Growing up in Sirothelle was some of the best years of her life for Rupayo. Her mother and father were part of the army. Beginning Rupayo's life she was subjected to a host of brainwashing and mental torture, finding herself in her teen years proud of being one of Faldrun's children. Due to her upbringing, Rupayo had a certain amount of status among her peers, some fearing the nasty little girl who would lash out at her peers and bully them. This would have her reprimanded every time for being too emotional and causing other's distress. Her mother and father were alchemists, using their powers to create weapons and protections for the army. That was all Rupayo knew growing up and was proud of that fact not needing to know more, just blindly accepting that they were serving Faldrun to the best of their ability. When she was small she would dream of being marked by her god to bring the purifying fires to the rest of Idalos.
On the day marking her 18th year she was the first to stand up and preform her dance as Barer of Flames for Aukarian Occult. For three years afterwards she would spend most of her time glass blowing, her profession, and doing daily rituals with the rest of the Aukarian Occult. The day of the festivities of the Dance of Flame and Ember happens to fall on her birthday, there was no prouder moment for her at this point in her life. Each year she was sure she would one day be smiled upon by Faldrun and wore her Mark of Flames with pride. During her time glassblowing she was best at creating glass plates and cups with presses, taking time to make each piece a unique work of art. This was what she did for a hobby as well as a job, spending all of her time in the forges when she wasn't praying or completing her tasks for the Aukari Occult. But unfortunately, all things in life must change. On her 21st birthday her parents came to her, baring horrible news.
Something had happened at work, things were getting serious within the ranks and higher ups were beginning to assassinate each other, they explained one night. They had been planning for some Cycles to flee Sirothelle, feeling the guillotine weighing over their head from their subordinates. It was impossible for them to desert their post as some of the lead alchemists, so if they wanted to survive they would need to get far away from here. This is where Rupayo made the worst decision of her life.
Waiting for her chance she slipped away a few trials after their confession and went to the Aukarian Occult to tell them that her parents were planning on deserting. They took her very seriously and to her surprise called the guard who slapped her in irons. Forcing her to take them to her home, when they arrived her family was gone, leaving nothing behind but a disaster. It would seem they knew their daughter was a traitor to them and fled the moment she left. A long search ensued for her parents but they weren't found. The guard assumed somehow, stupidly, that she had been a part of their desertion by not coming clean the moment she knew and sentenced her to prison for ten arcs.
She was subjected to torture for three cycles, from the prison guards, from the other prisoners, from her own constant mental breakdowns. If you ever find yourself in Sirothelle prison, reader, you will certainly not come out the same. Luckily for her while she was there a newly hired prison guard took pity on her and even helped her escape. Together they fled from the hellpit of Sirothelle and took refuge in Rharne for some time.
~~~
Her fiance, as he came to be, was a sweet, broken man. Utterly a nervous wreck the man had been through too much during his time in their homeland and was partially insane. Although he did his best to take care of their needs she would more often than not shoulder the burden of their livelihood. One morning she awoke and he was gone, she knew he wasn't coming back. Of course he never did.
From here she fled to Viden, a place of knowledge and learning so she had heard, and from her 24th year on that is where she has stayed. She has a home in this most cold of cities and works plying her glassblowing trade under the name of Saej. It took many years to become even a semblance of wealthy but through her hard work that's where she is today.
Saej is a fabricated person. According to Rupayo, Saej has been born and raised in Viden. She was a human orphan who was never adopted so aged out of the system. It took great pains and most of her coin she had at the time to assume the paperwork's she needed for this alias to be water tight, as False Identification is a high offense in this city, but she does have them. For all legal purposes she is a Viden citizen named Saej. The dreadlocks were adopted as a disguise and she despises them, hating the wildness of her hair.
Working her way up to becoming a glassblower wasn't easy for the woman and involved a lot of heartbreak, it can be said that she did her best as she always does and eventually won the heart of her master, the Eidisi woman Atheapia, who took her under her wing as an apprentice due to Rupayo's proud and stoic nature. Even still, Rupayo is still considered an unskilled labourer.
The last thing that should be said is that Rupayo hates living in the isolation of Viden. She hates the people, she hates the culture, hates the weather, but knows that she is safest here than any other place so long as she would keep her "cool". As the years continue on her homesickness grates on her and she is formulating a plan to get back at the Aukarian Occult-- if only she could have her moment of reckoning. In due time. In due time....
