"I'll be a story in your head. But that's okay. We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know. It was the best." -Ariane
Identity[]
Race: Human
Class: Wizard
Affiliation: Tower of Bracada, Cult of the Black Hand
History[]
Third Era[]
The daughter of the archmage Syrreth, Ariane never knew her mother. Her earliest memories are of the Tower of Bracada, and of her father reading to her at night. Ariane was always an exceedingly bright young woman, strong and independent from her earliest days. She took quickly to her studies, and taught herself to read in only a year. Syrreth was always very proud of Ariane, but her curiosity often drew her to the high windows, and her attention to the distant lands beyond the mountains.
In time, Syrreth taught Ariane the art of scrying, that she may look upon the distant lands and faraway kingdoms. Ariane saw a great deal but always she wanted to see more. And to her great frustration, she could not scry within the Tower of Bracada, for Syrreth had warded every wall. Ariane took to wandering the halls on her own, finding many curious things. She found brooms that swept on their own, and towels that drifted through the air to wipe clean the dishes. And when she was seven years old, she found a boy.
This boy was named Finn, and Ariane took an immediate liking to him. Finn was also studying magic under Syrreth, and like Ariane, he had taught himself to read. They spent the next ten years growing closer to each other, becoming inseparable best friends. When they were seventeen, they became more than that. On a dark and stormy night, they shared their first kiss. When Ariane awoke the next morning, Finn was gone.
When Ariane asked Syrreth what had become of Finn, her father told her that Finn had departed the night before. Though heartbroken at first, Ariane scryed Finn to learn of where he had gone, and instead found him working tirelessly to return. Recognizing Syrreth's betrayal, Ariane began her own preparations. When Finn returned to the Tower of Bracada, Ariane would be ready.
But Finn did not return. Years passed Ariane by, as she smiled at her father, and screamed into the night. Ariane's anger settled into a depth of bitterness, of hatred, that twisted her into someone Finn would not recognize. It did not take long for Ariane to plot her act of vengeance, treachery to reward treachery, a betrayal to punish a betrayal. Three years after Finn's departure, Ariane drew upon the teachings of her new mentor, and she destroyed her father's already broken mind.
Though the empty shell of the man continued to make appearances and see to the day-to-day business of ruling Bracada, Ariane had become the true Archmage of the Tower of Bracada, and though it was her father's voice, the words were hers. She quickly learned of a secret cabal her father had belonged to, and though she took his place as 'Archmage Syrreth,' the other members never learned of Ariane's deception.
Curse of the Black Hand[]
Intending to take a bargaining chip for use against Finn, Alok Dilon Diil kidnapped and imprisoned Ariane deep beneath Bracada. She was rescued by Morath after her father's demise at the hands of Shadow Company. Reuniting with Finn, Ariane went on to advise Callifax, the leader of the mage revolution that leveled Bracada. None knew of her involvement in the cult of the Black Hand.