#atherion.intro

calista is smart as a whip. she wants to follow a historian’s path, as she’ll likely never see the queen’s throne. so, what’s the harm of an outside job? 

of course, she knows her mother would support her. she’s just so shy about what she wants, that bringing up the topic scares her. 

she spends so much of her time in the library, though, reading whatever she can get her hands on. fiction, non-fiction, historical, anything. she loves to read. she’s often found in cozy sweaters and slippers in the library, reading by lamplight.

for someone who tends to stick to the shadows, it makes sense that her high fae power would be shadow melding.

despite being shy around new people, she loves when a ball sweeps into her home, or into the neighboring madan castle, as she loves to get dressed up into a glittering gown and people watch. it’s intriguing to her and, if she’s honest, it helps her prepare for the book she wants to write by seeing people interacting, especially when champagne is involved.

jamie was always the athletic one in school. captain of his dueling team, he was always doing something to be seen as the sporty, athletic one. he was always the golden boy. he never did anything that could get him into any known trouble. 

known being the operative word. he was always doing something stupid to get himself into trouble, his parents just didn’t know about it. and he liked it that way. he thought that if he were the perfect child, they might stop arguing for five seconds and remember that they had kids that depended on them.

a lot of the shit he got into was because he was defending his twin sister from people who shouldn’t have been talking shit about her in the first place. sure, she could fight her own battles, and when it came to the really big stuff, she did, but if jamie ever heard anyone say anything about her, he’d swing first and ask questions later. it didn’t matter. nobody talked shit about jules, especially not where he could hear. 

jamie is bisexual, and although he’s not closeted, he never really came out to his parents. he never thought he needed to. he never brought a boy home while in high school, but he never sat down and had a conversation with his parents saying hey, i also like guys, and if that’s a problem, you’re just gonna have to deal with it.

jules, being the other half of himself, was the only person he ever felt like he needed to come out to, and not because he thought she might think of him any differently, but because he thought she’d be the one person that would understand him and not judge him. because she was the only person who he ever really cared enough to tell.

he once broke his arm climbing a tree, because he got a dueling sword stuck super high up, and really wanted it back. he didn’t care that his parents had told him no. he didn’t care that it was higher than he’d ever climbed before, or that the branches got super thin that far up. he fell, hit a lot of branch on the way down, and ended up with a splint. 

over the years, he did a lot more stuff like that, adding broken bone after broken bone to the list. he wasn’t careful and he was an idiot, always getting himself into places and things that he definitely shouldn’t have been getting into.

headcanons

past / ariella has absolutely no recollection of her adoption process. she knows she is certainly fae, knows that her mother loves her dearly, knows that all of her siblings are also adopted, but she can’t help but wonder if she could just remember her past, maybe it would be easier to let it go. she has a few early memories, flashes of color and light, but the first concrete memory she can access is her stumbling towards her eldest brother, absolutely elated to see him.

present / when ariella isn’t lurking around the treehouse castle, seeking out secrets hidden in the walls, she frequently visits town. she’d never admit this to her family, but it’s there she feels most comfortable. she especially enjoys visiting her old governess, a woman ariella loved almost as much as her own mother. she only moved out of the castle when she married one of the town’s bakers. the fresh bread might have some influence over how frequently ariella visits.

future / ariella is almost obsessed with understanding more of her background. she wants to know why she doesn’t fit in, if there’s something she’s lost. one connection that could be really interesting is someone from that past (biological family, people who knew her bio family, someone willing to help her seek answers)

abilities

powers / she has all the abilities of the fae, namely flight, allure, glamour, delayed aging. as a high fae, a blessing bestowed upon ariella when the queen adopted her, she has an extra ability: tbd. 

personality

if it wasn’t evident before, ariella has what some would call middle child syndrome. far from the only middle child in a family so vast, ariella is more than simply forgotten–she doesn’t fit. she doesn’t remember when she first became aware of the difference between her and the rest, aware of the discomfort from the scrutiny, but thinks maybe it was around the time she started visiting the town more and court less. she’s generally quiet in the castle, coming across as shy or maybe snobby, unless she’s around those she’s most comfortable with. sometimes her giggle can be heard into the wee hours around their home as long as she’s with the right sibling. 

those who are privy to moments like these might on occasion describe ariella as devilishly sneaky and curious, too. while she’ll never own up to it, if there’s trouble, it probably leads back to ariella whispering in someone’s ear. she only needs a few words to get what she wants. that was the benefit of spending ninety percent of your time observing–you learn people. that being said, ariella is generally not manipulative or malicious. it’s either a testament to ayesha’s parenting . . . or her sheltering skills, but ariella is kind and believes in the best of others (almost to the point of naïveté).  

wanted connections

someone who acts almost as her babysitter, who encourages her back into the fold. they just want what’s best for her ( what’s safest – after all curiosity did kill the cat ! ). they’re responsible, a good example for ariella to follow. unfortunately, they’re also one of the few people to see past her mask of mediumness. somehow she isn’t invisible to them, making sneaking all the more difficult. 

the exact opposite !! someone who actively encourages the chaos dwelling in ariella, encourages her to question authority. someone who sees her just as clearly as above but doesn’t discourage what they see–in fact, they like what they see. maybe they’re just sneaky buddies or maybe this person purposefully brings out ariella’s more negative characteristics.

someone who maybe sees her naive nature and wants to use it to their advantage. listen, she’s a young, sheltered little princess who thinks she’s more badass than she really is. someone looking for some easy favors from the royal family might see her as a target. 

someone she grew up with/around !! either nobility around the castle, or townsfolk she met through her governess whenever they visited town for some errand or another (their family members, neighboring kids, etc). i imagine she begged to go to town a lot as a child, so think childhood friends type of deal. 

frenemies!! people who were everything she tried to be growing up, people who fit in just a little bit better. of course, no one wants to get in trouble for being mean to little princess ariella, so they’re polite. there’s maybe an occasional bonding moment where there’s potential for real friendship, but something always gets in the way. 

and literally anything else you’d want to give me!! please!!

FINALLY, extras

trivia: has many tattoos - some in the form of strength or protection runes, some detailed as if dragon scales && stows his sword when in atherion, so as not to spook the locals, but always has a dagger (or three) hidden on his person, for obvious reasons && can’t turn down a game of cards, but is a terribly sore loser. tries to mask it. && loves telling his work/war/scar stories, the gorier and more near-fatal, the better && travels often, still gets seasick

kinsey sells her paintings in a gallery beneath the studio apartment she works painting in. they are often up at all hours of the night painting and working on new pieces. 

she has a lovely singing voice and often finds herself singing at night while she’s getting ready for bed. 

they’re always up for a swim in the river. they love to feel the water on their skin. 

they come from a long line of sirens who have lured sailors to their deaths, and they’re particularly proud of their ancestors for the way they handled themselves. 

kinsey’s family is no longer around, both her parents having passed when she was younger, leaving her to fend for herself from a young age. she has no siblings, so it’s just her. she does have a distant cousin somewhere in atherion, but they were never close. 

kins loves to get dressed up and go to events at the castles. she doesn’t care which one. when there are big events that call for talents to be shown off, she takes her paints and her canvas and she paints publicly, letting everyone see what she can do in real time, and then sells the painting to the highest bidder. 

devlyn has always loved dragons. her favorite dragon in the keep is one named aza, who she has been training with love and care since the dragon was just a baby. they’ve become a bit bonded. 

dev is from a farm family and very into living off the land, even if she doesn’t really do much of that anymore. she’s gotten into the habit of buying her food daily or keeping a loaf of bread in her little cottage instead of baking her own bread. 

she hasn’t visited her family in queen knows how long. hasn’t been back to the family farm in almost a decade’s time. 

she spends most of her time in the keep, surrounded by dragons. it’s her absolute favorite place to be. she loves nothing more than to fly on the back of a dragon. 

queen willing, she has high hopes to join the knights of madan. she’s always wanted to be one. she couldn’t believe when she actually got an invitation to a ball at the castle. she knew that was her ticket inside. her ticket to the knights. 

Kaya is anything but traditional, starting at the moment of conception. She’s only half-human, fae for a father whose relationship with the queen never panned out, but her family has never made her feel like she’s only half Madan. Just because she was born out of wedlock with a non-human, doesn’t mean they’re going to take the crown away from her. One day, she is going to become queen. 

Her presence can be a little intimidating, between her personality, and the fact alone that she is a royal, but she doesn’t intend to be. In fact, she has a heart that aches to care for everyone that she can. No one should feel unloved, and if she could mend every broken heart in Atherion, every wounded soul, she would — and being a sanctuary, there’s a lot of them. 

That’s why she spends as much time out of the castle as she can physically and mentally afford. The people need to know that the leaders of Atherion care about them. That this is a sanctuary, and they are there for them. 

She’s personable, and you can catch her smiling more often than not. Angering her is not in your best interest, however, as she can be more terrifying than a hurricane on a bad day.

As things worsen in Atherion, she’s going to be gripping on white-knuckled, terrified of what it means for her people and the land she loves. This is going to weigh very heavily on her, because she cares so much it hurts. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS —

eagle: someone who keeps their ear to the ground and their eye in the sky for any happenings that Kaya could miss when busy with royal duties and should be aware of

fun-loving: a friend in town that always makes Kaya laugh. as things get more rough, she’s really going to need this friend to keep her from falling into an abyss