When she was in her mid-teens, her brother Tyrvald went off to become a sailor, joining the crew of the Skirr'lolasu, but maintaining ties in the Bards' Guild in Crossing when he was home. His tales of distant islands and fierce battles with pirates on land and sea entertained the small family on many a cold winter's night. Brynnhilde dreamed of someday traveling as well, but she was still young, and her father kept a careful eye upon her, sending her to the Asemath Academy during the day for instruction in reading, writing, and the arts. She was a good student, but not a scholar, and felt no regret when her father decided at last she had learned enough and permitted her to cease her formal education.

Brynnhilde assisted her father ably, and he turned his books gladly into her keeping when she displayed a native talent for managing the accounts. On her eighteenth birthday, at the close of the day, he locked up the strongbox, and gazed at his daughter thoughtfully. She looked back, for she'd never seen quite that assessing stare bent upon her. On a bad batch of soap, perhaps . . . Finally Orem bade her get her wrap, and escorted her across the river to the Trader's Guild, where he presented her to guildleader Imaar. From that day, Brynnhilde became a professional Trader.

The first year of her career was a busy one, and she worried that her father would not be able to manage without her. He, on the other hand, seemed only too glad to spend his days in solitude, in his rooms above the bathhouse. Orem had provided his daughter with a small amount of coin to help her get started - wages, he said, for her years as his accountant. She smiled gratefully, and sailed away with her brother Tyrvald to Ratha. There she made a shrewd investment in leather goods, returning to the Crossing to sell them at a handsome profit in the Bank Marketplace. On one such trip, she discovered that a carnival was being held, and followed her brother trustingly into the sewers in what he assured her was a "shortcut" to the upper tier in Ratha. In this way she discovered the value of the favors she had found with Kertigen, at the temple in the Crossing, and the value of her brother as a guide. Between trips to buy inventory, most far less dangerous, she ran small contracts around Zoluren province, into Therengia and Ilithi, learning the roads and the outposts of her guild.

As she advanced in knowledge of trading, she also made friends among the people she met each day. One afternoon, in the aftermath of an invasion of pirates, she was helping to drag the dead to the Clerics' guild, and fell into conversation with a Dwarven Empath, Veritey. The friendship grew, and in time, Veritey invited Brynnhilde to rent the attic loft of the Willow Walk home belonging to her and her sister, a Dwarven Paladin. Brynnhilde accepted gladly, for she was by this time feeling the strain of being an adult daughter in her fathers' house. Suitors were often daunted when brought home to the appraising eye of the bath house owner.

Living in the attic of Veritey's home agreed with her and her social life. Brynnhilde soon found herself involved with all the residents of the dwelling - both Veritey and her sister, as well as a Kaldar Warrior Mage who sometimes stopped in the house for a few nights, and a stargazing Gnome who seemed to live in the woodpile out behind the house. One day Tyrvald came to see her, a small black Prydaen kit clinging to his side. He asked Brynnhilde to watch his small charge while he was at sea. It seemed the kit's mother was a Barbarian, and was not able to take her child out hunting with her, so Tyrvald had found himself taking care of her most of the time. Brynnhilde was taken aback by the request, but soft-hearted Veritey made a bed for the little one at once in what had been a stillroom beside the kitchen. So came Neryssa to live in the house in Willow Walk.

Tyrvald, too, was often found in the house, and frequently slept on the sofa in the front room. Whether it was to stay near his protegee, or because he would come talk with his sister till the wee hours of the morning and be too tired to go home to the bathhouse, the ladies did not question. Brynnhilde herself came and went as her business took her, and provided the household with such goods as they required with cheerful generosity.

Standing about the marketplace seemed dull to the young trader at times, so Brynnhilde took to dancing through the crowd while hawking her wares. After a while, she collected up a beautiful dancing costume and started dancing in earnest as entertainment at private parties and for her friends. Sometimes on a long trip south, she would dance in the gondola, amazing spectators with her ability to balance a sword on her head while the cabin swayed over the chasm.

In the second year of her career, Brynnhilde was offered an opportunity to join a caravan of merchants in taking supplies to a merchant in Shard. She bought up such gold and precious stones as she could afford, and hired a small group of guards to escort her to the merchant's wagon outside the southern city. It was a long and arduous journey, the party being frequently set on by bandits. For the second time, Brynnhilde was grateful she had listened to her early teachers, and obtained the favors of Kertigen. Her caravan finally reached the merchant safely, thanks to the efforts of her guards, and her own good driving, and she sold her load at a profit. Some time later, she was surprised to receive from a runner a small pin, crafted by the merchant's own hand, with an inscription of gratitude for her efforts in the supply caravan.

As time passed, Brynnhilde began to find herself stopping more often to chat with newcomers to her city. She knew the streets and shops well, and frequently could advise shoppers where to find the exact item they sought. Anyone looking for a bargain might ask her for the current price on what he sought, and be assured of a knowledgeable answer. After a brief sojourn in the commodities market, where she ended up with a batch of bad apples and somewhat less coin than she had begun with, she returned to selling her goods in the market, occasionally running a contract out of town to keep her ties with the outposts strong.

Talking with other Traders in the gem shop, and at social events in her Guild, she heard about the Lorethew Mentor Society, and their good works. She took part in the Rose of Elanthia competition, and had a chance to see the Mentors at work during the course of that event. Inspired by their example, she determined to increase her contacts in the city by asking to join the Society. After discussing it thoroughly with her father and brother, she made her application, and now waits to hear the results of her tests.