A dark-haired woman with a sharp tongue and a hard demeanour Varossa Lycaste Ia-Tep was born into noble family in
Absalom. As a teenager she found her life claustrophobic so she fled her overbearing family by stowing away in a merchant vessel bound for Sudland and never returned. Far more educated than the average sailor she served as navigator on several merchant ships before eventually finding her way to
Quent. There she signed up on the pirate vessel the Shark Queen, becoming an officer
in two years and by fortunate circumstances the captain a year later.
She became a natural ally of
Tessa Fairwind who sponsored her to a seat on the Council and encouraged her to claim the port of
Lilywhite when its previous patron
was killed in battle. She met her husband Warvil Lanteri when they both tried to seize the same merchant vessel
and neither would back off. It wasn't until both crews had boarded the vessel that they realised it was a
trap and the ship actually carried a squad of Rahadoumi marines. The two pirate crews who had expected to fight each other for an easy prize united and were victorious but suffered heavy casualties. By the end of the fight the Shark Queen
had been sunk and Warvil and Varossa agreed to co-captain the remaining ship the Magpie Prince.
Although they had a whirlwhind romance and were married on the high seas within days of their first meeting their
relationship has always been a tempestuous affair with many arguments and much throwing of objects. Their
partnership, however, has been a successful enterprise with much plunder papering over their other disagreements.
Unfortunately most of the crew can see that lean times (when they inevitably come) might well mean an almighty
bust up as each blames the other.