Dahlia Grine, a savvy and stealthy scoundrel

Dahlia grew up in the streets of Duskwall, having spent most of her childhood a dirty urchin in the loud, soot-choked factory district of Coalridge. She learned how to step carefully when cruel foremen or drunken, overworked laborers would often kick or club a child of her station who found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She grew up, making compromises where she had to. Running small errands for this gang or that, or picking pockets to afford what meager rations she could find, but it was never enough.

Her luck turned around when, as a teenager, she managed to secure a job as a live-in maid in the home of a moderately wealthy industrialist in Charterhall. But, as she discovered one night shortly after turning 18, her continued employment—and with it her privilege of sleeping in a bed—was contingent on her being willing to let him into that bed whenever he wished.

He was a poor, selfish lover, but Dahlia knew it was an easy choice. It was better than ending up back in the street or in some brothel. At least as his maid she only had to deal with the one prick a few times a week, and he hardly took up much of her time at that.

If only he'd been a little less of an asshole in general, perhaps when the mysterious stranger approached her for detailed information about her employer's home security and routines she'd have made something up.

"I'll tell you anything you want to know, for a few coins." she offered, stepping a little further into the shadows of the alley where the stranger had stopped her. He wore a hooded cloak, but his accent was undeniably Skovlan. "Same goes for his associates, if you're buying. I keep my eyes open, and he's earned no love from me."

She made some extra coin selling secrets for about a year. Some new crew was operating in the area and she became a regular supplier of information for their schemes. The Catalyst, they called themselves, and they paid her well.

Then one day, everything changed.

It was supposed to be a simple job. They were going to steal a lockbox or something, but things went sideways. By the time it was over, the whole building was burned to the ground. Her employer was ruined in the process, and she found herself back on the streets anyway.

But this time, she was no **** child. This time, she had friends she could turn to. Friends who, in her eyes, owed her a place to sleep and a steady paycheck.

The Catalyst was about to get a new member whether they wanted her or not.