Arpessa
From FiranMUX
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Contents |
Overview
Arpessa, or Pessa the Beggar as she is often called, is known by many and significant to few. She can frequently be seen haunting the benches or bathhouse steps in the Forum, smiling cheerfully at passers-by and beseeching them to, as she puts it, 'spare a few stenis so the gods smile on your mercy.' She is in many ways the quintessential teenager: uncertain, silly, full of herself, flighty, unmotivated, directionless, and obsessed with a famous prince.
Personality
Pessa likes to have fun, usually to the exclusion of all else. She likes her drinking a little too much, is fond of quick-and-dirty brawls, is indiscriminate in her relationships with men, and is a raging flirt. She's quite merry and usually rather pleasant to hang out with, bringing that spark of life to the party and always willing to speak up with outrageous ideas to liven things up even more. She relishes experiences more than material belongings, and can't hang onto her money or a grudge for very long. She tends to like everyone, unless there's a really good reason for her not to, and even then, as often as not she'll forgive them quickly anyhow.
Family Life
As a girl, Pessa lived with her parents in Unotran. Her mother was a servant in a well-to-do middle class house, so they had lodging there, and the girl got a bit of education, and plenty to eat. Since she's been in Anarinuell, she lives alone, with her dog Rine, and doesn't seem to miss it too much.
Parents
Marpia: Pessa's mum was a servant, and had learned a little bit about a lot of different skills in order to be most useful to her employers. Pessa believed she could do just about anything, and pretty much idolized her. She died of illness when Pessa was ten.
Uvind: Uvind, her dad, was an armorer and possibly an alcoholic. They left Unotran together after Marpia died, and as it turned out, he had contracted the same illness and died en route to Anarinuell. Arpessa didn't like spending time with him, really.
Siblings
Arpessa is an only child.
Children
Pessa had a baby in December of 44 A.U., and it's no real secret that the kid got handed over to Aryka to raise pretty much the moment it came out of the oven. The whelp got named Helo and Pessa gets to see him from time to time, show him off to all her friends, and give him back over to Aryka to do the work. It's a perfect arrangement, really.
Marriage
None. Nor does she anticipate or hope to have that changed anytime in the near future. She likes being single, see. When you're married, generally your husband doesn't let you bring men home. She does, however, believe in the Cockatrice idea of arranged marriages. The idea of setting up your own marriage seems like cheating to her. Like it wouldn't be a real marriage, somehow.
Accomplishments
- When she was a kid, she got taken in by Bliss, a whore, after she came to Anarinuell. There was a great fuss about a child living in a den of prostitution, and Pessa was sent to live at Kamnestra's Temple and Bliss's house was ruined after a huge legal battle. Pessa still feels slightly bad about this. I mean, it wasn't really her fault, but still.
- One time, Prince Banian happened to come into the Forum while she was there. She flashed him, and got a signed scroll for her trouble. Score! She will keep it forever.
- At Shade's hanging gardens charity auction, Pessa managed to come away with a huge barrel of spectacular whiskey /and/ a hound dog, all scot-free. She didn't steal any of it, either. That's taking charity to a whole new level.
- Pessa did learn how to sew. While she's not good, and would never go into business trying to make it as a tailor, she doesn't mind doing some light seamstress work from time to time, and occasionally makes up dolls and clothes and things, as her whims dictate. The clothes are nearly always crap, but there's usually a market for stuff like that in the Old City.
- Pessa was party to the rescue of Mes Passonia from the wily clutches of one Mer Andreas in the spring of 45 A.U. Her friend Aeloria came to her saying she'd seen the man manhandling Passonia in the Palace District, so Pessa found someone who could tell her where he lived and they held him in his apartment until finally some guards searched the room and found the mes, shoved in a trunk. The cad! Not that she got any recognition or credit for her heroism, of course. Small surprise.
- At the Spring Festival of 49 A.U., Lord Judanus held a drunken brawling contest. Pessa managed to smash her way into the final round (despite being too dizzy to do more than lie on the grass and stare at the spinning clouds, at one point), and shocked everyone when her match against Lucas (that would be ex-Prince Lucas) ended with them both deciding to screw the fighting and, instead, go off and screw each other. It was pretty epic, by any standards. More so when she eventually figured out who he was.
Allies
Aryka Istems: A wenchy Old City cook, and probably Pessa's best friend. She gave her baby to Aryka when it came, but even more than that, these two look out for each other.
Genaros Tabernik: A merchant who runs Genarosity, a shop of odds-and-ends out of a tent in the Forum. She supplies him with weird and ugly clothes, he supplies her with a steady source of income. It works marvelously.
Gilin Istems: The madame of the White Dove. She and Pessa are becoming pretty friendly, and she's helped Gilin out with various events the Dove has thrown on more than one occasion. Pessa has maintained for most of her adult life that becoming a Dove would turn Eeshaing into work and spoil all the fun, but that doesn't mean she can't hang out with the girls there.
Furen Istems: Pessa isn't sure what to do with Furen. On one hand, he's kind of fun and entertaining, if gruff. On the other, he's a bit skeezy, plus Aryka seems worried about Pessa getting too close to him. He promised to help bring her brawling to the Next Level, though. He's a good one to know.
Aeloria: A lady's maid, and a waller, but a decent one who talks to Pessa and not at her. They are occasionally in cahoots and she is often up for a bit of fun.
Enemies
Weinus: Eagle. Towel boy. OMFGHAWT. They used to be next-door-neighbors and long-term lovers, once upon a time, but it went bad somehow in 48 A.U. and Pessa has not forgiven him. She spent a lot of time trying to think of ways to make his life miserable, and would still go out of her way to annoy him if the opportunity presented itself. It's too bad, because they used to be golden together. Oh well.
Waldrik: This Halfie keeps turning up in places where Pessa can beat on him, and so she does. She's knocked him out in the Barnacle Inn, in a Festival Brawling Battle Royale, and in a Festival drunken brawl, to date. At this point she enjoys seeing him just because it gives her the chance to take out some pent-up aggression. Rawr!
Tarran Senista: This young man used to be a guard, and when he was, he was always trying to drag her in for some made-up offense. She heard he isn't a guard anymore, but she'd still like to beat him up again if she ever gets the chance.
Tikhta: This half-Shamibelian man is a Kamnestran initiate, or used to be, or something. Reason enough for Pessa to dislike him, but moreover, while she was off in Lurashar, her rent ran out, and he had the nerve to rent out the apartment she'd been living in for YEARS. Fecktwaffle. She has no love of halfies anyhow, but this one in particular deserves a kick in the junk if she ever catches him.
Scandals
Being unmarried and pregnant is quite a scandal, but really, scandals just seem to slide off of Pessa's back. She just doesn't have that sense of social shame.
Miscellany
Habits
- Grammar. Pessa actually does not speak with the traditional 'Old City' accent. Her upbringing was monitored by a middle class family, so her Firan is quite good, and although she often uses contractions and is informal in her daily speech, she doesn't have the thick incomprehensible dialect of some of her peers. She can also speak with perfectly decent waller speech patterns without thinking too hard about it.
- Begging. She can often be found hanging out in the Forum, or at a sporting event or festival, trying to earn some cash the fast way.
- Spending money. As quick as she earns it, she spends it. Random bits of clothes, drinks at the Dice, gambling, baths... whatever, it seems to slip through her hands like water. She's always running out of cash or asking to borrow money from her friends.
Likes
- Prince Banian. Oh, does she ever. She has huge posters of him hung on her walls, she collects dolls and autographs and goodness only knows what else, and she squeals anytime the Prince happens to go through the Forum. She is one of those ones cheering ENTHUSIASTICALLY.
- Fighting. Fistfighting in particular is her cup of tea, and her favorite way to unwind if she's really really stressed. Followed by copious amounts of drinking.
- Whiskey. No party is complete without Arpessa, and Pessa is not complete without a good cup or five (or a bottle, that'd be even better) of whiskey in her hand. She's not only an angry drunk, or a happy drunk, or a sad drunk: she can be any or all of the above, depending on her mood before she starts drinking. It's like gambling, in that way, but the upside is that she doesn't have to deal with herself while drunk. Everybody else has to.
- Dogs. Pessa has a girl hound named Rine that she got from Clan Leader Fidelia at Shade's garden auction, and she loves that dog. Dogs are silly and unpredictable, like her, and very affectionate. Like her. Yeah.
- Men. With few exceptions.
Dislikes
- Titles. Pessa never uses a title in reference to herself, and rarely in reference to anyone else, either. With nobles she'll toss out the obligatory "m'lord, m'lady," but it's obviously half-assed. She can't be bothered and doesn't think of it, usually.
- Being Preached At. Especially regarding things like Propriety and The Value of An Honest Day's Work. Stuff it, already.
- Halfies. Nobody likes halfies though, right?
- Marriage. It's not that she has anything against the institution, as such. It's more the fact that it takes perfectly decent guys off the market, so to speak, because so many of them have this weird hangup about being faithful to their wives. Pessa simply doesn't see why they have to choose one or the other.
- Pregnancy. Her pregnancy with Helo was hellish, both physically (the cramps, the backaches, the fatness, the LABOR..) and emotionally. She did not like being pregnant, did not plan to become that way, and has no intention of ever, ever becoming pregnant again. For any reason. She takes great pains to avoid the possibility.
