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⸻⠀the self⠀⸻
Zazi is quick to fight and quicker to run her mouth. If she doesn't like someone, or the situation she's in, her first resort will be to argue or fight her way out. She is slow to trust, but when she does find a worthwhile friend, she is loyal to the end. She can be crass and boorish, but underneath her crusty shell she has a warm heart reserved for those who earn it.
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral -- survival comes first.
LIKES: Fresh fruit, loyal friends, and green places.
DISLIKES: Liars, weaklings, and arbitrary rules.
⸻⠀the body⠀⸻
HEIGHT: 5'9"
HAIR COLOR / STYLE: Naturally black, but often dyed crimson or auburn; Armpit length and frequently tied back or done in multiple braids
EYES: Light brown with a faint reddish tint
SKIN TONE: Kermit Green
PHYSIQUE: Lean and muscular
DOM. HAND: Left-handed
APPARENT AGE: Appears early twenties, is actually 18
VOICE: Middle alto, similar to Cortana, or Shinobu Nagumo in the English dub of Patlabor
MODIFICATIONS // Both ears pierced. No other modifications.
SCARS / MARKINGS // Small scars on the right bicep and shoulder, and on the abdomen, from being cut and stabbed in past fights.
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⸻⠀the ability and tools⠀⸻
Zazi spent her early years in a hilly wilderness where she learned how to to hunt small game with sling and spear, and how to spot and avoid the many dangers of the natural world. When she was 7 years old, she was brought to Khare as a slave, whereupon she escaped into the city's underworld and fell in with an orcish gang which taught her how to pick pockets, run scams, play lookout, and break into buildings. As she got older and stronger, she naturally fell into the role of a gang enforcer, becoming skilled in the use of knives, small axes, clubs, staves, and spears to win streetfights with other gangs, as well as her own two fists when nothing else was available (and feet, and elbows, and teeth). Zazi learned at an early age that fighting dirty is the same thing as fighting to win, and that those who stick to principles generally lose.
ABILITIES // Fighting, sneaking, climbing, picking locks, and disarming traps.
ATTIRE // Sleeveless linen tops, typically sandy-brown; baggy canvas pants or shorts, sometimes skirts, usually dark in tone; snakeskin boots, dark brown; two slings tied around her body: a short one around the head that doubles as a headband, and a longer one around the waist that doubles as a belt. When expecting a fight, she will also wear a vest made of tough boiled leather, with attached shoulder pads, a pair of leather bracers on her forearms, and sometimes a steel-backed glove on the right hand (which is her lead hand when wielding a spear).
GEAR // Typically walks around with a short spear (6 feet long) or a quarterstaff in hand, depending on the rules regarding openly-carried weapons in the place where she's going. She has two slings tied around her body, and a pouch of round stones and lead balls hanging from the front of her belt. On her left hip there is a hatchet, and on her right hip there is a 9-inch dagger.
INVENTORY // Various thievery tools and a few pyrotechnics for use as distractions.
⸻⠀the story⠀⸻
Zazi was born into a nomadic tribe in the wilderness hills many miles from Khare. While the tribe revered a common ancestor who was an orc, they had interbred with human women for so many generations that it is safe to say the entire tribe could be called half-orcs. Children of her tribe were expected to become self-sufficient by the age of four, where a child who could not hunt his or her own food was expected to starve. Most of Zazi's time was spent on her own, exploring the wilderness and in several cases narrowly avoiding death at the hands of lions, snakes, and other wild creatures. She climbed mountains and explored the many caves of her tribal land, alongside the other children in her tribe.
When she was seven years old, her tribe's warriors were defeated by a rival tribe. The victorious enemies then raided her settlement, slaughtering the remaining men and taking the women and children as slaves. Zazi and her mother were sold to a merchant from Khare, who brought them to the great city to carry out domestic tasks for his household. It was less than a year into this arrangement when Zazi's mother got into a dispute with her master, and in the ensuing struggle the merchant strangled her to death. Watching this happen right in front of her, Zazi without thinking picked up a knife that was nearby and stabbed her master to death with it. She then escaped out of a window just as the merchant's guards were running to see what the commotion was about. Zazi ran through the streets and did not stop until she was in the deepest slums.
Finding herself alone in a strange place, as her rage faded and fear began to take over, Zazi might not have survived that night if not for a gang of orc-blooded men and women who took her in. They put her to good use, stealing and spying for them, taking advantage of her small size and innocent appearance to get into places the older thieves could not. She learned the ways of the gang, and by the time she was 15, she was doing her part in fighting to guard their territory against rival gangs. Her natural orcish strength made her a decent fighter, but it was a combination of ferocity, quickness, and critical precision that made her dangerous in a brawl, able to get around and spear her foes from angles they did not expect, or pull a knife that they didn't see coming, or throw herself into a sudden attack without warning or regard for her own safety.
When she was around 17 or 18, a seasoned veteran by the standards of orcish thugs, Zazi started looking beyond her gang, with aspirations of becoming something greater than a mere goon. Part of this had to do with a gang war that killed off many of her gang's better fighters, and part of it was a restless ambition to see the world and make a name for herself. She started taking basic security jobs guarding shops and warehouses, escorting shipments of goods through the city, collecting debts, and other activities that could be considered legal or semi-legal work. All the while she kept her eye on the bigger prizes, being the guilds and fellowships of adventurers with their big-game monster hunts and expeditions to find ancient relics. One day, she would escape the morass of Khare's underworld and count herself among those famous adventurers who travel the world and fear no earthly power.
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