Layla Falrenor
| Layla Falrenor | |
 | |
| Physical information | |
|---|---|
| Species | Human |
| Race | Elfinshi |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair color and style | Blonde |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Skin color | White |
| Biographical information | |
| Date of birth | 1713 AN (26 AN years) |
| Allegiance(s) | |
| Service/branch |
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Layla Falrenor (b. 1713 AN) was an Elfinshi who trained as a liveried companion of the Guild of the Lotus during the early 18th century after Norton, before being purchased into the service of the 1st Fugitive Pursuit Squadron.
Biography
Layla was born in the Phoenix Forests region of northern Elluenuueq to a clan of the indigenous Elfinshi inhabitants. At the age of 17, she was taken from her homeland in 1730 AN and brought to Ardashirshahr to be inducted into the local chapter of the Guild of the Lotus per the territorial privileges and obligations accorded to that institution.
Apprenticeship and Training
Upon her arrival in Ardashirshahr, Layla entered into a gruelling training regimen under the tutelage of the Guild's liveried companies. She was instructed in the traditional arts of music, dance, calligraphy, poetry, and philosophical conversation so as to render her an accomplished courtesan capable of entertaining and stimulating her clientele intellectually as well as physically.
Layla and her fellow apprentices also underwent strict disciplinary routines and beauty rituals to mould their physiologies into becoming the embodiments of desire and hedonistic indulgence. Such practices included repetitive exercises, nutritional regimes, cosmetic treatments, and the application of somatic sculpting.
Attending on the Flower Streets
By 1731 AN, Layla had completed her training and entered into service as an exclusive concubine in the Flower Streets of Ardashirshahr's paradise. On a nightly basis, she and the other courtesans of her liveried company would be adorned in elaborate jewellery, silks, and face-paints before being presented to the district's wealthy clientele of dignitaries, bureaucrats, guildsmen, and military officers. The most affluent patrons would then bid for the courtesans' exclusive company for the evening's entertainment.
Service to the 1st Pursuit Squadron
In the eighth month of 1731 AN, Layla's life took an unexpected turn when she caught the eye of Richard T. Kilgore, the Commander of Cudgels (uvnbivaroþ) of the 1st Fugitive Pursuit Squadron. Kilgore was relaxing amidst the entertainments of Ardashirshahr's Flower Streets following a staff conference concerning the Alalehzamin Security Line and the threat posed by the emerging security situation.
Enthralled by Layla's beauty and poise, Kilgore utilised his position to have the young Elfinshi courtesan released from her service in the Guild of the Lotus and reassigned as his personal companion and consort. Despite her initial protests, Layla was left with no choice but to accept this new role in Kilgore's household.
As part of the squadron, Layla's primary duties were to attend to Kilgore's domestic needs and provide hospitality for the unit's officers when they were not actively engaged in fugitive apprehension operations. However, her primary was essentially that of a retained concubine for the commander.
Despite her initially wretched status in his service, Commander Kilgore saw additional utility in Layla beyond merely providing domestic services and companionship. With her Elfinshi heritage, he believed she could be an effective infiltrator to gather intelligence on fugitive trafficking networks operating along the Alalehzamin-Shireroth border region.
Under Kilgore's direction, Layla underwent training in espionage tradecraft such as covert communications, surveillance tactics, and self-defence. He capitalised on her ethnicity and former courtesan background, inculcating her with the skills needed to embed herself in people smuggling operations aimed at bringing refugees out of Alalehzamin and across the border into the neighbouring Imperial County of Shirekeep.
Exploiting the extensive Elfinshi diaspora that had settled in Shireroth over the centuries, Kilgore was able to manufacture a credible background legend for Layla to portray herself as a refugee fleeing persecution in the Benacian Union. Her mission was to infiltrate smuggling rings, identify key operatives, and report back their activities and routes to the 1st Pursuit Squadron for potential interdiction.
Layla proved an astute recruit in her clandestine duties. Unburdened by traditional patriotic loyalty to the Union-State, and sustained by an undercurrent of resentment stemming from an accumulating lifetime of misfortunes, she deftly immersed herself in the shadowy criminal underworld along the border. Her activities led to the disruption of several high-profile smuggling operations and sabotaging safe houses, resulting in the arrests of traffickers who were subsequently transferred to await the tender mercies of the Magisters-Carnifex.
