[URL=http://eddy-shinjuku.deviantart.com/art/Ballad-of-the-Emerald-Bard-399366407]

Character name: Ellaria Marcell

Class: Deadly Bard

Skills and talents: Being a very roguish character, Ellaria excels at tricks and maneuvers for a light fighter such as fighting dirty (includes below the belt hits) and evasion maneuvers that meld together for seamless action. But that's if she has to fight. She prefers to leave the long drawn out combat to others or use quicker means than direct combat such as poison or backstabs. If it comes to watching other's fight, she'll find it in her most gracious heart to play them an inspiring tune or so. 

Items: Her combat equipment includes a very standard steel long sword, an iron hatchet, and several throwing knives (some laced with various poisons). Her very fantastic lute! Gold (most important!) and finally she has a few vials stashed with brewed poisons. 

Bio: A Feralden native, Ellaria was born in Denerim to an impoverished family. She never had much growing up but her parents worked hard as servants to the royalty located in Denerim. Of course this only provided Ellaria evidence of just how greedy the nobility could be and the seed of her later in life criminal activities had sprouted. As Ellaria grew up, she became more and more rebellious to the authority around her, even her parents. She started with petty thievery which got her into serious trouble when she was caught stealing from the nobility. The punishment was dealt swiftly as to scare and scar Ellaria permanently so they sliced off her right hand's pinkie finger. They cauterized the wound and released her after it was all said and done. A finger for jewel...

Much to the dismay of Ellaria's parent's, the punishment was not enough to scare their daughter from her troubled ways. Eventually it escalated to Ellaria vanishing one day with that same jewel that she had been caught with previously. She never returned and her parents received whatever punishment the nobility decided. Whatever happened, Ellaria didn't care as life on her own soon began.

Ellaria fled Denerim and Feralden all together and headed for Orlais, which eventually lead her to Val Royeaux. There she became particularly fond of a local bard, who was not far from Ellaria's age, and even went so far to chase after her, but Ellaria was still a young girl and the bard in question, denied the advancements. Instead of that being it, however, the bard brought up Ellaria and taught the distraught elven girl all she knew about being a bard. The two of them spent years together and they did become rather close, maybe even lovers but Ellaria never mentions to anyone who cares enough to ask. 

Whatever happened between the two, it ended when the bard died tragically. The worst part of it all is that the bard was traveling at the time of her death and Ellaria never did get any closure. She doesn't know how or why it happened and thus the topic of her friend (possibly lover) is sort of a soft topic and discussed lightly. Whatever the case, Ellaria reverted back to the rather nasty business of crime. She started spying, assassinating, stealing, or whatever someone wanted as long as they paid her for it. All under the table and secret of course.