Isabela

Name: Ardruna
Age: 31
Contact: ardruna, email: ardruna@gmail.com
Other Characters: N/A
Interests: Meeting old familiar faces (friends and enemies!) and meeting new people, some swashbuckling fun and high-seas derring-do, maybe some treasure-hunting, card games, drunken shenanigans, lots of sass and teasing and flirting, and probably meaningless casual sex where she can find it.


Name: Isabela
Canon/OC: Canon
Journal: easternseaqueen
Race: Human
Nationality: Rivaini
Occupation: Pirate/smuggler
Age: Unspecified, but roughly late 30s

History

Wiki page here. A full, written-out history can be found here.

Isabela doesn't appear in the main Inquisition game, but a conversation between Varric and the Inquisitor reveals that she is now styling herself as an admiral in the Felicisima Armada. Presumably, she put her payment from her last major paid job toward acquiring additional ships and hiring crews and now owns a small fleet of pirate ships, typically operating in and around the Venification Sea. In the multiplayer, she serves as an agent of the Inquisition, aiding with assorted missions, armed with both daggers and a crossbow.


Personality

The infamously libidinous Isabela is probably one of Thedas's more colorful heroines. She values fun, freedom, being on the winning side, and otherwise getting ahead of everyone else. In her own words, "sailors only care about a very small number of very specific things: The sea, strong drink, and booty... both kinds." She appreciates a wit as quick and dry as her own, responds well to sarcasm and flirtation, has a vulgar vocabulary and bawdy sense of humor (as in, she can hardly go more than a sentence without making some kind of sexual innuendo), and has little patience for fools, or preachy, prudish, and/or meddling types. Early impressions are important to Isabela, and they will often dictate how any given relationship with her will develop. A simple off-the-cuff remark might amuse a friendly Isabela, but the exact same line delivered by someone of whom she’s less than fond might only exacerbate a growing rivalry. She lives a perpetually dishonest, hedonistic lifestyle, which she admits freely, but closely guards the details. Still, especially if her trust can be earned, there's a heart of gold under that ponderous bosom. Shh. Don't tell anyone.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Piracy - She is an experienced sailor and captain, and knows how to command and run a ship, as well as steer through currents, weather storms, navigate using stars, compasses and maps, minimize seasickness and land-sickness, handle cargo and has all the other maritime nautical skills that would be expected of a long-time deckhand at sea (tying knots, splicing ropes, running rigging, etc.). As a pirate and smuggler, she has a network of low-life associates and former paramours scattered throughout Thedas (they may or may not actually be on good terms with her). As an admiral in the Felicisima Armada, she has a handful of ships at her command, as well as economic bargaining power with assorted wealthy merchants throughout Thedas, though primarily in Antiva and Rivain, including a few clients among the Antivan Crows and Tevinter Magisters. If a common enemy is to be found, she can attempt to call on other members of the Armada to produce a larger, unified naval front (there is no guarantee that they will do so, though).

However, this also means there are numerous port authorities in multiple countries who would like to see her arrested. Her former association with the slave trade also did not win her any friends, and she has a habit of killing anyone who might threaten to tell about her involvement in such dealings. And then there's the fact that the Qunari are none too fond of her after that little incident with the Tome of Koslun. As in, they really, really don't like her. And the feeling is mutual.

Dueling - Isabela is a duelist, meaning she has superb skill with knives, daggers and short swords, and prefers to use finesse and speed rather than brute strength when she fights. She relies on form, stance and dirty tricks, keeping her opponents off balance, predicting her opponents' moves and simply not being where expected when they strike, and using pinpoint accuracy to hit vitals when her blades connect. Most of the time, she wields dual blades, though she is not innately ambidextrous. Her entire purpose in Origins is to teach the Duelist specialization. In Dragon Age II, although you can make her a Duelist, her unique specialization is that of the Swashbuckler (though it is worth noting she only fights with daggers and knives, not longswords or bucklers).

However, she can be physically overpowered by strong enemies and has no innate resistances to magic.

Rogue - As a rogue and pirate-smuggler, she is skilled in things like stealth, picking locks, nicking and hiding stolen goods, gambling (and cheating so the odds are well within her favor), spinning lies, wiggling out of tight spots, drinking other people under the table, and other similar standard-fantasy-rogue skills. She also has a great deal of experience in using her feminine charms to get what she wants.

...this is also why she's spent several months in various jails at assorted points in her life.

Literacy - Isabela is known to be literate, and enjoys reading about philosophy, history and various cultural interests and then discussing them (usually in ways meant to offend the company she's with if she doesn't like them). She apparently has some canonical skill as an author, as she is quite fond of writing erotic "friend-fiction" for her attached companions that seems to be of decent quality--despite her friends' protests to such a practice, she intends it as a genuinely affectionate gesture. She has also canonly worked with Varric Tethras on miscellaneous writing projects.

Among her other assorted weaknesses is that Isabela is largely out for herself. Her survival is her number one concern, and if that means abandoning companions and leaving them in a lurch, or killing innocents, or any number of unsavory actions to save her own skin, so be it. Her loyalty is extremely hard-won, and there are very few who can claim to have it, Hawke being one of them. She's also a fairly heavy drinker, which may impair her or lead to questionable judgment in certain situations. She has a tendency toward excess, which has more than once led her into deep debts (though she seems to be financially stable at the moment). She tends to shirk her personal responsibilities for just about everything except her crew. She's also claustrophobic (small, tight spaces make her nervous), and hates to be confined in any way, whether literally or metaphorically. She always needs to have a way out of any given situation. She has a vivid imagination that plays well into her escapism, and she can easily get lost in her own fantasies--sometimes even during conversation.


Inventory

-Her Threads of the Eastern Seas, fully upgraded to include a Supportive Corselet, Rigid Boning, Lambswool Insoles, and Boiled Leather Plates, four sets of dueling leathers, four different assorted longcoats, plus a change of formal wear. And at least one fabulous hat.

-Daggers Backstabber, Heartbreaker and Dagger of the Four Winds, plus several unremarkable daggers. (There is always a minimum of 3 daggers on her person at all times and an average of 7 when not sleeping/bathing/sexing)

-A standard crossbow.

-Lady's Choice ring

-Amulets The Pearl, Badge of the Felicisima Armada and Rivaini Talisman

-A deck of cards each to play Wicked Grace and Diamondback

-A model Ship in a Bottle

-Purse filled with assorted currencies

-Several pieces of written erotica

-A robust personal stock of strong liquor

-Maps of Thedas

Motivation

Isabela is in it for gold and giggles. She expects to get to go on interesting missions, and expects to be well-paid for it. She certainly hasn't forgotten the nastiness back in Kirkwall, and isn't really thrilled with the idea of demons and abominations and red templars running amok. But most importantly? She has boats and crews and no small amount of nautical influence at her disposal. Also, she's got connections with Hawke's company and in passing with the Hero of Ferelden. She's not going to let you have all the fun without her.



NETWORK SAMPLE:
[Isabela can be clearly seen shuffling a deck of cards (some might recognize it as a Wicked Grace deck) and smiling mischievously.]

You know what I miss? What I haven't done in a long time? Some good, old-fashioned card games. I'm not talking anything terribly quiet or without risk. That'd be much too boring. But, something with a little friendly wagering, or more... interesting aspects of play? That sounds like fun.

So! Anyone brave enough to join me? I'll make it worth your while. First round of drinks is on me!

LOG SAMPLE:
Isabela was calmly nursing her drink at the bar of the Hanged Man when she noticed the man sidling up beside her—and not in the good way.

“You owe us, Isabela,” he hissed in her ear.

“Well, Lucky, I'll tell you what,” she said, barely deigning to look at him, “Since the information you gave me was worth nothing...” She topped off her mug and took a swig. “...that's what I'll pay you.” The pirate queen poured more into her mug, but as she was raising it to take another drink, Lucky's hand slammed hers back down onto the bar, earning a glare from her.

“Me and my boys will get our money's worth, bitch,” Lucky growled. Isabela rolled her eyes before looking at him, her expression full of mock-sympathy.

“Oh, you poor, sweet thing,” she cooed, moving almost as if to kiss him.

Instead, quick as a flash, she gripped his wrist there on the bar, and with her other hand knocked a blow to Lucky's head so hard that his face slammed into the bar countertop. He dropped to the ground, dazed, as one of his men rushed at her, grappling her from behind so that her arms were pinned behind her back—or so he thought. She jabbed an elbow into his solar plexus, making him groan and double over in pain, releasing her. Isabela barely ducked the third man, coming at her with an empty bottle, which missed her and shattered in a spray of glass when it hit the bar. Standing back up, she slugged him across the chin with a right hook, making him stagger backward. Gripping his arm, she kneed the third man in the stomach, and landed a few more solid punches to his face until he dropped to the tavern floor.

A triumphant smirk on her face, she turned back to the bar to see Lucky lurching back to his feet and drawing a sword from a scabbard on his back. Isabela was quicker, and had her dagger pointed at the soft pale skin of his throat before he even got his sword all the way out. He stopped, not daring to move, the sword still raised uselessly over his head.

“Tell me, Lucky,” Isabela asked in a casually menacing tone, reaching for the other dagger still sheathed on her back, “is this worth dying for?” Lucky wisely backed off as his men pulled themselves back to their feet, still groaning in pain. As the three of them scrambled toward the door, Isabela knocked back a long, deep draught out of her waiting mug.

“I didn't think so,” she chuckled to herself.