[hider=Alice Windhorn][indent][b]Excuse me, might you be one of the heroes from legend?[/b]

As they sit in their office, they squint an eye at the man. Those words – they don’t like that sort of tone, nor do they enjoy the matter being brought up. The elf just stares at him, expectedly.

[b]Good turn to you. Please great hero might you lend me your ear? I have travelled far and wide to hear tale, my only wish is to tell your story. I suppose if I wanted to know of various deeds I could just visit my local tavern or library, but to get it from the horse's mouth, now that would be a treat, far better than any old watered down story you hear on the streets, wouldn't you agree?
They cross their legs, putting a hand on their face.[/b]

“You should ask your questions with more confidence. You don’t need to grovel to appeal to me – I am merely a mortal, after all.” Their voice sounds somewhat grainy and musky, with a playful harshness to it.

[b]Oh you will? Joyous occasion! You shant regret this my friend, I promise you.[/b]

“Speak and get it over with.”

[b]Now then, What is your name?[/b]

“Alice Windhorn.”

[b]Splendid, and your age?[/b]

“Bout in my 40’s now.”

[b]Fantastic, and your gender good hero?[/b]

Alice grins a little bit. Finally, someone asks for once, and they get to give a mysterious answer. “Gender doesn’t apply to someone like me, now does it?”

[b]Excellent and of course I know what you look like but for the sake of our readers? [/b]

They take out a piece of paper. “Let me do the writing for you – so you do not miss a word.”

Alice is a 5’7” elf, of mixed elven heritage. They have slightly dark olive skin, with choppy medium length dark ash brown hair. Their face is roughly featured, with a few scars on their left and one close to their eye, from various incidents of trouble. Their body is a bit more stocky than what you’d expect of an elf, and their face a bit more rough. Their clothing preferences vary, but in general they wear a thick gray long jacket with a hood.

[hider=Headshot Sketch][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/80ffd032-df9a-4aaf-86a1-8f2567d0e6ac.jpg[/img][/hider]

[b]Excellent Excellent, and how do you act on most days, you know, your mannerisms, your quarks and such. What makes you you?[/b]

“Nowadays? You came in here, so you should know. I run this here investigation office. It’s cramped, considering it’s just me and my assistant.”

“Considering my reputation, work isn’t hard to find. Sometimes I go on the odd adventuring gig, when bandits need to be dealt with or a hunting party needs someone knowledgeable on monsters to assist them. But for the most part, it’s unravelling webs of whatever mysteries fall into my lap. And it is most certainly interesting.”

Of course, they left out a commentary on their personality. Alice was an individual with a constant working mind, always required to have some sort of challenge to work on. Without intrigue and interest, they found themself going a bit crazy, as the rest of life dulled. They’d be tempted to the bottle during these instances. If it weren’t for their assistant keeping them somewhat tethered, Alice would either found themselves committing constant alcoholic blunders or getting involved in the ever present criminal underground.

Alice preferred to keep most people at a distance, considering they scrutinized anyone who crossed their path. This often erupted into paranoia of one form or another, an instinct that they were still training to stifle. 

Despite their preference for distance, they didn’t actively scare people off. Instead, they’d simply fail to mention vital parts about them. Someone could believe they were close friends with Alice, having divulged many of their personal secrets, only to realize that they had no clue who Alice themself was. It wasn’t just a matter of them wanting secrets either – Alice couldn’t bring themself to tell other people about who they were, beyond the surface level. They couldn’t even speak of how miserable the past few years had been, surrounded with people who worshipped them, images of a now over war, haunted by paranoia that it would one day return, and rarely ever seeing the comrades they had developed close relationships with.

While a few years ago Alice would say that they didn’t really care for others, the once careless elf had developed a strong moral core inside that soul of theirs. It was their duty now to fight evil whenever it came, and their mind was so committed to the cause that even now they were keeping an eye on for signs of greater evils. Part of them saw this as a holy duty of sorts, and they perhaps felt a bit of a calling from something higher.

[b]Mhm, and your abilities magical or otherwise? If you use magic, what is your discipline? do you use it for battle, defense, healing?[/b]

Alice laughs, shaking their hand. “What, you think just because I was in that heroic company, I have something that can impress you?”
“My best weapon, if you please, is my mind. You see, you don’t need to worry as much if you know what the enemy is doing.”

They smile a little bit. “If you pick up on what they are doing without them finding out, that transforms you into the master of the field. An enemy who thinks they are in control does some things that allows for you to wrestle it away from them with much more ease.”

“Of course, because I’m also a decent enough sneak, I sometimes served the role of scout. Knew how to disable some pesky traps, and how to spot them. Sometimes got the drop on unsuspecting foes, either with my dagger or the crossbow That sort of thing.”

Alice shrugs. “Really, I was one of the less interesting members of the group. I did my one job, and I did it well enough that I was tolerated.”

[b]Yes Yes, and before everything that transpired, what was your life like? who were you?[/b]

“You see, as a rascal, I found everything my family did to be superficial. With them, there was always another secret. Me being young, they didn’t bother explaining. The first thing I learned in pursuit of that goal is how to sneak into places where I wasn’t supposed to be. Of course, the first few times I got caught, and of course I got shouted at about the matter.”

“They started trying to set traps to alert them to my presence, so I resolved to see through their tricks. I still got caught a few times, of course, and I found this direct method of sneaking to be unsuccessful at getting me what I wanted.”

“That’s when I started to work on unraveling the schemes rather than brute forcing my way into knowing.”

“Of course, I was curious about other matters. The illegal ones that people don’t like to talk about, that sort of thing. It’s likely I would have gotten so scrapped that I called off the business for good – but as it happens, a criminal operating in the area took a liking to me.”

“Caitlyn, of course, was a thieving criminal who sometimes did adventuring work. She preferred to work together on teams to target big marks– people who could spend their hoard hiring security, but wouldn’t actually hurt much if part of their riches went missing.”

“She never involved a child like me in such things. Instead, seeing that I would’ve gotten involved with the criminal world, she showed me the ropes. Improved my skills so I wouldn’t end up in the wrong place and get myself killed. Gave me some street smarts and skills.”

“Because I was just curious, the skills never transformed me into a true criminal. Instead, I simply grew up into a law-abiding individual with great skill in unravelling secrets, and the tendency to walk up to people without them noticing. And of course, I could get out of trouble if I was forced into it.”

“As for how I got involved in the company – I was flat broke and unable to get jobs for my preferred career. My family had fallen on hard times, and I needed to make the extra coin to help them. But considering I was surrounded by other struggling people barely managing to get by, I refused to resort to thievery. Instead, I took a page out of my mentor’s book and searched for adventuring work.”

“Octava’s company was a group of amateurs like myself, so I ended up taking a job with them. They liked me enough to keep me around, and it was profitable heroic work, so I lingered.”

Of course, it had transformed into something more, and made them actively desire to fight passionately for the good of the world.

[b]I would have never guessed, and what were your relationships with your comrades, are you still friends? Maybe lovers? Bitter rivals? How do you see them in your eyes[/b]

“Oh, I knew them.”

[Leaving this wip for now – would like to talk with other RPers to figure this out.]

[b]So that's how you worked with each other, and how was your relationship with Madame Ravenwood? Nothing but good I hope.[/b]

Alice goes silent for a moment, carefully considering their words.

“Why yes… It’s a shame that she had to die.”

This was, in fact, a truth. They weren’t lying when they said that. It was a horrible tragedy that she died. And yet – their opinions on the woman were less than positive, to say the least.

The true nature of the woman has been mutated by years of embellishment, and the honouring of her in the untimely event of her death. In truth, Octavia was merely a charismatic individual who knew how to make people think she was undeniably good. She never lived to prove people otherwise, after all.

They didn’t hate the person per say, but rather what her image had become. Octavia was a real person – not a perfected painting with all of the flaws conveniently scrubbed off, but a person who had imperfections. Sure, some of the party may say that their criticisms come due to a failure to get along with her – which was true, Alice and Octavia didn’t get along the best with each other, needless to say. But at least they were willing to acknowledge the truth.

And after hearing about how wonderful she was, how much of a perfect hero she was – Alice found themself starting to hate the warped thing that the woman had become, and even to perhaps hate the woman that truly existed. The world dreamed of a perfect mirage, to the point that the true person who was once alive is being withered away into nothingness. One day, once she’s faded into legend, the flawed heroes of the world will use her as a whip to flagellate themselves with. Thinking just because they weren’t as perfect as she was, they’d never be truly worthy as heroes.

They hated how they couldn’t even voice this reality. They would be slandered by others for stating it. But they had to keep up the appearance of worship, or at least not be a contrarian to that opinion.

[b]I see, and.....did you know?[/b]

Alice pauses for a second, staring at the journalist. A bad feeling compresses their chest. “Kindly inform me?”

[b]Did you even guess, did you even have the slightest idea?[/b]

They have a sense that they’re being taunted – by an old foe, no less. They stand up, looking at the journalist with a cold gaze, placing their hand on their belt. “Inform me.”

[b]Do you even realize the amount of shit you heroes are in?[/b]

Alice lets out a sigh, rolling their eyes. They drag out the decorated dagger they had killed so many monsters with.

“Wouldn’t be a hero if I wasn’t willing to go through with that.”

[b]What made you think you could defeat him so easily? WHAT MADE YOU THINK YOU COULD DEFEAT US SO EASILY?[/b]

Alice shakes their head at this babbling cultist. “Do you think I did it because it was easy? No bud, I did it because it was fucking right.”

[b]We almost did it, almost, but then you heroes and that bitch! well no matter, you and your comrades will get yours soon enough![/b]

“Did you come here to break my spirit, thinking it would work and I would make it easy for you?” They laugh as they stand up, pointing a dagger at the cultist.

“You’re only here because you’re scared that you’ll lose again, aren’t you?”

[b]YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT HIM, DEFEAT US! NEVER! [/b]

Alice stabs the fiend in the heart – and he explodes into blood and bits, even more violently than a dagger would cause.

“Ahh… Why would you tell us that you could be defeated? Can’t break our spirits that way.”

Alice lets out a bothered sigh. There’s blood and gore all over their office... They’re going to need their assistant to clean it up. But they suppose they’re going to have greater concerns to tend to.

“… I hate being right.”[/indent]
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