Silaya Nairavfund
Profile
Basic Information
Name:
Silaya Nairavfund
Nickname(s):
Aya
Age:
27
Birth Date:
8th Seeds, 8268 (Ursus, Year of Souls)
Height:
5'8" (173 cm)
Gender:
Female
Race:
Human
Class:
Acolyte
Occupation:
Handmaiden to the Crown Princess, Former Valet to the Crown Prince
Guild(s):
Koben Imperial Court
Enhancement(s):
Humans' Mindspeak
Likes
Indoors | Flowers and herbs | Clean bedsheets | Set routines | Windows | Comfortable shoes with thick socks | Braiding hair | Small animals | Candlelight
Dislikes
Sudden changes | Being unable to help | Being touched | The sound of a tapping finger or foot | Goosebumps | Questions at length | Heat waves
Personality
Attentive | Discreet | Warm | Cautious | Deeply Devoted | Guilty Conscious Complex | Nervous | Self-Effacing | Struggles with Change
Aya is a fly on the wall. Many people either don't notice her, or choose not to- both are ideal to her. She works hard to be an attentive servant, keeping her true feelings hidden and herself as invisible as possible. If someone were to spot her on the wall and make an effort towards her, of course, they would find an inherently warm, welcoming, and soft-spoken demeanor.
Before training to be a valet, her desire to be useful made it hard to say no to anything asked of her. She's since grown, but that instinct to help and push through for the good of others still rears it's head. Most of Aya's security in making her own decisions were dashed as a child, and that sort of self-confidence has proven difficult to rebuild. She tends to be skittish, with an undercurrent of nerves that permeate her internal perspective. There is always fear- that she'll mess something up, that something will go wrong and leave her plummetting from the perceived safety she's found, that she won't be able to fix it.
Still, she tries.
As a valet, she finds herself very supportive of the prince. Loyal, kind, and observant, she doesn't lie to herself about what she can and can't do, but still finds ways to aide him wherever possible. She keeps a keen eye, and is very cautious with her duties. Safety can be found in schedules and routine, making what some would call a stagnant living. To Aya, it's ideal, especially amidst the chaotic lives of nobles.
When alone, she often loses herself in contemplation, thought, and on occassion, grief. Bouts of mourning tend to crop up when she has morethan a moment to think about all that she's lost, though in the day to day, these feelings are deeply buried. Aya desperately prays that she won't lose anyone else. She is devastated by even small incidents, often blaming herself for situations out of her control. In a similar vein, she feels overly indebted to the palace for taking her in. Her gratitude is sincere, but it leads to a need for constant approval, seeking ways to show that she was worth it in the end.
History
The youngest daughter in a poor family, Aya learned very quickly that she needed to help out, and help out often. Still, her older siblings and her mother all did their best to hide the worst of their situation from her. Evelisk, the eldest, would often distract Aya and Xander by telling stories and playing pretend at night. For a time, they made do. While her mother held their house together, her father kept shaking its foundation, gambling and drinking away what little they had. When Aya was 5, an underground slaver passed through the gambling den as Aya’s father started running down a losing streak. By the end of the night, he was so deep in debt that the man gambled his family to the slaver… and lost. Tipped off by a friend, her mother gathered the children and ran out with them into the desert, but they weren’t to get far. She sent Aya with Evelisk for safe keeping, urging the two elder siblings to split. They ran, but it wasn’t enough.
Together in capture, the three of them mourned for Xander. It had been a desperate attempt, but they all knew a child would never survive alone in the desert.
The next nine years passed in a painful blur as Evelisk and Aya faced their fates together. Only a few weeks after being captured, their mother had been sent elsewhere and grief kept its hold on their hearts. The only luck seemed to come in their companionship. Through a twist of fate, they were moved and sold together throughout the years. Most often labour found them in hidden refineries in the countryside, creating and processing various crafting materials. As they grew older, they polished gemstones and dealt with delicate illicit enchantments. On and on they toiled under different men and women, focusing on keeping themselves alive.
It was on a hot night that salvation found them. The raid on the isolated property was hectic, but after the worst of it they were pulled out of the backroom where they had hid. Aya was 14, though she didn't look it, even though she was nearing the height of her sister. Packed into a transport with the other rescued souls, they were taken to Koben. Once there, many of the older rescuees were given small portions of money, new clothes, and sent on their way. When it came to Aya, however, the High Commander of the Guard offered a different proposal- come into the palace as a servant, where she could be given shelter, food, and a stable environment to continue growing. Evelisk was against the idea. She was offered a position to stay with her sister, but she adamantly refused. Work under the palace or work in a refinery, the deals didn't add up to her. However, it was clear to the two of them that Evelisk couldn’t care for the both of them if they went on their own. After a painful farewell, Evelisk set out to find her way, leaving Aya with only a gentle kiss on her forehead and the promise of her return.
From there, Aya started to build her new life in the palace piece by piece. Guided by Remis and the head of staff, she crafted a new identity - Silaya Nairavfund. As the years continued to pass, she absorbed all that she could learn about things that she had missed. Reading, writing, and proper decorum for a servant were all equally intriguing to her. The stability of life as a chambermaid was perhaps the best part of it all. Though the shadows of her history clung to her memory, the mask she put on as Silaya, a simple, invisible servant, allowed her opportunities to escape her mind.
When Prince Fabian was killed, the blow shook the whole palace as a state of mourning fell on everything inside. Aya, now 21, continued her daily work, but it wasn’t the same. On an afternoon not long after, as Aya went to change the sheets in Prince Sigmund’s room, she found him sitting as still as a rock. She thought to excuse herself but hesitated, and chose to instead to comfort him as best as she could within her position. A few quiet words were exchanged, and for the first time in a long time she allowed herself to remember the grief of her own brother's death. After that night, she was determined to keep a close eye on him, in case he needed her again.
Eventually the head of staff, seeing potential in her work ethic and manner, made the decision to begin training her as a valet. She was sent off to work under the Zimmerman family, acting as valet to Klaus for the duration of their time in Koben.
Current Story
Shatter
Silaya was away when the kidnapping struck- an event that shook her to her core. When her returned safe, a weight lifted from her shoulders. The fallout of the capture attempt and its repercussions for the Zimmerman family brought her back to the palace. With the former valet to the Crown Prince removed for his part in the plot, Aya was put in his place as both a relatively unaffliated person to any strong noble families and as a trusted confidant. Grateful that she had the ability to be closer to Sigmund, she found herself thrown into work, striving to prove herself worthy and strong for him.
Tale of Two Courts / In Between
Amidst the politicking, which Aya has no mind for, there comes another change -- a chance meeting (or, well, not so chance thanks to Luciana) with one Jarrett Blumenthal, a minor noble. A slow relationship starts to form in passing glances and letters left for each other in out of the way corners of court.
War of the Ancients
The Palace is relatively secure from the distant rumblings in other corners of the world, but Aya is taken offguard with a new power: Mindspeak. She test runs it with Sigmund, as it proves a new useful tool in her duties, and with Jarrett, so that passing glances may now be more than just that. Still, it's appearance in the storm of worldly events sends a worry down her spine...
Coronation
The death of the Emporer is as cataclysmic as anything else in the world. Aya does her best to tend to her prince however she can- keeping people away from his room, spending sleepless nights on vigil- but nothing can bring him back until he allows it. The rumors that fly through court bristle her spine, but Jarrett provides a rock amongst it all, even introducing her and their relationship to others for the first time publicly.
Things appear to look up for one brief instant as Sigmund begins to return to the world... and then a whirlwind. She is locked out of decisions, Sigmund is moved to a holiday home without her, and soon after takes his life, or so it's announced. She knows better, knows foul play to be involved, and yet the loss under either circumstance is too much.
Renata allows her a slightly demoted position as one of Luciana's retinue of handmaidens- still notable and useful a position, almost as a condolence. Her survival instincts are desperate for the work, but her grief overwhelms.
Luciana grants her some time away, to return when she's feeling better. Better never comes, but Aya returns to her still, with Jarrett's reassurance that at her word he would take her away in a heartbeat should things become to much.
Still adrift in mourning, Aya has taken a backseat to many of the duties still lingering as rumors grow in the palace halls.
Additional Info
An insomniac, she doesn't sleep much- an old habit from worse times.
Aya's loss of her own older brother inclined her to become increasingly protective of Sigmund, and is intent on becoming a cleric to better aide him.
She is fascinated by plants and their uses, and keeps some useful plants of her own.
Every year on her birthday, Aya lights two small candles in her room- a remembrance of her mother and brother. According to her mother, candles allow the souls of those who've passed on to see you, and to know that you're thinking of them. She hopes its true.
When she was very little, Aya would climb on window sills to be taller than her siblings. She used this memory for her new name in the palace, wanting something to be recognizable for Evelisk when she returns.
Rumors spread in the early days of her Valet duties to the prince that she was not to be trusted, as she trained with the Zimmerman family. Now that the prince is dead, and she still in the retinue of an heir, more whispers rise to question who she even is...
She asked other servants to teach her to braid when her bushy hair didn't seem nearly as orderly as other servants. Her daily hair is a five strand braid.
If you can coax it out, her laugh is warm and hearty.
Family
Retikwer Duvarian - Mother, a hardworker who cared for all of her children.
Turnier Duvarian - Father, a smear in history.
Evelisk Duvarian - Older Sister, kind and compassionate. She sends letters to Aya when she can, telling of her exploits in the East Miras navy.
Xander Duvarian - Older Brother, a passing memory now.
Relations
Jarrett Blumenthal
A rock in the storm. Her lover and partner, she puts her full faith in him now.
