03-11-2018, 10:37 PM
Natasha isn't sure exactly where she was born to her parents, Aust and Ingrid. Her father, Aust, was a elven merchant and her mother Ingrid was human sailor and so they travelled from port to port, selling and buying wares and seeing the sights of the world. Natasha grew up on their ship and has fond memories of the sea spray splashing her face to running amok with the city kids whenever they docked somewhere.
When she was just ten and they were in Luskan, she was creeping back aboard her home after playing all day, hoping not to be noticed as it was after dark and she wasn't supposed to be out that late. She heard strange voices coming from her parents cabin, two male voices, arguing over something, what she couldn't tell. She crept closer, the cabin door was ajar and spying inside she saw two men going through her parents things while the dead, lifeless bodies of Aust and Ingrid lay in unnatural positions on the ground. She fled, running as far away from the ship, the only home she ever knew, as her little legs could take her. She could find none of her city friends, they were all at home by now and she knew not where they lived. The night was cold and she nearly froze to death, huddling in an alleyway until the sun rose again.
She went and begged the city kids' parents to help her, and a few let her sleep with them for a few nights, but it didn't last long before they asked her to move along. Most already had too many mouths to feed and she was basically a stranger to them. As she wrapped her now torn and tattered clothes around her behind a building that smelled of death, a well dressed man approached her. She had not seen such finery since being in this city but she had seen beggars, and so put out her hands in a cup, offering them hopefully. He took her hands into his own, keeled down to her level, his brilliant blue eyes looking upon her kindly. He offered to take her in, let her live with him and raise her as best he could. Natasha agreed, perhaps naively, but she felt she would be safe with this man somehow.
She came to know the man as Linhart, her adoptive father and eventually mentor. Linhart lived in a large estate in town, relatively untouched by the gangs vying for control of the city. He not only clothed and fed her, but began to teach her of his vision to rid his city of its criminal reputation. He taught her how to track down the lowlifes of the city, apprehending them so what passed as law in the city could do something about them. His method of fighting was strange, using unorthodox weapons and teaching her how to use her own body as a weapon, instead of relying solely on external implements. He also enforced a rule of being disguised when doing this work, almost as if doing these deeds in your own name would somehow stain your soul. He was known as the Shade to those he interacted with on the job so she adopted the moniker of Nightingale, and came to wear a face mask when working.
Now seventeen, Shade has instructed Nightingale that she needs to gain experience outside of Luskan, without his direct mentorship. So she finds herself staying at the yawning portal, an inn in Waterdeep, a city she has vague memories of in what now seems a lifetime ago.
When she was just ten and they were in Luskan, she was creeping back aboard her home after playing all day, hoping not to be noticed as it was after dark and she wasn't supposed to be out that late. She heard strange voices coming from her parents cabin, two male voices, arguing over something, what she couldn't tell. She crept closer, the cabin door was ajar and spying inside she saw two men going through her parents things while the dead, lifeless bodies of Aust and Ingrid lay in unnatural positions on the ground. She fled, running as far away from the ship, the only home she ever knew, as her little legs could take her. She could find none of her city friends, they were all at home by now and she knew not where they lived. The night was cold and she nearly froze to death, huddling in an alleyway until the sun rose again.
She went and begged the city kids' parents to help her, and a few let her sleep with them for a few nights, but it didn't last long before they asked her to move along. Most already had too many mouths to feed and she was basically a stranger to them. As she wrapped her now torn and tattered clothes around her behind a building that smelled of death, a well dressed man approached her. She had not seen such finery since being in this city but she had seen beggars, and so put out her hands in a cup, offering them hopefully. He took her hands into his own, keeled down to her level, his brilliant blue eyes looking upon her kindly. He offered to take her in, let her live with him and raise her as best he could. Natasha agreed, perhaps naively, but she felt she would be safe with this man somehow.
She came to know the man as Linhart, her adoptive father and eventually mentor. Linhart lived in a large estate in town, relatively untouched by the gangs vying for control of the city. He not only clothed and fed her, but began to teach her of his vision to rid his city of its criminal reputation. He taught her how to track down the lowlifes of the city, apprehending them so what passed as law in the city could do something about them. His method of fighting was strange, using unorthodox weapons and teaching her how to use her own body as a weapon, instead of relying solely on external implements. He also enforced a rule of being disguised when doing this work, almost as if doing these deeds in your own name would somehow stain your soul. He was known as the Shade to those he interacted with on the job so she adopted the moniker of Nightingale, and came to wear a face mask when working.
Now seventeen, Shade has instructed Nightingale that she needs to gain experience outside of Luskan, without his direct mentorship. So she finds herself staying at the yawning portal, an inn in Waterdeep, a city she has vague memories of in what now seems a lifetime ago.
