The Desai family was once a powerful ruling clan in the Princely state of Karnataka, fallen from grace in the midst of infighting and rebellion. Ajith Desai fell the blade of his own adviser in an act to seize power, something far from uncommon in the princely states, and exiled the surviving members of the Desai clan. Ajith’s middle son and his youngest daughter, along with the servants were to live as exiles upon their land. Even if removed from power they remained members of the Kashtriya caste, with Karan Desai at the head of their house. With their family thinned and chance of regaining their lost power removed, they lived a quiet life.

As colonials passed through the continent and curious of the settlers, he opened his home for those passing through. It would be in these acts that an English man would take notice of the young Chanda. While hardly from a life of struggle the conditions and violence to follow was surely no place for a young girl to be raised.

Enter Edwin Lockheart, a Indian culture enthusiast, scholar and former Colonial once more traveling in hopes of one last bit of adventure before returning to London. Karan Desai with a growing interest in the English culture opened his home for various travelers to stay and Edwin Lockhart, fascinated with story of an exiled prince, took opportunity to learn what he could. The recent widower, losing his wife and child during birth, moved by the story was then introduced to Karan’s younger sister. Torn at the idea of her living in exile, the nobleman offered to adopt her, giving her a better life in England where she could live without the label of exiled. Karan agreed with a sum of payment, and Chanda was taken to live with the widowed man

Chanda Desai would adopt the English name Charity Lockheart, Edwin Lockheart’s adopted daughter. Edwin was a man with a passion for knowledge and an strange one among the upper class as most returned colonials find themselves. None the less he had stories that entertained those who payed him private visits and collectors often took interest in some of the relics he acquired during his exploits. Charity while well loved by Edwin who was a very much a second father, felt more like an object in society than a girl, treated both as some exotic foreign relic yet lesser due to her ethnicity.

The transition to English culture has been truly an eternal struggle for the girl. From sarees to corsets, she suffered a great deal of culture shock, and has often felt as though she still hasn’t quite fallen into place. While used to growing up in a society where women were a fairer sex and restricted, what they were restricted from change and what it meant to be an upper class noble changed completely as well. The most shocking to her was the differences in how the Upper Class treated the lower classes in England as compared to her home. The lack of concern to improve the lives of subjects and to only widen the gap largely surprising her.

Chanda has reached the crucial age of 16 when she is prime age to become a bride and soon to be shown to the queen to see if she qualifies as a debutante. Unfortunately while as any young girl she is a romantic at heart she is suffering the panic of feeling incomplete in her life. Facing down the stares of other women looking to get engaged to her father, mixed with suitors eying here for being an exotic eladrin bride. Problem is Chanda is a little too intelligent for her own good and struggling to find her place… with a naïve desire to find a way to effectively improve the status of the lower class while being both a foreigner and a woman.

Appearance
Chanda stands right at the height of five-foot, three inches, with a slender build common for Eldren women. As an Ayran she is a fair skinned girl with hints of yellow and brown in her complexion that set her apart from English women, with pale yellow metallic, catlike eyes and Mahogany hair more typically associated with Indian women. Normally she is seen in the typical Victorian fashion however on special occasions or around the house she is allowed to dress in Sarees sent to her by her brother everyone so often.

Personality
A youthful, energetic, romantic girl with the desire to make a change in a society that despite being raised with in, is considered a foreigner. When it comes to things regarding her time before England, she tends to steer clear, speaking primarily of her brother. The loss of her blood family and being exiled something she prefer not to think of, due to the emotional scars it has left her with.

Goal
To aid social change in society, and to influence the nobility mindset to improve the lives of the lower class as opposed to fueling the fire of their plight.

People Close to Her/ Contacts
Edwin Lockheart – Her adoptive father who she adores endlessly. His rather odd nature makes him the strange one at social gatherings but he is a light-hearted, good humored man whose adventuring days has brought him not only a nice collection of artifacts but wealth. Even at the loss of his own wife and child, he seems to have made Charity his new family. Often he is seen as too lenient on her however.

Madame Prismal – Charity’s governness that scares the absolute living daylights out of the girl. She is a strict, proper english eladrin woman who is determined to see that Charity lives up to her class. Unfortunately there are some things that Charity still struggles with that threaten to shame her very name as a tutor. She believes Charity needs to get her head out of the clouds and live on earth with everyone else, this is England, not India and one girl cannot make a difference. Along with academic studies Madame Prismal also being an Eldrin is the girl’s tutor in her medium talents. Innately Charity is able to heal and from the Madame she has learned how to read people’s aura’s.

Karan Desai – Head of the Desai household and Chanda’s older brother. Despite their distance the two have remained in contact via letters and telegrams, often sending Chanda clothing and feminine items from her home country, with giving Edwin interesting trinkets to entertain him. He is typically a stern, nearly stoic man, who even while in exile carries himself with the same air as if he was still ruling. His subjects would say that indeed he is a compassionate man when it comes to their lives until he is crossed, to take his kindness for granted is a mistake. Current goals of his own are unknown to Chanda as she is raised thousands of miles away but he is not one to sit being powerless so long. He will take what has been lost back.

Sheela – A beautiful, foreign woman who Charity met during a party. After some talking Charity learned the woman was a skilled swords woman and Charity sought her out to be a mentor almost immediately following. Yet as the time passes it has become evident that Sheela may truly be more than what she originally appeared. As she suspects many of those around her now, it is clear that even Sheela appears to be part of the cult of the Deceivers. Worse is that Charity has learned she is in fact the assassin who killed her father. Now Charity must endure until she can truly reveal the woman’s identity to the world.

On Going Developments

Edwin Lockhart’s death remains haunting the girl as new details arise with every adventure, leading her to believe it is those around that are responsible. The romantic Baron who sought her hand, the kind professor whom she entrusted her father’s museum to, and then Sheela her mentor and friend, who her father had started courting before his demise. All of them members of the same cult known as the Deceivers who were responsible for her father’s death. Individuals who have all give their sympathy to her and yet tried to lure her into their group.

Feeling betrayed, naive, and blind Charity believes that somehow she ought to have seen through their acts. She intends to see to it that they pay for what they have done but she believes the methods offered by Peregrin are simply too easy. Death is an escape for them. She wants to see those who have played her for so long be exposed.

It has become evident that the only individuals she is capable of trusting completely is Kael Zephyr and Blackmantle. Though she has not forgotten the allies of the Adventure Society and intends to make great use of in the days to come.