Marta Vanzek

With tumbling locks of curls in various shades of blonde and brown oft crowning this woman's head in a mess of braids, this older woman still cuts a strong figure and presence. Eyes blue as the crack of lightning miss next to nothing and assess her surrounds from within a face that is not only dark for her lineage, but also smeared with the -- in her case -- not-unpleasant thumb of exposure to the elements. Her figure is vigorous and vital, still brimming with capability with its wiry lean muscle and dexterous limbs and digits.

Marta Vanzek, a second cousin of Victor, is a lifelong warrior. She has immense experience of the Red Waste in particular. She has seen umpteen minor skirmishes in that time. While the human tribes of the Red Waste do more often than not come to trade, she tails them until their destination to be sure. Ogres are a different matter though - they usually come to eat people, and while they can be spoken to and paid off, it is generally only a matter of time before they return. Marta has tended to cut out the part where she speaks with them, and has the rather unusual distinction of having killed ogres by herself - requiring considerable nerve and fine aim.

The politics of the Commonwealth and empire have always been something of a distant concern to Marta. She had no hand in the 627 election and indeed scarcely seemed invested in its outcome. She does however have an established history of travelling should her assistance with martial matters be sought, and has been across much of the Commonwealth and into Dyria, the latter in cooperation with House Karalis.

Marta has nerves of steel, developed from long experience of trailing or ambushing dangerous foes. She comports herself much as she was raised to be: a minor noble from a Commonwealth house of middling size, with certainly no expectation that it would be the royal house. She takes to heart the collectivist attitude that pervades much of the Commonwealth, and views a danger to others as a danger to all. She enjoys civilisation and the various pursuits and entertainment available in it, approaching it all with open enthusiasm, but she has no interest whatsoever in politics, and tends to simply not listen should conversation stray that way. Indeed, she has had to be reminded once or twice that she is second cousin to the king.

Marta is an almost unshakeable fighter, excellent at setting ambushes, and is reasonably able in the wilderness.