Tavi

What rotten luck... Not that she had any say in the matter. She couldn't help who her parents were any more than anyone else could. Still, where she was born, being born as she was was very nearly a death sentence.

Octavia was born sixteen years ago, in a small village in the middle of nowhere. Her father was a soldier, a member of the recently beaten royal army, and her mother was a pretty peasant girl who caught his eye. She hid him from the invading army, to the best of her ability, as their nation was absorbed. The invading nation didn't have much interest in the army they beat, so they didn't look very hard. They simply changed the laws slightly, put someone from their nation in charge, and moved on. Octavia's father, too, moved on, about five months after things had died down, and he went home. It was just a little bit too late, though.

Octavia was born nine months later. She was born at night, while there was a storm outside, with only the midwife and her mother present. She came out, and... well, it was clear that something was amiss. After all, no normal infant has pale blue-gray skin(mostly blue). No normal infant has tiny horns on her head. And no infant has hooves, and legs that don't bend the right way.

The midwife was about to kill the child when Octavia's mother spoke up. She, unlike the others of the village, was... perhaps less prejudiced, perhaps simply thrilled to have a child at all. Regardless, she kept her daughter alive, and as safe as she could, through thick and thin.

Fortunately for Octavia, nothing went seriously bad during the twelve years she lived in that village. Her biggest problem was a lack of friends, and an abundance of petty enemies. She was bullied fairly often, but mostly endured it, without striking back. She kept herself to herself, and out of sight, keeping to the woods when she could. No one in the village hunted, and only a few foraged, leaving her relatively untouched here. There were always rumors of fae in the woods, which may have also had something to do with that, but she was never accosted by them... it may be that she met some, but she's never said.

Still, even so, her prospects were fairly grim. She'd never marry, never get any sort of education beyond the things her mother knew, never have any chance at life... until, when she was twelve, and her life changed.

There had been an increasing number of travelers heading into the country that had invaded and absorbed Octavia's homeland. Well, into the old boundaries at any rate. Many were soldiers. Some were mercenaries. But a surprising number of the travelers were people of a distinctly different sort... people with their saddlebags full of books, and other oddities, some of whom had carts full of their belongings. People who all seemed a bit... strange.

Mages. Wizards. Sorcerers. People who WERE different, and not in a way that had them actively shunned, for the most part. People who COULD go out into the world and not be burned as a demon. And as luck would have it, Tavi caught the eye of one of the mages as she passed through.

The mage who would become her teacher saw the girl, briefly, as Tavi fled out of sight. She saw her, and she knew what she was, unlike the people of the town. So, she decided to approach Octavia's mother with a proposition: Let her take Octavia to the Ars Arcanum University, as an apprentice. Let her take Octavia as an apprentice. Let her take over all the troubles the child would bring with her, and in turn, she would see to it that the simple peasant would never want again.

Octavia's mother almost refused... but Tavi stepped out of concealment. She insisted that her mother take the deal, as it would be the best she could ever get. And, grudgingly, the poor peasant woman agreed. Octavia left town that night with the magess who had spotted her, nervous, fidgety, and almost sick to her stomach with excitement. She knew her life was going to change forever.

That was four years ago. Now, Octavia is not the simple peasant with the misfortune to be born a tiefling, but instead she's an apprentice to an archmage. She's learned to read, write, add, subtract, multiply, and divide. She's learned to make potions, and cast minor cantrips. It's a pity she's not learned how to stop being timid, but her Master is sure that that will come in time... Still, her Master thinks she shows promise as a spellcaster and as a decent, outgoing individual. Sixteen years of being different and a social outcast have taken their toll, but she should make a full recovery.

As far as her spells, she's got some promise, but not too much experience. So far, her Master hasn't trusted her with many significant spells. She knows a few minor restorative spells, and a few lesser protective spells, mostly of a practical nature. Defense against acids is one she gets plenty of use out of, in lieu of protective equipment for her alchemy lessons. She can also start small fires, and put them out, and purify water. Small spells, but they're what her master thought would help her better learn the type of control she'd need to do serious magic. Too bad they won't protect her from anyone around here...

As for how she got here, or IF she got here, that can vary from RP to RP. Ask! Run ideas by me! I'm friendly enough.