Dean Solitaire Emani

Dean of Arcanology, Triumvir of the Reliquary

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Early Childhood

Born in Tiersward to a family of minor nobility. Arushnee was by ten years the youngest of seven brothers and sisters. Her father was Vishal Acharya and her mother was Zahra Emani, Vishal's second wife after the first died giving birth to her sixth child. Zahra doted on Arushnee and she lived a fairly privileged childhood for several years.

Her father Vishal was in his later sixties when Arushnee was born, and publicly he was a respected city councilman while privately he was also a tenured Master Reliqus of the Investigation branch of the Reliquary. When Arushnee was 8, her father was invested as Dean of Investigation and made a Triumvir.

The Vishal Expedition

In 553, Dean Vishal collected materials which seemed to point to the location of a Samraaji structure in the eastern mountains then known as the Barrier Peaks. Known only as "Shakti," it was said to be a fallen tower of some mysterious material that looked like stone but acted like steel. Vishal was taking two of his sons with him, along with a large contingent of Reliquary Investigators and Guardians, so he made the fateful decision to bring Arushnee along with him to possibly pique her interest in later joining the Reliquary. The expedition traveled eastward through Montbard and the Ashblight, trekking through the formidable mountains for several weeks before at last discovering Shakti on 7 Aout.

The expedition quickly learns that finding the structure and entering are two different matters, and they spend the next three weeks trying everything they can think of to get in--magical, lockpicking, even destructive physical means to force entry--to no avail. Finally, on 30 Aout, Vishal figures out how to open the structure and sends Digory L'Intrepide, a junior Guardian, back to the Keep of Lore to report the discovery. Dean Vishal briefly brings Arushnee aboard with him to see the entry chamber. Some lever or pressure plate is tripped, and the door seals behind them. It takes Vishal about ten minutes to reopen to door, and he and Arushnee reemerge outside to the exploration camp...to find that 2-1/2 days had passed since they entered the vessel!

Realizing that some sort of time dilation/time stop was at play, Vishal left instructions with his lieutenant: he would go back inside, planning to emerge every half-hour inside (two weeks outside). The first re-emergence went as planned, but someone happened on the next foray. On 21 Septembre, a large bell-shaped object on the began began ringing, causing blood to rush from the eyes, ears, mouths, and noses of the expedition members, slaying them nearly instantly Arushnee! Both of Vishal's sons who were present were among the dead, but Arushnee survived unscathed!

Traumatized, she waited two more weeks among the corpses for her father to come out; when he didn't emerge, her hunger drove her to stagger west (she remembered they found the ship by walking toward the rising sun so headed for the sunset). After more than two additional weeks, Arushnee was found collapsed on the plains of the Ashblight by a hunting party who revived her, fed her, and took her to their village. Eventually, her identity was learned and she was taken back to the Tiers.

Adolescence

Returned to the arms of her mother, who was now a landless widow, Arushnee was kept far from the Reliquary for many years.

Mental Trauma

The loss of her father in such a way has left Arushnee/Solitaire without closure. She refuses to believe that he is dead, even after nearly five hundred years, because she remembered how quickly the days passed outside the Shakti when she spent so little time inside. The question of "Why did I survive when everyone else perished?" has left her obsessed with finding what properties or bloodlines would allow one to survive unscathed while others die in agony.

Ethnicity

Matelot

Year of Birth

543 CE 462 Years old

Circumstances of Birth

Born to a Keeper would who become Dean of Investigation

Eyes

Dark brown

Hair

Long, sleek, raven black

Height

5'8"

Weight

120 lbs