Lilith Rozanov
Rogue — Arcane Trickster — Urchin — Almost Free
| Player | Rachel |
| Class | Rogue, Arcane Trickster |
| Race | Human (Variant) |
| Background | Urchin |
| Origin | Born in a hovel near a market, raised on the road with Eva Valentine’s circus |
| Faith | Kezmet ruined her family. She has opinions. |
Background
Lilith Rozanov was doomed from the start, perhaps by the god Kezmet to whom her father had devoted his pathetic and debaucherous life.
Illness took her mother when Lilith was only 5. She always wondered if her mother would have survived, had her father bothered to call for a doctor. Had he not gambled away any funds to pay for one.
After that she learned to fend for herself. Stealing only food at first. The bountiful stalls of the market near their hovel never missed a loaf of bread or a piece of fruit. As she grew and honed her skills, she set her eyes on loftier targets. Rich nobles and opulently dressed ladies rarely possessed the good sense to guard their purse strings.
Her ability to slip in and out of shadow, and step with such light-footed grace served her well, even at home. She could easily sneak past her dozing father without disturbing him and incurring his wrath.
The Night Everything Changed
One night, upon returning to the small space they shared, Lilith paused at the closed door, listening. What hand would she be dealt tonight? Would her father be drunk and despondent after a loss? Or perhaps feverishly manic at having won at the casinos, and rambling about how Kezmet had a plan for him after all.
Hearing nothing, she decided he must have succumbed to his vice for the night and crept cautiously inside. Peering into the darkness, she started, seeing a figure sitting at the small table in the corner. The figure lit a candle revealing himself. Her father, more sober than she’d seen him in months. He avoided her eyes, fidgeting with a small object in his hands… a coin.
“It’s not up to me… nothing is up to me, it never has been… He gives… He takes.”
“And now… we’ll see what he has in store for you.”
Her father looked up, meeting her gaze, eyes shining with fanatic madness, and sent the coin into the air with a clear ringing. It landed with a thud and he peered down at it just as the door behind her burst open. Two men came in and dragged her away as her father’s screams faded into the night.
“THE COIN DEMANDED IT!!!!!”
He had sold his own daughter to pay his gambling debts. A callous sacrifice to his greedy god.
Eva Valentine
The woman who bought her owned a traveling circus. Her name was Eva Valentine, and she recruited street urchins and unlucky orphans into her service to fleece the crowds as they bustled in to take their seats for the show.
By some sick chance, Lilith’s father and Eva became acquainted at the slots, and so their dirty dealings began.
Years later Lilith travels along with Eva, always a new town, with fresh full pockets to pick. But the end is in sight for Lilith, because she’s made a bargain with Eva, and she’s almost free.
What's the bargain with Eva?
She’s almost free. What did she promise? A final score, a debt paid off, a replacement recruit, a target Eva can’t reach herself? And does Eva actually plan to honor it, or is freedom just another con?
Is her father still alive?
A Kezmet devotee who sold his kid to a circus operator. Is he still out there gambling? Did Kezmet reward him or ruin him? Does Lilith want to find him, or does she hope he’s already dead?
How does she feel about Kezmet?
Kezmet is the god of fate and gold. Her father used that faith to justify selling her. The coin “demanded it.” Does she hate Kezmet? Fear that Kezmet is real and her life is proof? Or does she reject all of it and refuse to believe a coin flip has power over anyone?
Where did the magic come from?
She’s an Arcane Trickster. A street kid turned circus pickpocket doesn’t normally learn wizard spells. Did Eva teach her? Did she steal a spellbook? Did someone in the circus have magic? Or did it just show up one day, like the universe owed her something?
Why does she speak Celestial?
Celestial is on her sheet. A girl raised by a gambling addict and a circus con artist doesn’t learn the language of angels by accident. Where did that come from?
The Carnival of Hijeanx
The campaign world notes mention the “Carnival of Hijeanx” as a major faction. Is Eva Valentine’s circus connected to them? Is that the same organization, a rival, or a feeder?
At the Table
Lilith is a survivor first. CHA 8 means she’s not charming, she’s not persuasive, she doesn’t talk her way out of things. She hides, steals, and runs. That’s not a personality flaw, that’s what happens when every adult in your life either abandoned you, sold you, or put you to work.
She’s almost free. That “almost” is the most dangerous word in her backstory because it means she still has something to lose.
The Party
How do you feel about Dorian?
A guy who builds things and talks to his machine like it’s a person. He’s practical, competent, and doesn’t ask permission from anyone. He also has a workshop, a guild, a home. Things Lilith never had. Is he someone she respects because he made his own way, or someone she resents because he had a foundation to build on?
How do you feel about Tharion?
An 18-year-old who follows every rule of his god by heart. Tharion follows Elythrael, not Kezmet, a different god entirely, but the blind devotion is the same intensity her father showed toward Kezmet, and that devotion destroyed her family. Does loud, unquestioning faith trigger her regardless of which god it serves? Or is Tharion different enough from her father that she can see past it?
How do you feel about Roland?
A knight with servants and a title. He’s from a world of authority, obligation, and order. Lilith grew up dodging people like him. Does she instinctively distrust anyone with that much visible power, or does she see someone who might actually use it for good?
How do you feel about K'roaa'ka?
An exile who was thrown away by his own people. She was sold by her own father. Both of them were discarded. Does she see that connection, or is a poisonous frog from a swamp too alien for her to relate to?
How do you feel about Azalea Fern?
A fey elf who shapeshifts into animals and seems to exist outside the rules everyone else follows. Lilith spent her whole life trapped inside other people’s rules. Is Azalea Fern’s freedom inspiring or incomprehensible?
Does Lilith trust anyone?
Every adult in her life failed her: her father sold her, Eva exploited her, her mother died because no one helped. Does she let anyone in, or is the party just the latest group of people she’s surviving alongside?