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Name: Linette Botten
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Date of Birth: 3 Harvestmere, 9:13 Dragon in Denerim
Occupation: Spy-Baby-Master for Alistair Theirin
Companion(s): N/A
Storming in at 5’5”, Linette is a tiny little teapot full of steam (and maybe a bit of vinegar). Her no nonsense approach at life is evident in her appearance. She usually wears her rusette hued hair pulled back in a single or double ponytails to keep her hair out of her eyes. “My daughter, she’s full of shit. Just look at her eyes,” was a way her father used to describe her dark brown eyes. Small bits of baby fat she has yet to shed stubbornly cling to her cheeks and chin. Unlike the rest of her body is her butt. Baby got a trunk with a lot of junk for someone with her small frame.
Class: Rogue
Specialization: Bard
Weapons & Armor:
Linette possesses two daggers -- one Silverite and the other Veridium. The silverite dagger came into her ownership around the time of the Blight. She ‘inherited’ it from a man she found dead in an alley. The veridium dagger she has had for some time and it shows. Dings and nicks mar the blade and hilt. She has the coin to buy new weapons but would rather spend it on something more fun (and often has).
While in the employment of Teyrn Cousland, she was fitted for a set of leather armor to wear during her duties as a guard and scout for the Teyrn.
Languages: Common (Both)
Non-Combat Skills:
Master: Stealth
Expert: Lock picking, Legerdemain, Streetwise, Coercion
Intermediate: Drinking, Investigation, Bargaining, Acrobatics, Running, Scouting, Tracking, Climbing, Searching, Fereldan Heraldry, Contacts
Novice: Disguise, Etiquette, Gambling, Traps, Poison Lore, Herbalism, Writing, Poison Lore, Cryptography, Performance, Fereldan History, Dancing
Combat Skills:
Master:
Expert: Unarmed Combat
Intermediate: Dual Weapons (Daggers), Song of Valor
Novice: Encore, Distraction
Armor Proficiency: Medium
Sweet little cupcake baked by an abomination - this is Linette. She’s not the tallest person out there though one might think so by the way she comports herself. No one can hurt you if you don’t let them.
She grew in a harsh and inhospitable world. No one looks out for you if you don’t look out for yourself. This has absolutely colored her world view and made it hard for her to make personal connections with people. Highly distrusting, she is constantly trying to figure out what ‘game’ people are up to.
Highly sarcastic, Linette keeps that attitude armor up at most times only letting those few that have managed to get through her distrust barrier see though boredom is usually what leads to his most interesting adventures.
Work for Fergus Cousland has caused Linette’s somewhat sharp edge to soften some. She acknowledges that sometimes you have to help a fellow human out; something she would have never done before the Blight. She is also fiercely loyal to those people that have earned her trust.
A drunk father, a dead mom, Linette’s childhood was not what most would call ‘blessed’. A sickness took her mother when Linette was only 5. Devastated by the loss of his wife, her father turned to the drink to find solace often leaving Linette alone for long stretches of time. With no relatives nearby to look after her, this meant that Linette had to learn at a very young age how to fend for herself.
At first, she was able to use the cute little girl angle. It got her hand-me down clothing and food at the small cost of a few ‘oh you poor dears’ and a pinched cheek or two. But as she grew older and a bit of the little girl cuteness faded, she found it harder and harder to use the pout of the lip and the downcast gaze of her eyes to help her get by.
She was at an awkward age when she was entirely too boy like to attract men with her femininity and entirely too old to make older women frown and cry at her misfortune. Luck happened to be her lady one summer afternoon when she attempted to pick the pocket of a rather well dressed man in the middle of the marketplace in Denerim. He caught her with no difficulty. Her skills were far from honed at the tender age of 10. And while her fingers were small and nimble, her ability was sloppy and sluggish.
This man, however, saw something in her she never was quite able to pinpoint and told her that he would help her. He dubbed her ‘his little mouse’ and told her he would teach her to be just that..a mouse. In and out of shadow, she would move. Tiny and unseen, she could take what she needed and others would be none the wiser.
So, during the times when he father was drunk (which really was most times of the day, afternoon and evening), she would steal away to the man she began to call Big Papa, BP for short. He was a bit over-weight and had become a secondary father figure to her.
He taught her how to caress the umbrae, how to obscure herself from view at the snap of the finger, how to pick a lock as easily as one might sneeze, and how to free a coin purse from a man’s side without so much as batting an eyelash. And for each successful mark, each successful quest, he would give her a prize, a spoon. At first, these spoons were plain, iron soup spoons that could be found in any tavern throughout Ferelden. But as she grew more skilled and succeeded in freeing items from more difficult targets, the spoons became more exotic and fancy. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward, he would tell her.
It was a golden age for Linette, but all good things come to an end and hers came to an abrupt halt the year of her fourteenth. BP was found dead in a private room at the Pearl. No one was able to say exactly how the dagger found its way into his chest.
Linette took what skills she had learned from BP and began to freelance, taking small jobs where she could and her self-selected jobs as they presented themselves. She was able to scrape by a meager enough living, able to provide food for her table and a small allowance for her father (though his only method of thanks was to comment on how large her ass was becoming. You’ll have the arse of your mom if you aren’t careful, girl.).
Eventually she found herself allying with a small group of children like herself. The FoF they called themselves, the Forgotten of Ferelden. They were too old for children charities but too young to be considered adults. They banded together and formed a small gang of cut throat teens ready to do what was necessary to survive.
She stayed with those people she called her ‘friends’ until the Blight came to Denerim and brought an end to the world as they knew it. Demons and monsters rained their destruction upon the city, bringing a wave of death and decay like no other. Base instincts took control and the street rats of Denerim scattered. Linette sought refuge in the Alienage.
She was luckier than most. Her father was not. He died during the Blight.
When the wreckage was cleared, when the total of damage was surveyed, she was the only member of the FoF still remaining in Denerim. Her friends either left all together, or died. She was unsure.
For the next year, she wandered, picking purses when necessary. She did what she had to in order to survive. It was when she picked one of those pockets that her life changed in a way she would have never expected. Her hand slipped into Fergus Cousland’s pocket and he offered her a job.
Once in Highever, Linette found new purpose and a new family. She met her brother from another mother, Ferren, there. Ferren and Linette are two swaths of the same time-eaten cloth. There is no one she trusts more in the world.
As a member of Fergus Cousland’s guard, Linette learned how to be a scout and met Leliana who took Linette in as an apprentice and taught her how to be a bard. These teachings by Leliana (as well as a written recommendation) recently landed Linette a position in King Alistair Theirin’s employ. She is actively working on creating a spy network for the King.
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