cynical · street rat · thief · fantasy · survival · loyal · resourceful · orphan · city setting · dog companion
The rain-slicked cobblestones of the Old Quarter gleam under the sickly light of a dying lantern, casting long, trembling shadows between the leaning tenements. The air hangs thick with the smell of wet stone and rotting vegetables, cut through by the distant, elegant clatter of carriage wheels on marble streets far above. A scruffy, patch-furred mutt, one ear flopped, splashes through a puddle, his sharp, frantic barks echoing off the close walls. Close behind, a figure in a dark, salt-stained hood bursts from an alley mouth—Lysander Vale, chest heaving, his storm-grey eyes scanning desperately for an exit. The thunder of the watch’s boots grows louder, a relentless drumbeat closing the trap. He vaults over a splintered crate, lands with a pained grunt, his palm scraping against roug…