When Aroden failed to fulfill his prophecy and Cheliax fell into chaos Kintargo managed to keep to itself and as a result it was left mostly unscathed by the surrounding mayhem.
Of course, this was not because of the caprices of fate but rather merit of a group of heroes called the Silver Ravens. When the civil war abated and the diabolists of House Thrune emerged victorious the Silver Ravens slipped into anonimity, but kept fighting from the shadows in order to mantain their beloved city as free as possible from the corrupting influence of Thrune and its infernal allies. For the most part they suceeded. The long years after the ascension of House Thrune were remarkably kind to Kintargo art, commerce and new ideas fluorished in the city while the rest of the country was gradually bent to totalitarism in no small part due to the influence and actions of the Silver Ravens. And among them a place of honor was held by the Dellana family, immigrants from Varisia who had settled in Kintargo several centuries prior the chelexian civil war, who had established themselves as merchants and traders of exotic varisian products.
The Dellana's contribution to Kintargo integrity were manifold: they supplied money, provisions, safe houses and personnel to the Silver Ravens. And more importantly the leadership of the Dellana's also provided the resistance with supernatural aid, in the form of the occult gifts the female line of the family possessed in abundance, for in distant Varisia they had mastered the secrets of the mind and could easily impose their will upon lesser minds.
Marlina Dellana is the only daughter of lady Rowenna Dellana, the current head of the family and prominent member of the Silver Ravens.
Marlina's youth was happy and peaceful thanks to her loving parents and the affluence granted by their family thriving business. Marlina grew up as an independent young woman, capable to make her own decisions, for Marlina strived to be as her mother, whom she idolized, especially since she learned about her role and exploits as one of the Silver Ravens (as it was a sort of open secret among her parents after all). As she grew up Marlina fantasized about joining the Silver Ravens herself, and maybe even break the hold of House Thrune over Kintargo. She wanted to impress her mother and the world, and started to eagerly study the story of the rebellion and the known exploits of the Silver Ravens. She was expecting to be introduced into the secret organization soon, but her hopes were dashed when another kind of gift was given to her: when she turned 17 her latent mental powers awakened and her mother had her sent to Varisia, as she had done before her, in order to learn how to control her psychic prowess among the ancestral Dellana clan.
While far from happy about this development Marlina ahd little choice but to obey her mother orders, although she managed to obtain the promise that once back, she would be introduced to the Silver Ravens as a recruit. The next few years passed quickly and Marlina learned how to confound others with a stare, weaken their resolve or empower friends in need of help. She also learned about the particular brand of magic praticed by her family since time immemorial.
Marlina was still being trained when disaster struck: news from home spoke of a new Thrune agent taking power in Kintargo and rapidly crushing all those who opposed his tyrannical rule. And worse still among those who fell there were Marlina's parents, who disappeared the night the family's estate was seized by Thrune's servants.
As soon as she realized what was had happened Marlina knew she had to get back to Kintargo and the members of her clan, despite being worried about her lack of knowledge, agreed to let her go back in the hope she could help save her family. So Marlina jumped on the first avaiable ship headed to Kintargo disguised as the Varisian Fortuneteller, Madame Varona, ready to do whatever she had to in order get her family back and defeat the opressors from Thrune
