Nitten, the Jewelsister

Many years ago, a small little kobold managed to take the cities by storm. A thief by trade, she managed to swindle a fortune that would make a dragon jealous. She called herself the Jewelmother, and her reign of terror was notorious. The rich were aghast to find their fortunes swindled, but no one could seem to get a hold of that slippery lizard. But in the height of her career, she seemed to all but vanish. Whispers were that she was finally caught by some quiet guard, ignorant of the criminal he nabbed.

The truth was far stranger, though. The Jewelmother had the particular ability to practice parthenogenesis: without a proper mate, she was able to generate clutches of her own, and she would train each to be proteges. Before long, she had a whole clan of kobolds, very almost identical to herself. All trained in the art of thievery. But she was callous, not even properly naming them, but rather numbering. Year after year, egg after egg, thief after thief. She would create a whole empire of criminals and rest easy on a growing hoard of gold.

True to her name, Nitten was the nineteenth jewelchild. She came up into the criminal life like all her sisters before her, mentored by her much elder siblings. And much like her Jewelmother, she took to the craft naturally. She would be sent out on missions and come back to the den hauling bags of treasure. Sure, she these were simple missions for a new jewelchild, but she showed promise.

Jewelmother soon had a more difficult mission for young Nitten. Sure, she could have sent any of the other jewelchildren, but she wanted to see how her newest spawn would fare. One of their own had turned coat and defected from the clan: Femten. Nitten's mission would be to track her down and either return her to the clan or kill her where she stood. Failure would not be an option. Nitten understood and ventured into those busy streets in search of her traitorous kin.

Nitten tracked Femten's last mission to a small little building that served as a small little sanctum for a small little cult. And there, among their ranks, she saw her sister. For the first time, she let emotions get in the way of the mission. She confronted Femten, who insisted on being called Ravi and being called her brother. Everything was so baffling, but Ravi insisted that Nitten listen to him, and give his views a chance. Kept in secret within the temple, Nitten watched the way the cultists revered the sun, and saw how... happy her kin seemed among them. This kind of happiness felt strange, even with the distance of it being second-hand.

For the second time, she let emotions get in the way of the mission.

She returned to the Jewelmother without her brother. She had failed. And for her failure, the Jewelmother would banish her from the clan. Stripped of title, prestige, treasure, resources, cast out into the streets, where could Nitten turn to?

Ravi brought Nitten into his security. He was overjoyed to see his sister moved by his devotion, and hoped she may join him in his path. Nitten was not ready to make such a wild change so soon. Besides, she was always meant to be a thief. But Ravi could be the conscience she lacks. Her targets are righteously chosen, and the treasure laid not to her, but to the cult and the people it represents. It all still feels so new to her. But perhaps in due time, she would forge out a new legend, as the Jewelsister of good.