Tam Sindil
I promised I would not tell, and I won't, but I have to write this down here - Mistress Tam saved my life tonight, and I will spend the rest of my days repaying that debt. That is not what must be hidden, of course, she would be lauded for that. It is the way in which she did it.
I had been working from the early hours baking bread and pastries for Festiva, and was walking home with the rising sun in my eyes. I was daydreaming about Alberre, and lost track of my surroundings. It wasn't until I heard an iron heel strike the cobblestones behind me that I realized I wasn't alone.
I looked over my shoulder and saw two figures just a few feet behind. They wore long knives, and I could tell they meant me ill. I turned and sped up, hoping they wouldn't pursue know they'd been seen, but the sound of their steps behind me told me they did. I ran, as quick as I could, but I knew there was no way to escape. It was mere moments until one of them was able to grab my shawl. I let it go, to try and break free, but he had my hair, and he threw me to the ground. He loomed over me, and I froze. When his companion told him to grab me, and go down the alley, I prayed to Corinne to see me through.
I don't know if it was the Goddess, or just dumb luck, but before they could get me off the road, she came into view, silhouetted against the sun. The bigger of the two didn't see her, and continued pulling, while the smaller one saw, and stopped. I don't know if he was trying to seem innocent, or just deciding to add another victim to the list, I don't know. But he turned towards her, and his partner stopped to see what was happening. She was about 20 feet away by the time we could make out anything more than her silhouette, and I realized it was Mistress Tam. I tried to shout to her, but the brute covered my mouth, and began to pull me backwards while the other one began to walk towards the Mistress.
I thought I was about to be killed, or worse, when I what I thought was the best possible luck occurred. The brute stopped, and began to slap at his body with his free hand. I twisted to look at him, and could see a cloud of stinging mites were surrounding him. He must have disturbed them backing into the alley, I thought, and tried to pull away to avoid them. He let go, slapping at the bugs, finally dropping and rolling. He screamed in pain, and I rose up to run.
I got maybe five feet before the other one thrust out his arm, knocking me to the ground and bloodying my nose. I yelled at the Mistress to run, and the man drew his knife and grabbed my hair. As he pulled me in and put the knife to my throat, he laughed a horrible laugh, and told the Mistress to choose between coming willingly, or unwillingly after he killed me. I was so, so scared, and I could only cry. I wanted to tell her to run, but I couldn't say anything. The man just laughed, and gave me a little cut, to put his point across.
The Mistress looked at me, and looked around, as if trying to figure out what to do. When I heard the sound of boots behind me, I thought that's what she saw. A troop of guards, at just the right time - the head guardsman shouted at the man to drop the knife. I guess that did it, because he dropped the knife, and raised his hands. I scrambled away, tripping and falling as I tried to get to the Mistress. As I got to her, she raised her hand, and a bolt of fire flew out from it. I turned, and saw it hit the man in the back, and he collapsed, his dirty tunic burning. That isn't what hit me, though - it was that there were no guards. I looked into the alley, and saw the man there was dead, killed by insects that were no longer there.
The Mistress came up to me, and I burst into tears. She held me, and soothed me, telling me she was sorry I had to see it, but it was the only way she could stop them from hurting me. I told her I knew, and promised to tell no one. If they knew, they would use her, and she just wanted to be a girl, a little while longer. I will keep her secret, and help her in any way I can, forever. How could I do anything else?
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Tam and her twin brother, Kazudo, were born in the city of Akachan in the Children. The Sindil family is a prominent merchant family, tightly tied in with the church of Ucara. The Sindil are one of the more benign of the merchant families, focusing mostly on facilitating legitimate trade across the children while taking their cut, and some smuggling ventures.
While her brother learned from their father, Tam learned by having what she called adventures. Her parents had guards assigned to her, and she took every chance she could to evade them. She explored the city, the islands, and the sea, learning to survive and fight. Her father eventually wanted her to join him in the family business, but by then, she had grown far too much for him to hold her back. With the help of her faithful handmaiden, she left home to earn her own way.
She generally hid her natural skill in magic, using it in secret to make it seem that things just went her way. But when she had to, she would use all of her skills to succeed. They wandered from town to town, looking for work to get by, always keeping an ear out for interesting stories or people that needed help. Her greatest triumph was saving a young Tabaxi from a group of pirates that had kidnapped her. While she did not know it at the time, she was the Spirit Ward of her tribe, and bringing her back saved the tribe from destruction. They presented her with a sacred staff that has enhanced her magic ever since.
Eventually, she caught the eye of a group of crusaders, looking for more to join them. By now, she had realized she wanted a group to join, and missed her brother dearly. She agreed to join them on their crusade to defeat a powerful servant of the Lord Vicien, if she could recruit her brother. They gave her command of a company, and told her where to meet the attack. She was able to find him in a port town near where they would muster, and he eagerly agreed. When they arrived, Kaz felt the power of his opposition, and it was Diabolus, not Vicien, being worshipped. He also had substantially more power than they thought, and in the course of the battle, most of the crusaders were killed. Tam was nearly killed, although Kaz was able to heal her before falling unconscious himself. As she fought off the pirates coming for them, willing to die to save her brother, she saw two warriors she didn't know finally make it through to the Black Guard and strike him down. His followers fled, and Tam approached the Daikini to find out why they were there.
The Daikini explained the Circle to her, and invited her to come meet their leader. She readily agreed, if her brother could come with. An agreement reached, they prepared a meal while waiting for Kaz to recover.
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