Difference between revisions of "Ariane Carnath-Emory"

Inception

Originally, Ariane was created by Lex to be little more than an NPC for a friend's campaign. He wrote a very brief background for her; a name (hardly original!) and sketchy description were added. When it became evident that the move from TSBT to #Broken_Dagger would be a lasting one, she became a convenient replacement for D'arcy Jones, who was prohibited from play on account of her anachronistic history. This was a significant force in the shaping of Ariane's personality: in order to be almost the opposite of D'arcy, Ariane required a personality that was rich in neither wit nor eloquence, one ruled by pragmatism rather than curiosity and whim; she would become, ultimately, a woman whose first love was order, rather than chaos.

Oh hey, she's got a livejournal page, too. Oh dear.

History

The Sellsword

Ariane was born some twenty-odd years ago in the distant colony of Northern New Dauntless. Youngest child of mingled House Carnath-Emory, she grew early to adulthood, as is the way of things in this remote outpost. While she seldom details the events which transpired during her twelfth year there, this much is clear: that there was trouble enough that she felt the need to flee both House and home, and seek out her fortune elsewhere.

Years of wandering followed, during which she continued the fencing lessons she'd begun years ago, at the hands of her brother's tutor. A sellsword of gradually-growing repute, she found work in various companies (frequently posing as male) -- from a stint in The God-crushed War, to service within the ill-fated group set to guard the Sorcerer's Guild in the distant city-state E'strielle. When the disaster befell them, the explosion of unshaped magical energies responsible worked a particularly strange effect upon young Ariane. The plate armour which was her uniform was liquified in an instant, and driven through the pores of her skin to flow with the very blood in her veins. Endowed with a sentience -- or perhaps only a sensitivity -- the armour rises in monofilaments from her skin at almost random periods, there to reform briefly into the platemail that it had originally been.

In the weeks which followed the disaster -- which had left a great, smoking crater in the heart of E'strielle -- the city's favour turned against magic and its derivatives. Being newly transformed into one of those herself, Ariane fled... nursing a newfound hatred for all things sorcerous.

The Tavern

The travels which followed eventually led her to Amasynia and the city Myrkentown. Some days after taking up residence at the Broken Dagger, she was fortunate enough to be employed by its then-proprietor, Raegan Darkblayde, in the capacity of tavern bouncer. For years, she worked alongside Quincy Randall, Tempestro Starr, Jarek, Lenore -- and even crotchety Pritchard.

Everything changes, given enough time, and so was the case for Ariane. Over the years, she developed close friendships with her fellow bouncers, even taking Quincy for her beloved sister, regardless that there was no blood shared between them. At the capable hands of Johan Vornheim, she began the slow process of learning to read what passes for Amasynia's common tongue -- for such things were not taught to girl-children, in Northern Dauntless. Starr taught her some mercy for magic-users, as did the channeler Coran D'zir, with whom she entered into a very odd bargain. In the company of these friends, she even journeyed to Kanpar Village, there to battle monstrous Zayken.

For the first time in many years, Ariane new contentment -- which in turn bred ambition. Almost inevitably, that ambition led her to seek employment of a more particular sort: as personal guard to select members of Myrkentown's own Judiciary Council.

The Council

What had seemed like a straightforward sort of employment (particularly when compared to the outlandish horror that regularly plagued the Broken Dagger) swiftly became something else altogether. It was to then-Governor Gad Phuri that she first presented herself as a guard -- and who became her first tutor in the dangers of politics, scandal and greed. She travelled by his side from coastal Westenford (there to confront corrupt Aloisius Treadwell) to the furtive pit-fights of Myrkentown itself; braved the lechery of obscene Avarante and the Order of Straka, which remained a persistent threat to her ward up to the time of his violent death.

Following that death, and after some small time of mourning (for over the years, she'd developed a grudging fondness for cunning Gad)), she entered into the service of Treadwell, the very man she'd once terrorised at Gad's behest, and eventually moved on to serve as personal guard for Governor Altias Bromn.

This service led her to horror and mutilation at the hands of drow Audmathus, obsessive persecution by mad Thadius Dhrin, torture courtesy of the Order of the All, and is generally considered to have been a bad idea. Why she continues as Bromn's guard remains a mystery.

The Present

Her most recent expedition took Ariane far from Myrken Wood, travelling with a hooded figure to Thessilane's trouble-stricken Orvere to seek vengeance for the assassination of Duke Burel, and to put an end to the wild ambitions of the wicked channeler Jorn. On their arrival there, it was revealed that the Duke indeed lived; she was able to aid Coran D'zir, Kerrak al'Nerun, Aeryn and several others in the retaking of the city.

Following their return to Myrken Wood, she took on her very first fencing student: Agnieszka Kaczmarek, in whom Ariane sees the girl she might have been -- were she not of Dauntless origins.

It was at this point that conflict with Dhrin and the Order began for true. Ariane now wears scars of their inflicting upon her back, and upon the death of her ward, Governor Bromn, she has commenced a systematic slaughter of the Order's members. Several of those slain thus far were members she'd encountered at a meeting of the Order which she was once forced to attend; the names of several others were supplied to her by Suede Roschen and the drow Jirai, in exchange for a significant quantity of coin. It is speculated by some -- and quietly -- that the murder of both the Governor, and Ariane's sister Quincy, might have driven her to madness.

HEY KIDS!

So you've seen Ariane Carnath-Emory at work murdering, angsting, and eating apples, and YOU want to be like your favorite Myrkenwood unsophisticated, unintelligible killer-woman-girl? It's easier than you think - but it doesn't involve swords!

It's a little known fact that Ariane Carnath-Emory derives her butchered Common tongue (and yet ridiculously long paragraphs of intense introspection) not from hours of godless training, but from practicing MAD LIBS. So, obviously the best way to emulate her life is to emulate her training!

AN EXAMPLE.

The Original:

"The scent of cold snow, shot through with that thin, piercing note of pine -- oh, she is in every way at a disadvantage here, for even the environment is set against her; she has never trod this ground before, and still it is heavy with *memory*. The mind half-expects the shadow of black dogs and pallid spectres; the eyes almost *wish* for blood upon the snow, for the sight would be a relief, an end to the very quiet dread -- but of course, none of these things are so. This is simply the mage's home, and this is simply an hour set aside for exercise, and this is simply -- a wager with a magicker, which is to say that nothing's simple about this any longer."

The Template:

"The scent of cold NOUN, shot through with that thin, ADJECTIVE NOUN of NOUN -- oh, she is in every way at a disadvantage here, for even the NOUN is set against her; she has never PRESENT-PERFECT VERB this ground before, and still it is ADJECTIVE with *NOUN*. The mind half-PRESENT-SIMPLE VERB the shadow of black PLURAL NOUN and pallid PLURAL NOUN; the eyes almost *PRESENT-SIMPLE VERB* for blood upon the NOUN, for the sight would be a relief, an end to the ADVERB ADJECTIVE dread -- but of course, none of these things are so. This is simply the NOUN's home, and this is simply an hour set aside for NOUN, and this is simply -- a wager with a NOUN, which is to PRESENT-SIMPLE VERB that nothing's ADJECTIVE about PRONOUN OR NOUN any longer."

its pretty lol, seriously:

(Courtesy of Awry): "The scent of cold butts, shot through with that thin, undulating wall of octopi -- oh, she is in every way at a disadvantage here, for even the half-hearted harlot is set against her; she has never dingled this ground before, and still it is fat with *ardor*. The mind half-vomits the shadow of black saliva and pallid giraffes; the eyes almost *bulge* for blood upon the Sam Fisher, for the sight would be a relief, an end to the distinguishedly gentlemanly dread -- but of course, none of these things are so. This is simply the goth's home, and this is simply an hour set aside for emo, and this is simply -- a wager with a Hot Topic cashier, which is to whine that nothing's sharkish about lemon juice any longer."

OR

(Courtesy of Crapfestival): "The scent of cold sucrose, shot through with that thin, slimy butter of scotch -- oh, she is in every way at a disadvantage here, for even the yam is set against her; she has never dripped this ground before, and still it is gruesome with *pineapples*. The mind half-meanders the shadow of black carpets and pallid airplanes; the eyes almost *skulk* for blood upon the miasma, for the sight would be a relief, an end to the dangerously lecherous dread -- but of course, none of these things are so. This is simply the monocle's home, and this is simply an hour set aside for cane, and this is simply -- a wager with a top hat, which is to lumber that nothing's painted about bullocks any longer."

Go ahead and give it a try! And remember - pouring quicksilver/mercury on yourself does NOT mean you'll gain biotic plate-mail that you can summon out of your pores, even if Ariane Carnath-Emory uses those words to describe it!