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| personality
Despite her small stature, Alina Frostbrew's presence seems huge. In true dwarf nature, almost every emotion she has is to the extreme, whether she's chucking plates from behind the bar at someone who is nothing but trouble, or letting her loud, infectious laugh carry across The Dirty Bird for everyone to hear. Though there is no official entertainment at the inn, the dynamic between Alina and her patrons is usually enough to captivate the attention of others. She's a huge joker, and will likely pick out something about you to gently tease about. If she's met you before, she likely has a reaction to seeing you again, whether it's attempting to chase you off her premises with a broom, or throwing her arms enthusiastically around you for a huge hug. She is very seldom serious, since she says she's too old and has endured too much heartbreak in her life to do anything but enjoy the years she has left. Also in true dwarf nature, she is very fond of gold, and hides as much of her earnings as possible away. If you are anything less than an extremely close friend, do not try to come between her and her gold. However, if you are one of the short list of people she considers like family, she is willing to part with a few coins if needed. |
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| appearance
Of course Alina's appearance has to be just as over the top as her personality, or rather, has to be a reflection of her personality. You can never mistake her for anyone else, since there's probably few dwarf women outside of the mountains who could match her grandeur. She is very small, even for a dwarf, she's a few inches below the average. Her shape is naturally stocky, like others of her race, though still curvy and decidedly feminine. Alina has never been one of those dwarf women mistaken for a male in her entire life. You can tell what kind of day she's having by the state of her naturally dark brown, though often dyed red hair. It's always pinned up in some way, though it goes from pristine and delicately braided and curled, to hastily pulled away from her face in a messy updo depending on the flow of business that day, and her stage of exasperation. Being a dwarf, she is always adorned with various gold rings, bangles and earrings, and would be glad to brag that they're made up of both family heirlooms and gifts from travelers. Her clothing is always very fashionable, the biggest allowance she gives herself is to have dressmakers construct her smaller versions of the same outfits higher society women are wearing. Her favorite color is red, which is usually reflected in the corsets, skirts and shawls she wears in some way. |
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history
From the time she was just a small dwarf, Alina Frostbrew's mother would say that her only daughter was a handful. Many times she cursed her with the fate of having a daughter just like herself someday. Many times she expressed her desire to venture out of the Bikkral Mountains and see the world, even though she was told time and time again that it was too dangerous for a young dwarven woman outside of their community. But Alina was difficult at best, and would often try to sneak away from home, though she was always foiled in some way, which earned her the title 'the Rebellious' among her peers. It didn't help that the dwarf she fell in love with was an adventurer himself. Thonir Firebeard was about twenty years older than Alina, and was known for two things, his long red beard, and his ability to procure dragon scales. When they first married she thought that surely this dwarf would allow her to come with him, into the lands beyond Gya, far over the mountains, to the land were dragons were fairly common. She could not have been more wrong though, Thonir would not even consider his wife being put in harms way. Though he loved and cared for very deeply, he forbid her to leave the mountain, and instead she was forced to settle for accepting trinkets from foreign lands from her beloved.
She was not stuck at home alone, waiting and longing for her husband though, Alina's father had been a homebody who preferred to remain close to what he knew, brewing ales at his tavern while his wife cooked delicious foods for their patrons. Originally her mother was very keen to teach her how to cook dwarvish delicacies and run the kitchens with her, but Alina was more drawn to making ales, and by the time she reached adulthood had already learned her father's secrets. He passed early in her life, not long after she was married, and Alina stepped up to carry on his legacy. Many dwarves returned home from their travels, or a long day in the mines, and said they could think of little other than a mug of her refreshing beers. The tavern, which stood on a high platform high above the bustle of the mountain's center of commerce and was a only reachable by a series of platforms, was a local hot spot and always busy. Though she wasn't able to go off with her husband, Alina was still content to become a well-liked tavern keeper.
A few decades into their marriage, the couple's first and only child was born, Galina II, daughter of Thonir V. Thonir vowed that he would amke an effort to be around his child more, but the pull of gold was too strong, and still Alina was often left alone with the child. Still, the baby became her entire world, and she often left the tavern in the hands of another family member in order to spend as much time as possible with her. Though they weren't together as often as she would have liked, she was still entirely devoted to her husband, and relished when he would return to her with presents and small toys for the little girl. They were as happy as dwarves could be, until Thonir made the decision to go on an expedition with less dwarves than he really should have and ended up losing his life when things spiraled out of control. The only piece of him that returned home was in the form of his gold wedding band that was given to Alina by one of his cohorts. To this day she has not removed it from the chain that hangs around her neck.
It was difficult being a single mother, but the great thing about dwarves is that everyone in your community is basically family, and she was able to rely on her family, friends, and neighbors to help her in any way she needed. With their help, Galina grew up into a sweet, friendly, beautiful young dwarf woman. Alina was just beginning to entertain the idea of marrying her daughter off to a strong, yet kind, young dwarf once she came of age when sickness began to break out in the mountains. Everything began to fall apart quickly, her beloved mother, who was already getting older, was among the first to die. It broke her heart to add another name to the list of ones she had loved and lost, but Alina quickly picked herself up, put her child first and escaped the mysterious plague infecting the Bikkral Mountains before either of them lost their lives.
She was of course seen as a deserter who was turning her back on her people in their moment of need, though realistically Alina knew there was little she could do for them, and was doing everything she could to ensure Galina's survival. Having never actually ventured outside of her home, the world was at first scary. The first land she reached before leaving Gya was Ruand, and though she knew little of the world outside, she had heard of the massacre at Moradorn, and knew it was a bad idea for a dwarf to linger there. Eventually her travels brought her to Northwold in central Dalry, and though she didn't think this land seemed much better than any other, it would do. Alina began working as a bar maid, though she had also brought a cache of smuggled gold with her, and after a few months of working in town, offered the barkeep a fair price for his inn, and the rest is history. Ever since, she has been running The Dirty Bird, an enjoyable, though at times questionable establishment, where all (sometimes grudgingly) are welcome and free to stay for the night... as long as they have the gold.
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