wiki information drop from Samantha Puc [Aug 7, 2021].
3. ↑ See Episode 101 - Change of Fate, at 1:08:25.
4. ↑ See Sam (TheVerbalThing)'s chat message during Mysteries Behind Divinity e103, at 1:58:06.
5. ↑ See Episode 101 - Change of Fate at 2:32:05.
6. ↑ See Samantha Puc on Mysteries Behind Divinity 101 at 36:45.
7. ↑ See 102 - 24 Hours in Kyrthys at 3:18:43.