Mirriel Alleur was born Mirriel Rotheson, daughter and second child to Rachael and Devin Rotheson, in Alliria. The family was, in those distant days, a moderately well-to-do merchant house, bringing in enough income to afford a modest home in the Inner City of Alliria. Her father earned his wealth as a conveyor of goods from the Spine and Elbion, Vel Anir, and Falwood - chiefly, transportation of building materials and raw and refined ores.

As a family of some means, Mirriel and her brother, Ellond, were not forced to deal with the privation of the poorer families, and were afforded fine educations denied those without the coin to pay. Ellond was to be the inheritor of the family business, as these things go, and she was to be married off to another man of means. Unfortunately, neither outcome ever surfaced...or at least, not in the manner one would expect.

Although an honest man, Devin had fallen on hard times. Mirriel had just become a teenager at the time, and Ellond had attained his majority and was beginning to take a more active role in the family business. Her father, unfortunately, had slipped into bed with less than savory individuals - of which Alliria was famous for having a multitude of. When he was unable to pay the crippling amount of interest accrued on the loans that had allowed him to remain solvent, the predators decided that a lesson needed to be taught.

And so, in the dead of night, a group of thugs invaded their modest home. After binding and gagging her parents and herself, they proceeded to ransack their home. Unfortunately, Ellond returned home in the middle of this, and in the process of freeing Mirriel, was drawn into a fight with the thugs. Mirriel was forced to watch as her brother -of whom she was exceptionally close to - be slain, and not in a gentle manner, either. Beaten to death right in front of her while her screams of terror roused the neighborhood. Terror, sorrow, grief...

...and, eventually, rage.

She was never the same after that night. Once a bubbly and delightful child to be round, she became drawn in to herself. Eventually, she came out of the shell, but the girl who emerged into womanhood was not at all bubbly or delightful to be round. Quiet, reserved, she was nevertheless popular; as she grew into maturity she was gifted with her mothers looks, and soon found herself the center of attention for many men. Their adulation and affection, however, fell on a dead heart; it seemed that the light in her eyes had been stolen forever. The deep-seated anger at the criminals that had stripped her of her brother, of her parents joy in life, and of her bright future, simply grew with age. By the time she reached her majority, she had convinced herself of the course of action she wished to make with her life.

The Allirian Guard were worse than worthless. The perpetrators of Ellond's death never saw justice meted out to them, and so she took it upon herself to deal with the problem on her own.

It really isn't very hard for an attractive, intelligent young girl to attach herself to an influential and wealthy criminal lord, when you got right down to it; she cut her teeth in the manipulative arts wooing and seducing the self-styled Vicar Edward Alleur, and succeeded beyond her wildest imaginings. A known scofflaw, even if the guard could prove nothing, it was an opportunity to see inside the demon that had killed Ellond.

At eighteen, she married the villain. Feigning affection was not even necessary; the man desired her for her body and for the status he would gain in owning her, and the mutual benefit was she would live a life of comfort as a result. However, she was not simply content to spread her legs at night and hang on his arm during the public functions he held; she paid close attention to his dealings, to the comings and goings of the various guests never mind the time they arrived.

By the time she bore him his first child, she already had acquired enough knowledge of his operations to understand their scope, but not enough to know the levers of power. Patience, ever a virtue, spurred her to remain quiet. And then there was her first son to contend with.

Mirriel had thought her heart a dead, withered husk; but Eric Alleur's birth proved it to be a lie. Her first born, she doted upon to the exclusion of nearly everything else, and the love she did not have for her husband she lavished upon him instead. So it was for her daughter, born a year and a half later - a delightful, beautiful girl, Alice - and her youngest born four years later.

With her children to occupy her time, her other ambitions were put on a back-burner for nearly a decade, although she never stopped her watchful, observant tracking of the family business. That observation grew more intense as her children aged, until a singular moment arrived.

And Mirriel, having waited for seventeen years, finally acted. Edward Alleur never saw his demise coming; he had lived with the woman who was his wife for nearly eighteen years, and never once had she shown a single deceitful moment. It is impossible to say whether or not he loved her, but she most certainly did not love him.

The criminal lord of the Alleur family was found dead one day at his desk, slumped over without a single mark on his body. Even the mages could find no reason for his passing; and that was just as well, for Mirriel had been very meticulous with her poison, very precise so that it could never have been found. Chaos within the family ensued...but it only lasted for a handful of days. Eric was to be the new head of the household by right of inheritance, but in the underworld things tend to be more cutthroat. Mirriel, however, had foreseen the danger and prepared.

Those that went to kill her son in his sleep failed in their task. And Mirriel, ruthless matriarch that she was, made sure that the entire criminal organization knew what a mistake that was. Not only those whom had tried to lay hands on her children, but their families, their friends, and everyone and anyone they had any association with...

...well, let us just say that the harbor fair bobbed with an abundance of corpses for several months. No finger could be pointed to her, of course...but the subtle reminders, the side-ways speaking to those who might also consider the idea, well, it was enough to convince the remaining members of the organization who was in charge. Eric was saved from an ignoble death, and the Raven Queen established her rule with the vicious, cold effectiveness of an assassin in the night.

And now...and now, the underworld could meet her face to face, and in the dark alleys and the underbelly of the city. Now, blood would run in the streets. The time for righteous vengeance had finally arrived.

And Mirriel was delighted at the opportunity.

Eric Alleur: First born of the family, Eric is the defacto heir to the criminal throne his father left behind in death. Althought already having achieved his majority and having the legal right to assume the properties of his father, he has acquiesced to his mothers' taking the reins of the family business. For now, at least.

Eric is a tall man, taller even than his mother. With her same dark hair, cut short, and hard angular features that neither she nor her deceased husband could trace back to either family, he is not a particularly handsome man. Eric does not need to be, though; money is a fantastic aphrodisiac, and all the power that goes along with it.

He is a capable fighter in his own right, although the duels he fights are for sport and not for blood sport. Eric usually travels between the major cities overseeing family operations across Arethil, returning to Alliria frequently.

Alice Alleur: Middle child of the family, Alice only recently turned 16 summers old. The girl takes more after her father's side of the family, with hair the color of spun gold, a round face spattered with freckles and overlarge eyes the color of muddy garnets. She is not quite as tall as her mother, but in the last year or two has managed to fill her out. She definitely has the potential to be a beauty like her mother.

Alice was born into privilege and is only a little arrogant at times. Part of it is the rebellious nature of a teenager, and part of it the spoiled upbringing of a rich girl - more importantly, a rich girl that no one would dare lay a finger on. Oddly enough, the girl is more prudish than her mother. She prefers to dress in fine dresses and wear enough jewelry to make a petty thief sweat.