Fiora_Arietta

7. BIO

Born to a sorceress and an alchemist cum inventor, Fiora should have inherited her mother's magic. But when her first months passed without so much as a conjured spark – even despite her parents trying desperately to coax out their daughter's powers – it soon became clear that she had none to summon.

The disappointment proved too much for her mother. She disappeared, leaving her child only memories: a soft voice whispering bedtime stories, fairy tales projected by magic like auroras onto the ceiling. But her father stayed, vowing to give his recessive child love enough for two – and in his workshop, little Fiora found magic of a different sort.

She took after him, sequestering herself inside and churning out gadgets and gizmos as if possessed. Although not a magician, Fiora proved skilled at working with magical elements: her most remarkable invention was a staff fusing science and sorcery, capable of letting even those without powers fire unstable bursts of magic (when it worked). She probably would have done well to get out more: with little more than magic and machines for company, the young Fiora developed an eccentric personality prone to exaggerated affectations and grandiose delusions. For example, she claimed to be afflicted with an "evil limb," although it only ever seemed to affect her when there were snacks near to grab.

That "evil limb" never seemed to slow her work: her feverish pace continued, until the workshop she called her home would do no longer and only a Guild laboratory would suffice. She could have stayed with her father: she was happy with him, and more than talented enough to carry on the family business. But Fiora wanted desperately to apply her talents to something more than making household gadgets. Her father often said that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" – and if she could bridge the gap, then maybe, just maybe, she could heal the family her existence tore apart...