Cole

## Cole Malark

### Description

Cole’s skin is the dusky grey hue of ash, her name a reflection of the first words her mother spoke upon seeing her: “By the gods, the girl looks like coal!” Her hair is stylized into a fiery red fauxhawk atop her head, with naturally shifting hues of red and orange and yellow; when riled, her hair turns to actual flames. She wears an assortment of deep red and black pieces of rough leather, each piece edged with the blackish grey stain of smoke. Atop her head sit black goggles, easily lowerable to cover her eyes when casting particularly powerful spells; when the goggles are lowered, red-orange flames can still be seen where her eyes should be. And those eyes! At rest, they are silvery-black and reflective, like polished obsidian.

## Locations

### Current

Bellbury, Vyon

Fire Genasi Warlock

## History

### Early Life

Born to a human mother and a half-elf father, Cole, as a genasi, was a surprise to her parents, to say the least. There was great strife brought about by her birth, as it took nearly a full year for her father to believe that he hadn’t been made a cuckold. (Perhaps the *warming up* to his genasi daughter was delayed by her inadvertently singing his eyebrows off every time she sneezed as a wee babe.) Ultimately, it was determined that the responsible party for their very warm, very flame-infused daughter must be the child’s maternal grandfather -- a man (a being) who was never a part of Cole’s mother’s life…

As a kid, Cole grew up with the distinct impression that her parents were Important People in their village. She also grew up understanding that something about her placed an intense scrutiny on them, that something about her maybe even fostered an unwarranted dislike, a black mark against them that they couldn’t hide from her, though they tried.

And Cole would be an outright liar if she claimed to try and make her existence less obvious to her tribe, “demur” not having been a word ever in her repertoire. From the time she was seven years old, setting the town elder’s wig on fire, to her seventeenth birthday when her temper resulted in a miniature volcanic eruption in the village commons, Cole had always disdained the notion of “fitting in”. Not that she wasn’t terribly curious about her origins…

It had been a natural progression to leave. And Cole had found something resembling peace in the bustle of city center after city center, in the rush and the heat of the great wide world about her. The transition from one in a million to one in a crowd had been tough but not wholly unwelcome, and Cole made the most of every bit of it -- and she got in her fair share of trouble along the way, always having deemed societal conventions and even laws to be beneath her. The rules that she stands to benefit from have always been the only ones worthy of her attention.

Though of course, her handful of gold pieces hadn’t gotten her very far, and so she had fallen into work with a roguish tiefling who specialized in finding people who were difficult to track down… She spent several years as an apprentice to Damakos before setting out on her own: a new city, a new market to conquer. And she’s good at what she does -- as simultaneously deceitful and persuasive as the best of them, and always good for a rowdy, grade A distraction.

And the only way to distract Cole? Why, a damsel in distress, of course!

And a damsel in distress was exactly how Cole ended up on the outskirts of Riverrun: a young maiden plucked from her home to serve as sacrifice to the archdevil Fierna demanded rescuing. Cole’s objective was simple: get in, get the girl, get out. Alas…

Fierna, the ruler of Plegethos and patron of fire and pain, had already been summoned by her cult followers. As soon as Cole set foot in the vicinity, Fierna had felt her kindred spirit with an affinity for fire and had sought Cole out. Cole had been growing increasingly frustrated at being alone in the world and yet still burned with ambition and desire to be known in the world -- and her conflicting emotions had been simple fodder for Fierna to exploit. A pact was made between them, there in the dark of night, with only the flames wreathing each of them as witness to the transaction: after a predetermined (and unknown to Cole) number of souls are sent by Cole’s hands to Fierna, Fierna will divulge vital information about Cole’s maternal grandfather’s identity, which she now craves more than anything…

Well, almost anything.

Cole leaves Riverrun for reasons two-fold: first, her profession and distinct looks make her an easy target for warranted revenge; second, her Patron demands souls, and with her newly gifted powers, Cole intends to deliver…

## Personality

Quick to wit and quick to anger, Cole rarely has nothing to say. With a fiery disposition to match her efreet heritage, she is fast to lash out, rash in judgements, and terribly impatient at best. The only time she bothers to slow down is when laying a trap for her latest bounty -- and sometimes even then she has a hard time knowing when to keep her trap shut.

As a genasi, Cole always felt different from the people around her -- her family included -- but she finds purpose in her individuality. If she's not the center of attention already, she’ll likely turn on her charm to show off and become exactly that.