Isis Fey

[krows2]

ISIS FEY

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Appearance:

Personality:

Isis, upon the first cursory glance, is just like any street-girl of Zionra – sharp of eye and mind, keeping her business to herself, yet always curious to know the goings-on of the world.

The primary feature of Isis would be her curiosity. It's born in her; as much as it brings inconvenience to her work, it's not something she can just wave away. She is often interested in the smallest things around her – an unfamiliar face, a rumour about the war, a sound that doesn't fit in with the background. Then, having taken notice of it, she'll strive to find out more. This generally leads to much unnecessary trouble. However, during certain occasions, this curiosity often helped her to gain something to her advantage – be it a new Pokémon companion, or an extra set of weaponry, or a juicy titbit of information.

She is also rather paranoid – her trust is hard to gain and easy to lose. She often jumps to the worst conclusion when faced with a situation, and takes the necessary steps to deal with this imagined worst-case scenario. It helps her to prepare for almost every possibility, but the downside is that she might actually be the first one to break a relationship. Such was the case with her break from the Market Dogs gang, where another girl vying for her position had caused a small-scale political war within the gang. When she elected to leave it, most of her supporters switched sides; now, she has but few friends still within the gang. If you deal with Isis, be prepared for her innate suspicion and the fact that she will always place her well-being over yours.

Yes, one might call her selfish, but she rather thinks it's pragmatic. In Zionra, honour and altruism get you nowhere. She wouldn't outright betray you without being provoked, but if she even has the slightest reason to suspect you of hiding something from her that might implicate her, she will abandon you to your own devices at the earliest opportunity. She steals, cheats and lies bare-faced, and her morals are no higher than the average street kid – look out for you and yours, don't do stupid things, and get as much you can out of any deal. Isis doesn't have the glib tongue of many others, but she can spin a darn good tale if she has to. It'll take a seasoned operator to see through her lies.

Isis also does have a sense of humour. While it is highly influenced by the gallows humour of the poor, she is also able to laugh at herself – a feat that is rarely accomplished. It helps her to cope with the past decade or so, when news of war often reaches Zionra, and rarely good news at that. Some jokes, though, might sail right over her head.

She's not stubborn, or righteous, or gentle, or patriotic, or patient. One simply isn't those things when one has to make ends meet by stealing. Isis has her good and bad sides, and it wouldn't do to forget either.


History:

Isis Fey was not really Isis Fey. She was once Isis Keyson, daughter of Karl Keyson and Rihlah Fey. Her story is that of one of the countless children orphaned by war.

Rihlah Fey's family was one of the immigrant families that had taken roots in the slums and squatter towns of Megidova. Originally from the travelling peoples around the borders of Megidova and Ardhana, Rihlah's great-grandparents settled their wagons in the lesser regions of Zionra Village, making a living from spinning and weaving brightly-patterned cloth, peddling trinkets, telling fortunes, and supplementing their income with the nightly visits to the more well-off citizens. They were generally ignored by the "respectable" populace, and if a Fey found himself or herself in the way of one such "respectable" citizen, they were often scorned and treated like lesser beings. After all, they were poor, they were dirty, and generally they only dealt with the thieves and the beggars of Zionra.

Rihlah was taught from young to steal, rob and cheat. While her mother (known as Naeryan the Witch amongst the thieves of Zionra, and not just for her appearance too) laid out the fortune-cards and whispered mystically at the customers, she took money or other valuables from them as they sat entranced. At sixteen she was looked upon, both by locals and her family alike, as one of the most promising young thieves in Zionra. However, even a good thief can find herself caught, and such was the case that night she met Karl – her attempt to cut his purse was foiled, when he turned unexpectedly and caught her in the act. As Rihlah later put it, "it was the best and worst thing that could happen to me".

The girl had resigned herself to being sent to the local prisons; her mother had surreptitiously drawn a throwing-knife. She was old and her skills were fading fast, but she could still hurl a knife into the young man's throat to save her only daughter. But Karl, instead of doing what any other righteous man would have done, did the opposite instead.

He fell in love with Rihlah.

She wasn't even pretty – all hard lines and long limbs, with a narrow, wiry frame. Nobody in his right mind would take her as a mistress, let alone a wife. Till now, Isis remained puzzled as to the exact reason. Her grandmother had put it down to the smoke and the shadows, but it was obvious that there was something more. Nevertheless, Karl visited every day with flowers and gifts, finally winning over Rihlah one fine day, three months since they first met. He offered to fetch her to his house and introduce her to his parents; they were not wealthy, but any building even remotely uptown was much better than the shack the Feys lived in. However, she rejected the offer – her entire life had been in these slums, and she couldn't bear to part, as ridiculous as that had sounded to him. The added factor that Karl's parents knew nothing of his interaction with her made it improbable to move in with him; the matter was settled with Rihlah staying at her old house, and Karl visiting every day (and most nights). She did promise to turn away from her old thieving ways, though, and took up a small job for the local women, helping them wash and mend for a few measly dollars. With the financial support from him, her family managed to live comfortably.

Isis came along one fine day, followed by her younger brother Jonah two years later. By then, Karl had purchased an adjoining house to the right of the Feys' shack, and the family remained happy, if not particularly well-off, for the time. As much as Rihlah tried to curb her daughter's instincts to steal, she failed; Naeryan had simply chuckled and said that the Fey blood ran too strong in her. In any case, Isis swiftly took to petty theft, even at the tender age of five. She'd nip a customer's purse as soon as he was engrossed in Nearyan's fortune-telling. It drove Rihlah to the point of exasperation, but what can one do?

This happy family did not last long, in any case. When Isis turned seven, the war began; Karl was drafted to the frontlines. In his absence, Rihlah wasted away day by day, afflicted by grief, worry and the added blow of consumption. Within two years, she was dying. No news of Karl had reached the Feys, and none ever will, though the fact was not known to his family. He had died as one of the nameless soldiers at the forefront of the battle. With no parent to support and shelter her, Isis quickly learnt to survive on the streets, working as a message runner by day and a thief by night. When she was ten, she was a second-in-command in a street gang – the Market Dogs, and it was in this year that she met her first Pokémon.

She'd just stolen a pack of goods – Awakeners, Megidova Balls, the odd Revive – from a rich man's house; in a remarkably good mood, she was walking home with slightly less caution than normal when a trio of dark shapes hurtled towards her from a rubbish tip. Isis only just managed to bring her knife up in time to block the first attack. It took a few more rounds for her to realise that her attackers were Houdours, attracted by the Awakeners in her pack. She almost managed to fend them off when the leader of the trio shot a blast of hot flame at her; it took all of her swift reflexes to dodge the main spout, but she couldn't save her pack of goods. Now, properly angry at the dogs, Isis had picked up the nearest projectile and hurled it at the leader. The item turned out to be one of the Megidova Balls, and within a few seconds, she had caught her own Houndour. The other two dispersed at the bright flash of light from the Ball, and wisely, Isis did the same. The first arrivals at the scene found only a burned sack and the scattered stolen goods, excepting all of the Megidova Balls.

Isis spent the next few months bonding with the mysterious Houndour. She grew to love the hound; sure, he was another mouth to feed, but they worked well enough as a pair, and none of the other gangs bothered the Market Dogs when it was known that the second-in-command had a real, fire-spitting monster hound at her service. She lifted a dog-eared copy of the Pokémon Compendium from a bookstore on her fifteenth birthday as a gift to herself, and assembled a selection of items that she might need for her Pokémon. In the following years, Isis caught her next Pokémon and picked up an extra in a raid – one Murkrow and one Nuzleaf. However, it was Blast whom she was the closest to, and he remained her main attack Pokémon.

Only two months ago, she broke away from the Market Dogs, over a long-running feud between her and another of the gang's members. Resolutely, Isis had packed up and left the group, ready to strike out on her own. After all, she has a family to support – one old woman and a "baby" brother – and she had long thought that paying protection fees to the gang leader was rather ridiculous. (After all, it was she and her Pokémon who were doing most of the protecting). As of now, she makes no effort to really avoid the members, but she is careful not to get caught without a means to defend herself. Her brother had signed up to work in the Megidova Fort as a stable-hand; she worries for him every day, but her letters to him are always strictly non-emotional. One wouldn't want to be thought of as weak, not if one wants to survive.


Country of Residence: Megidova – Zionra Village.

Allegiance: None.

Rank: Rogue, pickpocket, cutpurse, et cetera. Also runs messages and delivers items.

Additional Information: She cannot use a sword – that'd require training she hasn't the time, money or patience for. Instead, she relies on her various small knives concealed around her body, to be thrown or simply wielded against the foe; a larger blade used for both eating and fighting is almost always in view, and her main weapon. She's a good shot with the miniature crossbows her brother makes out of discarded wood and catgut, though the weapon can only kill (providing it hits unprotected bare skin) at a close range – say, across a courtyard. Any further and it'd only cause a minor injury. But its lightness and ease of use makes it something she'd take on a raid.

She's also no good at Pokémon battling – she favours offensive moves and finds status-affecting moves rather pointless.

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