-::- The first thing she remembered was being seven years old and shattered, and spending the whole day taking her parents, and then her three brothers and two sisters out into the snow, shoving the pristine white crystals over their bodies in the only burial she could manage. Unable to bear being in the house where her family had died, she packed what she could carry and, as soon as she was well enough, she set out on her own through the snow.
-::- Three days later, he found her, half frozen and hungry. About sixty years old, he was little danger, or so she thought. So, when he offered her a home and then began to train her, she didn't expect much. She spent the next five years learning that appearances were decieving, and sometimes even short old men were incredible opponents.
-::- When she was twelve years old, he died and she set off once more, this time with a plan. She had decided to follow in his footsteps and become a mercenary. She went to the first estate she found, and made the mistake that would cost her so much in the months to come...Announcing herself and what she had planned, she was led inside and given her first glimpse of Him. The Master was a cold, evil looking being, dark-skinned and crimson-eyed. One who was more than thrilled to see a young, mostly innocent girl in his hall. He welcomed her in His own special way, showing her to the room of horrors that would be her home for the next two months. That night, it began. Her clothes were cut from her body, the dagger never touching her skin as it left her naked and bare to His ministrations.
-::- For one hour, he cut small, two inch lines into her flesh, the four-inch blade sliding into her up to the hilt as he made the first of a series of angeled, parallel lines. The next night He came back, and went back over the original cuts, turning each line into a precise and perfect X. For two months he tortured her, always for an hour, always cutting the lines into her flesh that would form the Xs. At length, her stomach, upper chest, shoulders, back and buttocks were completely covered. Then, one night, thinking his work complete, he cut a series of perfectly vertical four-inch long lines into her breasts and inner thighs. Then, he untied her, laying the dagger down and tried to take the last thing she held dear. His bad judgement cost him his life... Killed with his own dagger, he bled upon her feet as she lay there, regaining what strength she had left.
-::- Finding some clothes, she fled the castle, finally joining a rough band of men on their way to a battle. She was, at first the subject of ridicule, then awe, and finally fear as battle after battle, she knowed her lack of respect for death, fighting her way into the thickest of the battles and always coming out alive and mostly unharmed. They thought her a godess. And she was Queen of the mercenaries. She was immortal.
-::- Or so it seemed. One day, the battle nearly over, as she was walking back to her band's camp, a stray arrow hit her with enough force to pierce completely through her body. It was an odd sigh to see an arrow through one's heart, and something she actually found amusing as she crumpled to the ground. Left for dead by her own men, she laid upon the battlefield, carrion for t birds, until the child of one of the men she had killed came and helped her. He removed the arrow and took her home, what was left of his family nursing her back to life and then back to health.
-::- Once she was able to get out of bed on her own, she was ready to be on her way. But first, she gave the family a large sum of money, for their help and their loss and, with the promise to write, she set out once more, this time for Rhy'Din and a job that was anything BUT fighting. Her first night in town, she was approached by a recruiter who wanted her to join his guild. Surprised and curious, she agreed and filled out the application that very same hour. It was sent off my messenger, and she went to her rooms for the night. Three days later, when she had nearly forgotten about the man from the bar, a large stack of papers came to her room at the Inne.
-::- Reading them over, she packed her things for the last time and set out for the Republic. That night, she moved in, and made her first post upon the board, a letter of introduction to the other members. Within days, she had a small horde of friends, and that week, she was promoted. Realizing she had a home at last, Arianna settled into her new life, almost completely happy. Almost.
-::- Arianna was lonely, her only experience with love the misplaced desire of someone she was required to reject. As she watched her friends fall in love, she realized there was one thing left she was missing. The love of a family. And so she spent another few months, watching and wishing until one day, bored, she went to visit a friend. Playfully, they flirted, she innocently, his much more serious. That night, she recieved her first real kiss, and, within days innocent flirtation turned into a deep, pure love. And soon, she was happily pregnant and engaged to the man of her dreams.
-::- Yet the story would not end there, nor so pleasantly. Before she knew it, tragedy had struck once more, shattering her fairy tale ending. Her husband had disappeared with no notice or explanation, and in the stress of it all, she had lost the baby that would have meant so much. Alone once more, she was left to wander through her life without direction, wondering if she would ever be whole.
[ Note: This page is currently under construction, and updated information on Arianna will be available soon. In the meantime, feel free to email or instant message me at the address listed below -- I'd be happy to hear from you. ]
