Name: Talia Hamur
Age: 21
Nationality: Altaran
Allegiance: The Kin.
Occupation: Courtesan
Appearance:
Come to me…
A beautiful, sinful, carnal invitation that walks, there are simply no other words to describe this lady, although there is a question about the word lady being used upon the sable haired goddess. Her eyes are large, thickly lashed and often lined with kolh, their color a rich, deep drowning peru color. Not that they often reveal her thoughts, they are eyes that beckon, that invite one to try and understand them but all too often men end up drowning within the depths rather then dissembling the mystery they present. They are framed by the dark winged arches of her eyebrows, and often half closed in a languid, soothing manner.
Her skin is golden, smooth and sun warmed and puts the contrast of her dark hair and eyes all the more at attention, all that smooth satiny skin smooth and without a blemish. For if one does appear it does not linger long. Her hair seems to be an artless tumble of fall of dark silky strands but she often spends hours to make sure not too much of the natural curl comes through. Her hair is almost always worn down, framing a delicate, defined bone structure that lends one to think of noble blood. And her full lips, they were made for kissing, just softly shaped, a sweet shade that makes one wonder if the taste of her mouth is as sweet. The white flash of even white teeth when those luscious lips split in a warm, receptive smile assure that her whole body is well taken care of.
Talia is a tall female, supporting generous curves and perhaps a slightly plumb figure but it only makes her seem more made for the bedroom then anything else. Her bosom is indeed very generous by nature and thankfully pert, although at times she wishes it were less in size. Her clothing flatters her figure, of course it does, the rich hues of reds and gold’s she favors highlighting her dusky skin tint and rich eyes, flatter her curvaceous figure. Long gowns that cling to the body till her hip and the flare with a sight slinky touch to them, plunging necklines that show of the soft slopes of her breasts.
Everything from the rolling sway of her hips when she walks to the husky timber of her voice is a sensual play on the senses, her scent is a rich vanilla musk. Jewels glimmer in her hair and on her fingers, around her throat often, gifts from men hoping to garner her attention for more then a day, not that they succeeded.
Personality:
Wouldn’t you like to know…
Haughty, she is good and she damn well knows it. Perhaps pride would be a better way of saying it, but there is not a minute that she is not perfectly composed and sure of herself. This woman has no need of anyone telling her she can’t do something, if her mind has decided it then it happens, by whatever means necessary. But she never loses her calm, never shows a inch of uncertainty, just always a languid, slow smile and delight with the world.
She is not one many understand. Rather she might show one side to one person, and another to the next, an excellent actress with no person she confides in, she stars on whatever stage she places herself in life, in any setting she demands attention and she gets it. Talia is a flirt, but not in the light hearted manner most are, oh no she captivates men and women alike, and enraptures them with just a tease of her lips, the barest brush of her body, she enjoys having people dance in attendance upon her whims and has little care for most other then herself. Her intensity is startling, those eyes able to read more then they give away, and she smolders from everything to her walk, her voice and her body language, one would have to be made of stone to not respond to the walking temptation, and she enjoys it heartily.
Talia is by no means a good person, she schemes, plots and gets what she wants by whatever means it may take, from having her bodyguards kill a rival, to ruining the name of a noble that slighted her. For all that she is a courtesan none in the nobility dare to treat her as less then a lady, her webs reach far and her painted nails are hooked into almost anything that passes through the city that is her playground, men fall at her feet and she enjoys hearing them beg for attention.
However she does have at least a sliver of care about the world outside herself. She is also a spy, a networker, part of the reason she is what she is is to gather information for a certain group of people she is loyal to, not that their name or any information will ever slip past her lips. For all that she gathers secrets into her like fish in a net she is the soul of digression. No one person has ever won her trust or loyalty though, she simply is the wolf in a lambs clothing to tempt the foolish and entrap the wary, in Maradon she is the Mistress of the Night and fears nothing.
There are however parts of her past that show her softer side, not that her trust is given to anyone, no, she protects her younger siblings from what she is and what she does, raising them outside of the city. She can be a sweet, affectionate person but it would take years to get beneath the façade the world sees, and even then, there’s no guarantee one wouldn’t end up poisoned like her once upon a time fiancé.
Her flaws are great....
Before the fall....
Pride, confidence, these are major parts of her personality, and they set her up at times for issues. She simply can not understand people who do not fall victim to her games, and when she fails at something she doesn't take it with any sort of grace. Her temper flares and she lashes out, revenging herself on whoever did her wrong, but not without carefully calculating every possible outcome. She is a sly one, and she doesn't give up on something, rather like a terrier after a bone, she will not fail, simply because she can not.
Cold, she is removed, reserved, although she may appear to live with no concerns or real thoughts about the outside world she is utterly removed from those around her on most occasions and couldn't care less if one of those in her service are harmed or killed as long as they do their job.
She's a bit of a b***h, but then...she has every right to be in her eyes
Items:
The tricks of the trade…
A peek of skin: revealing clothing, rich deep shades and in almost every style in the world. There is nothing this woman doesn’t have that touches on carnal delights to cloth herself in. She could and would tempt a saint with her lace, satin and silk, all revealing such a lovely, luscious body…
Slid over skin: Oils, massage oils, her hands work well over muscles and she often lulls people into a half asleep state, or arouses them with her skillful application of her many scented oils. Of course there may be a dose of poison in those liquids, but one really can never tell.
In a bind: silk scarves, not only for the bedroom delights, well of course there but she often plays at the game while seducing information out of a victim, ahem, client that can not do anything other then give into her questions and the pleasure she gives. Or perhaps to simply end a life that has become vexatious to her.
Diamonds are a girl's best friend: She loves glittering shinny things that tell the world that she is expensive, wealthy and powerful. Perhaps its partly girly of her but its also a sort of sweet victory to wear the spoils of her "conquests" so proudly, although every day seems to bring forth a different bauble, and the colors are chosen for the day upon her whim.
(will add more)
Weapons:
How to play the art…
The bedroom: What finer weapon for a woman then the bedroom. Upon those silken sheets, surrounded by a sea of scent candles and with her body slick with perspiration she can wring the secrets out of a man easily enough, her knowledge of bedroom arts aiding in making this battlefield her undefeated base, and one she has no compulsion against using.
Poison: Talia does rather have a fondness for this tool, it is one that has served her well for years even before her body was sold to the highest bidder. Although not all of them kill, no many of the things she has developed to use will prompt people into following her wishes, make them spill the truth and are as powerful as anything the Aes Sedai can come up with.
Hairpins: Just ornaments no? Such simple, harmless little things. Not in this female’s hands, hers are specially made and able to serve as lock picks or small daggers, all depending on the size, all it takes is blending them out into the true shape, hidden as a ladies accessory. Waste not want not, especially in appearance.
Talents:
In these skilled hands…
Well, aren't these rather obvious?
She is most skilled perhaps at being temptation, whether sexual or not, she reads people and figures out how to tempt them into doing things the way that she wants. What need is there for violence when there are so much sweeter ways of accomplishing what one wishes. Her eyes are quick and her mind sharp, she notices things about people some don't even realize about themselves and she plays off it, enjoying every moment of her superiority.
Of course she's good at sex, there is no way around that of course, but it is more then that. She is always playing a game, always keeping people guessing, so she enthralls them and they can't help coming back for more, like an addict to a drug. Although on a small scale she is a ruthless and skilled player of Daes Daemar, playing with people passes her time and most often they never know it has happened.
History:
And so it begins....
It was a normal life and good circumstance that this lovely lady was born. As normal a household as can be in fact, a loving mother, doting father, and the first born as well. She was the apple of her father's eye and the indulgence of her mother's heart. She could do no wrong in their eyes, nor in any of the servants, her mother was a descendant of nobility several generations back, her father a well off merchant so they kept a fashionable house and she had all she could wish for. Yet she was not a bad child, nor spoiled extremely, she had no want for anything because her needs were simple and she was almost always delighted over something at least once a hour.
She grew in this state of sweet innocence as the twins were born, Leda and Orrun, three years younger then her and then the baby, Caru, who followed the others by two years. At the tender age of seven however things changed drastically.
Her father, a gentle, slow man although large in size was caught out in a storm and though at first seemed fine, soon became ill with a violent cold. The doctors assured the household that he would recover, only he didn't and she watched her father slowly fade from life into death before her eyes as the days passed. Her mother was inconsolable. Tali, the nickname her sister Leda gave her, was forced to grow up a little and take on the care of her siblings. For nearly half a year she watched as her mother altered from the open, happy, laughing person she had known to someone else, worried that she too would be taken from her.
Perhaps it would have been better if she had.
After two years, at her sister's insistence Talia's mother went back into society, leaving the house and the black dresses she had clung to in rememberance. She met Derran, a man who looked startlingly like her late love and when after two months of courtship he proposed she accepted him eagerly, caring not for the dark rumors she heard or her own children's dislike of the male. He looked like Thomas and that was all that mattered to her.
He had a heavy hand. The whole house soon learned the truth of this and Talia at first tried to protect her mother from it, to convince her mother to take the matter to the law makers, females were not treated like chattel in Saldaea, but her mother would deny it, saying over and over that her Derran would not really harm her. And so Talia gave up on trying to protect her as often, focusing instead on keeping the children out of his notice and away from his cruelty. Only things changed again for the worse when one late winter night a scream rent the air of the house, and summoned Talia running to her mother's bedchamber.
The door was battered down, her mother had finally stood up to him slightly, only it was in vain, for her form was sprawled out over the white of her sheets with blood staining the fabric in an ever widening pool. The sight is burned into her memory, is behind her eyes when she sleeps at night.
No one acted though, for he moved them away the next day, and all thought that his wife moved with them, the servants were dismissed and she was kept on a tight leash, he knew that she knew of his crime, of his violence and he made sure she had no chance to tell anyone. It was also communicated in subtle ways that if she should try to carry the tale to anyone one of the children would suffer. So she held her tongue, her sweet disposition disappearing into a haughty hauteur as she swore to herself to revenge her mother's death.
From the ages of nine to thirteen she guarded her siblings, made sure he was well drunk at night and indisposed to do any real harm. She was an adult, with world weary eyes and a beginning of a hatred for all men. But the memory of her father lingered in her, and both Orrun and Caru had her love, despite being male. Yet things were to change again, in another drastic turn that left her bewildered. Her stepfather had become weary of her interference, her quiet, damning eyes.
He auctioned her off in a house party he held for his friends.
She was sold, to a man who's name she does not remember, and taken away like a thing. Only she was not as meek as she had seemed, she carried her mother's wedding dagger with her, her mother having been Altaran, and she, unlike the gentle spirit of her mother was not afraid to defend herself. Not that she was able to get up the nerve the first night, no her innocence was plundered but after six months passing in such a fashion and the man raising his hand to her she happily slit his throat and escaped from the cell she had been kept in.
Her first stop upon that freedom was to her stepfather were he was disposed of, and with such neat precision as well, she was remarkably cold in the deaths that she gave, the blood not phasing her in a bit, even as it stained the softness of her skin.
She took the children then, taking all the money and valuables she might need and packing the coach herself to set them off to the capital of the country, Maradon. She sold off several things, and used his disgusting last name to get into his bank as his daughter, using his money to buy a house for her siblings outside the city, working her way through governesses before finally finding one she approved of. The same grueling process was repeated for each of the servants she hired, and she made sure to get insurance upon each of them, a secret they wanted no one to know. She held them in her hands and used them to protect those who mattered most to her.
Tali realized then that she was not the sweet girl she had been, that there was no need for that female, nor was there any reason to worry about making other people happy. People only cared for themselves and their own, so she abandoned all worry about the feelings of others and the common good. There was only her own good. And if the world was going to screw her over well she could screw it right back. She cut off all relations with her siblings, protecting them from what she was, what she had to do, but made sure to keep an careful eye over them.
She started small, learning the tricks of the trade from other women, staying away from real notice, using tricks to disguise her appearance until she felt she was good enough, hard enough and quick enough to be at the top of the game, all the while building upon her nest egg of secrets, increasing her sway upon the people of the city. At the age of nineteen she stepped forward, or rather, drove into to the city again, revealed in all her glory and began her true rise to power. She bought one of the best houses in the city, close to the palace, shopped with the ladies, her money was good, saved up over the years in a separate account from what she put aside for the children. And she made more money, by the hour, the night, she grew her fortune with that ready smile, the heated languid eyes and the curves and scent that pressed her into the memory of many.
Talia hasn't looked back, if there was someone who endangered her in anyway, they died. It was simple. She thought she was in love once, even allowing herself to say yes to a proposal to the man in question, however when she found out that he was eloping with another lady he was quickly dealt with by a special concoction of poison. Blood was so messy after all. She is the Mistress of the Night in Maradon, and anyone who crosses her better be ready, she isn't the lady she appears.
Age of Chaos - A Wheel of Time RP Guild
