Ariana Sibylla's page

It wouldn't be accurate to say that Ariana doesn't get along with the clergy in Korvosa. While Ariana certainly isn't the kind of person to devote their life to a church or god, preferring instead to look to reason and knowledge to find hope, getting to know Paige Ward was an eye opening experience for her.

It's easy to categorize the world into a seemingly endless series of dichotomies. This is, of course, not how things actually are and it has always delighted Ariana to be shown where her thinking was flawed. To her, the church represented a suppression of knowledge in the pursuit of divine favor but Paige Ward was a 'bridge' between the dichotomy of the faithful and the rational. Her desire to read, know, and help others in the name of Sarenrae presented an interesting thinking point for Ariana. How was that any different than Ariana's ceaseless reverence for the natural world?

Ariana had a hard time telling if Paige was annoyed by the amount Ariana talked to her. Imparting knowledge was one of Ariana's favorite things to do and she found someone who could teach her a thing or two in return.

Paige's upbringing, when she was comfortable opening up about it, was surprising to Ariana. Paige seemed so light hearted and positive, a trait the two women shared, but in the face of significantly more adversity than her own. Ariana didn't know what it was like to have parents who didn't care for her and Ariana's parents are still out there somewhere as well but she looks forward to their return while Paige would have good reason to be anxious about the return of her father. This garnered great respect for Paige in Ariana's eyes. Could this Lamm character have been responsible for Ariana's framing that got her dreams stripped from her? Regardless, she was committed to helping Paige right his wrongs.

When discussing Paige's atonement, Ariana placed blame for what she did squarely on Lamm's shoulders and, as little as it might mean to Paige and Sarenrae, she never even needed atonement in Ariana's eyes.

She would probably lie and say she's a freelance craftswoman if asked but, if Colt and Ariana became closer, she would probably open up and say that she does some work for the thieves guild but would assure him that she has no interest in crime. She just wants the resources to make something out of her life and ultimately help people.

She would also be jealous of Colt's ability to "play it by ear". She's too much of a perfectionist to be good at that.

Since then, I can see Darius and Ariana becoming almost like professional acquaintances, the primary thing keeping their friendship from progressing being the nature of Ariana's work.

Being forced to travel together, Ariana quickly learned that Alistair's greatest pains are an experience foreign to any she's experienced. Ariana is an only child. Hearing Alistair talk about living like he's 4th in line for his estate seemed in a way like he believed he was 4th in line for everything when it came to his family. This aspect of Alistair's life triggered Ariana's curiosity and prompted her to learn more about Alistair.

When Alistair finally opened up about his twin sister's death, Ariana tried to help Alistair rationalize his feelings about her death but was understanding when he wasn't receptive to that approach. Alicia's disposition for helping people and general altruism has been inspiring to Ariana as well. Ariana and Alistair also have since shared a common hatred for Lamm.

While still not seeing eye-to-eye about most things, Ariana has a new found respect for what Alistair has gone through and the newfound drive he has for helping others.

It could be said that Atticus Montague deGray is Ariana's antithesis and that was exactly what her first impression of him entailed. She had met plenty of archetypically knightly people before and they were all the same; they all swore to an oath, they all plan their lives by their order or their god, and they all miss what's important in life, choosing to blind themselves to the beauty of the world in favor of a sense of superiority and misguided righteousness.

That is, all of them except Atticus Montague deGray. A fellow philosopher, Ariana and Atticus had an endless pool of topics to discuss and Atticus was far more articulate than her typical interlocutor. While they generally disagree on the details and the arguments leading to their conclusions, they agreed on the most important aspects of Ariana's view of the world; the world is beautiful place and deserves our respect and adoration and people should do all that they can to help one another and better themselves along the way. Atticus was simply more disciplined and looked at the world more with his soul than with his eyes and she respected his desire to see more.

Despite their vast differences in base philosophies, Ariana warmed up to Atticus deGray quickly and has learned to look at the world with a little more heart. She also jumps at the chance to help Atticus learn the answers to mysteries nature has presented that she's been able to solve. If Ariana was the rational mind looking at and respecting nature and magic, Atticus was the passionate heart.

It would be like applying to a job and being perfectly qualified but, during the interview, telling the company that you don't give a rat's a*s [pun intended] about the company as long as you get paid and learn something along the way. Sure, you're qualified and would theoretically be an asset to the company but an actual vested interest in the company or their goals would be your selling point.

For the past while I've been really interested in making a character that approaches a fantasy world in a somewhat unorthodox way. In short; like a scientist. That would be a bit of an oversimplification, however, since alchemists are a base class and using science to achieve magic is kinda in their theme.

I wanted to play a methodological naturalist who is in full recognition of the supernatural in a world teeming with magic. Someone who philosophically approached the world, magic and all, as something that could be tested. I also wanted someone who approached ethics in a similar manner. Ethics in a fantasy world is typically dogmatic and follows codes and laws. I wanted a philosophically chaotic hero.

So you could say that my starting point was creating a chaotic good alchemist with the Student of Philosophy trait.

Since building her and creating her story, the thing that excites me most about playing her is roleplaying her utilitarianism against the codes of paladins, the rituals of druids, the tenets of monks, etc in the interest of the greater good. She has the Meticulous drawback so I foresee her presenting unusual scenarios in dialogue and often playing party Devil's Advocate just to make sure that people have thought things through.

As an aside, though, I don't plan to waste time needlessly with this aspect of her. She's an agreeable person. With an intimidate skill bonus of -4, she isn't used to being able to push people to get what she wants anyway.

Ariana is employed with the thieves guild where she has a reputation as someone who deals with information and as someone who can find things out. She's a perfectionist and, if there's a way to make something work, she'll know it. She also has a reputation as an impartial party toward the thieves guild. She works for them but is uninterested in crime or being considered a member. She would gladly become an informant for the city guard if it meant the city would see less wrongdoing and an informant within the guild could report as much back to the city guard.

Portrait

Ariana stands 5'3" and weighs about 125 lbs. She's considered somewhat attractive with dark skin, black hair, and deep blue eyes. Her elven heritage is very apparent because, despite her dark skin, she otherwise favors her elven heritage.

She dresses fairly well. Not enough to stand out unless she's in the company of the desperately poor, however. She wears dark vests, pants, and sometimes overcoats as well. She wears minimalist jewelry but it's definitely something she puts meticulously thought into.

Ariana was born 26 years ago. The daughter of an Osirion man named Khazad Sibylla and an elven woman from the heart of Kyonin itself named Lili Yinthage, she was immediately born into a situation that would have her thinking about things from a different angle than most. Her father fled Osirion for a reason that was never made very clear to Ariana aside from he was likely in hiding. Her mother was the daughter of two elven human-hating nobles who restricted her behaviors and desires enough to force her to run away and see the world.

For the next 18 years, they found what odd jobs they could to keep themselves and their daughter afloat, sometimes including simple tasks with the thieves guild. It was obvious from a young age that Ariana was very curious about the world and how everything worked. Instead of her "why" stage ending when she was was a child, her ability to ask why simply evolved into adulthood. [Meticulous] Her parents were spiritual people who revered all gods and they tried to impart that worldview on their daughter but her interest in knowledge and morality turned more philosophical as she became a teenager and her desire to know outweighed her desire to have spirituality. [Skill Focus (Knowledge (Nature))] Although they had the occasional disagreement on the subject, her parents were mostly supportive.

Ariana was pretty socially awkward as a child. Despite her outgoing and sociable nature, she had a hard time making friends. As she grew, however, she took on talking to others like any other subject she tackled. It was all a matter of how you think about it and it could come down to what works and what doesn't and that can be measured and tested. As she got older, she was able to mask her awkwardness with confidence and knowledge of social interaction [Student of Philosophy]. She has since always been pretty popular with her peers, garnering a decent number of friends and acquaintances but always being careful not to get too close to others primarily due to her half-elven heritage [Cosmopolitan, Wary]

Growing up outside the Academae in the Midlands without full ability to see the inside was hard on Ariana, she wanted so badly to be surrounded by those like her and have her own knowledge and views challenged. She had decided from a fairly young age that she'd do whatever she needed to do to attend. She finally was able to see the inside and formally apply when she was a teenager by showing that you can alchemically produce magical energy in the form of a liquid on the fly that could be imbibed by someone who is not the source of the magic safely [Infusion]. While not a completely new discovery, people did take note of the practical child who was able to make this discovery on her own without formal education.

A few months before orientation, Ariana's parents decided she was ready to be an adult and take on the city and the Academae herself. They decided to leave the city and travel as well as search for a better life elsewhere. They left her their small cottage and left with most of their supplies. With no family then, she just waited to begin Academae.

During orientation, one of Ariana's childhood friends named John Seamus murdered an older homeless man and pinned the murder on Ariana, intimidating a local fisherman into testifying as an eyewitness. Ariana's alibi of being at orientation was enough to delay trial precedings long enough for Ariana to convince the fisherman to do the right thing and retract his testimony. In immediate backlash of the fisherman's decision to retract his statement, he was killed that night. When it came to trial, the lack of witness allowed Ariana to be acquitted but by then, the Academae had reversed its decision to accept Ariana which doomed her to forever s tr and outside its walls. Determined not to let this stop her, she began studying harder than before. [Framed, Betrayed]

In need of a way to make money and most of her skills revolving around making things and knowing things, both of which being difficult career choices for someone with no hope of attending the Academae and residing in a town where worker guilds were completely banned, she turned to the one guild who has helped her family up until that point; the thieves guild. While the thieves guid was sought out for work by shadier types with different skillsets than the ones Ariana possesses, she knew they would be in the market for someone whose expertise was research and making things. It wasn't difficult for Ariana and the guild to come to an agreement. They would fund her research and projects if she will design and create things for them as well. Over time, she also became very adept and both identifying and categorizing magic items as well as learning their properties enough to use them in situations they may otherwise be unable to be used [Pragmatic Activator].

For the last few years, this is what she has been doing hoping one day to use her knowledge, resources, and connections to help the people of Korvosa and correct the imbalance that exists therein.