Lethe

Name: Lethe
Age: 22
Orientation: Biromantic asexual
Gender: Female

Occupation: Guard for hire
Squad: Weyr Dragonriders/Wherhandlers only
Lodgings: The Flit

Appearance: Tall, lean and dark-skinned, Lethe might not be the most intimidating warrior - but she does look quite striking. She has strong features, and a curved beak of a nose, with dark, tilted eyes. Her black hair is cut at ear length, and though she might have been willowy once, she has traded curves for muscle and a small collection of scars. The most obvious is a thin, pale scar on her cheek, below her right eye. 

She isn't brawny, though she has more than enough upper arm strength for most encounters - it's agility, reflexes and speed that are more to her advantage, and she knows quite a few nasty ways to kick and hook someone's legs out from under them if she does meet her match in speed and strength.

Personality: Lethe is rather cold. This can be seen from the moment of meeting her - she views things from a distance, rarely inclined to be social, and though she's hardly emotionless, she is very pragmatic. Logic and common sense are important to her, and she has a very low opinion of melodramatics, angst and so forth. She knows everyone has emotions and feels strongly, but that doesn't mean they have to run around and be impractical about it. She has high standards, and holds the whole world to them - though herself even more than the rest. She has some perfectionist traits, and will push herself incredibly hard to achieve a goal. Lethe is also not inclined to stay quiet if she has an opinion. She's not aggressive about what she needs to say, but she will say it, and will question orders and pick apart arguments if she feels they are fatally flawed, often with a sort of ruthless precision.

All of this ensures she doesn't really have many friends.

It helps that she's absolutely awful in social situations. Give her a fight or a task or facing a monster and she's fine - she has a cool head and good instincts. Give her people, though, and she's liable to withdraw and act more like a statue than a living person. It's not just her general tactlessness, though that's part of it. She's blunt, and though she can be sarcastic, that's only when she feels comfortable with the conversation. She knows what to expect of battles and chores and heavy work, and if given good orders, she'll follow them willingly. Actually just talking is where she either insults people by accident or just feels awkward and extremely out of place, leading her to just sort of stand there until she can excuse herself.

Lethe loves knives. Well, blades in general, but especially knives. And fighting. And naturally, fighting with knives is the best thing. She might not be much of a romantic or a poet, but she knows what she's good at - and that's fighting. There is something about it that seems clean and fluid, despite the inherent danger, like her whole world is sharpened down to just her and her opponent, and there is nothing she likes more. Of course, she knows how to defend herself otherwise - no need to skimp on that - but it's what she adores. Focused and determined, Lethe is a warrior at heart. Just... don't make her give speeches. Or go to parties.

History:

• Lethe was born in the Neath, and her family - an erratic collection of zailors, the occasional thief, some guards and enforcers - had been in Igen since before its Fall. Apparently an ancestor had been a Wingleader or something - though that could just be bragging.
• As such, from an early age she was taught the rougher aspects of handling herself on her own or with others - though her two brothers were much rowdier than her.
• It was knife fighting that she found the most interesting - and she had a talent for it, only almost slicing her thumb off once as she learned it.
• Her childhood was accordingly rough and tumble, though she also took some interest in the bright parts of the Neath, the glittering parties and its distinctive natural beauty (glowing mushrooms not included). 
• She kind of didn't pay much attention to all of its mysteries and secrets and weird dreams because she had better things to do??? like learn to stab people??? 
• So yeah, big training montage here where she tRAINED A LOT and also started annoying people by not being whimsical and poetic and dramatic like a normal Neath person
• Seriously Persuasive was clearly her dump stat
• Then she decided to argue with a tomb-colonist and he might have decided to cut her up and that's the story of how she got her scar (and also how she didn't expect someone to fit another knife under those bandages)
• She left to mAKE HER FORTUNE when she was seventeen and pretty confident in taking people down with knives and she's been hiring herself out for dangerous jobs with fighting in them ever since
• And maybe taking on some opponents in the rings when jobs are scarce but shhh

Family:
An extended clan of the rougher sorts, for the most part - though they've got some cousins who manage to have entered higher society and spend their time slitting people's throats with rumour and gossip. She's got a cousin who's an enforcer, and several more who are more or less dabbling in criminal activities. Her parents are zailors so she doesn't see much of them, and doesn't mind that. Occasionally her brothers help her track down a fighting ring to take part in, and occasionally she guards their backs as a not talked about exchange of services. Her family tends to be a bit more open and raucously welcoming than she is, but they have a good understanding, and let her keep her distance.