Ishmahla Linqua

## Description

Ishmahla is a Vishkanya that stands average at 5'4, their body resembling a rather thin one. Almost as thin as the average of his kin. His scales are tinted a light brown color, almost matching his hair but having a slightly darker hue to them. Their body looks more feminine than any average male body would look like. Due to this, he's dressed up in leather garb and some nice flowy cloth.

(Think like the gerudo costume from BOTW, but without the mouth piece ) He wears no jewelry despite acting flashy towards customers and friends alike. His flowy cloth garb around his chest covers and sags a tiny bit to give the illusion that something is there, to aid his cover that he looks like a female. (Yet again, refer the the image above to get a better understanding to what I'm trying to get him to look like in the universe.) A thing to note, his voice does sound higher than a males, so people commonly mistake him for a female typically upon first impression.

## Personality

Ishmahla is known to be quite friendly and very touchy with those he interacts with. He doesn't shy away from conversations no matter how seedy they may be and no matter where in public they take place in. He's always known to be quite nice and leans towards doing things for the good of everyone and himself. However this does not mean he's always trusting. He safeguards himself by keeping information about himself or his friends locked away unless he's grown to like them and trust them enough with the information.Those who get close with him tend to see a much more open and devious side. As he's known to perform various acts in his employment, he well known for his acts to occasionally takes things out of pockets or slip things onto someone's person without much notice all for the good of the jest.

## Backstory

From day 1, Ishmahla had been confused on his rather scaly humanoid appearance. As far as he knew, he had two human parents and none of them had admitted to themselves or him that they were like him a Vishkanya. This didn't mean he didn't enjoy his form. He was rather excited to be a unique specimen among many. Due to the fact that Vishkanya are an exotic species, many of the kids he interacted with were always in awe to see him arrive though he really paid it no mind. He knew better than to get all too absorbed in the pride he felt by being the unique one. However this didn't come without its fair share of teasing from others who poked at the fact he looked, acted, and sounded more like a female than anything.

His childhood seemed rather normal as any kids would be, no major things to note in his life. As he reached his teenage years however he began to notice something irregular happening in his family life. His mother and father seemed much more reserved than they normally would be, almost literally shutting off all connection with him with no real reason explained. This would progress for a couple years, which definitely messed with him a tiny bit. It gave him that small voice in his head that filled it with doubt and made him wonder if his family loved him as much.

Unbeknownst to Ishmahla, his mother and father had been part of a rather extreme sense of treason and were trying to lay low until things died off or they had enough to move far from where they lived. Unfortunately this day would never seem to come. One moment the scaled boy had been asleep and the next he was being woken up by a veiled man that sounded like his father. Everything had happened so fast, he didn't even know what was going on before he was shoved out the door with enough money to buy himself a bed in an inn for a while and some food. The most he understood was that his parents loved him and in order to hold true to their word, they were going to hide him away somewhere in an attempt to protect him. He was told to avoid others who inquired about him or his family.

Throughout his teenage and adult years, he lived in an odd sense of limbo. If he wasn't in the inn trying to catch his breath and wonder how much he'll have before he's broke again, he was out on the streets learning and playing instruments for money. He continued doing this as he slowly trekked his way through several cities, afraid someone was going to find him and figure out his ties to his family. As he landed in Riddleport and began doing his usual "work" if you could call it that. However he found that he wasn't earning as much money for this as he normally would. While many would applaud his work, they didn't seem to think it was worthy of their money. This forced him into a corner. Without enough coin to live in an inn with food to keep him alive, he wouldn't be able to stay here long or even pay to go somewhere else. He had to think of a way to gain more coin and fast.

That is when a peculiar thought went through his head as he took the back allies to reach the market place. A prostitute had been flaunting herself at passerby's trying to get someone, anyone and within a few attempts, she was more than successful. She had lead them into a building full of people that looked to wear the exact same costume. Flowy garments that covered enough, but seemed to show mostly skin. Though all he saw was female workers, he knew exactly what this place was and he supposed it wouldn't be too out of the ordinary for a man to try his way into such a place of work, however he had an ace up his sleeve. He always seemed to be perceived as a female to society, so he would use that to his best ability.

He had walked into the brothel and spoke with the owner, which was ran by a rather nice woman by the name of Shila Malti. Although he looked, sounded, and acted like a female she had already seen right through him. However this didn't mean she didn't admire the fact that someone of his kind, no matter their gender was willing to enter into such a seedy lifestyle. After persuading her to give him the job he was told to wear the same costume as the escorts around him and that he was free to live there as long as there was some cut to his pay for doing so. He gladly took it as it seemed like a nice idea to work at home.

Somewhere along the line he had shown off his musical skill to his boss and she liked it so much that she had offered him a chance to earn more money if he performed every now and again as a musician. Of course he took it, as the more money coming in, the more comfy he'd be living. Soon after taking up both of the positions, he found himself to actually stabilize. He didn't have to worry too much about money problems and found himself just wondering what was going to happen next in such a rather interesting lifestyle choice. Without the problem of potentially being homeless and on the run, he seemed to be more happy, willing to worry about others and help where he was needed, although he knew where his limits were.