Her familiar
Alzix:
Background:
Alzix did not come into existance in the normal method, instead it started as a stray cat wondering the streets of waterdeep - on Alerdene's first trip around the city she bought some fish and finishing what she wanted she tossed some to the stray - and so it started following her, and leaving her gifts of dead mice/birds etc in the hope of affection.
When she decided to take a familiar the cat was an obvious choice - and the two formed a friendship, it traveled with her spied for her and in some cases acted as perhaps her only confident. Returning to the village was good for her and the cat enjoyed the country life even if it found some of the people odd and it occasionally got in trouble for hunting creatures it shouldn't.
It would have been a good life for a familiar if not for some paladin seeing it stalking some kids for harmless prank and quickly noting that it radiated ill will he launched an arrow at the poor creature, by the time Alerdene arrived the cat was about to pass away and it begged her to save it somehow - so she snapped up its soul, to recreate life for it.
Weeks of research, numberous advanced scrolls purchased and favours called arrived at the end result - Alzix lived again, having captured the paladin alive Alerdene had undertaken her mastery of the Fleshcrafting arts upon it and a called minion of Waukeen who had been sacrificed in a trade, the cat's soul had been bound to the result of that twisted merger ... and it was pleased.
Now it is more powerful than ever and can hunt new prey - delivering the soul gems of slain mice, rats and the formerly elusive birds back to its master when it doesn't eat them itself, and also can better observe and assist at various tasks, the only downside is some are more reluctant to pet it now.
Her sister and cohort
Agnes:
Background: Anges never left home, solidly five years younger than her elder sister she was only ten when she left to follow her passions - something that relieved the young girl, she loved and respected her sister ... but she always felt that there was something dangerous in the older girl.
The following years she helped her family, played with her friends and generally was a kid, getting into trouble and pushing boundaries - while taking on more responsibility, however when her parents got sick she realised that she couldn't run the inn herself - and that they were killing themselves trying to keep the work going well.
Writting a letter to Alerdene she wasn't sure of what response she would get - but certaintly was not expected the older woman to drop everything she was doing and return - nor was she expecting the woman to have knowledge of healing techniques and the resources to provide them, there parents recovering in short order made her ecstatic ... her sister purchasing the Inn and refurbishing it was less appreciated, but the woman was family and took that seriously even if she was aloof.
In the following few years Agnes has found herself effectively running the inn at times when her sister got distracted by academic pursuits which is something she is happy with, she knows her sister takes the inn seriously and is as devoted to Waukeen as the rest of the family ... but she also knows she engages in dark trades for more riches than most people see, and occassionally shuts down the inn to conduct some experiment or other for days at a time.
Still her sister has provided her with some magical equipment which works to make her job much easier and she can appreciate that.
Followers:
From the village Alerdene and Agnes have recruited a stable band of followers to assist them in running the inn and other tasks.
The bard Shuo and rogue Sahba are the youngest siblings of Alerdene and Agnes both barely 16 but eager to impress there elder siblings even as they might occassionally be ignored as the elders fight - they provide the entertainment of the inn and occassionally run tasks as needed.
The fighter Sunaki is a local farmer who was formerly briefly travelled as a caravan guard but returned home when he started a relationship with Anges and choose to stay around to assist her and offer her support when she needs it, often acts as a bouncer for the inn or for crowd control.
The dwarven fighter Kazmuk was a drinking buddy of Alerdene's in waterdeep, one night he was the victim of a serious assault and nearly bleed out if not for Alerdene taking the time to patch his wounds, he hunted down and killed the person that had left him for dead but than shocked at his anger he turned himself in and served some years in prison - when he got out he choose to look for the only friend he remembered who had actually helped him, and seeing that she was well setup he choose to sign on with her offering his services as needed.
The cleric Pratavh is devoted to Waukeen and as Alerdene tithes frequently he choose to offer his religious services to the village who lacked a cleric - frequently working out of the inn, and occassionlly handling trade matters for the sisters when both are preoccupied.