Name: Ana Valerius
Age: Thirty-Four (34)
Sex: Female
Height: Five-Feet-Nine-Inches (5'9)
Squad Role: Sapper
Appearance:Origin: The Jadelyn Empire
Background: The daughter of a pair of merchants, Ana traveled a lot as a child, and even as a young adult. Over her years, she has seen much of the Jadelyn Empire, Dylad, Lacomyn, and Tysus. Many sights were seen and cities visited, but nothing excited the young girl as much as seeing the soldiers march along the streets, protecting the weak and innocent from all sorts of dangers. Her parents warned her that this wasn't what soldiers actually did, but she refused to believe them. What else were soldiers supposed to be, if not these great protectors and mighty warriors?
At the age of fifteen, Ana left her parents, taking a good portion of supplies, and headed out to join the armies of Jadetyr. They refused her, on account of her age, and sent her away. Not willing to be refused, she applied in several different cities, using up her supplies. Finally, she arrived in Tysus, and settled in one of the smaller cities. Her application was sent in, and denied once more. On the verge of giving up and without supplies, Ana settled into one of the lower class inns and mulled over her application, the denial stamp across it. An elderly man approached, looked it over once, and commented that even if she were of age, she wouldn't have been accepted anyways. Rather than take the insult sitting, she stood and through a punch at him. The way he dodged and slammed her into the table seemed like child's play. When things cleared up and introductions were made, he invited her to join his small mercenary band.
Ana was stuck with a job that none of the men in the group wanted to deal with - explosives expert. Well, she was the apprentice to the explosives expert. A grouchy man of only forty who despised being stuck with an apprentice. He never warmed up to her, even though she was the epitome of a perfect student. Perhaps that was why he disliked her. She provided no challenge to his authority, even though she would often question the ethics and morals of the other mercenaries, and even the soldiers who they signed up with. Over the next ten years, she became an adept in the the arts of using explosives, and when her mentor finally managed to blow himself up, she was given the job of being the expert.
At thirty, she broke off from the mercenary group, leaving behind only a moderately skilled apprentice and the journal of her old instructor, filled with details of handling and instructions from his own experiences. She freelanced for a while, but considering that the explosives she'd acquired (read: stolen) from her old group were in a finite supply, she knew that she'd need to take an a job with a larger army. With a cart filled with what was left of her explosives, she made her way back to Tysus after a long time gone, and went to Alabaster City to apply for the army once more. Now she knew better than to think of soldiers as the white knights of legend, but as the gritty old bastards they really were, and considered herself to be one of them. When she arrived, she went to the booth that the Fifth Echelon had set up to take on mercenaries, she filled out the contract quicker than most others Thus, her life with the Echelon began.
Skills:-An adept in the knowledge of handling and using explosives.
-A fairly good shot with a crossbow, though the change from firing explosives and bolts does leave room for error.
-Competent use of a dagger.
-Decent with a shortsword.
Reason for joining the Fifth Echelon: Because being a freelancer costs more than she makes, with the prices of explosives so high and the amount she'd need to charge customers so that she could survive and break even in price for the explosives is high enough so that her employers might as well hire three or four other mercenaries. So, it'd be better to join up with a large group that would keep her supplied until she decided it's time to leave.
Other information: Ana has a moderate supply of burners, crackers, and sharpers, but has a lack of smokers and only a single cusser, which she has adamantly refused to use up to this point, and will probably continue to hoard it until her life depends on it. In fact, she seems loathe to use any of her explosives, but isn't foolish enough to hoard them. Well, not all of them. She also enjoys smoking tobacco from a pipe, so long as she's nowhere near her explosives.
The signature below, hereby, signs up Ana Valerian under the service of the Fifth Echelon Mercenary Host, for a period of three months. Ana Valerian is allowed to freely leave before the three months, after being paid for the amount he or she served, only after the first major engagement.
4 Silver coins a week of service. Bonus coinage or rewards may be given depending on quality of service or performance during engagements.
Signature: Ana Valerian
Vash
