Outwardly, Tulley can come off as gruff. She is a hard-working lady, always busy, and quick to toss barbed words at those who get in her way or attempt to get out of paying their bar tab. However, under her rough exterior, Tulley has a heart of gold. She is one who has been rescued by the kindness of others; a family friend who pulled her to her feet when she was at her lowest point and offered her a better life. She seeks to pass this kindness on to all others who need it. To those who need help and a place to say, Tulley gives everything she can. She offers work and a place to stay and has endless patience and support for those who simply need some time to get their lives together and figure out what comes next. She cares deeply for the lost souls of the world.

Tulley is very devoted to her business, the inn and tavern called The Copper Hoof. It is her pride and joy, her greatest treasure. As a result of her devotion, her business is clean, well-kept, and cared for. She looks after her regulars and her tenants alike. On the other hand, she can be ferocious to those who seek to harm her business or take advantage of her kindness. She has no patience for cruelty or selfishness. Small but strong, she is quick to defend her business and her people. [242 words]

Tulley has known the streets of Mead all her life. She was born there, the daughter of a barmaid and a blacksmith. While they were far from rich, her early life was never one of wanting or hunger—she always had enough to eat, a roof over her head, and a warm place to bed down at the end of the night. By day she ran the streets, scurrying under the feet of pedestrians and getting into trouble, and by night she helped her mother in the tavern where she worked. Tulley loved this life: she adored the tavern, loved playing in the dirt and messing with merchants, and thrived in the city of Mead.

However, Tulley lost her parents young; she was barely an adult when they both passed within a year of each other, sending her spiraling into a self-destructive mourning. Without them, she was lost and aimless. Tulley found herself without the support she had always relied on, and alone in a city that had never felt so big. She struggled to get through each day, unable to hold a job or hold on the meager coin she did have. She used her meager inheritance to keep up rent on her father’s former shop, but she soon found that she could no longer afford to keep it and was forced to move out of the space where she had grown up. For a while, she floated from job to job, holding on to little for very long. Her only persistent source of income was in brawls—a small, unassuming lady, she was often bet against in the ring. However, she was strong from the tavern and the blacksmith shop, and always managed to hold her own, and was able to make decent coin through her fights. So, most of her time was spent in a seedy tavern: making money in fights, then turning to spend it at the bar.

It was an old family friend that turned her life around. One night, Tulley decided on a whim to drink at the bar where her mother had worked, longing for the familiarity of her childhood memories. She did not anticipate that her mother’s former employer and oldest friend still owned and tended the bar; the two struck up a conversation after so many years apart. Tulley had not realized how much she missed her family friend, and spilled her story to the older barmaid. Before the night was out, the family friend had offered her a job in the tavern and a room in the adjoining inn for the night. Over time, with her help. Tulley turned her life around, and worked at the tavern and inn for many years.

When the family friend passed at an old age, she willed the inn and the tavern to Tulley, entrusting her life’s work to the younger woman’s care. Tulley has owned the establishment, The Copper Hoof, ever since. In honor of the family friend that saved her life, she now looks out for others in need: mages in hiding, young adults pushed from their childhood homes, former Order mages on the run, those who have left poor circumstances behind them, and all others. To those who need a space, she offers a room at the end, a job, and a chance to get back on their feet. [558 words]