Sylvia Silkett

Sylvia as the "Lady Grey".

Sylvia Silkett is a skilled courtesan from Akif, who has also been trained as an assassin and spy. She pretends to be part of the gentry, but is actually just a commoner. She has adopted a persona, known as "Lady Grey" she uses to play the Game of Houses and serve as an escort to the nobility and gentry. She was formerly involved in Akif's court politics (through a count's influence she had taken as a lover), but has since left Akif for fear of her life. She is currently traveling alone.

Stat Block

## Appearance

Sylvia has a perfectly symmetrical diamond-shaped face, with olive skin, long platinum-colored hair, and dark brown eyes. She is very active and muscular from consistent training, though her fit frame is complimented by voluptuous curves. She appears to be in her early twenties (though like most Dagorym women, she is unaffected by aging). She is inhumanely beautiful (some say she is touched by Maon herself), which is both a curse and blessing. Due to this, she often tries to disguise herself or use cosmetics to attempt to blend in when she wants to avoid drawing attention to herself. She has several outfits, but when traveling among fellow commoners usually wears simple brown leather armor and chaps with a simple shirt and knee high boots. She has several knives or daggers strapped to her person, and favors a simple farmer's straw hat. When among the upper echelons of society she often wears dresses and jewelry, but also owns a fine set of armor suitable for hunts or parades. One of her favorite pieces is a gold brassiere she wears beneath her clothing set with a precious alexandrite gemstone. Many of the jewelry pieces she owns were either stolen by or gifted to her while working in Akif.

## Personality

Ambitious and driven are some of Sylvia's most notable traits, she is power hungry and detests her actual social level. Shrewd and cautious she doesn't easily trust others, and assumes most people are participating in the Game of Houses. She has experienced sexual harassment most of her life, but has learned to use the attention she receives to her advantage in exploiting the weaknesses of others (especially men). While she is not overly salacious herself, she is more than willing to use sex as a tool to accomplish her goals, and is quite well trained in various courtesan skills. She is determined to carve out a name for herself in the histories of the world, and has a hard time understanding those content not to strive for greatness like herself. Part of that ambition for greatness drives her to better herself scholarly and she studies many topics including the supernatural such as: demonology, spiritualism, and various Dagorym Arts. She can be quite prideful, but is more than willing to get her hands dirty if she believes it will benefit her. Despite some selfish and ambitious tendencies, she has a strong moral code (though somewhat twisted from society's ideals). Sylvia often feels compassion for those she views as weaker or less privileged than herself, and holds those who mistreat underlings in great contempt.

## Skills

Sylvia has been trained from an early age in various courtesan arts and is very skilled at it. She can be exceptionally charming when she wants and has a skill for hypnotizing. She is a professionally trained singer and dancer, and speaks both Dyonian and Imperial. She has the talents of Dreaming and Healing Touch. Her experience as a catburgular has made her very apt at stealthily getting into hard to get places, and using sleight of hand to palm valuables off unsuspecting victims. She is very athletic, with excellent balance and a very good climber. She has trained as a martial artist since she was a young, and become quite a skilled fighter with both her fists and daggers.

## History

#### Childhood

Born out of wedlock to the prostitute Zipora Silkett, Sylvia was raised in poverty in Kemish’s slums, her mother eventually gave her over to a temple of Maon and Maija and she was trained as a temple maiden. Her mother died during a plague two years later. Her father is unknown to her (a wealthy Dagorym), and she has a half brother she has also never met. Temple life was strict, but fair – Sylvia was kept busy with various tasks and training. She enjoyed reading and learning new stories, and legends. She was often responsible for assisting in printing pamphlets and hymnals produced by the church, but also discovered her talent for acting and performing as part of the temple’s ceremonies, festivals and productions. Due to her talents and adorable looks she sometimes was given coveted roles which made some of the other temple children jealous. One of the other girls, in a jealous rage, tried to mar Sylvia’s face during a holy festival so that she wouldn’t be able to perform. Despite avoiding permanent damage, Sylvia was absent for the performance and compelled to forgo the role. After the incident, she became determined to be able to defend herself so she couldn’t be bullied anymore. She asked one the monks at the temple to teach her martial arts.

#### Adulthood

As Sylvia grew older, she blossomed from a young girl into a breathtaking beauty (whispered to be blessed by Maon herself). She proved doubly useful to the temple, as she discovered she had a talent for healing others with mere touch, while also inheriting her mother’s charm. Her other studies continued as well, but in time she was encouraged to seek an apprenticeship elsewhere and try new things. She tried at first to get a job as a scholar, hoping to one day get involved in the courts as an advisor; but instead landed a job as a procurer helping to run a seedy pawnshop, and began making connections which eventually led to her work as a courtesan. Inspired by a children’s folktale called the “Grey Maiden” (a pauper to princess story), she began escorting lonely men in the upper echelons of Akif society, coached by some of the other escorts she’d made friends with during her time at the pawnshop and the temple. She learned how to string men along without letting them get too attached, and various courtly etiquettes (such as dancing and expected behavior at balls and festivities among the gentry).

#### Climbing the Social Ladder

A few months of doing this led to enough wealth that she was able to manufacturer an identity as the “Lady Grey”. While some of her wealth came from legitimate clients and gifts, some of it also came from her other evolving talents as a cutpurse, thief and catburgular. In time a wealthy noble, Count Vernon involved in Vasyr ’s inner court, became smitten with her and she became his mistress. Due to her proximity to the crown (and previously shady connections), she was contacted by Prince Rasim’s agents to act as a spy. She was eventually also contacted by the assassin’s guild when they suspected she was responsible for the mysterious death of one of her Count’s rivals (and one of their own targets), and then became further impressed when she passed their initiation test and foiled an assassination attempt on herself. She accepted their invitation and began privately training with them as well, while continuing to manipulate the court as best as she could with her growing influence. She also used her access to wealth to begin funding her curiosities of the mystic arts privately, as she found such things rather intriguing.

#### Disaster and Pirates

While Sylvia’s ambitions grew, they ultimately outpaced reality as her Count began to fall out of favor with Vasyr. Sensing the danger of the situation, she decided to disappear before the court could act. She contacted a smuggler and arranged to have herself shipped North. Unfortunately, due to her hasty flight, she was tricked into boarding a Moorian slaver vessel and once at sea they revealed she would be sold to the highest bidder when they reached land along with the other girls on board. Three days later a black sail appeared on the horizon, and the slaver vessel was soon fleeing from the dreaded Black Dragon pirates. The ship was eventually boarded and forced to hand over their cargo to the pirate crew (Sylvia and the girls helped a little). Hopeful from the turn of events, Sylvia put her charm to work and convinced the captain to drop them off at a port in Gil.

## Journal

A third person record, recounting events from Sylvia's journey and adventurers after arriving in Gil can be found here.