Arietta

Where the roiling lava of the Great Furnace spills down the mighty stratovolcano's slopes in a violent cascade, and flows over the gap of tumultuous land by the shore of the Sea of a Thousand Currents, there are dotted several small draconic kingdoms. While on paper all of these small clan-states swear fealty to their patron the Flamecaller, in truth they spend as much time, if not moreso, quarreling with each other as they do participating in their element's perpetual quest for dominance over its neighbors. Perhaps the closeness to a foreign territory sets them on edge; and perhaps their close proximity to their most dangerous external enemies, the servants of the Tidelord, makes them hesitant to turn their nervous energies outwards, and drives them to internal strife.

Whatever the reason, it is a fact of northern Ashfall life that these clan-kingdoms will war against each other as the seasons turn in almost a microcosm of the greater battles for dominance across Sornieth. Despite their supposed greater allegiance, these wars are quite brutal. Not so many years ago, the crown scion of the Basanite kingdom, a hotheaded warrior named Lapillus, was felled by the soldiers of Vitrophyre in a disagreement over clan borders. Both kingdoms were already weakened by the ferocious hurricane that pounded the Sea during the first surge of the elements. To avoid an all-out war that would surely accomplish nothing but wreak further destruction upon them both, the Vitrophyre rulers begged the monarchs of Basanite to allow them to seek a peaceful solution.

The Basanite king and queen decided that to avoid war, the Vitrophyre royals' weregild must be suffering in kind: An heir for an heir.

The ruling family of Vitrophyre, the Cantera dynasty, was horrified, but they knew it was necessary to protect their kingdom from the ravages of a war of revenge. To save their people, they had to lose their crown princess, Ankara Cantera. But they had realized they did not need to surrender Ankara's life to fulfill the conditions of peace; they simply had to lose their heir. Ankara renounced her title and birthright, was disowned from the Cantera dynasty, and went stoically into exile under the grim eyes of Basanite knights, never to return. As she flew away, alone, from her family and all she held dear, beneath her regal mien Ankara thought she would surely succumb to despair. But she was not to be alone; her dear friend Vesuvia followed after her, and refused to turn back, in spite of not being banished herself. That long day they watched the shores of the Flamecaller's domain sink beneath the sea's horizon, together.

Ankara found it difficult to adjust to her new life on the road, even with Vesuvia's assistance. She had always striven to be a princess who understood her people rather than one who abused the privileges of her position or lorded over her subjects, but nonetheless, she was accustomed to as cushy a lifestyle as her home region could provide. To be certain, she had the finest education her small kingdom could give her, but little of it was useful to a vagabond. She knew all about the history and economics and politics and customs of the northern Ashfall Waste, and enough of that of her Water neighbors, but what good was that to her now that she was no longer a princess-to-be?

But, amongst her many lessons, Ankara had been educated in music, and was quite talented. She discovered that her voice and skills with the lyre were pleasing enough to earn her a little money, and quickly began practicing non-stop to perfect her craft so that she could support herself and also repay Vesuvia for her loyalty and kindness. To more strongly cement herself in her new life, she took on a new name, Arietta. As they went north word of her beautiful music diffused through the clans they traveled through, and people began calling her Arietta Cantabile- a name comfortingly similar to her old one, if bittersweet when she spoke it aloud. To Vesuvia, her dearest friend whom she grew ever closer to, she would always be Ankara.

In time she and Vesuvia passed into Dragonhome, and they found they were tired of wandering and living on the road. Arietta was far enough from Vitrophyre by now that she could not easily return to it if homesickness tempted her to break her banishment, and there was no extra punishment ascribed to her in the Basanite kingdom's conditions of peace. Surely, she had earned a little rest after giving up her old life for her people, and Vesuvia deserved as much as Arietta could give her.

By a stroke of fortune Arietta and Vesuvia joined up with a small pod of Snappers as they walked the roads of Dragonhome, and they were not the only travelers in the nomads' company. A few dragons of the Diabase Demesne were among them, enjoying time with their neighbors as they meandered their way home from a long journey. They enjoyed Arietta's music, and told her and Vesuvia of their home clan. The Fire duo resolved to see the clan for themselves while they were in the northern realm.

They liked what they saw, and Arietta's desire to find a place to call home again gave her the courage to approach Pele about joining her clan, as did Vesuvia not long after. Presently, Arietta is settled in comfortably as one of the clan's resident musicians, performing for visitors in the lair's plaza and enhancing the celebrations of the elemental festivals. She still suffers from pangs of lonely sorrow, but Vesuvia has assured her that she will always be by Arietta's side- Vesuvia may not be able to give her mental treatment in any professional capacity, after they swore vows to one another in the Sanctuary of Stone before the Eleven, but Arietta will never be alone.


Lyrics come from the Bastille song "Things We Lost In The Fire"