Special Equipment:

2 knives of excellent quality, a set of good lockpicks

Appearance:

She is of medium height, and has thick, wavy black hair.  She has been called pretty in the past, although not by many.  Her face is marred by a permanent cynical expression and a scar running from her left temple to her jawline, which she refuses to discuss.

Background:

Gypsy (not her real name) is the youngest daughter of a minor lord.  Her parents were petty, greedy people, far too concerned with social position.  All but one of her siblings, the second-to-youngest sister, were exactly the same as her parents.  They were constantly in competiton with each other, often to the point of violence.  Her brothers fought with one another about who would inherit what.  The sisters (all except the youngest two) were continually fighting about who would get to marry who.  Gypsy was the strange one.  She refused to dress as her mother thought she should, she would help the servants with the domestic chores (gasp!), and she was in general “a disgrace to her family name.”  Gypsy’s father saw his children merely as tools to improve his own position.  He made political marriages for his children; in all but two cases they never even knew they were going to get married until about a week before.  Gypsy, who was utterly sick of it all, talked her youngest sister into running away with the man she loved, a soldier whom their parents considered way beneath her.  Her father was furious.  Her mother wasn’t angry, she actually approved; she thought Gypsy had merely been getting rid of a rival (the second-to youngest sister was the prettiest). When her father calmed down, he told Gypsy that she would have to marry the man he had chosen for her sister (a lord that Gypsy absolutely detested.)  She refused.  Her father, who could never be called a kind man, flew into a violent rage, which left a permanent scar on Gypsy’s face.  Gypsy walked out, and has never set foot in her parents’ house since.  She went to the city of _________, changed her name, and has actually been quite happy.  She’s a jack-of-all-trades; she’s worked in a tavern, as a messenger, on ships (passenger, cargo, merchant, and pirate), as a con-artist, as a thief, and even did a stint in a circus.  She doesn’t stay put for very long (hence the name she chose), either because of wanderlust or outstanding warrants. 


Roleplaying Notes:

Due to various circumstances, Gypsy’s become quite good at knife fighting; there are few who can beat her, and she will fight dirty if her opponent does.  Her childhood has left her quite cynical, and she can be quite hard to get along with.  She especially views the nobility with disgust and suspicion.  She doesn’t handle compliments well, as in her family they were merely opening gambits to get at something else, and she distrusts them all on general principles now. 

Hooks:
   Perhaps she steals something of value from the PCs, or cons them in some way; her background is irrelevant here (for now). 

   Maybe they’ve run into members of her family before, and when they meet her, they notice the family resemblance. 

   Some idiot could have discovered parts of her past, and has kidnapped her for ransom; if someone’s hired the PCs, it will be a friend or her youngest sister, as her father doesn’t acknowledge Gypsy’s existance.  And quite likely, the PCs may have to save the kidnappers; Gypsy can get quite violent.

   The youngest sister could hire the PCs to track Gypsy down and bring her “home.” 

   The father could actually feel bad about what he did, and want to make amends, and hire the PCs to find Gypsy.  Not only do they have to figure out who she is, they have to find her, AND convince her they’re on the level.

   The lord might die, and for some reason (probably because his other children have all killed each other) he’s named Gypsy in his will, and the PCs get the fun of letting her know this.  Once they actually find her, they have to make her believe them, and get her to claim her inheritance, which she’s not at all interested in.

   Gypsy could come to the PCs, because something’s happened to her youngest sister, who is the only member of her family that Gypsy would actually do something for.  If her sister is in danger, then Gypsy will probaby insist on joining the PCs.  This would not be a bad thing.

   Gypsy’s father was murdered.  Someone wants Gypsy found because either she’s a suspect, he wants protect her from the killer, or he is the killer and plans to murder all of the lord’s children.  Or all three.