Outcast (Gianna Riatin Retro RP)

[claireducky]

OOC: I am resubmitting Gianna's bio and wanted to archive this portion of it to an RP, so I don't have to include the full text in the Bio. The events here happened in approximately 978 NE, two years after the Aiel War. This portion deals with the events immediately prior to Gianna entering the White Tower as a Novice.

 

 

Outcast

 

Gianna packed clothes angrily into chests, wrapped trinkets in canvas bundles. By all rights, a servant should be performing this task for her, but times had recently changed. Times had changed, indeed.

 

*** Two Weeks Prior ***

 

Gianna was reading in her sitting room, a book on the Ancient Kingdoms of old. As early evening deepened to dusk, a knock came at her door. Her father entered, and she rose to greet him.

 

"Are you ready for your grand entrance, Gianna?" He asked.

 

"Are you ready for me to show you up, father?" She replied playfully.

 

Her father, Sevile Riatin, was known for extravagance and eloquence at his dinner parties, but Gianna was hosting this event. It was her formal public debut. Recently 16, Gianna was now old enough to marry and produce an heir to House Riatin. Light knew that her Aunt Ailil never would.

 

Gianna and Sevile exited the room and walked arm in arm to the curving staircase that descended to the foyer below. The arrayed guests below burst into a wave of applause at the first sight of them at the top of the stair case. Gianna flashed a smile at the guests and then at her father, as they began to slowly descend.

 

When this party was being planned, Gianna had made it clear that she wanted it to be extravagant. She meant to leave an impression on Cairhien. A servant had overheard her and humbly suggested that Illuminators be contracted for the event. The servant said that the Illuminators had recently perfected the art of indoor displays, and that they were quite safe. Gianna was intrigued, and sent the servant to set up the event with the Illuminators.

 

Now, as Gianna and Sevile descended the stairs, two small Illuminator’s displays were prepared to be triggered below. Long fuses ran to each, cut an exact length so that the displays would go off when Gianna and her father reached the bottom of the staircase.

 

Gianna realized with a start that they were almost to the bottom step. She willed herself not to look for the displays concealed at the bottom of the stairs. Just hours ago, the ornate rugs had been removed from the polished stone floor, to ensure that no accidents occurred tonight.

As Gianna and her father reached the bottom step, the thunderous applause of the arrayed crowd almost drowned out the sound of a large pop to Gianna's left. As she turned her head towards her father, she felt a hard push from behind and a flash of light blinded her. Falling forward, Gianna's head struck the stone floor, dazing her. She barely registered the sound of screams before she blacked out.

 

*** The Aftermath ***

 

Two weeks later, Gianna played the event over and over in her mind. She still did not know what went wrong, but she had an idea or two. The display was supposed to be at the outside edges of the bottom stair, so that the shower of fire and sparks would arc over Gianna and her father, bracketing them in light. It seemed that the displays had actually been placed near the center of the bottom step. The display under her father's path had gone off first, the force knocking her forward and away from the flames. Blinded by the flashes of light, she did not see as her father's clothing and hair caught aflame, burning him alive. By time the flames were extinguished, Sevile was dead and Gianna was unconscious. She had stayed that way for 2 days.

 

When Gianna woke up, she found things much changed. Not only was her father dead, she was being pushed out of House Riatin by her uncle Toram. Nobody had known of the Illumination except Gianna, her father, and the servant and Illuminator. Now her father was dead, the servant was missing, and the "Illuminator" had never been heard of by the local Guild. Her uncle seized upon the opportunity to make a bold move in the Great Game. He spread the word that Gianna had channeled unknowingly, touching the Source for the first time.

 

"After all," he had said, "Gianna is the right age for such things, and she remembers nothing of the incident. The fact that she was also unconscious for two days following is very consistent with stories of girls channeling for the first time." "It is obvious," he concluded, "that Gianna must go to the White Tower to be trained, for the safety of herself and of those around her."

 

Gianna had known that her Uncle Toram held ill feelings towards herself and her father. However she could not believe that he would have gone to such lengths to simply remove them from the line of succession to the High Seat. Gianna concluded that he must be a Darkfriend to do such a thing. The lies that he had spread about her chanelling incensed her beyond belief.

 

Done with her packing, Gianna sent for a servant to remove the chests and bundles to the stables below. At least she did not have to do THAT herself. Her escort to the Tower was to leave this very day. The armed guard sent by Toram was to "ensure her safety", but Gianna knew the real purpose was to make sure she got to the Tower and stayed there. Well, he was in for a surprise.

 

Gianna would go to the White Tower without a fight. But once she was tested and the Aes Sedai confirmed that she could not channel, that would be all the proof that Gianna would need. Nobody questioned the word of an Aes Sedai, and Gianna would be able to drag down Toram to the dust beneath her feet.

 

Gianna WOULD rule House Riatin one day, of that there was no question. Now all she had to do was pull down that Darkfriend uncle of hers; drag him down to grovel before her. She would make him atone for his wrongdoing. The scar on her face and the hidden scars in her heart would never let her forget what he had done to her family.

 

She put a determined look on her face, and descended to the stables. It was time for the journey to begin...It was time for her destiny to begin.