Name: Seyira Vivienne of Ivria
Sex: Female
Age: 20
Occupation: Her 'job' is that of a lady's maid (a servant, in other words) but she is also a spy for Ghayth House, though nobody knows about that except for the people whom she works for.
Rank/Status: Commoner. A teeny bit of Ghayth blood, a drop at most, but hardly enough to make a difference.
Roots/Origin:
Her ancestors hundreds of years back were direct descendants of Ghayth House, and could have been High Seat at any point. However, their branch was just a little cleverer than most, and they decided to use that to their advantage by creating a spy network so they could monitor the going-ons in the other Houses, especially Taran. After all, Ghayth has always concerned itself with the utter elimination of House Taran.
At first, because they were so noble, they still maintained their nobility by marrying those of same rank. However, being a good spy has nothing to do with rank or nobility, as they soon discovered, and many began marrying commoners, for the reason that many commoners lived off their wits. They were breeding traits, not bloodline. Because of that, their nobility dominished until they themselves were barely more than commoners. House Ghayth looked down on them, but the spy network had become a neccessity to the great House, and they couldn't afford to shun them completely. Still, they maintained little contact with their former 'family'.
Seyira's father, Bastian Merot, was of this line. Her mother, Amaura Ley, was ... a thief. Pure and simple. Her parents had been innkeepers, and she had had 2 other siblings. However, a fire that started in the kitchens quickly took away their lives, leaving her as the sole survivor. She had been taken in by a local pickpocket, who had taught her his arts. He died when she was 14, and now she was alone, making her life the best she could. Considering that she was still alive three years later, albeit skinny and homeless, she had done fairly well.
They met when she tried to pick his pocket and he caught her. Had circumstances been different, Amaura would have been sent to prison, and Seyira never would have been born. However, Bastian had been out 'recruiting' and Amaura happend to catch his eye. He saw a glint of cleverness in her eyes, and held off on accusing her of theft. She hadn't actually managed to steal anything before he caught her anyway. She was tired, and hadn't been doing very well that week; he was looking for someone to fill the spot of a recently killed spy. He asked; warily she agreed. All she saw was the chance to have a warm place to sleep and food everyday in exchange for using talents she already had.
He, along with several older, more experienced spies, taught Amaura the intricacies of being a spy. She was a fast learner, and quick to pick up things. Because he was the one who had found her, he checked up on her daily, and occasionally praised her on her progress. Amaura thrived on his compliments. She had developed something of a crush on Bastian. He was her role model, her teacher, not to mention a fairly handsome older man (By 6 years). However, Bastian did not return her feelings. He saw her merely as a student, and perhaps a friend.
Two years later, things changed. Bastian was being harped on by his mother to take a wife, for reasons pertaining to the intelligence network. While they recruited many outsiders, the main leaders came directly from the family. Bastian's family (meaning entire family, relatives, ancestors, etc) was small; it always had been. It didn't seem to apply to any others except for his. For some reason, there were never more than two children in a family, and the fact that they dabbled in dangerous business didn't help matters. Bastian himself was an only child, and at 25, he was definitely at a marriageable age. He didn't like being harped on, especially since she was doing it more frequently than usual, and decided to go out.
While out, he glimsped his former student Amaura at a fruit vendor, chatting with the seller. For the first time, he saw her as a woman. She had filled out well, going from the lanky, dirty girl he'd picked up on the streets, to a cheerful, pretty young woman. And there, it struck his fancy that she might make a good wife. She was smart, pretty, of an age, and most important, had the skills that would make their children good spies. He asked her to dinner, and their courtship began.
For her part, Amaura was thrilled. The man she had had a longstanding crush on finally seemed like her back. They went on 'dates', and six months later, he asked her to marry him. She accepted, and they had got married, a small private affair. They were a nice couple, and they loved each other, though their love wasn't the torrid passion that some couples had. Their marriage was more of a partnership, dominated more by friendship and trust than love. Love makes people do silly things, and both were highly aware of that fact. So, a partnership.
They were happy like that, and the rest of the family had no objections (not that there would have been many, since Bastian's mother was the only one around). After three years of marriage, they had their first (and only) child Seyira. The birth was hard, and Amaura never really recovered. She become prone to long bouts of sickness (mostly fever). No matter what Bastian did, she never got any better. She was sick on and off for about 5 years. During that time, Bastian's mother died, of old age and it became just the three of them. 5 years later, Amaura suffered a high fever that wouldn't go away. She lay in bed for near onto two weeks before finally passing away.
Magic: None.
Appearance:
Appearances can be deceiving. On the outside, Seyira looks like any typical well-to-do young lady. Perhaps a bit taller than most, at 5 feet 9 inches, with a willowy body, she doesn’t look like she would be able to carry a person 50 pounds heaver than her, let alone a chair. Black, waist-length hair frames an oval face with narrow sapphire eyes and a small nose and mouth. It gives her a naturally suspicious look, but she has no problem with that. Her voice is nice, a bit lower and deeper than the average female, and if she were to sing, she would most likely be an alto.
Long arms and legs presented a bit of a challenge when growing up, causing her to be a bit on the clumsy side, but she’s managed to turn that clumsiness into grace, and if she still knocks down a thing or two, well, that can’t be helped. Her chest and hips are a little too small for her to be considering a beauty, but that doesn’t matter to her. The only problem she has with herself is her pale skin. She would prefer to have darker skin, but tanning isn’t an option for her, since she burns out in the sun.
Hygiene is very important to Seyira. She takes a bath as frequently as she can, though, being nothing more than a lowly maid, it happens less frequently than she likes. She does wash her face and brush through her hair every day though, once upon waking up and once before setting in for bed. This isn’t because she wants people to see her in her best, but because she likes to be clean and healthy. Her clothing tends to be simple and plain, though currently she doesn’t have a choice. Face paint or power, along with jewelry she abhors, although she will consent to ribbons, only since they keep her hair up and out of the way. Weapons on the other hand… she has a small knife she wears strapped to her calf.
People see her as pretty, maybe even lovely, and she lets them think that, since there’s no harm in it. She can deal with any flirting that comes her way, and it’s always easier to get information out of people who are willing to talk to you than people who aren’t.
Personality:
Seyira, like any other human being, is a person with a complex personality. She seems completely unconcerned with the world around her, but that’s only because subtlety has been something that’s been drilled into her since she was young. Because of that, she’s developed the habit of hiding her true feelings and showing what other people want to see without fully realizing that she does it. It’s a struggle for her to reveal what she’s actually thinking and open up to someone. It’s as if she has a mask she puts on whenever she’s around other people, a mask she only removes when she’s entirely alone. Close friends and relationships that progress farther than the ‘acquaintance’ stage are rare for her. The only people she trusts implicitly are herself and her family. She tends to get a bit lonely because most of her family is gone and she has no friends. Despite all that, Seyira has a strong will and once set upon a task, will do anything to finish it. She is constantly trying to prove herself, and strives to do the best in all she does.
Because her ‘mask’ is so much a part of her, it’s made her temper virtually nonexistent. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t possess one, but that it just doesn’t get out of control very often. Occasionally, it flares up, but she normally manages to rein it in before it reaches to the point of fury. Sadness is a different matter. While she might let her temper loose once in a while, she’ll never let any sadness show, unless it’s needed for some sort of act. She’s a very private and very proud person, and that means she’ll never let any sort of weakness show if she can help it, and that includes sadness and fear.
Her sense of humor leans towards sarcasm, and includes snide comments about someone or something, and perhaps imitations of certain people. However, since she is currently employed as a maid, she has learned to keep her mouth shut unless she wishes to be punished, and therefore doesn’t expose other people to her humor, which makes them believe that she doesn’t have one. The only noteworthy habit of hers is that she tends to bounce her leg up and down when she thinks (if she’s sitting down). If she’s standing, then she taps her foot.
Strengths:
--Highly intelligent. Part of it is hereditary, since her entire line has been composed of spies, and part of it is from the training she had under her father’s direction.
--Can adjust her behavior to fit in where she is easily. She can act like a commoner or a high-born lady, depending on what her circumstances dictate.
--Self-reliant/Independent. She doesn’t need anyone to protect or coddle her. She is able to take care of herself, physically, mentally, and socially. She prefers being independant.
--Good at twisting words. She can spit out things that are only slightly based on the truth and make people believe that they are really true. Mostly used for getting out of sticky situations.
Weaknesses:
--Quick to take offense, especially if her intelligence or competence is insulted. She can hold really long grudges over little things.
--Has a horrible father complex. Everything, including conversations, behaviors, and actions will eventually relate back to her father, one way or another. She talks about him incessantly, and in a deep part of her, she still behaves like he is alive.
--Flattery. She loves being flattered, and just as she is quick to take offense, she swells up at the smallest mention of a compliment. It’s like a love-hate relationship.
--Heights. If the ground is more than 20 feet below her, she will suffer from dizzy spells. If the ground is more than 50 feet away, she’ll refuse to move.
--Dying young. You would think she would be used to the idea, being a spy and all, but Valleran has taken away too many of her family members for her to be comfortable with him.
---Can't sew to save her life. Which has definitely garnered her some strange looks as a maid. In fact, she's not really good at any sort of maidenly job, like cooking, decorating, sewing...
History:
If her ancestors hadn’t decided to start up the spy network that would later become one of the most extensive and intricate in the country, Seyira Vivienne of Ghayth would have spent her childhood playing dolls and dress-up like any other little girl. However, her father Bastian happened to be the director of the part of the network located in Ivria, the capital of Ghayth, and it was his plan to continue the family tradition of information collecting, so to speak, which meant that his little daughter would have to be taught all the basic skills and rudiments of being involved in espionage, alongside the practicalities like reading and writing. Perhaps if her mother had lived longer instead of dying of fever when Seyira was four, she would have experienced more ‘girl’ things. As it was, she ended up as her father’s only child, which meant she was the one upon which all her father’s glorious knowledge was bestowed.
Instead of playing house with other girls her age, Seyira engaged in various contests with her cousins, contests designed to bring out any traits and talents she would need in her future. This didn’t mean she didn’t have any friends outside of her family, it just meant that she didn’t spend all that much time with them. Seyira didn’t seem to notice at all that this was not normal for a young girl, and in fact, delighted in these things. Her infrequent get-togethers with her few friends soon turned from a chance to have spend time with her few friends to a chance to test her newly learned skills. Because her family had been spies for so long, many of the talents required in the line of work had already been bred into her. They just needed to be brought to the forefront, and that was done during lessons with her father.
Besides the mental skills required, she also practiced physical ones. Her father had always thought that she should be able to defend herself should anything happen, so he had her learn some form of self-defense; in her case, knives and hand-to-hand fighting. They lived at the edge of the city, so they were fairly safe from prying eyes. Which was a good thing, because every time Seyira practiced, she added numerous cuts and bruises to her growing collection. The friends of the family who visited also thought it odd to see her so, but she, along with the rest of her family was always careful never to reveal what she had been doing. Spies, even ones loyal to House Ghayth, weren’t exactly commended. Though she never mastered any sort of fighting technique, she become good enough to protect herself if necessary.
And then, when Seyira was 16, disaster struck. Because the High King was getting old, and things seemed ripe for a member of Ghayth House to succeed him, the intelligence network had been set to monitor any little event that might tip things their way. Seyira’s father was sent to the palace of the High King in Olencia to do a little snooping around, and perhaps trigger some plan set down years before. Somehow, her father was uncovered as being a spy against the High King, and therefore a traitor. He was taken to the dungeons, interrogated, and then executed.
The High King sent several soldiers to track down the rest of Seyira’s family in the event that there might be more spies in their midst, so Seyira and the rest of her relatives scattered like ashes in the wind. Most left Ghayth, though Seyira, now an orphan, stayed and lodged with a distant aunt. During that time, she mourned for her father and contemplated what she would do next. Her aunt lived in a small house, and there was barely enough room for Seyira to stay there.
After several weeks with her aunt, Seyira decided she had burdened her aunt low enough. Fabricating a story of how her father and mother were still alive but too poor to keep her at home, she got a job as a lady’s maid for a rather well-to-do family. Instead of using her first name, she adopted her second, less-used one. She attended to a girl named Amaranta, younger daughter of the family and two years younger than herself. Amaranta was flighty and naïve, and never guessed that there was more to her new maid than she let on.
Meanwhile, the spies in Ivria were trying to reorganize things now that their leader had been found out. They were worried at first, but discovered, with some gentle snooping, that the only thing Bastian had confessed to was being a spy at all. With this in mind, they appointed a new leader. Because Seyira’s father had been the previous leader, and only because of that fact, the new director Traherne, allowed her to work as a spy, though he personally thought she was too young and flighty to be of any use. He made this clear every time he gave her a task, and Seyira was not at all pleased by this. He was not the only one that felt this way. Most of the other members were in their late twenties and older, and they all treated Seyira like some sort of infant.
She wanted to show everyone that she could be useful. And when she was 20, she got that chance. Four years after she started working for Amaranta’s family, they decided to take a trip to Olencia, to visit some family that lived there and to spend the summer. It was Seyira’s chance, and despite the fact that Olencia was currently a dangerous city, she was eager to be there.
OOC: Apologies if this sounds too far-fetched. If the High Seat of House Ghayth has any objections, since technically, I am her spy, then I shall be glad to work things out.