Name: Aeliana "Aelia" Elidi
Title: Goddess of Rebirth, the Sun, Light & Fire
Gender/Sex: Female
Age: 10,291, at least that's what she says/remembers
Species: Phoenix
Information: A
Phoenix' true form is that of a large fiery bird. They can engulf their entire body in flames, either in human or phoenix form, and possess an amazing amount of strength. They can carry an entire person in their talons and still be able to fly. Naturally, they have incredible control of the light and fire they emit, and are immune to burns. They are also immortal, being reborn again from the ashes each time one should die. This regeneration ability extends to incredible healing prowess: their tears have the ability to heal any wound with direct contact.
Perhaps due to their longevity, they are very rare and solitary. Most phoenixes throughout time tend to be the same ones. As a result, phoenixes tend to be largely independent. Even other phoenixes don't typically know of others of their kind. They rarely interact with each other and aren't a particularly familial creature, so
new phoenix births are especially rare. Even supposed "new births" are hard to verify however, due to a phoenix's unique memory constitution. They have controllable amnesia and can make themselves forget memories as they so choose with each new rebirth. It's not perfect, as often times forgotten memories can be re-triggered, but if a memory becomes particularly old enough they can eventually succeed in forgetting it permanently.
In addition, Phoenixes are able to control the rate at which they will grow for each rebirth. They could mimic a human's lifespan if they wanted, or even grow quickly like a bird. Their growth rate instinctively slows dramatically upon adulthood. In fact, they are more likely to perish to an injury than they are to reach an old age. It could even be said that their best self-healing ability
is to allow themselves to die to an injury so they can be reborn fully unharmed. However, this has naturally created a twisted sense of mortality in most phoenix.
Appearance: Aeliana’s human appearance very easily gives off the aura of a Goddess. She's slightly tall at 5'6", but her confidence sometimes makes her feel even taller than she actually is, especially within the memories of others. She is shapely with long legs accented by a short torso. Her skin is pale with a soft and healthy glow. She has bouncy orange and red hair that forms natural wavy curls that reach her mid back. Her droopy almond shaped eyes are a clear crystal blue that are rimmed by a startling set of long, dark eyelashes. She has a strong preference for red lipstick and white gowns or dresses accentuated with gold.
As a phoenix, she is large and imposing. She has a wingspan of roughly 7 meters (22 ft), and is over 3 meters (11 ft) tall. Coated in bright and fiery plumage, her feathers easily puts all other birds to shame. Her tail is especially long and resplendent; it most closely seems to resemble a mix of a widowbird, a greater bird-of-paradise, and a peacock, but with spatuletails spread throughout. In this form, she almost always seems to be made of flickering red and orange flames, but there are occasionally times where she might dim her fire enough that her feathers almost appear still.
Personality: Aeliana is, for all intents and purposes, a bit of an enigma. Even her fellow Gods have a hard time truly understanding her. However, that is entirely Aelia’s goal. She chooses to be unpredictable and capricious. If she acts odd enough, then she’ll be able to emotionally keep others at bay.
Upon first impression, she may come across as harsh and aloof. She has a perfectly practiced graceful air about her, naturally befitting of a God of course. Adorned in luxuries and wealth, she clearly seems to have a taste for the finer things in life. This lavish aire is all a carefully crafted part of her goddess persona.
But then she suddenly reveals a mysterious and mischievous streak. She is teasing and playful, with whimsical tales and riddles galore. She takes a bit of enjoyment out of this twisted game of messing with people's impression of her. She will purposely be withdrawn and act superior to others, only to suddenly toss an unexpected comment or do something strange or ill-fitting just to see others' reactions.
While she is an elaborate storyteller, she seems to constantly mix up the details. There are times when these holes seem unintentional; she has lived a long time after all, forgetting the details is to be expected. Most times though, it is deliberate. Is she lying? Trying to pull on someone’s leg? It's truly difficult to tell when she's being truthful about something.
She tends to change her interests often. Most assume it’s because she grows bored quite easily, but actually it is her attempt to run away from her sorrow. She moves from one interest to the other because nothing truly matters against the march of time. Despite this nihilism, she still misses those she has lost. Her strange attitude is likely an attempt to run from her past and present reality. She doesn't want to get too attached to something that'll just disappear from her life… again.
History: Aeliana's life is constantly one of a tragic cycle, but that's the norm for most of her kind. Aeliana is mostly unaware of her parents, she's not even entirely sure if she had any. She hardly even remembers her first couple of rebirths, with the earlier centuries of her life being rather blurred. What she does remember however, is the war, a time she has unfortunately attempted to—and failed—to forget.
She lived through the devastating genocide of mythical creatures such as herself. Through it, she had seen close friends and even lovers die before her very eyes. She was frequently separated from the "family" she had forged through the bloodshed. Since she was a phoenix, Aelia was always reborn after each of her deaths. The same could not be said for many of her companions. She has endured torture, abuse, kindness, and sorrow. Among these memories are Alucio. He was one of the Great Commanders of the war. He was also Aelia's lover. Hardly the romantic first meeting, they had met during the war, when Aelia was following under Ewan's army. She had gained Alucio's trust and respect during those times, and eventually they developed affection for one another.
Wars never allow for a happy ending though. While employed under Ewan, she was with his army when they became trapped by the humans and drowned. Ewan and the majority of his soldiers were killed, while the immortal survivor Aeliana was taken prisoner. She was held for many painful years as the humans experimented on her, determined to find a way to try to kill a phoenix and other similarly immortal creatures. By the time Aelia was finally rescued from her imprisonment, Zephyra and Otaktay had already been slain as well and the war was beginning to grow bleak. Even Alucio, who she had remembered as confident and strong, had had his spirit broken. He did not even have the faith left to keep fighting and save himself when the humans had finally cornered him and his army, no matter how much Aelia had begged.
After Alucio's death, the girl had officially lost the will to fight. She quietly disappeared from the war, wandering around aimlessly in search of something even she couldn't define. She has lived a thousand different lives, with a thousand different faces. There was even a time when she was raised by humans, as she tried to erase even the knowledge of being a phoenix from herself. So long as the memories stayed locked up, she could blend in and live a meaningful life as a human surely. But although her mind may have forgotten for a short time, her body still remembered. When humans realized she couldn't burn, her family turned on her and ended her short existence as a human.
Then began the time when humans worshiped her instead. Each life to pass her by has left the woman with a sense of dissatisfaction, leaving her unable to find a lasting sense of happiness.
Mythical Significance: Aeliana is often associated with the Renewing, a celebration of the end of the year as a new year replaces it. It is a week-long holiday, encompassing both the last day of the year and the first day of the year. Due to her status as a fire goddess, The Renewing occurs on the last day of Winter/first day of Spring. Since Aelia is associated most with the colors of white and gold, humans will often wear white and use gold decorations during the Renewing.
A funeral tradition of some kingdoms is to light the body of the deceased aflame, in the belief that the fire will release the soul so that they may be reborn. It is especially preferred for funerals of young children, and parents will often keep the ashes on them after in the hopes that the soul will be reborn into their next child.
As a Sun Goddess, she is closely associated with the Moon in stories. There are debates on if the Sun and Moon are siblings, enemies, lovers, or friends. Aelia's personal favorite interpretation is that they are Dance Partners.
Relationships: ☼ Antero ☼ Aeliana has a bit of a soft spot for Antero. They both went through some pretty hard times together, and it would be hard to pretend she didn't feel
some sort of bond for them after all that. Whenever the pressure of her social mask feels too heavy, she likes to seek out Antero's quiet presence. She feels an unspoken understanding between them and is perfectly content to just... sit in silence near them. Don't be mistake though, once the mood passes she
will go back to gently teasing them.
☼ Getsuy ☼ Aelia finds Getsuy to be a pitifully cursed existence. She recognizes that she is only able to view him as so due to her privileges as a phoenix, but just as she can't help her deathless nature he cannot help his own nature either. However, she kind of prefers to
not be around him if possible. Not out of fear, but because she feels like she has to be the "responsible one" when he's near. Whenever she feels particularly forced into uptaking such a mantle though, she does so with the use of childish distractions. Her behavior
may have contributed to stories of the wily trickster goddess who uses pranks to evade death.
☼ Morrigan ☼ She's heard word of Morrigan, but doesn't really know the Banshee all too personally. That being said, there are quite a few popular myths that suggest that Morrigan is her sister who helps lead her through the cycle of Rebirth. Aeliana
obviously has to act accordingly. It's because of the humans watching, promise!
☼ Nieve ☼ If Aelia were to speak honestly, Nieve is someone she feels she has to keep safe. But Aelia would
never be honest about that. Instead, she finds little excuses here and there to check on the fair selkie. For the most part, she finds her to be pretty capable in her own right, so visits can sometimes seem sparse. Still, Aeliana enjoys when those little moments pop up that show Nieve
really is Murdock's niece.
Color: Red Gold - #EB5406
Other: She has quite an impressive collection of shoes, but she has a tendency to be barefoot.
I wanted to put credits for the images, only it turns out that they were all AI images. :/
Tribs
cosmiccowgirl
Agunimon
Kaiidth
Crusader Lord
Inertia
Pristine1281
Necrodancer
Scrawl Banditta
Ducksworth
