Valonelle

Medusa, AC 5; MV 9; W7 (Patrician); hp 21; #AT 1; Dmg d4+2 (dagger); AL CG; THAC0 13; Str 10, Dex 12, Con 11, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 17; SA Petrifaction, Poison.

Scroll (protection from lycanthropes), Wand of Lightning, Wand of Magic Missiles, Ring of Djinni Summoning, Dagger +2, Gem of Seeing, Slippers of Spider Climbing.

Valonelle is a beautiful woman, with long shapely legs and an athletic body. Her skin has an odd golden pigment, but golden color is not noticeable from a distance. Standing 6'2" tall and weighing about 150 lbs., Valonelle can be an imposing woman when she wants to be. Her hair is a nest of snakes, given her medusa heritage. The snakes are green with bright yellow and red patterns on their backs. Valonelle wears a helmet to hide her snakes and a thin veil to protect those around her from her deadly glare. She wears lacey robes and favors reds and greens, usually decorated with elaborate wolf themes. A tattoo of two fierce wolf heads, facing away from one another inscribed in a circle, is found over her left breast.

This noble medusa hails from the Vodoni Empire and is a member of the royal house. She is a lesser scion of that family, far removed from the Emperor and the center of power of the Empire. This allowed her the luxury of enrolling in the Academy and eventually earning command of a ship. With a little political maneuvering and a great deal of actual talent, Valonelle received command of the Werewolf-ship the Sky Marauder, a veteran of numerous battles who's captain retired the year before. Though she commanded the ship well for four years, her political moves earlier earned her a number of enemies, who plotted against her. Finally, they made their move against her. They switched her standard war helmet with a helm of opposite alignment, an item they knew to be cursed by didn't know exactly what the curse was.

The helm's effects on Valonelle were not immediately obvious, but it changed her whole outlook on life and gave her a conscious. A year after donning the helmet, Valonelle came to the realization that she could no longer serve the Empire in good conscious. Her duties required her to commit acts that she could not bring herself to do nor order her crew to do, and it slowly ate at her resolve. She resigned her commission and quietly left the Empire, joining a band of adventurers for a time. Eventually, she made her way to the Travelling City of Songspace, where she settled down. Having earned a fortune in her life as an adventuress along with what wealth she took with her from the Empire, Valonelle decided to open the Lost Princess Tavern and Inn. She enjoys her new life as the owner of the Lost Princess, which earns her an honest living and leaves her with a little money left over every month to donate to the poor box at the Church of Waylund (Ptah).

Her constant companion is Greygore (whom Valonelle calls Gregory), a Vodoni Enforcer that she befriended on the Sky Marauder and has remained loyal to her. He has a hard time understanding why Valonelle resigned or why she finds living among the 'common folk' more enjoyable than commanding a Werewolf in glorious service of the Empire, but Greygore is not one to ask too many questions. Once a month, he restricts himself to the Forbidden Park to allow his animalistic instincts to take over (the Forbidden Park was established on the Travelling City to allow certain races to unleash their bestial natures without risk to the greater populous). His day job is bar tender and occasional bouncer for the Tavern.

Despite having left the Vodoni Empire, Valonelle still has enemies there. In particular, at least one powerful breeder wishes to see her slain or humiliated, and the new captain of the Sky Marauder hates her as well, as his abilities are far less than his predecessor (often whispered behind his back on the Marauder). Other enemies include the Cult of the Crystal King, who knew her as the Bloody Princess for her finding and destroying two of their ships and exposing a cell of resistance on Grog. All would like to see her to an early grave.