Inara Lyrindyl

Inara Lyrindyl, who also goes by the nickname "Cass," is an Elvish rogue NPC encountered in the Gaping Asshole of the World campaign.

Appearance
Inara Lyrindyl is an Elf of average size with a slightly muscular build. Her long, black hair is typically braided behind her, tucked inside a leather, embroidered hood. Inara favors wearing cloaks, citing their function as "looking kinda cool." She is generally in a typical rogue attire, complete with a Elven shortbow and quiver. Two daggers are kept at her belt, one of considerably longer length than the other. A pitch black bandanna conceals most of her face, leaving only her piercing jade eyes visible.

Although this is Inara's standard appearance, her constant need for disguises and changing identities for secrecy cause her attire to vary often.

Birth
Inara was born in Butstuf into the powerful Lyrindyl family of the Elven oligarchy, as the youngest of two children. Her older brother by 5 years, Aryndis Lyrindyl, was next in line to replace her father's position of power, and her father intended for her to act as Aryndis' adviser and the diplomat for relationship matters between the ruling families.

Childhood
At a young age, Inara expressed disinterest in political matters, ducking out of political meetings where possible and skipping out on forced studies imposed on her by her parents. Instead, Inara discovered a passion for adventuring, which lead to her many adventures outside the reinforced, guarded walls of her home into the city around her. All unbeknownst to her parents, Inara sneaked through the streets disguised, eventually meeting a group of thieving children. She immediately becomes enthralled by their skills of pickpocketing and lockpicking, and she promptly joins them in their thievery.

With the minimal supervision from her family, Inara snuck out of her home daily to meet with her newfound friends. She continued this pattern for a few years, and by the age of 12, Inara was a very skilled thief. However, as her duties increased and her parents kept an increasingly watchful eye on her, she found less and less opportunities to escape home. Each escape became riskier and riskier, and it was only a matter of time before she was caught.

The Beating
When the day she would be caught finally came, it would stick in Inara's mind as long as she lived. Inara has received occasional beatings before, and she already feared and disliked her father. Though they were always painful and unpleasant, they only occasionally left lasting impressions. The one Inara received when her father discovered the years of sneaking out and thievery was one unlike any other. In a screaming fit of rage, her father relentlessly attacked Inara, heavily bruising many parts of her body. It continued long enough for Inara to forget how many minutes passed, seconds filled with paternal fury. While Inara laid curled on the floor, beaten nearly to death, Aryndis entered the scene. Upon seeing the state of his sister, Aryndis was overcome with hatred of his father. In an ensuing argument as as Aryndis screamed about the damage to his younger sister, he could not hold back his rage anymore. A futile fight ensued between Aryndis and his father, resulting in a similar amount of beating for the boy. The violence was only interrupted by the intervention of their mother, who pleaded for their father to stop. Without a word, Inara's father left her, and their mother attended to their broken bodies in tears.

Since that event, Inara's hatred for her parents was heavily cemented, not only for her father's violence but her mother's inaction. In all of her childhood, Inara never once saw her mother speak against her father's actions, let alone intervene. Inara grew increasingly detached from her parents, finding her only sense of family in her older brother.

Inara no longer attempted to leave the confines of her home or practice her thievery skills again, for fear of her father's wrath. She accepted her fate with clenched fists, and as years passed, her resentment for her family grew with her hopelessness. Each night, as she looked out her window over the city she once roamed, she prayed for a way out of her fate, not knowing how soon it would come.

The Lyrindyl Assassination
At the age of 17, Inara was deep within the poltical climate of the Forbidden Woods. While she acted as a young face for the family and a representative, her older brother learned the ways of magic and how to govern the land. As she carried out her duties, she began to hear whispers of an uprising within her own region, dismissing them as mere rumors. These rumors grew in severity, as wild as a plot by some of the other families of the oligarchy seeking to replace her own. Still, Inara dismissed them, but she could not help but worry about their truth.

One night, Inara was woken up by the sound of battle. As she left her room, she saw dozens of men fighting within the halls of her own home, fires spreading as men in unrecognized black uniforms burned the walls and destroyed family relics. Her own guards were slowly losing, greatly outnumbered by the masked group of assassins. She crept around the fallen bodies, staying undercover where possible. As she crept between the fighting soldiers, one cornered her, and Inara was forced to fight. As her heart beat wildly for her first life or death fight, Inara found herself surprisingly skilled with a blade. As the two fought to the death, she felt increasingly confident with each dodge and slash. She finally felled her opponent, and as she stood atop her attacker's lifeless body, she could feel her exhilaration from the heat of combat. The moment was brief, however, as she remembered her mission and the battle around her.

Inara made her way towards her parent's room, and, as she swung open her door, she found both her parents in a struggle against the attacking soldiers. As she entered, they desperately called for her help. Inara stood in the doorway, and in that instant, she remembered all the pain brought upon her by her parents over her entire life. With only a moment of hesitation, she looked her parents in the eyes, and turned her back on them. She heard their screams behind her as she ran for the only part of her family she cared for: her older brother.

She burst through her brother's door to find him standing guard in his room over the bodies of a few intruders. The two hugged quickly with relief, and Inara was ecstatic to see him alive and well. Aryndis asked his sister if their parents were fine, and she went silent. For the first and only time, Inara lied to her brother, saying that she found them dead and there was nothing they could do. Aryndis was stunned, but he knew the gravity of their situation and put grief aside.

Inara, remembering all the times she sneaked out of her home as a child, grabbed her brother's arm and led him to a series of passages within the home. The two fled safely through these passages out of their home into the city, and, under the cover of night, they fled into the forest beyond, seeking refuge from the horrors behind them.

Exile
Two years passed, all spent with the siblings hopping between towns disguised and under different names, for fear of the men who killed her family seeking her out as well. While a new family took power in her home, Inara and Aryndis survived day by day. This new noble lineage was largely rejected by the populace, but they were accepted by the same three families rumored to have orchestrated the Lyrindyl Assassination. Meanwhile, Inara helped the two get by in secret, stealing wherever possible despite Aryndis's protests about crime. Inara's skillset helped the two survive as they hid out in old, abandoned homes, feeding on whatever Inara could scavenge or hunt for the day. The two only found solace in each other, and despite the hardship they faced, Inara found some hint of joy in this newfound time spent with her loved brother.

When she was 19, Inara caught word of her extended family gathering up an army to depose those who stole the land their family owned for generations. Altough Aryndis rejoiced and sought to help their family in the coming battle, Inara wanted nothing to do with them. Aryndis argued they had an obligation to help their family, but Inara argued Aryndis was the only family she had. She pleaded for him to stay with her, and Aryndis, although hurt, knew that he had to reclaim his home if he wished to fulfill his aspirations as a mage and ruler. Inara tearily parted ways with her brother, saying she would help with the fight from the shadows. She made one single request: tell her family and the world that she was dead.

The Lyrindyls successfully assaulted their homeland and returned to their former noble glory. Their return was welcome by the people, resented only by the powerful families. Aryndis became the new head of the Lyrindyl family at 25, as he was still the heir of his father. While managing the political affairs of his family, Aryndis simultaneously trained with expert mages in the Forbidden Woods.

Meanwhile, Inara adopted the fake name "Cass," taken from one of her favorite stories her mother would tell her about famous monster hunters who fought angels and demons. While she lived a life in the shadows, taking part in thievery and bounty work, her brother lived in the eyes of the public. Every now and then, she would surprise him, perched on the (third story) window of his room. They would reminisce together, with Inara bringing strange gifts she found in her adventures. Every time, Aryndis would ask Inara to start an honest living, and she would politely decline, saying crime and bounties are her true calling. The two maintained their sibling relationship despite their opposite lives.

Aryndis's Poisoning
A year later, while Inara was on various jobs in towns, she caught word of news related to her family. She was horrified to learn that her brother was poisoned and placed himself in magical stasis to stop himself from dying until a cure was found. Inara immediately dropped all jobs to rush home and help her brother. In secret, Inara once again sneaked into her brother's room. There, she found her brother, frozen in time, a list of magical items next to him, and a note hidden in one of her gifts."Inara,

I know only you can help me through this. I'm writing this within seconds of being poisoned, and I fear I do not have long until my death. The assassin donned the same uniform as those that attacked us years ago, and he taunted me, saying the only way to cure me was by leaving a list of magical items at a set of coordinates he provided. I can't ask you to help me; this was by my own fault anyway. I was caught off guard, and I paid the price. If I die, then let me. Thank you for everything, sister. I loved you more than you could imagine."

- Aryndis

Almost as soon as she arrived, Inara left, list of items in hand and tears of fury in her eyes. She began her personal crusade, a promise to kill everyone that harmed her family. She would hunt down the magical items to receive the antidote, then she would hunt down every person she could find that had a hand in this crime. Though once she was grateful in a way to those killed her parents, she now held only resentment for them. By whatever means necessary, through her skills of thievery and deceit, she would take vengeance and save her brother.

Hunt for the Assassin
Inara's quest led her to the infamous crime organization known as the Black Shaft. Despite Inara's own lifestyle of crime, this was a group she particularly disliked and refused to associate with. Their actions tended more towards malice, evil, and sadism; Inara may be criminal, but she is no psychopath.

Inara collected nearly every item in the list while investigating the Black Shaft. Through stolen information, cracked codes, and interrogated lackeys finally discovered the name responsible for her Aryndis's condition: Eryn Altaker. He was a ruthless boss in the Black Shaft, and he was particularly significant. Although Altaker was no mob boss, he managed and held an iron grip on a large section of the Forbidden Woods. He was known for his cruelty and oddly proficient management skills.

Cass was searching for a way to find this man when she happened to spot a strange group of adventurers wandering through the Woods. An anxious dragonborn, a homeless man riding a bison, an agitated mage, a shirtless jacked half-elf, and a Battle Nun acolyte -- a strange group, Cass thought. But possibly useful.