Shanna grew up on one of the lowest rungs of the social ladder in Norwynne Keep. Orphaned at birth, she has no knowledge of her parents, nor has she ever tried to find out anything about them. The way she sees it, they gave her up, and that’s all she needs to know.

While she is only fifteen years old, she feels she has lived a lifetime already, bouncing from one orphanage to another while always hoping and wishing something more awaited her other than working in the kitchens and laboring under the always judgemental eye of Nora, Norwynne’s master soapmaker. While she may not lack employment opportunities, she finds the kitchen work monotonous and demeaning and the soapmaking arduous and dangerous. Of all the ways to die, falling into a vat of boiling oil is one of the least desirous in her mind.

When she was twelve, Shanna was moved to Furthing’s Deep, a section of the abandoned dwarven underkeep beneath Norwynne, where she shares a room with many other girls in a similar predicament to her own.

Shanna may have had the deck stacked against her, but she’s never let it keep her down. She knows the world owes her nothing and that if you want something, you have to earn it or take it. But since she seldom finds herself in a position where her deeds earn her anything but the barest of accommodations and a half-ration of a meal, she’s learned to take what she needs when the opportunity presents itself.

Similarly, she learned early on that only a fine line separates a victim from a perpetrator and that it’s better to exist on the latter side of the line over the former. Shanna takes attitude from no one, regularly standing up to bullies and those who would diminish her standing lest others her age see her as an easy mark. Over the years, she has proven herself anything but easy, so few bother her these days. In fact, many fear her, which is just fine with her.

Shanna has a reputation as a risk-taker, especially when it comes to betting money she doesn’t have. But more often than not, when she throws the dice in a game of crutchit, she comes out the winner.

SKILLS

Shanna has accumulated a certain amount of street smarts, including a rudimentary skill at picking pockets, decoying a mark, and sleight of hand. She possesses a sense of daring in spades, has no fear of heights, and is an expert at games of chance, especially chrutchit.

As much as she hates to admit it, she has also learned a thing or two about soapmaking.

FIRST APPEARANCE

Shanna first appears in The Hall of Riddles (An Alchemancer Prequel), followed by Engines of Alchemancy (The Alchemancer Book One).