Tania Two-Coins
Tania is fairly certain she knew how to swim before she knew how to walk.
She doesn’t remember her parents, but the crew of the Gilded Rose pulled her from a shipwreck when she was a child with no clue to her identity but two platinum coins in a neck purse. They left her with First Mate Galus Weilter’s human half-sister when they put into Luskan, but Tania snuck aboard before they set sail again and wasn’t discovered until they were halfway to Gundarlun. She earned her keep by swabbing decks, coiling ropes, and patching sails, and on her fifth voyage she was finally tall enough to take her turn in the crow’s nest.
Sadly, the Rose ran aground during a terrible storm near Mintarn, forcing the half-triton Galus to swim fifteen miles for help. Two ships came to the rescue of the Rose’s crew, but one sailed to Waterdeep and the other back to Mintarn, and the Rose’s crew split up further as they signed aboard other ships.
As for Tania, she had to stow away again since no one wanted to take on a gangly teenage girl no matter how many years of seamanship she had behind her. The crew of the Ravenous Scrag made her work harder than did the crew of the Rose, but they taught her how to shoot a bow and wield a cutlass. Though she spent her share of time in the crow’s nest, she was frequently banished below decks to skewer rats in the hold or help Cookie in the galley.
Half of the Scrag’s crew went to the deeps when they were attacked by a pirate hunter, and the survivors were taken captive. Second Mate Tarven Grizzle vouched for Tania, claiming truthfully that she was never allowed to participate in any direct acts of piracy and didn’t deserve the same punishment as the rest. The pirate hunter’s captain agreed, and when they returned to Luskan, Tania was put ashore with the strong suggestion she find another profession for a while.
Traits
“I’m not especially fond of following rules, but when someone earns my respect, they have my loyalty and obedience.”
Ideals
“Captain of my own ship? Oh, yes, please.”
Bonds
“Ships and crews come and go, but the wide open sea will call to me forever.”
Flaws
“A captain’s orders make sense and there are harsh penalties if they’re not followed, but from what I’ve seen so far, a city’s laws are arbitrary and often treated as… suggestions?”
“I Know a Guy”
Cookie is an enormous hobgoblin with a cheerful disposition and a vicious temper. He took Tania under his protection on the Scrag and taught her how to use knives with great precision.
Friends & Enemies
Tania hopes to cross paths with her “family” from the Rose again. She’s fairly certain that aside from Cookie—who Grizzle similarly vouched for—the crew from the Scrag are either in prison, indentured, or interred.