The Inn of the Singing Rose

Before Irae: Jalisa was born into a loving family, her father the head of a nomadic gypsy clan, her mother training with the Spirit Woman to take her place when the time arrived for her to join their ancestors. She grew up surrounded by friend and family, learning the skills neccessary for the day when she would marry and would be mother to the clan as her husband would be father.

She was betrothed at birth, growing up in the companionship of her intended, playing, eating and eventually hunting at his side. She was given a necklace on the night of her 16th birthday, the pendant from her father, an emblem of their clan passed from chieftan to chieftan, the golden band forged by her betrothed. That night sealed the union, with only a ceremony to follow in the morning.

Bonfires blazed brightly that night, the wine flowing freely among the celebrating gypsies. That night they celebrated both the birth of their chief's daughter and her impending wedding to her childhood love. Jalisa's heart soared with the promise of the new life she was to begin with the dawn. No one could have known that morning would never come for the people who danced about the fires that night and that they had welcomed their destruction with open arms...

The slaughter began an hour before sunrise, the killer silent, slitting throats before an alarm could be raised. Jalisa awoke to a startled gasp, her mother laying dead at her side, glassy eyes staring up at the ceiling of their tent. She turned just as her father fell, his dagger protruding from his chest. She screamed and backed away, into the legs of the murderer. What followed left her heart scarred and her mind shattered. Left to die from the many cuts and bruises he had placed on her body, Jalisa stared at the rising sun, the horizon blurry with the tears that slid down her cheeks, before she closed her eyes and willed herself to die, to be with all that she loved.

By the grace of the gods, or perhaps with the guidance of her clan's spirit, Jalisa was found and taken into the comfort of a sister clan. Her physical wounds were healed, while those unseen in her mind and soul festered and grew more painful. Her body healed, her mind filled with revenge, she swore a blood oath upon the site of her clan's slaughter and left to find the man responsible. Vengance led her to the docks of Sanctus Irae, revenge freed her from the prison of her mind and the friendship of one woman gave her the strength to find a new life in the city.