<div class="floatleft"> (http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/6286/dwarforacleicon.jpg) </div><span class="bbc_u"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial black;"><strong>Melda the Insufferable</strong></span></span> (http://plothook.net/RPG/profiler/view.php?id=9091)</span><br/><br/><strong>Personality:</strong><br/>Contrary to her unorthodox title, Melda does not go out of her way to alienate those she meets.  It is not rare for one hailing from wind-blasted Birinthia, let alone a dwarf, to hold a gruff demeanor about her shoulders as one would a sturdy cloak.  Rumors say that the label was planted upon her by an estranged family, though like most Birinthians she guards the truth of her personal life well.  Trust does not come easily to her, and respect comes harder still, but she is not so dour that she cannot spare a smile or a drink for those she meets during her travels.<br/><br/>She is extremely self-conscious when it comes to her slightly twisted left leg, offering a barbed remark to anyone who calls attention to it unnecessarily.  As if to spite whatever fates have scorned her, Melda moves at a pace that even an unmarred dwarf could scarcely hope to match, though attempting to keep up with taller races seems to strain her still.<br/><br/><strong>The Rumor Mill:</strong><br/>Melda isn't much one for talk of families, but reputation and hearsay travels quickly in the north.  It is said that she hales from a clan of respected jewelers and miners, and was expected to take up the work of her kin when she came of age.  The blighted stump of her leg seemed to say to all of them that she was destined for a sedentary life, but Melda was ruthless in her perseverance over such obstacles.  Wielding an axe came more naturally to her than studying gems and gold coins like some doddering old miser, and there was ultimately a falling out between her and her blood relations.<br/><br/>It is also said that she is a chosen one, a figure blessed by the gods upon her birth and meant for great deeds.  Melda spits in the face of that idea.  She does not despise the gods, but would surely love to give the one that battered her leg a sound thrashing for his trouble.  She does not consider her powers to be a gift, but merely a halfhearted bribe to keep her quiet about it.