Elaine

The greedy Spiral is only loosely attached to the Demesne; she has a den there, and some of its members are her friendly acquaintances, but she spends most of her time away from its territory, usually at the Fairgrounds. These traveling carnivals are a fun place to spend a day, playing games, maybe making a little money if you've got a lot of time to waste. Or a lot of money in far less time, if you're as canny as Elaine. Behind the popular and squeaky-clean games these fairs usually offer, a more shady set can be found. It is here that Elaine can be found, running shell games and joining with larger gaming groups, gambling with very high stakes and a suspicious amount of success.

Sometimes, she shows her face in the more family-friendly parts of the fairs, passing off cheap junk as rare and precious souvenirs, or pulling cons on unsuspecting bystanders. If it looks like it could be polished up and it's not nailed down, she'll probably snatch it to sell it off as something else, and if she's in a crowd, pockets will be picked. She's a conwoman with many, many years of experience; Elaine's been honing her skills ever since she was separated from the clan of her hatching, out alone on the proverbial streets of a massive lair in the Shifting Expanse. Rumor has it she's persona non grata in the Stormcatcher's realm for her shyster shenanigans; whether this is fact or simply a fiction she created to increase her standing among other grifters is one of life's great mysteries. But, while she is an accomplished liar and a pathological crook, she draws the line at anything worse than confidence tricks or other small scams. She has an… agreement with Basalt and his gang, the Hydra Scorpions, refusing to join them but keeping her own operations small enough that she avoids stepping on his toes.

Elaine is sly, and charismatic when she wants to be. She cuts corners wherever she can, but after nearly getting in some very hot water with warden Altena for a buttersnake oil scheme a few years back she's learned to keep her dishonest business strictly off-territory. The Spiral is also a regular at many of Maceral's establishments, where she rubs elbows with the biggest high-rollers in both Dragonhome and the Tangled Wood, along with exuberant criminals such as Jahn and Forseti eager to put their ill-gotten gains to good (or at least fun) use, and turns her Fairgrounds gains into even bigger payoffs. Unlike many gamblers, Elaine is not addicted to it; she is very cautious with what she gambles, and even more careful with her card-counting, dice-loading, and other tricks of her cheating trade. She's also prone to bouts of maniacal laughter after a particularly successful days' work, and saying things that sound terrible out of context (and not much better in context, either).