Annika van Reede
A reserved yet lovely woman of no more than twenty years, with flaxen hair and gray-blue eyes. Her remarkably fair and soft skin betrays a gentle life lived indoors, especially in comparison to her twin brother. Dressed with muted and tasteful refinement, she behaves with carefully cultivated manners—a young woman of some foreign upper-middle class upbringing. She always wears fine gloves, smiles with measured warmth but never laughs, and—most unusually—moves with a measured, stoic gait due to some weakness in her left leg. She seems well-accustomed to adjusting, graceful even despite whatever difficulty or pain it might cause her.
Close observation may detect a keen and analytical intelligence, with hands that are often clasping some tome to be thumbed through later. At times the tools of a merchant or alchemist might be seen on her.
Notes:
She brings with her a prized possession: the seeds of the chili pepper plant, which she is determined to cultivate for profit.
Family:
- Johann van Reede, Annika's twin brother.
- Willem van Reede (father, patriarch). Head of the Van Reede family and a tireless business man. Fairly distant to his children and mainly concerned with the family’s wealth and standing.
- Pieter van Reede, eldest son and heir of the Van Reede family. Groomed to take over as head of the family.
- Katelijn van Reede, mother. An accomplished practitioner of mercantile law.
Annika van Reede was born in the oligarchy of Thesk, lucky enough to grow up in a privileged merchanting family with tutors, a governess, and a fine education. The Time of Troubles and the subsequent invasion of their homeland ended these happy years, as the Van Reede family fled west across the sea, to the feudal and rather miserable nation of Impiltur. The locals’ pious, dour customs proved to be a challenge to the Van Reede family, but their patriarch was a shrewd and ruthless man determined to assimilate and preserve their wealth and station at any cost. Betrothals, bribes, and shows of piety—whatever it took.
Among the measures to secure the family’s place in upper society once again, the patriarch placed his youngest, the twins Johann and Annika, with the local Triadic church to continue their education. Johann took to it well, endeavoring to become a Triadic knight, and Annika adapted in time despite her initial youthful rebellions. While matters of faith proved to be of little interest to the girl, the Triad’s chirurgeons found in her a clever and eager student. As she and her brother grew into their teens, they acclimated to the gray nation and its grim politics, ever balancing their home culture alongside the new.
After a reckless mage’s accident nearly killed the young Annika and left her leg broken and bent, Annika’s life was forever changed. The magic-reliant healers of the Triad could do only so much—but luckily for Annika, coin has a way of making things possible. A dwarven alchemist from the nearby Earthfast mountains was hired, in the hopes that his experimental work might help her to one day walk again. In time the two became close, as Annika grew into a fiercely intelligent young woman determined to make the best of her circumstances. As her mobility improved, Birnis was convinced (at least partially by coin…) to stay on as her tutor. While the family patriarch had little interest in seeing to his daughter’s every wish, he could see the plain value that the dwarven artificer’s skills could bring to the family.
Still, the experience had left a grim mark on Annika. She grew up cloistered in the family’s countryside manor, finding escape in fervent scholarship and helping manage the family business. Now she is a reserved but determined woman, an aspiring alchemist and artificer, but most importantly and aspiring businesswoman. The warnings of Varghem Eremyr and the Palestone Order ring true to her ears, for she has been raised in their shadow and quietly understood the danger better than most.
Among the measures to secure the family’s place in upper society once again, the patriarch placed his youngest, the twins Johann and Annika, with the local Triadic church to continue their education. Johann took to it well, endeavoring to become a Triadic knight, and Annika adapted in time despite her initial youthful rebellions. While matters of faith proved to be of little interest to the girl, the Triad’s chirurgeons found in her a clever and eager student. As she and her brother grew into their teens, they acclimated to the gray nation and its grim politics, ever balancing their home culture alongside the new.
After a reckless mage’s accident nearly killed the young Annika and left her leg broken and bent, Annika’s life was forever changed. The magic-reliant healers of the Triad could do only so much—but luckily for Annika, coin has a way of making things possible. A dwarven alchemist from the nearby Earthfast mountains was hired, in the hopes that his experimental work might help her to one day walk again. In time the two became close, as Annika grew into a fiercely intelligent young woman determined to make the best of her circumstances. As her mobility improved, Birnis was convinced (at least partially by coin…) to stay on as her tutor. While the family patriarch had little interest in seeing to his daughter’s every wish, he could see the plain value that the dwarven artificer’s skills could bring to the family.
Still, the experience had left a grim mark on Annika. She grew up cloistered in the family’s countryside manor, finding escape in fervent scholarship and helping manage the family business. Now she is a reserved but determined woman, an aspiring alchemist and artificer, but most importantly and aspiring businesswoman. The warnings of Varghem Eremyr and the Palestone Order ring true to her ears, for she has been raised in their shadow and quietly understood the danger better than most.
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