My Discworld
The von Glitz Family
Deep in the heart of Uberwald, in the small village of Glitz, two twins were born to a slave girl. Their father, the duke of Glitz, couldn't handle the shame of his affair becoming publicized so he forced the children to be secretly handed over to a local washerwoman. The washerwoman raised the children as her personal servants, forcing the children to do chores, and making them perform the most mundane of tasks. Of the twins, Aell was the strongest (and most reluctant to work), and grew resentful of the washerwoman.When the twins reached ten, Ilidus (the brother of Aell) become heavily ill, and eventually passed away. Stricken with grief, Aell lashed out at her guardian, and ran from Glitz to the Sto Plains. Although she now refuses to talk about it, the residents of Glitz still whisper about a local washerwoman who was found with a dagger in her chest.
Aell spent the next few years stealing from various houses in the Sto Plains, covertly plundering wares to eat and fence, just so she could survive. Eventually, a Baron of one of the Sto towns became fed up of his subject's posessions being looted, and eventually caught Aell. Instead of locking her up in a cell the Baron instead handed her over to the Guild of Assassins in Ankh-Morpork.
Aell graduated early from the guild when she reached fifteen. Curious about her roots, Aell returned to Uberwald to find her parents, and was eventually lead to a woman who was locked up in the prison towers of Glitz. This woman, Niccolo von Glitz, was Aell's aunt - sister to the Duke of Glitz.
Niccolo, another female of the family who was trained in the art of assassination, was also trained in the Art of Politics. She was the reason the family had been brought to such nobility. When she learnt that the Duke had children out of wedlock and was willing to give them up, she argued, saying that they should be raised as the heirs to Glitz. The Duke disagreed, and when Niccolo refused to be silent, he had her locked into prison.
She told the whole story to Aell who, furious, broke Niccolo out of the tower and abrubtly ended her father's life. Claiming Glitz for her own, Aell took over the role of Duchess, making Niccolo her personal advisor.