Game History
AD&D Forgotten Realms The First Incarnation
Niki began life as the unwanted daughter of a Madame who covertly ran the city's thieves guild. She learned a bit of reading and writing and history from an old thief, retired, and ran the streets with the other thieves until her mother decided she could be useful in the business. Niki resisted this idea, and knifed a city guard who tried to rape her. She fled the city immediately leaving behind her cousin Thai to whom she'd been very close.
She began travelling with a party of adventurers and overcame her fear of capture with their understanding, particularly of one, a wise elder gentleman who introduced her as their scout, much to her preference, than thief. She met a paladin named Valentine along the way, and fell in love. He disappeared, swallowed by a demoness into her Realm and Niki was heart broken. She and her friends took a charter to an odd city between worlds, where she ad they developed strange 'gifts'. Hers was tracking, by knowing what she sought she knew its direction. As she'd suspected, the gentle witch that had welcomed them was in fact evil, and Niki quite happily backstabbed her. They fled and continued their travels, coming to a city where the king had gained a rather elaborate reputation for tyranny. Bards who passed near were co-opted to write songs of his glory and then executed. They entered this lovely city just before sunset and sought an inn, but were unable to do so before the curfew and the city guards tried to arrest them. The barbarian in her group objected to their slurs and belted one. They defended themselves as the guards drew steel, and easily defeated them. Turning to run more guards came and the battle raged. By dawn the entire city guard corps was dead in the square, and the City's Duke, who led them had come to destroy us. He too died, then the Prince and finally, the King himself appeared and was soundly defeated. Tired, Hungry, and angry the travelers marched to the castle, and got food, selected a few choice items from the treasury and boarded the King's private sailing ship. Far ashore they set course and finally slept. They soon discovered that the King had been rather cavalier in his treatment of captured magi as well. After bespelling his ship, they too had been put to death, and the thing actually flew.
Alt.Dragons-Inn (AD-I) The Second Incarnation
Niki arrived soaking wet from a storm in Montfort in the middle of the night. The Dragon's Inn became her home for a time. There she met Jake Shade, who intrigued her greatly. Valentine returned from his imprisonment much changed. Niki allowed him to live with her on the ship while he recovered from the demoness' ordeals. Jake did not care for Valentine, and Valentine knew instinctively that Shade was undeniably the bearer of an evil that dwarfed the imagination. Valentine forbid her to associate with Jake, and she tried to abide by this, but when Jake's lady was kidnapped by an evil cult [Death Choir] Niki volunteered her assistance. The girls had been taken to a far away citadel, and it took a great deal of travelling to arrive. In the desert flats, Jake found Niki crying from fatigue and frustration as her strange gift found water that was not good to drink over and over, and soothed her. The barren landscape harbored a more subtle defense... as they trabelled nearer the citadel tempers frayed, anger grew, until Niki grew tired of the men baiting her skills and eyeing her curves. She pulled a knife on one and would have killed him as well if Jake's young friend hadn't realized the spell was at fault, and seperated them. Reaching the citadel Niki scaled the walls and sought the captives while Jake and the mercenaries stormed another way in. They were too late, and she died in Jake's arms, disemboweled by the death choir device. (Death Choir and Jake Shade, by Jeff Simon)
Jake left for far lands, to be alone and far from anyone he knew or who could remind him of his lost lady. Niki returned to Montfort. Valentine had lost his paladinhood in the demoness' realm, and escaped but coud not stand himself and the things she'd forced him to do to survive there. Drink helped him forget at first but Niki's cheerful nature reminded him of all that he was not, and his drinking grew worse. He left bruises that she tried to hide with her disguise makeup and cosmetics. Grew more violent and angry until one night she put a knife between his ribs in self defense, and killed him.
Niki left Montfort, and delivered Valentine's body to his parents, a noble lord and lady in a far away land, then fled the loss of all of her dreams that had died with his.
An older knight, Sir Didymus, hired Niki's vessel to transport him and a small group on their quest for the [Elixir], and she soon grew to love the kind and gentle man as a father figure. Didymus achieved his quest, but died, and Niki and his folowers took the elixir to his King, who used it to save his dying son. Didymus was buried with great honors, but Niki left as soon as she could get away.
Again in Montfort she encountered a cavalier young man who needed transportation home [Silver], and along the way her heart began to mend a little, even as his feet of immortal clay began to appear. Still, she enjoyed their time together.
Ashland By Night, World of Darkness The Third Incarnation
Desiring something new, Niki took a few journalism classes and went to work as a reporter in Ashland. There had been a strange number of occurances and she began there, and almost immediately came to the attention of a Ventrue named Joshua who kidnapped her, and tortured her until she was too afraid of him to disobey. She became his spy.
Forces of the Empire The Fourth Incarnation
When Joshua disappeared Niki fled and resurfaced on a different world. She joined the staff of the TKIN at first, and when it disbanded travelled as a passenger carrier and investigator/freelance reporter dedicated to the Truth and bringing to light the Empire's atrocities.
