Raphtalia Raven

Ra'Talia Rae's Backstory

Raphtalia Raven, originally Ra’Talia Rae, was born as a Eulmorian noble to a household mother and Diplomat father. During her upbringing she was taught how to be a proper noble; worthy of the House Rae name. Her childhood would have been stripped from her the moment she was able to speak and walk as she would immediately be placed into schooling to learn proper etiquette and manners. As her status would dictate, her family would only allow her an allocated amount of time towards being a child.From the moment she woke up to the moment she would go to sleep her entire day was planned and maintained to ensure that she would grow up to be a proper lady. At the age of eight, while enjoying her 2 hour break from schooling, she would inconveniently snap her right heel. The preceding tumble and fall would only be stopped by a male roegadyn guard as he would catch her mid-fall to prevent her from hurting herself. He would take off his helmet and help her feel better about the broken shoe by making her laugh before introducing himself as Anjal. This would be the beginning of their friendship as Anjal would take great joy in bringing Ra’Talia small snacks and toy's from his home in Gatetown. Ra’Talia would begin to value her friendship with Anjal more and more as he was her only source of what life was like outside of Eulmore. As she got older she would often use her breaks to listen to his tales of adventure with wide eyes.Days turned to weeks, weeks turned into months and months to years. Before she knew it, Ra’Talia was already 15 years old. It was an exciting day, as she had always looked forward to her birthday. However, today was different. Instead of being greeted by the workers with smiles they would all look towards her with worry. Each of them attempted to give her a comforting smile, only to fail as she would walk into the main living area to see her father and mother sitting on the couch. Waiting for her. They instructed her to take a seat before explaining that today was an important day. That today would be the day that she would be given to the leader of Eulmore, Vauthry, as one of his wives. In that moment she experienced everything at once. She felt the terror of their words and what it meant for her. She felt the betrayal of their actions towards her, their daughter.She felt the anger of her choice being made for her which only resulted in her eyes losing the life in them and in her basic expression and deadpan tone she would state one word to them. “No.” Although simple, they understood everything she was feeling, expressed in a single word to set her boundaries with no room for argument. Her parents would look upon her in silence before slowly standing as a couple and leaving the living quarters. No more than an hour later Ra’Talia would receive summons from Vauthry himself. Again, she would decline only to be grabbed violently by the guard as he said “These summons are not a request. They are an order.” Without any second thoughts, Ra’Talia would swipe at the guard instinctively. Leaving gashes across his face before taking the opportunity to run.She would begin running out into the main aetheryte plaza and towards the stairwell leading down to the base of eulmore with a larger group of armored soldiers in tow. As she descended she would run past her friend, Anjal, who would be very confused by her pace. It was until he looked in the direction she came. Ra’Talia would continue to run only to stop and look back to see how close the group was until she saw what was happening. She would see Anjal holding back the group with axe in hand.She would hesitate for a moment, wondering if she should go back before shaking her head and continuing to run. As she quickly continued her descent she would see the door to the outside world. Her freedom in full view as she continued forward, with tears in her eyes before a voice loud enough to force the hair on her tail to stand on end, “ENOUGH!”.She would immediately snap her head around to see a wall of light overcome her. She would close her eyes and hold her arms up as a guard for a moment. She would continue to sit there bracing until she slowly opened her eyes once more and looked around. What...was this place? She seemed to be left in a void of light. She couldn’t understand it as she continued to glance around in an attempt to find a way out before feeling something wet run across her face. She would instinctively lurch back in response before it happened once more causing her eyes to open.She would look around as she laid against sand, only stopping as her concentration was once more interrupted by the waning shoreline. She would slowly sit up and wipe off her face before realizing she was soaked from head to toe. She would glance around and realize that she is somewhere...completely foreign. From the paint and markings of the buildings to the architecture itself. Nothing seemed even remotely familiar. She would stand up and slowly stroll into the main market area of the city that she would later learn was named Kugane. As she strolled through the square she would feel eyes on her causing her to recluse inwards in an attempt to shield herself from prying eyes. Unbeknownst to her, her beauty would often leave those in her presence awestruck. However, in this foreign land. This attention has left her in the most unwanted position. From one chase to another she would quickly realize three men following her. In an attempt to get away she slipped into the alley ways, ducking in and out of narrow halls in order to avoid the three men. However, due to a lack of knowledge of this city, she would find herself trapped in an alleyway with the men slowly approaching. She would inhale to scream for help but before she could get it out she would feel herself get struck before everything went black.Once more she would feel herself waking but this time with a lot more pain and a pounding headache. The sounds around her wouldn’t help as she would hear a mixture of quiet chatter, the soft shuffling of feet and the subtle tapping's and clicking's of various make-up products being used. She would attempt to sit up only to have the wound on her head stop her as an older woman wearing an ornate kimono would come to her side with a warm cloth. Ra’Talia would ask the woman where she is and what happened before the woman’s eyes would avert downward with a sigh. She would explain that she had been “recruited” to be a geisha for Heaven On High. A paradise-like establishment for the wealthy and the nobility. Where they could come to watch warriors do battle and have geisha entertain their every desire.Ra’talia Rae would stop and the reality of the situation would fully sink in as she began to silently cry laying there. The realization that her first few moments of freedom would lead to her being kidnapped. She would begin to ponder if she would have better off accepting the planned marriage before being brought back to reality of the older woman asking her name. She would begin to answer only to stop herself as a memory forced its way to the forefront of her mind. She was told about this, if she got kidnapped to never give her real name as that would simply make the situation worse.She was instructed to keep the name close to her original but to add extra syllables and letters. This knowledge resulted in her giving this older woman the name “Raphtalia Raven”. During the next few months, Raphtalia would quickly realize multiple things about herself. She would use her level of popularity which allowed her to request books revolving around aether and how it is used and its practical applications as well as to keep a portion of her earnings. Through small tests on client, Raphtalia would hone and master her own aether before Challenging Heaven on High for her own freedom. The climb was daunting and arduous but she would manage to get to the finally floor. A floor she knew all too well as it was the most popular for patrons of Heaven on High, as this floor hosted the legendary hitman, Yojimbo. The owner of Heaven on High would cackle seeing her enter this final floor and begin to toss the hitman large sacks of gil. To most, this would be their demise, however Raphtalia came prepared.She would exhale and reach into her battle worn bustier and pull out a pristine note before holding it out towards the hitman. His companion, a stone pup, quickly made his way over and collected the note before bringing it back to yojimbo. He would look the note over and nod before placing a hand on the hilt of his blade and in a blur of motion would take the owner’s head clean from his shoulders. The patrons would begin to scream before he sheathed his blade once more and bowed in the direction of Raphtalia as a sign of his job being done. At last, Ra’Talia Rae…No..Raphtalia Raven, had suffered and fought for her freedom. And No one could take that from her. The true question is, what is her plan now?

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