Born in the Iadlish town of Duilliúr as the firstborn of the noble house of Shiansach, the babe Katherine's albino nature was a shock to her relatively free-thinking parents. Well-wishers were immediately barred from the estate, and relatives all gathered in their respective groups to discuss what was to be done. Albino children were unmistakably freaks among the dark-skinned elves, and the sentiment was almost unanimous. The family, all the cousins, uncles, grandparents, and even the newly blessed parents, felt that the newest Flaith Shiansach should be immediately be 'put down' rather than let the child bring about some of the horrors that the Iadlish region held in reserve for light elves.

And that would be the end of young Katherine, save for the pity of a childless human approaching his twilight years. A longtime friend of the Tiarna of Duilliúr, he protested vocally and eloquently to the dark elf patriarch, arguing about the freedoms of the times and the barbaric act that seemed to be justified by nearly every dark elf present. And finally, after days of argument that severed nearly every lasting connection that the human had made with the dark elves, he emerged from the hunched manor of the Shiansach with the albino child tucked away in his arms, under the geas that neither would ever return

And so began the life of the young Katherine of Garland, the oddly afflicted child.

She was raised in Koben proper, in a small but stately manor that her human caretaker had acquired over his long life, and for a time lived as the daughter of the once-celebrated Ser Joshua Garland. She was a bright and inquisitive youth, and, despite her condition, adventurous, always returning covered in sunburn, no matter what clothes the aging man clad her in to disguise her patently corpse-like coloring. He took precautions keep the young girl safely inside the estate. However, despite initial misgivings at her shockingly pale features, she proved to be quite the charmer, always aiming to please Garland's visitors and servants with sweet words and overly cute gestures of affection.  

And so time passed for the odd little girl. 

Honeyed words only got her so far, she found, and as tutors came and went, spurred by the aging Garland's drive to give whatever weapons he could to his adoptive daughter, her talent in the illusionary arts came to light. 

At once, her horizons broadened and the young elvish girl was no longer the creepily pale figure who wandered around with a silver tongue, but a dark elf true and proper, her deathly pale skin and weirdly pink eyes hidden behind an array of glamours. She blossomed into a fine young woman, spreading her talents and greedily devouring more and more knowledge toward the upkeep of her illusions. With her mutation hidden, she could spread herself out and find more friends and even lovers, flaunting her power and her charm, lording her talents and, eventually, her upbringing. 

And perhaps it would have remained that way, were it not for an incident that sparked in on the cusp of her twenty-first year.

An relative of the Shiansach house, one who knew of the mar that the Tiarna of Duilliúr had been struck, came to visit the once-powerful Garland with news of a new child, a Flaith to replace the one that had been so unfortunately lost years ago. The careless and caustic remarks, meant to provoke the old man for his seeming betrayal, roused anger from the young lass and sparked a flaming row that ended rather dismally for all parties involved and took the last of the spark out of Katherine's protector and savior.  

The incident, heartrending for the old man, proved to be a final blow to his ailing vitality and Ser Joshua, last of the Garlands, died a few months later, leaving Katherine with both freedom, and what little money the man had left. His last wishes bade the young elf to take her pride and live as she wanted.

Thus began a life of petty court-hopping and seduction, like the dark elf had dreamed of from when she was small, tinged with the smouldering embers of dark hatred. She couldn't let go of her anger at this turn of events, how they'd killed her father.

Katherine, once Shiansach, and once Garland, changed her name for a final time to keep the name of her adoptive parent pure. She was now Overture- the common tongue's translation of Shiansach. Katherine herself gained many patrons inside of the Koben courts, as she kept well away from her own kind and those who would seek to peer past her glamour to reveal her 'true' nature. 

But perhaps, even in the darkness, light can shine again. She found a friend, a sibling, someone she could call family once more- a roguish young dark elf called Ara. And so began an uneasy status quo, with Katherine's hatred festering and her love for her sister blooming in the cracks.