[center][b][h2]Nadia the Nazairi[/h2][/b] [img]https://i.imgur.com/d7GLeHI.jpg[/img] [i]Original art by [url=https://twitter.com/lesly_oh]Lesly Oh[/url][/i][/center] [hider=Nadia the Nazairi] [b]Race:[/b] Human [b]Age:[/b] 29 [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Birthplace:[/b] Nazairi Highlands [b]Profession:[/b] Mercenary [b][center][h3]Appearance[/h3][/center][/b] Nadia is an unusual woman. She is of a height with most men, with broad shoulders and arms thick with well used muscle. Across her biceps the skin is patterned with strange little scars and flecks of coloured ink, the tradition markings of the old brigand clans from the rocky interior highlands of Nazair. Her skin is slightly darker than that of most northern folk, and her hair darker still. It hangs a tangled mop of black curls, shorn short on the side of the head and at the nape of the neck. It tumbles down the right side of her face, partially obscuring a long horizontal scar that clips off the tip of that ear. The face below is also marked by the scars of battle, three smaller slashes, two across the right cheek, and one below the full lips of her mouth along the line of her strong jaw. When she smiles you can see she is missing a tooth, and the one next to it has been cracked making it appear abnormally pointed. Nadia's face would have always been more striking than traditionally beautiful, but these prominent war wounds along with her physicality leaves her something of a ferocious and dangerous air. The eyes set in his dangerous face are not ferocious however, they are cool and grey, that flash with a sly and somewhat amused look to them. When not in armour she most often dresses practically, eschewing more traditionally female garb in favour of breaches, short tunics, linen shirts, and a leather jerkin. She generally wears non-dyed fabrics, although she does own several articles dyed bright red with Nazairi Cinnabarite. [b][center][h3]Personality[/h3][/center][/b] Raised with a spear in hand by mountain bandits and spending most of her adult life in armour, Nadia is woman who can drink, spit and swear with the best and boldest of the soldiery. When she wishes to be she is the centre of attention, the loudest, brashest person in the room. Her speech is peppered with japes and swears in foreign tongues. She laughs often and loudly, frequently at her own expense. She answers insults in kind, and with a mocking smile as if to say she's heard it all before. If insults escalate to steel, she hasn't lost yet. She is a bravado, confident in her own skills, and seemingly fearless. She is, however, no unthinking thug or lout. Nadia engages in boorish behaviours, but her quick wits often shine through either in her clever tongue or her skills in games of chance and probability. She's good with numbers and knows her letters well enough to stumble through reading her own contracts. She also excels in tactical planning, being fond of preparing traps and ambushes when has control of the field of engagement. While she isn't the most book learned or formally educated person, she makes for it with an excellent memory, and a shrewd mind underneath it all. The only time Nadia really seems to lose her good natured boisterousness is when it comes to Nilfguaard. Her playful fiery nature changes to a cold and hard rage, quite different from her usual persona. Despite being a mercenary by profession, its said she's never claimed a Nilfguaardian ransom, none who cross her path are left alive. [b][center][h3]History[/h3][/center][/b] Nadia was born in Nazair. Her father was prominent member of a highland clan, one inclined to the twin professions of bandit and brigand, as many of the highland clans were in those days. Nazair, like all the southern kingdoms, raises boys and girls like the elves do: they're taught how to fight, ride a horse, and go hunting as children, regardless of gender. Nadia was no exception. She spent her childhood riding surefooted mountain ponies, hunting with the sling and short bow, and training with the preferred weapon of her people: the wicked Nazairi short spear, perfect for holding narrow mountain passes, or to be thrown from behind a rocky outcrop. It was not the kindest nor safest of childhoods, but it was a happy one. She idolised her father, strong, brave, and utterly fearless. He was not worried when Nilfguaard marched North and destroyed the ancient capital of Assengard. The highland clans had no love for the low land nobility. Who cared if they were ruled from Assengard or Nilfguaard? They would continue living free, taking from who they wanted, as they had always done. But it was not to be. Their new rulers took a dim view of the actions of the clans, stealing from Nilfguaardian soldiers and merchants. The empire pushed up into the highlands like no other kingdom ever had before, burning the villages and hidden camps of the clans, poisoning their wells, sowing their fields with salt. Nadia's father was executed by the empire before she was a woman grown. A few of her people refused to bend their knees, they fled north, taking Nadia and her mother with them. In Cintra they were refugees, families dead and broken, stripped of the world they knew and the ways they held dear. They had no wealth, no land, and no skills that were valuable here other than violence. So they sold the one thing they could, their spears. Thankfully they had come to right place. Queen Calanthe, the Lioness of Cintra as she was called, was always fighting wars and suppressing rebellions. They took gold from the queen and died on her battlefields. Nadia learned to how to steal in Nazair, but she learned how to fight wars in Cintra. As the years wore on what started as a band of exiles held together through common cause began to turn into just another mercenary company, filled with unfamiliar faces and hard bitten killers. Nadia and some of others from the clans tried to keep their culture alive. She tried to live like her father. But it seemed like destiny was doomed to repeat itself when she finally faced Nilfguaard again at the battle of Marnadal three years ago. Cintra routed, Queen Calanthe wounded, Eist Tuirseach dead. The battlefield claimed the lives of most of those who had remembered the the ways of their people, the company was finished. Nadia herself took the scar across her ear that day, and deeper scars as well. She went North again, to Temeria. When she could fight again Nadia went with King Foltest to Sodden Hill, but they arrived so late most of the killing had already been done. When the King offered the chance to go south, into Nilfguaard, almost to the lands her people once held - Nadia jumped at the chance. [b][center][h3]Skills[/h3][/center][/b] [list] [*]Spear and Shield Fighting [*]One Handed Swordsmanship [*]Horse Riding and Grooming [*]Raconteuring and Carousing [*]Skirmisher Tactics [*]Arithmetic [*]Games of Chance[/list] [i]Specialty:[/i] Nadia's speciality is her role as a lightly armoured skirmisher. Her preferred fighting style is on foot with spear and shield. [b][center][h3]Equipment[/h3][/center][/b] [i]Weapons:[/i] Nadia carries several weapons on her person when going into battle. Primarily she uses a six foot long light spear tipped with a diamond shaped head of iron that can be thrust with or thrown. If possible she will bring multiple spears with her. At her side is a simple one handed arming sword and a utilitarian broad bladed dagger. These act as side arms in case of the loss of her spear. In her off hand she carries a round, concave, iron plated, wooden shield. [i]Armor:[/i] Nadia swears relatively light armour that emphasises utility and mobility over protection. She wears grey and brown brigantine plate over an arming jacket. Pauldrons and vambraces of lobstered steel protect her shoulders and forearms. On her head, Nadia wears an open faced steel sallet. [b]Misc:[/b] [list][*]Male riding horse named Wander. [*]Horse tack [*]Bedroll and blanket [*]Water skin [*]Wine skin [*]Coin purse [*]Fire irons and cooking pot [*]Small woodaxe [*]Tinderbox and flint and steel [*]Whetstone [*]Deck of Gwent cards [*]Set of bone gaming dice [*]Several days of dried rations [*]Several changes of clothes [/list] [/hider]