A suzme dancer who values freedom above all else. Money, success, popularity, or power... all paths to the same goal of being free to live as she wishes. While looking for exactly that, she found herself caught up with the group of adventurers who founded the
Order of the Seeking Fox. When the original group split up, she recruited new members and renamed the group the Order of the Second Fox.
Personal History
Early Years
Aria was born and raised in the
Low Court of
Zonyashi. Her father worked in construction while her mother took care of the house and made money with odd jobs like cleaning laundry and repairing clothing. Like all suzume, Aria grew and matured at half the rate of humans. Even though she was alive for eight years before her brother was born, and twelve years before her sister was born, Aria was essentially still a very young child herself. She was not fond of her family's meager style of living, and resented her parents a little for not trying harder to elevate themselves.
As a child she was made to share in the work necessary to take care of the house and her younger siblings. When she had time, Aria liked to wander the city. When she was eighteen she tried to visit the
High Court but was turned away at the gates for the way she dressed. She tried again day after day, but the result was always the same.
One day while her mother was busy doing laundry for wealthier families, Aria stole clothing, dressed herself nicely, and used her yokai form to turn into a bird. After flying to the other side of the city, she changed back and began to wander the streets of the High Court for the first time. She was surprised to see that the families here didn't spend all day working. Especially not the children. They hung out in groups and played games in the streets. Aria was naturally graceful and outgoing, despite the environment in which she was raised, and found it easy to join in with these groups of kids.
Returning to the High Court to play with the kids there became a regular activity for Aria. She fit in perfectly with them, and even conversed naturally with their parents from time to time. Everyone thought she was the daughter of some wealthy family that lived nearby, but no one was sure whose family exactly.
Aria became especially close with a boy named
Bokkai and his friends. They were around the age of seven at the time, and looked up to Aria as being a cool older kid that hung out with them. Bokkai even gave her a gift, a necklace that was more valuable than anything Aria or her family owned. When she showed it to her parents later that evening they made her sell it for enough money to feed the family for a few weeks. Aria was bitter that they had taken her gift from her and stopped doing work for her family after that. She insisted that the money they made from selling what was rightfully hers was enough payment.
Over the years Aria spent more and more time playing with Bokkai and his friends. Occasionally she received gifts or hand me downs from the group, and she passed those on to her family to sell so that they wouldn't make her work. Owing to the nature of how Suzume aged, things slowly began to change between her and the group. By the time they were 15, Aria was no longer the cool older kid who hung out with them. She was more like the annoying younger kid who kept trying to tag along with them. They began leaving her behind more and more often, and eventually stopped playing with her entirely.
Around this time Bokkai's father,
Basho Stormward, learned the truth about Aria's family. He approached her and explained that there was a way she could really learn to fit in here in the High Court. He offered to sponsor her training at the
Ivory Hall so that she could become a professional performer and proper member of high society. In exchange she would have to pay him back double the money after she graduated. It was an offer she accepted easily. She was eager for anything that saved her from going back to work with her family and also confident that earning the money would not be difficult.
With Basho as a patron, Aria finally moved out of her parent's house and moved into the Ivory Hall in the High Court. Aria was 26 years old by then, but looked and behaved like the other students around the age of 13. Although many of them had grown up playing games and being pampered, Aria already had years of practice acting and performing like something she was not. Compared to the others, she excelled at most things and quickly caught the attention of
Shiusan, the head dance instructor. Shiusan took on Aria as a personal project and dedicated a lot of one on one time to her.
For two years, things went very well for Aria. She was the most popular up and coming student at the school. She never saw Bokkai or his friends again, but she made new friends at the school.
Ballad was a tiefling who enjoyed playing instruments and singing songs. He didn't take things as seriously as Aria though, and was never quite on her level.
Chirrup was a Suzume around Aria's age who enjoyed storytelling more than anything else. Aria thought he was sort of cute, but not entirely her type. There was also a new student, who started years after Aria, named
Chiyako. Chiyako loved dancing, so Aria helped her get started and introduced her to other friends at the school.
The following year, things changed dramatically. Students had always joined the school because being associated with the
Ivory Banner was an easy popularity boost.
Himeko Soulsinger was the first student recruited by the school to boost its own popularity. Himeko was only 11 at the time, but already had droves of fans who loved to watch her singing and dancing. She quickly became Shiusan's new favorite. Aria's one on one training dwindled and eventually disappeared entirely. For years Aria had been told that she would be the face of the school one day, but all at once that seemed to disappear.
Aria's confidence began to suffer. Fears of not living up to her expecations started to get in the way of her practices and performances. Her goal of making enough money to follow her dreams seemed like it was getting farther and father away. What if she couldn't repay Basho? What if she had to return to working with her family? Nightmares of becoming a caged bird again haunted her night after night.
Before finishing her classes, before she ever had the chance to fail, she decided to flee instead. She left Zonyashi behind and tried to find a place where she could still excel. Maybe some place that didn't know about the Ivory Banner or Himeko Soulsinger.
Order of the Seeking Fox
After arriving in
Iron Home, Aria met up with
Naoki,
Emiri,
Xiao, and
Sal. She helped them explore the recently attacked
Okane Manor and eventually joined them in the new
Order of the Seeking Fox.
Together the group traveled to other cities throughout
Southern Province and eventually to
House Pannoowau. They met up with new group members, like
Leilu and
Eisuke. They also collected all of the pieces of the
Gauntlet of the Arcane Key and defeated two different groups of people who wanted to use it to destroy
Nanganato. Finally, the group helped to destroy the gauntlet once and for all.
Afterwards, each of the remaining group members found themselves pulled in different directions by their personal obligations. Only Naoki and Aria returned to Iron Home, but Naoki had no desire to continue the life of an adventurer.
Order of the Second Fox
Aria had come to see that adventuring was a good way to accumlate strength, popularity, and money. All of these things had become important to her goal of living a life of freedom. Okane Manor had become her home, although it was only being rented by
The Cord for use by the adventuring party. In order to keep things going, Aria needed to recruit new adventurers to fill the roles of her friends that were leaving.
Her first recruits were
Kome and
Toru. Both were experienced fighters who had been saved by the Order of the Seeking Fox in the past. Toru and Kome had been targeted by the powerful head of the
Gold Guild in their home city
Ahonato. The Order of the Seeking Fox had convinced them to relocate, along with Kome's family, to Iron Home. Since they were looking for work anyway, convincing them to join the group was not difficult.
Aria's next recruit was
Yusa. She had been a cleric of
Rhealm working at the
Temple of the Forge in town. In the past Yusa had been convinced to join the temple by
Nuan Diushi. After the Order of the Seeking Fox uncovered Nuan as a spy and a member of the
Black Hand, Yusa was ready for a change.
To reflect the substantial changes of the group, they decided to rename themselves the Order of the Second Fox. The group completed missions around Iron Home, in areas like
Mythea's Glade. It was there that they met up with
Falcon, a young druid who had met the Order of the Seeking Fox years earlier. Falcon was looking for adventure and the opportunity to travel, so he became the final member of the Second Fox.
In addition to helping the group complete missions, Aria also focused on the financial success of the group. The Second Fox retained the employees that had been working for the Seeking Fox, including
Volmen Emberfleet who took care of the manor, and
Aiyalae Nightbloom who crafted and sold magic items out of the manor. With Aiyalae's abilities and Aria's dedication, the shop became reasonably successful. Not many residents of Iron Home were able to afford expensive items, but merchants and traders began to visit the town from time to time specifically for Aiyalae's creations.
One day
Aiko Amaya arrived at Okane Manor with an opportunity for Aria. She knew a wealthy student at the
Academy of the Arcane named
Shoraku. He was studying the creation of constructs made of earth and stone, and was considering a trip away from the city for a few moons. He wanted to find a place that was remote enough for him to practice without disrupting anyone around. According to Aiko, he was also a pampered rich kid who needed to be somewhere reasonably safe and looked after. She had offered him a room in Okane Manor and told him that the mines of Iron Home would be perfect for him. She even promised that the Second Fox would look after him and take care of his needs for a price. Shoraku was interested, but insisted on meeting a member of the Second Fox before making the trip for himself. Aria agreed that this was a great opportunity for easy pay, and decided to return to Nanganato with Aiko to meet the student. She knew the rest of the Second Fox would be able to take care of things while she was gone.
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