Vyrana, the Mercenary Leader

You had to fight your whole life. The slums you grew up in were filled with criminals and often raided by monstrous races, as they were outside the city wall. There rarely was a day with enough food and without a fight. Your beautiful face and long silvery hair got you undesirable attention from older men, so you learned young to fight against larger, stronger and usually dumber opponents.

By the time you reached eighteen, you were 5'9'' with a slim-fit build and remarkable fighting skills. You were quick, agile and ruthless, mostly relying on bladed weapons like knifes and shortswords. Your upbringing left you unable to trust other people, so you were still a loner. That was until a mercenary group called the "Band of Few" visited the slums, scouting for new members. Unbeknownst to you, the leader of the Band of Few, Threidar, had taken an interest in you. He was already older, with white hair in his beard and a bald head covered in scars, but he confidently challenged you to a fight. It was a short one, with Threidar's strength and experience triumphing over your youthfulness and speed. Still, he saw great potential in you and took you in.

The next years were by far the best of your life. You ate until you were full every day, you were paid fairly and for the first time in your life you had people around you to rely on. For four years you shed blood, celebrated victories and mourned losses with the Band of Few and even made it to the position of commander. There were only three commanders and they were the direct subordinates of Threidar.

All was well, too well. Inevitably tragedy struck and Threidar was severely wounded in battle. After routing the enemy forces, the band gathered around his bed. His wounds were deep, it was clear he did not have much time left. Then he shocked them all, by appointing you, Vyrana, as the new leader of the band. You were respected for your skill and generally liked, but the other two commanders, Altrei and Gruth, were part of the band for much longer and had more support. Still, he insisted and made you swear to do your best as a leader.

After burning his body and everyone paying their respects, Altrei gave out drinks to everyone to raise a toast. Altrei, Gruth and you banged your mugs together and drank. Shortly after, you felt tired and dizzy, so you excused yourself to your tent. As you were slipping into unconsciousness, you felt people enter the tent. You wanted to tell them to leave, but could neither move nor talk. Your body wasn't responding, you had been ****! Then you heard Gruth's voice, "I have been waiting for this for a long time, finally we can rid of you.". Altrei was chuckling, "Compose yourself Gruth, she is just in the way. We can't have a woman leading us, especially one so young, we would loose all respect.". You felt only shock and panic. Were these people not your friends and comrades? What was about to happen? You had never felt so helpless. "Whatever, don't tell me you don't enjoy putting her in her place.", Gruth growled. "Never said I didn't.", Altrei replied playfully.

Your vision was fading to black, the last thing you saw were your two comrades looking down at you. "Sweet dreams.", Altrei said with a grin and a little wave. "In a way you will be waking up to reality, it is all you deserve.", said Gruth with a cold expression. Then everything went black.