Sally Din

Sally Din is the leader, or captain, of the Order of the Asp.

Early Life
Sallindria Din (Sally Din, Sir Din) was born forty-odd years ago, presumably in the Territories, but no one really knows for sure. Her surname, Din, is an old one, often found in the Southern Territories and potentially of Soderon derivation (perhaps from the Soderon surnames Dizine, Di’in, or Dain). As for any family of note, there is no record of a Din family with a daughter who would have matched Sally’s profile (and all girls, regardless of class, are registered upon delivery by a midwife. While sometimes this process is not followed, it’s rare for all but the most rural families to fall into the cracks, as it were, in this respect).

Records obtained by the Crown first note the appearance of an outlaw by the name of Sally O’Din in the Southern Territories town of Vesper, accused of the theft of 30 heads of cattle. She was acquitted of the crime, but after that time the name appears with mounting frequency with charges including and not limited to: assault, battery, theft, larceny, covert operations, prostitution, persuasion, and murder.

By her mid-twenties Ms. Din appears to have gathered a rather impressive retinue of both petty thieves and middling nobles. Havoc, it seems, followed on her heels, and her nickname–the Tempest–attests to it. Among the local folk of the Territories, her presence was considered a blessing, as she often worked to improve the conditions of townsfolk both monetarily and societally. Eventually, the crown was forced to put a bounty on her head–12,000 gold, a sizable sum at the time–and she vanished for nearly a decade.

Then, Sally Din resurfaced once again in her early thirties, amidst some of the most violent Territories uprisings in half a century.

Role in the Order of the Asp
Upon her capture she was not, as would be expected, captured and then, eventually, hung (as was the practice under the Queen Maelys for outlaws).

Sally Din was knighted on Blooming Day, just shy of her thirtieth birthday. Not only was she knighted, but she was also made captain of the Order of the Asp, the sometimes rag-tag order charged with keeping the borders between Soderon and the Territories safe. As such, she was the first woman to raise to such ranks in any knighting order in the history of the Continent since the Great Collision. She would later be joined by other female knights including Sir Libelle of Fenlie, and Sir Divane Sulphas.

Many speculate that Din’s promotion was purely political, in an effort to win the Territories to the Crown. And it has worked; since Din’s ascension there have been little to no uprisings in the Territories, even in historically volatile towns like Barnet and Greenways.

She is either married or involved with Sir Lee Renmen also of the Order of the Asp.


 * It was the woman rider he’d seen and mistaken for a man during the scuffle, and she brought with her the smell of dust and fire. Her hair was loose, worn in the fashion of a Soderon woman, with plaits here and there, accented with a few feathers and beads. But he didn’t think she was a Soderon, at least not akin to the short, dark-haired ones he’d seen once or twice on occasion moving through the Territories. Her features were narrowed, and though here skin was tanned it lacked have the distinct golden quality of a Soderon. She watched him amusedly over her round shaded spectacles.  - from Chapter Five: Attention, The Aldersgate