Bella

Bella has been afflicted with a form of vampirism for as long as she can recall, the outcome of an ill-fated battle in which her soldier ancestors were condemned to fresh blood for sustenance. The monstrous curse has dogged the family for generations and added the pressure of having to skip town frequently for fear of mobs, in addition to all her parent’s other difficulties.

A catastrophe struck Bella’s tribe when she was merely a child. Bella’s parents were killed, while Bella was fortunate enough to escape with her younger sister to some form of safety in the Free Cities. Amateur mages, Bella’s parents had managed to put a block on the vampiric curse on her younger sister by the time of their separation, sparing her from the burden of having to consume fresh blood. The curse, however, remained upon Bella.

Bella found herself in the strange position of having to steal ordinary food during the sisters’ long escape to a relatively more civilized refuge. It wasn’t long before a passerby noticed the girl’s thefts, who was soon hauled before a local magistrate and sentenced to several days in jail. She was released soon after, but the damage had been done: her sister was nowhere to be found.

Left alone in the Cities without any other family to call upon, the wild youngling was fortunate in having inherited the same quick reflexes and affinity for combat that had made her ancestors such successful career soldiers. After a short trip to a local mercenary company’s recruitment office, Bella found herself in gainful employment with the means perhaps to earn enough money, influence, and contacts to hopefully relocate her sister in this hostile world…