– Early 4690 AR, Western Ustalav –

A dapper elven nobleman arrives in the small town of Evenvale and practices his charms on the local women. Despite assurances that he hails from the very upper echelons of Kyonin aristocracy, the town’s young ladies peg him quite rightly as a cheat, phony, and general prevaricator, likely due in some part to his inability to remember the name of Queen Telandia (who is not, in fact, referred to as “Queen Pointy-Ears” by her most trusted advisors).

Well, almost all the young ladies.

Cosmina Arcos is wholly and happily fooled, much to her parents’ chagrin.

 

– Late 4690 AR, Western Ustalav –

Cosmina’s whirlwind romance with her suitor ends abruptly when Cosmina gives birth to a baby girl.

According to Cosmina’s mother, the elven suitor’s last words to the young woman were, “I thought you had just been getting fat, and I was sort of into that. But I’m not into kids.”

According to Cosmina, her suitor’s last words to her were, “farewell, my darlingest darling! Though it leaves me in agony, I must away, to rule Kyonin beside my mother, the queen, which absolutely makes you and our daughter elven princesses, and don’t let anyone forget it.”

Incidentally, the conflicting report of these last words would later be the baby girl’s first lesson in which of her maternal figures to get solid, particle advice from.

 

– Early 4691 AR, Western Ustalav –

The baby girl is eventually named Viorica, after her mother’s favourite flowers, thanks mostly to her grandparents’ insistence that naming her “Eluvia the Elven Princess” would probably just get her beaten up.

 

– Late 4697 AR, Western Ustalav –

Cosmina Arcos decides to travel to Kyonin to reunite with her elven suitor, as people stopped feeling sorry for her and humouring her about the elven princess shtick a few years ago.

A six-year old Viorica waves a tearful farewell to her mother, somehow knowing that Cosmina will probably be eaten by wolves before she gets five miles outside of Evenvale. As she never hears from her mother again, Viorica can only assume she is right.

 

– 4698 AR, Western Ustalav –

After catching his granddaughter ordering her dolls to “BOW TO THE PRINCESS OF ELVENKIND!” Stelian Arcos decides Viorica needs to do something with herself before she ends up like her mother.

The something upon which he decides for his diminutive, unassuming granddaughter is espionage.

Viorica begins training entirely too secret to be detailed.

 

– 4699 AR, Somewhere in Ustalav –

Training.

 

– 4700 AR, Somewhere in Ustalav –

Training.

 

– 4701 AR, Somewhere in Ustalav –

Training.

 

– 4702 AR, Somewhere in Golarion –

Training.

 

– 4703 AR, Somewhere in Golarion –

Training.

 

– 4704 AR, Somewhere in Golarion –

Training.

 

– 4705 AR, Somewhere in Golarion –

Training.

 

– 4706 AR, Somewhere in Golarion –

Training.

 

– Early 4707 AR, Somewhere in Golarion –

Viorica completes her training.

 

– Mid–4707 AR, Somewhere in Golarion –

Viorica and Stelian Arcos begin making their way to Katapesh, where the young spy can ply her trade in the famed Nightstalls. Their journey takes them through adventures in Razmiran, the River Kingdoms, Galt, Taldor, and Quadira before they finally board a ship crossing the Obari Ocean.

Days into their ocean voyage, Stelian takes sick and never recovers. He does not see Katapesh.

 

– Early 4708 AR, Katapesh –

And, of course, that was when her training truly started. Because what did an old librarian from Ustalav know about espionage? It really should have been obvious that, while exciting, the training her grandfather had put her through would be more at home in trashy novels than the streets of any city in Golarion. In later years, she would even find the passages in the worst old novels that he had cribbed his training from, and all she could do was laugh.

But for now, Viorica Arcos began again. Because if an Arcos is anything, it’s persistent past the point of any sense.

 

– 4709 AR, Katapesh –

A begger slips through the streets of Katapesh and is chased away from the Nightstalls until she’s quick enough and quiet enough that they stop seeing her approach. It takes longer than she had expected it would, and she has to quickly abandon all of the panache her grandfather assured her were the hallmarks of a master spy.

She misses the panache.

 

– 4710 AR, Katapesh –

An herbalist wanders the streets of Katapesh, and is welcomed into homes and shops where all she charges for her services are a friendly smile. Her sleeping accommodations, however, are not much of a step-up from a beggar’s.

 

– 4711 AR, Katapesh –

A young, only vaguely talented painter visits Katapesh, seeking patronage and coin. How she can survive with such limited skill is a question no one really bothers to ask — at least she’s pretty, and with much less of the political drama a chartiable herbalist ends up attracting.

 

– 4711 AR, Katapesh –

A young and, dare I say, beautiful courtesan makes her presence known in Katapesh. Her unusual tastes make her quite popular among some of the minor nobles who visit the city, looking for new and strange experiences. Strange, she can give them, with pleasure.

She misses the painting.

 

– 4712 AR, Katapesh –

A minor elvish noblewoman arrives in Katapesh, and her light demeanour and seemingly constant amusement raise her status more quickly than any coin could. It’s astonishing how quickly people become bored with the wonders of Katapesh, so a pretty girl in a nigh constant state of wonder is refreshing and much welcome where even a courtesan hadn’t been before.

Plus, no more of that hinky stuff.

 

– 4712 to 4714 AR, Katapesh –

The beggar, the herbalist, the painter, the courtesan, and the minor noblewoman all make regular appearances in Katapesh, and slowly, ever so wretchedly slowly, information is collected. After many trips to the Nightstalls, a reputation is forged.

Most importantly, a grandfather would be very proud.

 

– 4714 AR, Absalom –

And finally, FINALLY, a request from a vendor in the Nightstalls sends her outside the city. To Absalom, of all places, the city at the center of the world. And now that she was there, she knew she would have to make her mark on the city.

The citizens of Absalom would never know the name Viorica Arcos, but she vowed, in the name Stelian Arcos, that they would feel her influence every time they lowered their voices just a little more, because secrets weren’t quite as safe as they used to be in Absalom.

Which is to say, even more unsafe than the already totally unsafe state they find themselves in at present, being that this is Absalom and it’s a bit sketchy, and … Bollocks. Work on dramatic closer before you publish your memoirs VA.

Honestly.

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