Clarise
Clarise Goodsong
Clarise is a halfling living in Tucapon, but when an unlikely gang of heroes discovered her in a miserable plight (tipped off by Wise Bill), an unlikely member offered her salvation. Known as Demon Jim to his fans, the bard offered Clarise to come and live with him, also promising her work as his "gaffer" for 10 silver pieces a day.
Blown away by such an offer, Clarise accepted and now lives with a bagpipe playing hero.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
The Goodsong family hail from the halfling Gilkirk Shires, just outside of Southsunder. Clarise was 10 when the shire was destroyed by banshees. They fled to Southsunder, then moved to Tucapon a few years later. Clarise loved the city. So many new people and things to see, and the festivals, she says, are out of the sky-stream.
Clarise started working for Lord and Lady Tundra as a nanny when she was fifteen. She adored their children. When her parents said they wanted to go back to Southsunder, Clarise refused to go. She said she was earning money and could afford the rent. But the kids were three, five, six and eight when she started. As the children grew taller than her, they also became harder to control and entertain. So, to start with, the Lord and Lady cut her pay…
Just before this pay cut, Clarise had taken out a loan from the City Siren to buy her parents a birthday gift. She wanted to make them feel special, to tell them she still thought about them, even though they weren’t together anymore.
Clarise: I heard a friend saying how she’d borrowed money from an unofficial lender, someone who gave her six months to repay the debt. So I did the same. I knew at the time I could pay it all back, but…my wages got cut… I couldn’t repay… They came and they took everything. My money, my best shoes and dresses, my bits of jewellery, even my firewood. I’m just lucky they didn’t find this… She uncurls her hand around a metal necklace of a tiny maple leaf. Clarise: It’s iron, to protect me from magic. My mother gave it to me before she left. Clarise: I got them a glass ball in a brass circlet. It had been enchanted with the sky-stream inside. There’s a shop that sells all kinds of amazing enchantments, it’s so rare and special. The thing I got, if you held it in your hand, the little sky-stream inside would change to a colour that reflected your mood. I don’t even know if they received it. [ . . . ] Clarise: She’s renowned for helping when no one else will. People call her the City Siren because they say she lures people to ruin. Gets them to owe her favours, money, deeds and the like. But that’s if you’ve got something to give, or can’t repay your loans. I didn’t think I had anything to give. [snotty] Do you—do you think she could get me fired? Do you think she’d do that—if I couldn’t repay my debts? Just to spite me?With Clarise's bits and pieces of information about the City Siren, she helped an unlikely gang uncover and destroy a terrible cult as well as learn the City Siren's true identity.
Employment
Currently employed by the famous (at least in Arcatera) bard Demon Jim as his assistant.
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