Isabela

Because apparently this is a Required Thing. Ah well. The good, the bad, it all goes here.

OOC Information:
Name: Ardruna
Are you over 15? By far! DOB: 09-30-1984
Contact: AIM: Mirisa Erato, Ardruna, email: ardruna@gmail.com, PM to this journal also permitted!

IC Information:
Name: Isabela (no surname, birth name Naishe (no known surname)) Full reincarnated name is Isabela Marisol Costa; also goes by the nom de plume Naishe Rivera
Canon and medium: Dragon Age; video games and post-game comics
Age: 30 (or nearly so, anyway)
Preincarnation Species: Human
Preincarnation Appearance: Appearance in Dragon Age: Origins
Appearance in Dragon Age II
Full-body shots

Isabela is a lovely woman now in her 30s, about average height and notably buxom. She has the rich deep-brown skin of her Rivaini heritage, long dark brown hair typically tied back with braids or a bandanna, warm golden-brown eyes often lined with kohl, and a roguish smile that always seems to be mocking someone or something. Her ears and lower lip are pierced, and she favors heavy gold jewelry. Clothing-wise, she prefers garments that are comfortable, well-made, allow plenty of freedom of movement, able to hide a myriad of knives and daggers, and if they happen to be on the slutty side, so much the better.

PB is a (younger) Sofia Vergara.

Any differences: Physical differences are very minor, and center mainly on the locations and subject matter of her various piercings and tattoos. Her complexion is slightly lighter in color, though this may depend on the amount of sun exposure she has.

Preincarnated History: Isabela's Wiki Page!
Dragon Age II Codex Entries: Act I, After The Deep Roads, The Last Three Years
((Assumed potentially-malleable player-character choices will be marked with an asterisk *))

Isabela, then called Naishe, was born a poor girl in the slums of Rivain. While the exact location isn't given, it's generally assumed she is native to southern Rivain, possibly the island of Llomerryn. She was raised by her mother (no father is ever mentioned one way or another, aside from one line during the Legacy DLC: "Well, I think your father sounds like someone worth knowing. According my mother, my father wasn't. Not even for one night."), who was a devout convert to the Qun ever since Naishe was very young, possibly even before she was born. Naishe resented her mother regularly sneaking off to worship and trying to push her beliefs on Naishe--it was a constant subject of contention between them, as Naishe adamantly refused to have anything to do with religion. Often, Naishe believed that her mother didn't love or care about her at all. She was still fairly young (likely in her mid-to-late teens--an age isn't specified), when, while at the market with her mother, she caught the eye of an Antivan merchant/pirate by the name of Luis. He decided he had to have her, and offered her mother a bride-price of a goat and a handful of coin for Naishe's hand. Frustrated and angry about her daughter's refusal to convert to the Qun, Naishe's mother was only too happy to sell her into marriage, so much so that she didn't even bother to haggle the price--something that infuriated her daughter well into adulthood. Naishe was led away in tears to Antiva, and that was the last she ever saw of her mother.

Married life was not particularly kind to her either. Although Luis was a wealthy man, likely thanks in no small part to his association with the Antivan Crows (an assassin's guild of the highest repute), and made a very comfortable lifestyle for his young bride, bestowing her with silks, wines, and other fine luxuries, he was also, in her words, a "greasy bastard." It was a loveless marriage, especially on her part, and she was treated more like a plaything than a spouse. While he never beat her, Luis was fond of making her "entertain" his friends and business associates in what he called his Evening Gallery. Then the day came when Luis was assassinated by an up-and-coming member of the Crows, an elf by the name of Zevran Arainai. Isabela's own accounts vary as to how, exactly, this came about, sometimes claiming she was entirely innocent of the affair and implying that Luis got into enough trouble with the Crows on his own to warrant his death, and at other times hinting none-too-subtly that she was the one to put the hit out on him. Whatever the case might be, Zevran murdered Luis, and his young widow "thanked him profusely" for freeing her from her marriage by taking Zevran as her lover (though it is sometimes hinted the two might have been involved at some point prior to Luis's death). It appears the affair was rather short-lived, however, as Isabela later teases Zevran for "leaving her bereft of her lord husband and then disappearing without a trace."

Following Luis's death, she inherited (some might say "stole") his ship, The Siren's Call, and declared herself captain, though she personally lacked the connections to do much with said inheritance. So, she signed on with a captain of the Felicisima Armada, who, as a joke, bestowed the named "Isabela" upon her, as he referred to her as his "little beauty." When asked what happened to this captain, Isabela says that he died--badly. Though she gives no further details, a flashback scene at the time of the question indicates she killed him in a fit of rage.

Meanwhile, Isabela proved to be very capable of piracy and dueling alike, and her reputation skyrocketed. The sharpest blade in Llomerryn, she became the self-proclaimed "Queen of the Eastern Seas," and was greatly desired and feared, both. She was the scourge of two coastlines, four nations, and countless tavern floors. At some point during this time, she fell in love with an unnamed man, but broke his heart when she fled from his proposal of marriage--who he was, she will never tell. All in all, there was nothing she couldn't have if she so wanted, and her appetites were legendary. In fact, her excesses ended up leading her into debt with the Armada, forcing her into taking more profitable jobs in order to pay them off--including slave trafficking. Isabela had no love for slavery, and refused to do any actual slaving herself, but such cargo was extremely lucrative. She brought on board with her Lord Devon, the Armada's procurer of slaves, for the job. Though she doesn't seem to have a great deal of personal fondness for Devon (making him unlikely to be her one genuine love), the two did become physically involved. Devon had packed the hold extremely full with their chattel, which normally wouldn't be much of a problem, except while they were crossing the Venefication Sea, Isabela found herself being tailed by the Orlesian Navy. Orlesians were known to hang slavers, and Isabela, refusing to die that way, tried everything she could to outmaneuver them. But, the weight of their cargo made the ship slow and clumsy, and the Orlesians were gaining on them. Finally, in desperation, Isabela brought the chained slaves on deck a few at a time, and cast them overboard to drown. She tried to justify it to herself that they were better off beneath the sea than collared and chained. Of course, failing to make her delivery, and thus losing money on the deal, only worsened Isabela's financial situation and placed her all the more deeply in debt with the Armada.

For reasons unspecified, perhaps in an attempt to get the Armada off her back for at least a short time, Isabela soon headed far to the south to Ferelden, where she docked in the capital port city of Denerim to allow her men to resupply and indulge in various pleasures. Unfortunate timing, however, meant that she arrived during the beginning of the Fifth Blight, and lockdown because of it meant that no ship would be permitted to leave until the darkspawn threat had been summarily handled--a process that would take roughly a year. But it wasn't all bad for Isabela. She quickly became a regular at a local brothel known as the Pearl, and it was here that she met the escaped mage Anders (who had a particular "electricity thing" of which Isabela was most fond), as well as be briefly reunited with Zevran, who was in the company of the Grey Wardens Daylen Amell and Alistair, and their motley band of companions, and promptly introduced Isabela to his new compatriots. After demanding that the Warden honor her with a game of Wicked Grace*, Isabela taught him the basics of dueling, but otherwise never saw Daylen again. Once the archdemon was defeated and the Blight ended, Isabela took to the seas once again, returning northward.

Of course, she hadn't escaped her looming debts, and soon returned to piracy and smuggling, transporting lyrium, jewels, criminals, whatever happened to pay at the time. Eventually, she was hired by Castillon, yet another crime lord of the Armada, who asked her to escort a ship carrying an unspecified cargo. Isabela, desperate for coin, agreed to the job, not even asking what it was she was protecting. But, once the job was underway, she grew suspicious, and decided to investigate what, exactly, was in that hold. It turned out to be nearly 200 Ferelden refugees, displaced by the Blight, who were to be sold into slavery. Guiltily remembering her previous disastrous experience with the slave trade, Isabela refused to go through with the delivery, and instead freed them all at the nearest port. Castillon was furious, and once again, Isabela hadn't been paid for her trouble. As remuneration, Castillon sent Isabela on a job that was all but a suicide mission: steal a Qunari relic from the Orlesians before they could give it back to the Qunari. Having no love for the Qunari after they had all but stolen her mother from her, Isabela was almost too happy to comply. While she did successfully steal the relic (in her banters, she claims she didn't know what it actually was, as it was in a locked box, and didn't bother finding out at the time, but this seems to be an avoidance technique, as a comic flashback shows her taking a clearly unboxed book, and she protests the question by saying she "didn't get to where she was by showing her hand") from the Orlesians, the Qunari discovered this treachery, and pursued her. Isabela, along with the Qunari dreadnought chasing her, was caught in a storm near the Wounded Coast, and, evidently following a battle with them during the squall, shipwrecked. She lost her ship, crew and the relic all in the disaster, and barely managed to make it to Kirkwall, the nearest city, in one piece herself.

Knowing Castillon wouldn't be happy about her latest failure, one of the first places Isabela went in Kirkwall was a tavern named the Hanged Man. There, she met a lowlife named Lucky, and hired him to help her search for the lost relic. Unfortunately, Lucky was unsuccessful, and so Isabela refused to pay him for his help. After besting Lucky and his men in a brawl, Isabela soon found herself introducing herself to a Ferelden mercenary of sorts named Hawke, who was looking for odd jobs to help finance an expedition into the Deep Roads. Sensing that Hawke might be better able to help her than Lucky ever was, Isabela admitted that her troubles were more than just Lucky, and that Castillon, growing impatient with her, had sent a man named Hayder (with whom Isabela had previously worked in Antiva) to enforce their agreement. Isabela planned to duel Hayder, but also expected that he wouldn't be fighting fairly, and asked Hawke and company (among which was Isabela's old friend Anders, who, having been conscripted into the Grey Wardens by Daylen Amell, was now on the lam after having fused with the spirit Justice) to accompany her to face Hayder and his men. With Hawke's assistance*, Isabela was able to defeat Hayder during a showdown in the local chantry, and concluded that as long as she provided Castillon with the relic before he found her, he'd be satisfied. It would be the start of a beautiful friendship* with Hawke. Shortly after the incident with Hayder, Isabela approached Hawke with another job, this time to help a friend of hers, Martin, with a situation involving some lost cargo. Hawke agreed*, enabling Martin to re-enter business and solidifying what would become a long-term companionship with Isabela.

A couple years after dealing with Hayder and Martin, among other things, Hawke returned home to find Isabela and Aveline arguing, both in need of Hawke's assistance. Hawke opted to listen to Isabela first*, upon which the Rivaini told Hawke that she had finally managed to locate the relic she had lost, and that Castillon had promised to spare her life if she gave it to him, as originally promised. They headed into Lowtown to find a man named Wall-Eyed Sam, who worked in the Black Market where the relic, the Tome of Koslun, had turned up. As it turned out, the Qunari in Kirkwall would not be able to leave without this precious book. Even with this knowledge, Hawke decided to help Isabela* rather than turn it over to the Qunari. Hawke confronted a small group of the Qunari in a fight, a confrontation that Isabela herself ran away from, and at the end, found a letter from Isabela on Wall-Eyed Sam's body saying that she had the relic and had left Kirkwall, and apologized for running out on Hawke. Unfortunately, Isabela's escape did nothing to defuse the tensions with the Qunari in Kirkwall, and, in fact, managed to make it worse, very nearly bringing the city to all-out war with them. Things came to a head in a confrontation between Hawke and the arishok, leader of the Qunari. Although she could have made a more-or-less clean getaway, Isabela's friendship with Hawke was great enough* that she returned to Kirkwall, bringing the tome with her rather than handing it over to Castillon. Of course, the Qunari demanded both the book and Isabela, but Hawke chose to defend the Rivaini woman instead by facing the arishok in a duel*. Hawke won, much to Isabela's relief, and thus earned the title "Champion of Kirkwall."

Isabela did disappear shortly thereafter for a while, after talking to Hawke, and people were beginning to think she'd left the Marches for good. Then, one day, Isabela was back in her usual spot in the Hanged Man as if she'd never been gone at all. Of course, now Isabela had no way of leaving Kirkwall again without somehow acquiring a ship of her own, and ended up having an essentially permanent residence at the Hanged Man. She continued to work with Hawke and their mutual friends Anders, Aveline, Merrill, Fenris, Sebastian Vael and Varric Tethras over the next few years. Together, their various adventures would, at different points over the years, reunite Isabela, if only for a short time, with some of her assorted acquaintances from her time in Ferelden, including Leliana (now in direct service to the Divine of Orlais), Zevran (caught up in some continuing trouble with the Antivan Crows) and Alistair, who was now King of Ferelden. Although they did flirt now and then, Isabela never did get involved with Hawke*, though she did have a dalliance with the escaped elven slave Fenris.*

Then came the day when Castillon himself showed up in Kirkwall. Isabela soon caught wind of his arrival, and quickly went to see Hawke about it. She said that she wasn't going to wait around for Castillon to put a knife in her vitals, but she had an idea for how to get to him first. Isabela didn't know where Castillon himself was holed up in the city, but she did know that Velasco, his right-hand man, had been spending his nights at the local brothel, The Blooming Rose (where Isabela happened to be a regular and then some). It was decided that Isabela would be bait for Velasco to hand over directly to Castillon, and that she would leave a trail for Hawke to follow directly to Castillon's hideout. The plan worked surprisingly well. After killing Velasco, Hawke and Isabela found some incriminating documents indicating that Castillon had plans to expand his slaving business in the Free Marches. Yet, when she finally confronted him face-to-face, Isabela offered to give Castillon the documents (as opposed to turning them over to the Kirkwall authorities) in exchange for his ship and letting him live. Hawke, though surprised by Isabela's sudden generosity, allowed her to strike the bargain*, which Castillon honored and bid Isabela goodbye, permanently ending her business both with him and the Armada. No longer needing to fear the Armada and with a ship to her name, Isabela was a free woman at last. But she didn't sail off just yet. She suspected that something big was going to happen soon, and that Hawke would likely be right in the middle of it. Isabela wasn't going to miss that for the world.

The "something big" turned out to be the explosion (quite literally, thanks to Anders) of the tensions between the mages and templars. In the entire seven years Hawke had known Isabela, with tensions between templar and mage continually simmering and bubbling, and despite having companions with strong opinions on both sides of the matter, the Rivaini had remained stubbornly neutral, claiming that she didn't care and didn't have any opinion on the subject whatsoever. This was actually mostly true. Isabela had no care for the templars (disdaining the teachings of the Chantry just as much as she did the Qun), and frankly thought their leader, Knight-Commander Meredith, was off her rocker (which turned out to be an accurate assessment). And, while she did sympathize with the mages to a degree, she found their ideologies just as impractical in the real world as any other form of zealotry. As predicted, Hawke ended up being right in the middle of things, and Isabela was right there too, not because she cared who won or which side Hawke supported, but because Hawke was her friend and needed every possible bit of help, Isabela's included. But, as soon as the fighting was over, Isabela wasted no time in leaving. She gathered her crew and ship and sailed off.

Not long thereafter, though, Isabela received a surprising letter from Zevran. Although the two had kept in sporadic contact over the years, this was the first time in a long time that it was about business. As it were, Zevran had passed along some information to his old companion King Alistair of Ferelden regarding his long-lost father King Maric (presumed lost at sea for some 13 years), and Alistair was planning to go Antiva to track down the truth of the rumors. But, he also would need someone with him who knew the particular areas of Antiva he needed to visit, and since Zevran's estrangement with the Crows meant he couldn't do it himself, Isabela was the perfect woman for the job--and it was a paid job to boot. But despite knowing the area, Isabela's own checkered past in Antiva meant that she'd need someone who had the connections she didn't, so she contacted Varric Tethras and asked him to join her, promising him the chance to gain the ear of a king in the process. Naturally, he agreed, and the two set out to meet up with Alistair.

In Antiva City, they broke into one of the Crows' archives, seeking out information on the Crow-operated prison of Velabanchel. While there, they were met be Prince Claudio Valisti, whom Isabela recognized as her late husband's business partner. Zevran had been the one to put Alistair in touch with Claudio, as he was the one with the information about Maric, informing the king that Maric had been imprisoned in Velabanchel. Isabela, for her part, warned Alistair not to trust Claudio. The prison was their next stop, and Isabela and Varric worked to hold off the guards and Crows while Alistair searched for Maric. He found an old man who recognized him as being Maric's son, but turned out to be Maric's former cellmate, and told them that years ago, Maric had been freed from the prison by a witch of the wilds named Yavana. After letting the old man free with a bit of coin in his pocket at a safe place, the three then headed through the Tellari Swamps to the Silent Grove in search of Yavana. They found her and her pet dragons there, though she was less-than-forthcoming with information. Oh, and of course, they also ran into Claudio who betrayed and attacked them. And he also kidnapped Alistair in exchange for letting Isabela and Varric live--not that Isabela was having any of that. She and Varric marched right back to Yavana and demanded her help in rescuing Alistair--which she refused until Varric struck a bargain with her. So, they went back to confront Claudio and get Alistair back. In the inevitable fighting, Claudio accused Isabela of trying to seduce Alistair and become the next Queen of Ferelden (a charge that, curiously, she never actually denies). Isabela ended up killing him, much to Alistair's chagrin, before he could give any information on Maric's current whereabouts. But, Yavana, fortunately, was able to draw the name of Claudio's patron, Aurelian Titus, out of Claudio's spirit before Alistair killed the witch. So, they decided to go after him next.

Titus, as it turned out, was a magister, so it was off to Tevinter. He was scheduled to make an appearance at a ball, along with every other magister in the area, so of course, the three were in attendance. And who should Isabela run into there, but her old colleague Devon! She wasn't happy to see him, and even less so when he threatened to tell Alistair about the incident in the Venefication Sea. A pointed threat from Isabela, though, was enough to convince him to hold his tongue. When Titus arrived, Alistair confronted him about Maric. But, it didn't go so well. Fighting broke out, and Titus escaped. In the hubbub, while he was trying to thank her for preventing one of Titus's slaves from doing more than just wounding him, Isabela killed Devon herself and then blamed Titus's man for it. They took said slave captive, and Varric managed to trick him into giving away the location of Titus's base on the island of Seheron. Although Seheron was considered disputed in ownership, it still brought them uncomfortably close to Qunari territory, and, sure enough, before long, they found themselves being pursued by a pair of Qunari dreadnoughts. The Qunari boarded Isabela's ship and took everyone on it as prisoners, including Isabela, Varric and Alistair.

Isabela, who had been long considered an enemy of the Qunari ever since the whole mess with the relic, was locked in a cell, stripped of many of her belongings, and kept without food for days on end. Finally, she was visited by Rasaan, a priestess of the Qunari, who asked Isabela various questions about her past and demanded Isabela's real name, which she refused to give, even when threatened with forcible conversion. Isabela also refused to admit feeling any guilt over her myriad past mistakes and wrongdoings. Meanwhile, Varric and Alistair were faring somewhat better, and eventually brought before the new arishok, whom Alistair immediately recognized as one of his traveling companions, at the time called Sten, from his days fighting against the Blight. Unfortunately, this meeting wasn't particularly fruitful. Luckily, Isabela managed to escape her cell (and anger a whole lot of Qunari in the process) and come to bust the guys out, after which, while she went to find her crew, Alistair went to find the arishok. The two argued over the wisdom of Alistair seeking out Titus, which eventually escalated to a physical altercation. Meanwhile, Isabela's stubbornness had provoked a similar battle against Rasaan, who pursued and found her outside her crew's cells. Fortunately, both Isabela and Alistair won, without killing either Qunari (and Isabela did finally reveal her birth name as a parting shot to Rasaan, but saying it wasn't her name anymore). The new arishok even agreed to help them on their quest, as best as they could, which at the time mostly meant fixing up Isabela's ship, freeing her crew and restoring their possessions, as well as sending two dreadnoughts as escort. As they continued on to Seheron, Isabela mentioned to Alistair that she wasn't sure she was "Isabela" any longer, and also that she intended to see Alistair through to the end of his quest.

Arriving at Titus's fortress, Varric infiltrated the complex, while Isabela, Alistair and the Qunari mounted their assault on the outside. Varric succeeded in finding King Maric, who was attached to a device called the Magrellan, and, upon shooting it, ended up sending himself, his friend Mae (also a prisoner at the time), Maric, Alistair, Isabela and Titus all into the Fade, land of dreams... and nightmares. They did not arrive in the same places, though, each one locked in his or her own dream or nightmare as the case might be. When Varric and Mae found Isabela, she was deep in the throes of her worst nightmare, having become a loyal follower of the Qun and didn't recognize her friends, attacking them on sight. Carefully (as she was still a very capable fighter, even while caught up in the nightmare), Varric did his best to remind her of who she really was and what she really wanted. As she came back to being in her right mind, Isabela confessed that the dream was easier and simpler, being neatly defined in her own place, although the dream didn't have enough to truly tempt her, as she had already faced this nightmare in the waking world with Rasaan. But with some gentle coaxing from Mae and Varric, she realized she would never again allow anyone else to define her, and recognized herself as a heroine (in her own way), never to be haunted by her doubts or trials. After that, it was off to find Alistair. His dream was much prettier than Isabela's, being a prince with his half-brother and father both alive and well and a real family for once. But though he greeted them cheerfully, joking around (and awkwardly flirting with Isabela), he didn't recognize his friends either, only his father Maric who shared the dream with him. Still, they managed to persuade him that the dream wasn't real, and they agreed to take the fight to Titus, killing him in the confrontation, which brought them back into the waking world. When Alistair saw for himself the state of Maric's body, he destroyed the magrellan, which destroyed Maric as well. Then he went back to Ferelden to be a good and proper king. Isabela presumably followed him back long enough to collect her payment. She later asked Varric if he thought Alistair had done the right thing, to which Varric answered he didn't know. And that's the last we hear of her (so far).

Reincarnated History: On April 5, 1984, Isabela Marisol Costa was born to a working-poor Hispanic single mother in the Imperial Valley region of southern California, and given her mother's surname. She never knew her real father, never certain if he even knew she existed, or if he abandoned the family when she was a baby, or even if he were alive, let alone living in the United States.

Despite being just the two of them, Isabela and her mother were never particularly close. Her mother worked long hours with scarcely a day off, and a large chunk of the time she wasn't working was spent at church--something Isabela herself had no interest in, and, in fact, resented since she just saw it as one more thing her mother found more important than her daughter.

Largely left to her own devices as a child, young Isabela grew up fast. She attended a struggling public school, and though she was a bright student and got decent grades, had few qualms about skipping when she was bored. It was noted that she had a particular flair for reading and writing from a young age. Since money was often very tight, Isabela couldn't afford many of the things she needed, let alone wanted, and soon turned to shoplifting and petty thievery. At first it was mostly small, inexpensive things--school supplies (notably pens and pencils), shoelaces, candy bars or pieces of fruit, that sort of thing. She got caught a couple of times, but was usually let off with just a warning since she was obviously a poor kid with no parent in sight, and the items weren't worth the cost of prosecuting. But, as she became older and more skillful, she worked her way up to things like cosmetics, shoes, clothes and jewelry. She found friends among other juvenile-delinquent types, and they took a perverse sort of pride in being disadvantaged, readily mocking those better-off than they were.

It wasn't just her mental maturity that happened all too quickly--Isabela was also an early bloomer physically, in training bras by the second grade and hitting actual puberty only a few months before she turned ten. Male attention would soon follow, and she did not take long to learn how to use that to her advantage.

It was also around this time that her mother found a serious beau. When Isabela was a just-beginning-to-blossom 11-year-old, a well-dressed man named Louis suddenly struck up a conversation with her mother while they were at the grocery store (though Isabela noticed he spent rather more time than necessary looking at her during their chat), and the two began to date. He was a wealthy businessman, and Isabela's mother couldn't believe her luck. It was like her very own Prince Charming had come to sweep her off her feet. Isabela, however, was less-than-enthused. Although he never actually tried anything unseemly beyond maybe affectionate touches that lingered uncomfortably too long, she got the odd sense that he was using her mother as a means of getting to her. Isabela wasn't about to give him the chance, and started spending as little time at home as she could feasibly manage, wandering the streets and hanging out with her friends, and generally being up to no particular good. Still, when she was there, Louis always seemed to be trying to buy Isabela's affection, giving her cash (an "allowance," he called it), buying her clothes, shoes, jewelry, makeup, whatever she even hinted at wanting. Even after Louis married her mother when Isabela was 13, he still remained very indulgent, giving her her own credit card and everything. As much as she didn't like her new stepfather, Isabela didn't hesitate to take advantage of his generosity.

Of course, having a rich stepfather did put her somewhat at odds with her more impoverished friends, and Isabela's antics became more and more daring to prove herself "one of them," regularly stealing, cheating and getting into fights. She also starting becoming extremely free with her affections, moving rapidly from kisses to sexual favors, though never actually becoming anyone's girlfriend. Only a couple months after her mother's marriage, Isabela gleefully gave up her virginity to one of her friends.

Isabela had a pregnancy scare at the age of 14, and though it turned out to be a false alarm, her religious mother became extremely worried about her daughter's wild behavior, and on Louis's dime, enrolled her in a private Jesuit school in hopes it would straighten the girl out. Isabela hated it there, with it further entrenching her dislike of organized religion, with only a few exceptions: English class, the school fencing team (she immediately fell in love with the sport), and a boy named Thomas Anders (who preferred to go simply by his surname), who quickly became her best friend. Like her, Anders came from a poor background and had a rebellious streak of his own, plus lots of strong opinions on various social issues (some of which eventually rubbed off on her). Needless to say, the change in schools did little to reform Isabela's behavior, especially being thick as thieves with Anders. They often snuck out together, and with the help of fake IDs acquired from her less-than-reputable crowd of old friends, slipped into bars and parties, and even into piercing studios and tattoo parlors. Anders was with her when she got her first tattoo at the age of 16 (thank you again, fake ID!): a blooming rose with a pearl at its center, placed right over her left breast. Many of their classmates assumed the two were dating, which wasn't exactly true, even though they were sexually involved. They were just really good friends with benefits.

Isabela did manage to graduate, though afterward there was a bittersweet separation from her friend Anders, who headed off to UC Berkeley, while thanks to surprisingly good grades and entrance exam scores and impressively written essays, Isabela was admitted to the University of Southern California with a handful of scholarships earned in essay contests. There she majored in English, especially concentrating on composition and creative writing. She still visited her friend Anders whenever she could, and often corresponded with him electronically when they couldn't see each other in person. College didn't put an end to Isabela's wild ways, either. She added to her collection of tattoos and piercings, including, among others, a red dragon on her back, a blue-and-grey griffon on one shoulder and a hawk on the other one. She often partied and slept around with both men and women, and found connections with some of the more tech-savvy students, who not only tried impressing her with their hacking skills (something she insisted they teach her in exchange for her sexual favors), but also get her into the world of online poker, at which she not only excelled, but also found a few ways to cheat the system to earn extra money on the side, not to mention pirating a sizable cache of music and other media. While at USC, she caught the eye of a wealthy young man who was enchanted by her beauty and her clever way with words. Isabela wasn't all that into him, but the sex was decent and he regularly showered her with gifts, and, even more importantly, liked to take her sailing on his family's boat just off the coast. She'd never gotten the chance to spend much time on a boat before, but the sea soon became Isabela's dearest love, and she felt it worth staying with her so-so boyfriend just to be able to have that experience whenever she liked. Her mother also approved of the relationship (something she never did with her friend Anders). Shortly after graduating, Isabela's boyfriend proposed to her in a very grand and public spectacle. Though Isabela had strong reservations about the idea, she was pressured, bullied and badgered into accepting by her boyfriend and mother. Despite her better judgment, the two were married the following summer.

Her new husband having money enough for the both of them, Isabela embarked upon a full-time writing career. She'd managed to have some short stories and poems published in school publications and various contests, and decided to put her degree to use as a professional author. She quickly found her niche in writing erotic romance novels, mainly under the pen name of Naishe Rivera, liking the relative anonymity it gave her, while she could still enjoy earning her way to a famed reputation. She especially loved the historical romance genre and her first series was pirate-themed, with her first published novel titled The Siren's Call. She got into a bit of trouble soon afterward with that, when another author claimed that Isabela had stolen her book, alleging that she'd plagiarized it. Isabela ended up winning the fight--after all, she'd made sure to only steal just enough to be on the legal side of things.

Isabela's marriage wasn't a particularly happy one otherwise. Though he never hit her, they often argued. He was aware of her promiscuous past, and used it to blackmail her into "sharing" her charms with his friends--all of whom she found distasteful at best, or she might have been a more eager participant--for the sake of his entertainment. They had no children together, and Isabela began to seriously consider finding a way out even to the point of secretly consulting a divorce lawyer, despite enjoying her otherwise comfortable lifestyle. Then, one day, things changed. While he was away on a business trip, her husband's car was t-boned in a hit-and-run collision, killing him at the scene. They never did find the other driver, which she considered a pity, since she didn't know who to thank. At the age of 24, Isabela suddenly found herself a not-terribly-grieved widow, and, thanks to both a generous life insurance policy and, lacking offspring, an estate that was entirely willed to her (thanks to her own clever machinations she'd made "just in case"), an independently wealthy woman, even though she had just entered into a lucrative publishing contract as well. Yes, things were definitely looking up for Isabela, and she reveled in her new freedom.

Eventually, she moved to Locke City to find some fresh inspiration for her material, as she continues to write for a day job, though she still indulges her online-gambling (and hack-cheating to ensure she wins) habit, and can't remember the last time she actually paid for music, TV, movies or books. Though she avoids having any of her names attached to them and does little in terms of actual action on their behalves, she's also a staunch supporter of issues like net neutrality, freedom of speech, LGBT rights, anti-human-trafficking laws and similar progressive issues. Her change of address helps her blend in more so she can continue to support her pet causes more or less anonymously.

First Echo: While visiting a pawn shop (just for kicks, because why not?), she found a beautiful pair of daggers in a display case, which she immediately bought. Of course, she had to hold them, and no sooner had she taken them into her hands, then she knew what to do with them. Not just her old fencing training, but the ability to duel in hand-to-hand combat. (Dueling skill returned)

Preincarnation 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.

There is no honor among thieves, a fact that Isabela knows and expects of other low-life types, and she gives about as much as she expects to get. She is very honest about her dishonesty, speaking perfectly frankly and unashamedly about cheating in a game of cards (“I win because I cheat, Kitten. I thought that was obvious.”) or her many sexual dalliances, and has few qualms about taking advantage of, cheating, or killing people she feels are just as petty and greedy as she can be. She is willing to do whatever it takes to come out on top, and if that means unscrupulously tipping the odds in her favor, then so be it. Danger doesn’t worry her much--the greater the risks, the greater the rewards, as far as she’s concerned, and it only makes the prospect that much more entertaining for her. When things don’t go her way as planned, she can be quite resourceful and does what she can to make the best for herself out of any given situation, and all with her typical devil-may-care good humour. A win is a win, in her book, whether that means making someone fall at her feet or on her blade. This is not to say that she is entirely unethical, however. Isabela will only use or act against people she feels deserves it, and the exploitation of the innocent will not sit well with her. And, while she often acts selfishly (and will protest anyone saying otherwise about her), there's a heart of gold underneath that ponderous bosom, and Isabela can be very generous (if somewhat unorthodox in her exact methods) toward people she happens to like or (secretly) care about.

When it comes to relationships, Isabela generally only considers them either business or pleasure (or, frequently, a combination of both). She much prefers to outright hire someone to do something for her with some kind of pre-contracted agreement, or have a clear expectation of job and payment both if someone hires her, rather than just relying on favors or someone’s goodwill. She generally doesn’t do something for nothing, and gets rather disgusted with other people who do. Isabela figures that the past is the past and a person’s business is their own, thus prying or butting into personal decisions, especially those of strangers, is a quick way to annoy her. The one exception to this seems to be teasing other people or asking details about their sex lives. Isabela has a considerable sexual appetite, certainly knows her way around a whorehouse, and is not particularly discriminating in her choices of partners--men, women, dwarves in drag (not recommended, by the way, according to her), makes little enough difference to her as long as she gets orgasms out of the deal. She gets rejected as often as not, and so tends to cast her proverbial net widely. She has a broad network of paramours and low-life business associates all over Thedas, and if they’re some kind of pirate or criminal scum, chances are good that Isabela’s either worked with them or slept with them at some point or another. She does have some standards, though, when blurring the line between business and pleasure could negatively impact her position. For instance, she generally would never allow the men serving in her crew to lay a hand on her so long as she was captain. When it comes to genuine intimacy (be it friendly or romantic), though, Isabela tries to avoid it. It's less that she's afraid of falling for someone and getting hurt in the process than it is her being afraid of inadvertently (or worse, deliberately) hurting someone else who doesn't deserve that kind of treatment, especially if she does come to genuinely care for them. Frankly, she tends to find love and romance vastly overrated, but that may be due to her limited experience with the real thing. After all, she didn't come from a loving home, didn't have a loving husband, and so is used to emotional abuse and neglect, and tends to be distrustful of anyone claiming to actually care about her. However cavalier and frank she might seem at first, her trust and loyalty are not easily won--it took years before Hawke and the others were able to claim any form of genuine solidarity from Isabela. The proverb "If you love something, set it free, and if it returns to you, it'll be yours forever, but if not, it was never yours to begin with" is quite appropriate for Isabela. Once her trust has been duly earned, she won't turn her back or desert a friend unless given reason to do so (usually by either betrayal or trying to chain her down).

Isabela does not like to be confined in any way, be it literally or metaphorically. Small, narrow enclosed spaces make her nervous, and she chafes under any imposed rules and restrictions. It's one of the reasons why she prefers to seek out seedy and lawless places to live and socialize rather than anywhere fancy or refined--people living in places like those might as well be wearing a target for Isabela to pick on them. She hates fancy parties, or really, any gathering where she'll be expected to be on her best behavior. A pragmatic and secular realist, Isabela finds organized religion especially distasteful, along with zealotry for or against the established dogma. While she rarely will begrudge another person for their beliefs, Isabela wants no part of it, and will only agree to being dragged into a war of ideologies if she can either profit from it or has something to lose if she doesn't get involved. More often than not, she'll stubbornly refuse to voice an opinion on a hot-button issue, either by claiming she has no opinion on it, and/or changing the subject to something she finds more palatable. This often will confuse and frustrate her more principled and opinionated companions, who have difficulty figuring out what her real motivations are (she, however, claims she really is that shallow and they're wasting their time trying to find a deeper meaning to the things she does). She always makes sure she has an exit whenever possible, regardless of whether or not it might be dangerous, but otherwise she wants to be able to do whatever she likes, however and whenever she chooses. Rarely does she stay in any one place for long, and it’s one thing when she decides to be there, and quite another when she’s forced to be there.

Isabela also can be remarkably perceptive of other people, often able to accurately gauge their motives, feelings, and general states of being. She has a particular knack for being able to find people's trigger buttons, and she seems to take a wicked delight in pushing them, even to the point of estranging or enraging the other person (especially if it's someone she doesn't like). As Varric observes, "there's only one person who can make people that angry"--that person, of course, being Isabela. Believe it or not, though, Isabela doesn't actually like picking fights or arguing with her friends (enemies, though, that's a whole different ball of wax), nor does she usually seek out trouble, and she'll usually back off if she senses she's crossed one line too many. (In the event she doesn't back off, though, be prepared for a hell of a fight, because she will not give up until she's either triumphed or can't see any possible way to win--whichever comes first.) However, it does make a useful method of deflecting if someone attempts to talk to her about things that Isabela isn't comfortable discussing: she'll often turn the tables by deftly changing the subject in a way that tends to make the other person feel awkward, uncomfortable, or otherwise defensive until they get the hint and drop it. She may be willing to open up later on, but she'll only do it on her terms when she feels ready to talk. She especially doesn't like to talk about her past, her decisions, or her feelings, figuring that what's done is done, and her experiences have made her the woman she is.

There's also a distinct streak of vanity in her, and not just due to her ego. Though she may play it off that she doesn't give a damn what other people think of how she presents herself, she is actually somewhat insecure about her looks, and worries about the effects of aging, be it wrinkles or weight gain or anything else. She secretly does enjoy dressing up, and likes when people compliment her appearance. But, she hides any doubts behind an overconfident swagger and a staggering sense of entitlement. Even places she's never before set foot, she'll often walk in like she owns it, and has a habit of seeming to think that she does too. In her friends' homes, she'll blithely help herself to food, drink, even their closets if she finds something she likes, and often will borrow without permission, or even leave her mark (literally--she apparently canonly carves lewd graffiti on the stairwell of the Hawke estate) on the place. She also seems to think her companions' talents are hers to make use of whenever she wants, whether it's healing magic or other ideas on how they could put their abilities toward things she would find useful, regardless of what they think. She even made one companion, Sebastian, stand still so that she could use the shiny armor he was wearing as her own personal mirror, despite his obvious awkwardness. Call her on it, and she'll show no remorse whatsoever. Eventually, her friends usually just learn to accept it as part of putting up with Isabela.

Isabela's distinctly vivid imagination is one of her more endearing features, though it nearly always seems to be in the proverbial gutter. Often, she can invent whole stories from innocent words or phrases, or even just something she heard about offhand. So strong are these fantasies of hers, that she frequently ends up distracted from the conversations at hand, too wrapped up in whatever flight of fancy has entered her head to listen anymore. She'll often be too happy to hint at what's going on inside her head if someone makes the mistake of asking. She's never subtle about it, although, oddly, she seems to be surprised when met with similar directness from her companions.

Still, don't be fooled by her joking, casual, vulgar, shallow exterior. Underneath, Isabela is a woman of remarkable spirit and determination. She's faced genuine hardships over the years, and pulled herself out of them by her own self-will. When she sees something she wants, she goes after it. Her fronts are her armor, but she really is tough as nails. She's even an amazingly good leader in the right circumstances, as she's an excellent captain, able to inspire fierce loyalty and obedience from her men. Even her companions have remarked on the distinct shift in her demeanor when she sets foot on her ship, as she suddenly becomes responsible and even respectable, and clearly caring deeply about her crew, even when shouting orders. Get her to let her guard down enough, and she can prove surprisingly kind, gentle and sympathetic (if slightly awkward, as she's not used to such displays of vulnerability and sweetness).

But, of course, the people who know her best are her long-time friends, who've heard her say all of the following, and then some:

"Sailing is like sex. If you do it wrong, you will get sick... but do it right, and there's no feeling in the world like it."

"Ah, the Blooming Rose. Where people come... then go."

"And then Isabela went to the Chantry, and saw that it was... boring. Canticle of Isabela, stanza one, verse one."

"You smell that? Smells like repression, doesn't it?" (spoken upon entering the Kirkwall chantry)

"Hmm... apostate prostitutes? ...Apos-titutes! *Laughs*"

"Our mistakes make us who we are."

"Really? We're going to just waltz in here and fight dozens of blood mages? Ourselves? All right. I'm game."

"Ah, the Hanged Man. Sometimes you want to be where everybody knows your name."

"A warehouse? I don't like being led around. Unless leashes are involved. And they're not."

"Coming in here of my own free will feels wrong. Like diddling a sister." (said upon entering the guard barracks in Kirkwall)

"Your death toll is approaching natural disasters."

"I like big boats, I cannot lie."

"A sneer on your lip, but want in your eye."

"I'm sorry, I don't speak never-gets-sex-again."

"If we kill them, we get their stuff!"

"Why must it always be ancient horrors? Why can't it be fabulous treasure once in a while?"

"Aveline, if you shove your thumb up his ass, I win."

"I like duels. It's what I do. And if I win, he'll be dead. Problem solved!"

"Wait. I’m helping the Qunari recover some priceless artifact? Oh, the irony."

"Stealing Qunari relics from Orlesians… Why do I feel like I’ve been here before?"

"Oh, shit... literally."

"Please, Martin. You wouldn't know honest if I tied you up and spanked you with it."

Complete banter links: Anders | Aveline | Bethany | Carver | Fenris | Merrill | Sebastian | Varric | General comments

Any differences: Isabela lacks a great deal of her parental issues, as she remains on speaking terms with her mother and step-father, even though they have never had a very good relationship, and they still disagree strongly when it comes to religion and morality.

She is also considerably more outspoken when it comes to her stance on political issues, and far more willing to get involved with a cause if it means something to her, even if she has nothing to personally gain from it. While she generally shies away from getting involved in those kinds of conversations in the first place, once you get her started on something, she can prove very opinionated indeed.

Though she still has considerable appetites for both sex and booze, she no longer frequents brothels nearly so much (prostitution being illegal in the USA probably having something to do with that) or literally lives in bars. Nor has she killed (or ordered a hit on) anyone in this lifetime, and has no plans to start if she can help it.

She has a lot more financial stability these days than in her preincarnation, and generally manages to stay on top of any debt she incurs, and so feels far less of a need to get involved in risky ventures.

Abilities: 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). Here is an example of Isabela in action.

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.

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.).

Isabela is known to be literate, and 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.

Roleplay Sample - Third Person: The bar was a poorly-lit dive. It was supposed to be smoke-free, but the stale smell of cigarettes always seemed to linger. And the booze. And more than likely vomit and other bodily excretions. Clearly, the janitorial staff, if it even had one, was too jaded to bother with taking pride in their work. For Isabela, it was perfect.

Not that she'd frequented it much, but she walked in, a swagger in her hips and a brazen confidence like the whole place belonged to her. She got herself a drink--some unholy cocktail that probably could have knocked a linebacker on his ass--and settled herself in nicely at a table where she took out her writing and started work. It was going well, and she was just getting to a good part, with the heroine teasing the edge of a dagger across her hero's skin, making him shiver and squirm and beg for mercy, of which he'd get none once she started ravaging his manhood, when a shadow fell across the table. Isabela glanced up to see a man standing over her.

"Hey, pretty lady," he slurred, "You here all by yourself?"

She frowned. She was here for work, not play. Another time, perhaps, she'd be willing to play this little game and have a bit of fun, but today she wasn't in the mood. "I am. And I'd like it to stay that way, if you don't mind," she retorted.

"Oh, don't be like that," he said, pressing in all the closer, "Everything's more fun with someone to share it with."

"And I'm sure you'd know all about that," she quipped, "Listen, sweetness, it just so happens that you've picked the wrong day and the wrong table. I'm not going to warn you again."

"And what are you going to do about it?" he pressed, smirking at her.

Isabela just smirked right back.
"This," she said, and her hand shot out to grab his. Some sharp twists later, and she heard the wet snap of his fingers breaking. He howled in pain, crying out unintelligible curses (though she was sure she heard the word "bitch" in there a few times), and struggled to pull away, knocking over her drink in the process. The glass shattered on the sticky floor. The bouncer came over to see what the ruckus was about, glowering at the man who was slinking away, cradling his broken fingers.

"This guy bothering you, lady?" the bouncer asked.

Isabela chuckled.
"Not anymore."

Roleplay Sample - Network:
[Isabela can be clearly seen shuffling a deck of cards, 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 a bridge club. 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!

Any Questions? None at the moment! I'll let you know if I think of any.