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Rake 03-19-06, 11:33 PM

What do you think? - o - o - 'Red' Molly Blackmantle, (CN female human swashbuckler 1) _____The bandit called Molly Blackmantle, oft known as ‘Red Molly’ for the merciless enthusiasm with which she is known to shed blood in battle as much as for the distinctive color of her hair, was not always so. At age eighteen, Molly Blackmantle of Lockwood fell in love with a young and darkly charismatic highway brigand named Larz Greenheart, and he with her. Despite his daunting presence, Greenheart was a goodly man. _____Molly came from a poor family with common blood. Her mother bore four daughters and a son, but did not survive the bearing of the youngest, Amile. As the eldest child, Molly had more than a hand in the upbringing of her siblings. Of course, Larz showered Molly with stolen wealth, some of which she used to feed her family and her neighbors, and the rest of which she hid away. Molly’s father, Steven, both liked and approved of Larz, a brigand who had never done more than scratch or prick another living creature with his rapier in all his days as a highwayman, thanks to his dark and intimidating presence, and who had never so much as attempted to mask his ‘profession’ from sire Blackmantle. Larz stole only from the merchant houses, and while he’d never exactly turned his wealth over to the poor before he’d met Molly, he’d always been more inclined to squirrel away his wealth, or to spend his it buying rounds at a pub, than to squander it. In truth, Larz Greenheart didn’t care much for money, only burglary and the open highway. _____Before long, Larz proposed and Molly happily accepted. Before they married and left the Lockwood region forever, Larz promised to retire his rapier and give up the highway. In their affairs, however, they had not been cautious, and the suspicious influx of wealth among the commoners in the neighborhood did not go unnoticed by the patrol. Sir Zalman Warwyrd, knight of Lockwood and captain of the guard, set a trap for Larz, cornering him in an alley, outnumbered and with nowhere to run. When Zalman told Larz that he knew about Molly and her sisters, Larz surrendered. Sir Zalman and his troupe of four escorted Larz to the Blackmantle residence to collect what remained of his ill-gotten wealth, and when Molly saw Larz in chains, she pleaded with Zalman – all the stolen wealth in exchange for Larz’s freedom. _____Zalman coldly informed Molly that she was indeed lucky that it had been he that had captured the highwayman Larz Greenheart and not some bounty hunter, as Larz was worth a small fortune alive, and only a slightly smaller one dead. Sir Warwyrd also reminded Molly that she could easily be tried as an accomplice if she failed to present Greenheart’s loot in a hurry. Overcome by anger, Molly made to strike the knight with her fist. Seeing this, Zalman took Larz, bound at the wrists and ankles, by his collar, and brought his short sword to the highwayman’s throat. Spitting one final warning at her, Zalman bid her to stay her hand and to produce the highwayman’s treasure. Now seething, Molly challenged the knight to a duel of honor. Smiling gently, Zalman agreed, a duel – but not to the death, only to first blood. Zalman Warwyrd gave Greenheart over to two of his troupe, and Molly and the soldiers stepped into the alley outside her home, amid the frightened shouts of her siblings and the pleadings of her father and her lover. As soon as the duel began, Zalman took the defensive, parrying Molly’s angry blows coolly, intentionally fueling her anger and frustration. Eventually, the knight saw the opportunity he had been looking for, deflecting and sidestepping a furious lunge, directing her blade into Larz’s belly. Quickly, he took hold of her wrist, pinning the blade inside Larz’s flesh. He demanded to know where Greenheart’s gold was hidden, and Molly, panicked and desperate, told him. At this, he collected his troupe and went to retrieve the loot, leaving the dying highwayman on the doorstep of the Blackmantle residence. _____Five years later, ‘Red’ Molly Blackmantle belongs now to Tantagel, a troupe of burglars and thieves notorious in the Lockwood region. Molly pledges loyalty to Tantagel’s captain, the intelligent and youthful Dandle Highwind, though she has much influenced the thieves’ guild since joining (Highwind now pledges almost half of the guild’s booty to charity and to the poor) and she has greatly contributed to the notoriety of the group.