♫ Singing in the Dead of Night ♫

25 human noble bard inquisition agent

FRIENDS Maybe you’ve seen this redhead occupying a table at your local tavern, trading a song or a story or two for a warm meal and a couple of coins, the atmosphere jovial with her impish smile and bawdy jokes. Perhaps you know her better as a lady adorned in the refinery of silks and jewels. A formidable player upon the battleground of waltzes, poisonous words and shadows, unafraid of the vipers circling about her ankles. To those allied to the Inquisition she is Starling. A useful friend to keep close. If you are brave enough to trust a bard, that is.

For Starling, friends aren’t the easiest commodity to keep. Often, it is when she is being encouraged to trust that Starling becomes the most suspicious. Still, as has been her experience so far, she does tend to befriend all sorts. The only common trait being that they are true to themselves. Decent manners also tend to go a long ways with this Orlesian.

It’s difficult for Starling to drop her guard completely, even when in the company of those that she genuinely cares about. More than once she has been forced to kill a friend, and it never gets easier. She never wants to, even when she must. She’d rather protect her friends. From the world. From themselves. From her.

ENEMIES She’s a spy, and arguably of one of the worst of sorts. After all, Orlesian bards do far more than eavesdrop and exchange secrets. They manipulate, they seek out weakness, no matter how vulnerable, and they lead astray. They seduce and beguile. And they torture and they murder, their kills not always quick and merciful. Their bodies are a weapon of sharpened well-maintained steel, themselves as cold and merciless as the Grand Game in which the Orlesian aristocracy uses them in order to play. And Starling considers herself to be one of the better players.

Her enemies might be nameless but they are many, and, had her patron not often encouraged her to return open animosity with the fatality of a blade, they would be a legion.

Understandably, Starling is quite suspicious of other and is inclined to assume the worst until she is given a reason not to form such an assumption. She is also merciless when encountered by an enemy. To her, it is a wiser course of action to utterly crush an opponent than it is to risk the chance that they may return to retaliate. It isn’t always a popular outlook. Yet, the world in which she exists in does not reward mercy.

ROMANCE From her early days of training to be a bard, Starling’s patron encouraged her to be open to the act of seducing and bedding both men and women. And, whilst Starling often feels inclined to admire both the beauty and the grace of other women, she bares a stronger attraction towards men. In particular, gentlemen with an impeccable grasp of style. Dashing rouges. Confident dancing partners. Fereldens.

Getting Starling into bed is easy. Keeping her there is the challenge.

As an agent of the Inquisition, she must be cautious that a potential lover does not seek the secrets privy to her position, or that she compromises her loyalty and sense of duty. Perhaps a more pressing concern of Starling’s is her noble heritage. Being Comtesse Madeline Fontaine’s only remaining heir, Starling does not have the luxury of choosing her betrothed, likely that decision was made by her aunt years ago. (Message me if you’re interested in an arranged marriage). Romance, therefore, is a highly complicated affair for Starling.