Alexandria "Alex" Leckenbe

Character Portrait

Class: Rogue

Background: Sage

Role in the crew: First mate

## Backstory

I never knew my parents. The story I was told was they couldn’t afford
to keep me so I was abandoned to die in the streets. A stranger found me
 and saw me delivered to an elderly human couple who were kind enough to
 raise me. Their names were Artir and Melaine Leckenbe and they were the
 sole source of happiness in my life, for a time.
Not knowing my exact birth date, they chose to celebrate it on the
anniversary of their marriage.

Many happy memories I have of Melaine
taking me to market, and doing my and giving me a pretty dress once for
festival. Artir, old and strong like an oak that’s weathered it’s fair
share of storms, taught me the meaning of strength and resiliency.

Artir
 passed in his sleep shortly before his 70th name day and Melaine went
less than a month later about a week before their 50th wedding
anniversary and the day they chose for my name day celebration; I was
going to turn. Orphaned, again, and not being a legitimate child, their
property was auctioned by the local magistrate to cover the cost of
their burials.

I kept some silvers Artir had stashed for a rainy day.
Traveling alone, it was easy for others to take advantage of my
naiveties to the cost of things and my silvers quickly disappeared. I
took to thieving just to keep my belly full. As I learned and got
better, I was caught less and less and managed to avoid the worst of the
 beatings when I still did.

Eventually, I came to a major city without
much more than a tattered cloth to protect me. That’s when I met him,
the man who would give me the world, and then burn it to the ground.
Mandar Riatin saw to the teaching of wayward children and the lost
youths of the world. I was exactly what he was looking for. A young girl
 of about 10 years with a fire in her eyes and desperation in her soul.
He offered a roof and warm meals for the low cost of my devotion.
Devotion to a cause he refused to tell me about unless I accepted.
Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity.

He led me to a sprawling complex known simply as “The School”. I guess
at one time it might have been just that but the buildings were sturdy
and in good repair and the most comfortable things I’d stayed in since
leaving my home. Was it ever my home? There I met other students and was
 assigned a class. In this class were three other girls; Candice (a
human), Sydney (a half-elf like me) and Natalie (a dwarven girl everyone
 called “Tali”, she’s the one who first called me Alex) were roughly the
 same age as me or close enough to make little difference.

We all got
along fine enough, and I liked all the girls but Tali and I became best
of friends. Pushing each other beyond our limits, and encouraging each
other to succeed, and comforting each other after our failures. The
failures hurt, a lot.
We were to be specially trained by Riatin himself, apparently a major
privilege according to others in the school. I was trained in the arts
of killing. All manner of it, from ranged attacks, to the use of
poisons, and even several forms of weapons. I was quickest to learn the
knife. Riatin called me an artist once, a prodigy even. Still not
entirely sure what he meant.

For 10 years we trained under him. His way
was brutal but fair. He never wanted to teach the same lesson more than
once so you’d better of paid attention. He showed us how to disguise
ourselves to look like men and how to forge documentation to gain access
 to even the most heavily guarded of areas; he even had an excellent
hand when it came to blushes and eye paints.

One of my sisters and I’s
favorite challenges was to see who could get dances with the local
lordlings during balls. All used to gather information of course. You
forget a lot in 10 years. You forget that trust brings the risk of
betrayal.
Shortly after my 21st birthday Riatin came to our room in the middle of
the night. He simply said “This is your final test, the test of loyalty.
 One of you will leave this room alive, or none of you will.” He threw a
 knife onto the floor and left the room. Candice went for it first, but I
 was the prodigy. I’ll never forgive him for what he forced me to do
that night. I fled the school soon after and have been fleeing ever
since.
I know, “why didn’t you work together?” We might have tried, but we
would have failed. Remember, he was brutal.

## The Adventure Begins

Whatever life may have thrown at Alex, her adventure didn't truly begin until one clear night in the town of Pronounce