Once upon a very idyllic time, there was a happy otter family, living peacefully next to one of the countless minor rivers in south-eastern Calabria, at the very outskirts of the dominion of the Sarthald house. Outwards, the family didn't make much of a fuss, and their neighbors all thought that they were an absolute model of traditional prosperity.

They were partially right.

The head of the family, father of one well-behaved and four noisy children, upheld the family values outwards with a firm but loving approach. He was known everywhere as Rex Darkpaw, a successful merchant with some economical importance but mostly influential through his sucessful contacts with the Rinaldi and the local minor houses.

As mentioned, there was one well-behaved child in the family. This was not Risla.

With one timid, scholarly younger brother, and three older brothers with tempers like crazed ferrets, Risla grew up in a constant mêlée. Their mother, Lienne Darkpaw, had a rather unique method for rearing her young; let them brawl it out, and if they'd have a problem, teach them a new dirty trick or two to keep the balance in the constant struggles. This proved to be amazingly efficient and saved Lienne a lot of trouble, as Rex was absent for long periods during his frequent travels.

Risla always had a romatic streak, and in the always well stocked attic she found her magical box; a crate of old books and a sword. She promptly claimed these invaluable treasures, and as she learned to read (more or less as a spin-off of her milder brother's literary progress), she started pawing her way through the magical realm of history. The books told of a vixen heroine of the past, Iria, who brought justice to the poor oppressed people, and defeated the wicked. Risla dreamed of becoming like this vixen one day, and in secret, she practised with the sword in the attic.

She never quite figured out the concept of fiction.

They found a letter later in the attic, on top of the crate of the neatly stacked books. It read: Have gonne out into the Worlde to putte an Ende to Injustice and Oppressione of the Poor and Helplesse. Won't be back for Supper.

The world is a cold and unfair place. What's even worse, it's unfair in a particularily unfair way. Despite the fact that Risla was up against overwhelming odds, in counter to her self-acquired education of How The Worlde Works, her heroic deeds seldom succeeded, and her efforts were often scowled upon. In desperation, she sought her way further and further away from her erstwhile home, and her dreams gradually turned into nightmares.

And when things were as bad as they could possibly become, they got yet a little bit more horrible. Risla was abducted and taken aboard a great ship as a rowing slave, ending up (shipwrecked, of course) at a local-deity-forgotten island together with only a few fellow slaves and, by a stroke of irony, Raslon, the navigator's assistant who happened to be a very nice otter. Very nice indeed. It took a while, but eventually, the two otters fell in love, and could have lived happily, if it hadn't been for Syrin, a cat who had also been forced into the slave gig. Syrin was not amused by Raslon's initial attitude towards slaves.

There was a very local war. Adversity reigned. No-one important died... except for Risla. Almost.

A crazed wolf, cornered, wounded, and without a possibility to escape, completely went berserk and tore through Risla's throat with a lethal bite. The last thing she saw were those deadly yellow fangs coming closer, and she didn't even have a chance to defend herself. Her last moments were filled with raw terror.

By a miracle, she survived.

After this, Risla no longer appreciated wolves in her immediate vicinity; in fact, ever since, she was completely terrified of the entire lupine race, and frantically shunned everything that had anything to do with wolves. This did really not bode well for her next tragedy.

Being captured by wolves after this wasn't really the best possible thing that could have happened, but subsequently finding her father Rex there, cooperating with the Volrath, a particularily nasty wolf clan, spying for them, was a world-shattering experience for Risla. Her own father. In mascopy with these murderous... beasts...

The ensuing dispute is beyond the scope of this brief character description.

Rex is no longer employed by the Volrath. In fact, he's nowadays enjoying an elevated position on their hit list. Blood is thicker than water, and by releasing Risla and the other prisoners, he automatically created a vacancy in the Volrath spy department.

Eventually, Risla forgave her father, and set out to search for Raslon again. During her travels, she was conned into believing that Syrin had killed her beloved, and when the evil kitten continued gloating over her "deed", Risla finally saw red, and killed her.

Shortly afterwards, Risla was shot during an escape when she heroically attempted to draw the guards' attention so that Hati (who was about to be hanged) could get away. Risla almost made it... except for that last crossbow bolt that pierced her heart... Her broken body was paraded around the streets as a "Warning Example".

Thus ends the saga of Risla. Her hopes soared high; her intentions were the best. Still, she died in infamy...