Van Auyn, Arietta

HISTORY
Arietta was born in a small town in Lower Nalimberg called Ghee. Her mother was van Auyn, Gaosta (nee van Liuo) and her father was van Auyn, Leyam. She also had a brother - van Auyn, Illa - who was three years younger than her and would eventually pass away before he turned ten. The van Auyns being social recluses and their parents being emotionally distant, Arietta and Illa had an incredibly tight bond.

Arietta was the most powerful Maege in Ghee which isolated completely her; she was equally revered as she was feared. When Leyam's gambling addiction spiralled out of control, he resorted to turning Arietta into a circus act to support himself, starting in Ghee. The act involved her using her Talent to amaze the audience and as a result the family began to travel constantly, initially with only ever enough money to scrape through each month. As the show grew more and more popular the family began to be more financially stable and eventually settled down in Muska, a small town outside the palace grounds. As time went on, the shows began to get more absurd and exploitative with little care for her wellbeing. Her father would eventually 'rent her out' to private parties of people to perform for higher prices with Arietta being too young to ever properly process the danger she was in. She grew to hate her Talent, as though it was providing her family with a comfortable enough life, it only bought her pain and exhaustion, which she internalised as selfishness and that grew into her beginning to resent her power. Arietta became cold and detached. Leyam continued to gamble away most of the money Arietta earned the family. After a show she was rented out privately to a peculiar man who revealed himself to be van Lilan, Sayo who was working for the palace and invited her to come train under the Qēn's Naoma's guidance. Arietta accepted and left immediately.

She thrived under the teachings of the Institute's staff and with Sayo as her mentor learnt use her Talent in ways that didn't cause her constant exhaustion or anxiety. She learned to appreciate the beauty of her Talent, how rare it was and the good it could be used for. She was surrounded by people like her, and her family had no knowledge of where she was. But when she was fifteen, she received a letter from her father, pleading her to return home. She didn't bother responding. The next month she received another letter stating that Illa had died of sickness because Arietta had been 'too selfish' to return home to her family and pay for his treatment. Leyam had gambled away everything the family had had, everything that Arietta had made for them. The death of her brother, the greed of her father, the complacency of her mother, thrust Arietta forward and she worked harder than she ever had before to be the best Mæge she could. She distanced herself from Sayo and her other friends. She quickly rose to the top of her ranks, fiercely independent.

When Qēn Naoma needed a Nali representative, Arietta was selected. Sayo made her understand, though, that working in a team of other Questers would mean having to vulnerable once more. She concluded that if she came off as quiet then nobody would choose to pay attention or go out of their way to forge a bond with her. She decided that as soon as the quest was done, she would return to the Institute and return into isolation again.

PERSONALITY
Arietta is rooted in the desire to create peace. She's is passionate about everything she does, though she tends to not externalise her excitement for fear of judgement. Deeply generous and empathetic, she often takes on other people's emotions to a level that is detrimental. She's openminded and an idealist, hopeful and with high ambitions; one of Arietta's long-term goals is to become a dancer, though because of how Talented she is this is unlikely. Previously her unrealistic goals have previously led to great disappointments and periods of unhealthy amounts of self-isolation and self-criticism. Once Arietta has integrated into The Seven she begins to fight for peace outside her bubble, and learns not to blame or reprimand herself when she's unable to dispel tension in her immediate or external environment.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & COMMUNICATION
Arietta has deep brown skin, which is freckled all across her nose, cheeks and shoulders in a colour close to black. Her cat-shaped eyes are golden, with irises that turn to slits when she uses her Talent. Her hair is a rich brown, with weaved golden strands, and hangs in tight coils that she prefers to wear in a bun. She is taller than average, with a slight frame. From behind her shoulder blades spring a pair of feathered wings like that of an angel's, which, as she frequently complains, reduces her options in clothing.

Her favourite colours, conveniently, are yellow and gold which she typically wears as a Nali. One of her travelling outfits is a long white skirt than has a long singular slit in it, revealing dark grey boots that cut across her thigh. Around the waist of the dress is a string of bells, typical of Nali fashion. On top of a sheen, gently golden, near translucent skin-tight fabric she dons a cropped yellow tube top with straps that criss-cross around her shoulders and neck, with white gloves that start a palm's distance below her shoulders. Typically, she wears longer, flowing fabrics, in pale creams, golds and yellows.

FAMILY

 * van Auyn, Illa

Illa and Arietta were best friend growing up, because they were all eachother had. Illa had always been much more confident than Arietta much more kind but the two were inseperable. They were all eachother had and they