birbo

Fley (who's actual namei was Mirel, but we're not touching on that now) is the third of five siblings, born in a poor, low caste family in the country of Trygghast (your dystopian steampunk capitalistic hellscape, which greatly influenced the path they took later in life). Since she was a kid, and due to the influence of Ambros, her father, also a bard, Mirel was drawn to music, stories, and the sharing of it. Her drive has ultimately always been to learn and to share what she learnt. But Mirel's family couldn't afford to pay for higher institution, so she took the matter into her own hands. As a teenager, she worked as a servant for richer families, eventually being noticed for her charm and wit and ability to entertain, enhanced by the fey magic running through her blood. She used that to her own advantage, isolating herself from her peers to catch the eye of the people of higher castes, sometimes ruthlessly so. Eventually, she obtained a mentorship, which gave her the chance to enroll to University. Things went... south, eventually. Being talented and smart did not make her any less lonely, and she ended up in bad circles and in an abusive relationship. She did manage to graduate - though with difficulties - and to get a job in a field she loves (archeology), but by that point Fley was so holed up in her own walls that she didn't use her magic anymore, nor sing in public at all. There's a lot to say about that, how her choice to play the game of climbing a ladder that was rigged from the start without questioning it caused what brought up the events that started off the campaign for her, fleeing her country under a new identity.

Now, she's learning how to use her magic again, her enchantment magic especially. Learning how to use it for good, to do the right thing and change things for the better, even though she still struggles with the draw of that power. Enchantment is the scariest magic school after all :)