Arrea – Character Bio

Previously a slave

She wants to keep Sertorius from betraying who he was, and who he can become.

• Taller than most Roman ladies, about 5’7”

• slender with wide hips

• Has a fair skin of her people

• dark auburn hair that in its natural state is a beautiful as a Roman matron’s wig. It is light enough that it sways like barley in the wind, and drapes in thick strands over her shoulders.

• She has a soft eyes, but beneath her narrow eye brows they can be piercing when she is angry or disappointed.

• Her face is lovely and her smile is warm and inviting, pink bow shaped lips. Her cheeks are pronounced and her face is etched with years of worry, but she doesn’t need blush to hide any wrinkles, her skin is spotless and as pale as the snow of the alps, with only a hint of red on her cheeks.

• Pronounced dimples which Sertorius often points out, and adores.
• The features of her face are very expressive, and she can’t hide her emotions if she desired to. When she becomes angry, her face becomes red like a sky filled with clouds.

• She has a difficult time adjusting to Roman fashion, and prefers to wear the simple linen dresses she wore in slavery when she isn’t required to wear something else.

loud, quiet, harsh, etc.

• Her voice is gentle, and she often takes to a tone not much louder than a whisper when she is talking with Sertorius.

• Her latin is surprisingly refined, but of course others can notice the Gallic accent. She speaks softly, slowly, and deliberately to compensate for this.

• She doesn’t play games. Much like Sertorius she is direct and straightforward.

• She is blunt in her affection for Sertorius. She will tell him, ‘I need you, hold me.’ This causes anxiety and excitement for the young Sertorius who had never experienced it before. It permanently imprints love on his heart for her.
• Her personality can be described as unique. She is completely unpredictable, and seems to be contemplating playful mischief rather often.
• She is coy and flirtatious. Although she presents herself as vulnerable and needy, she always leaves something left to give, which leaves Sertorius something more to chase.
• She is devoted and loyal to Sertorius, and is a wonderful caretaker to Gavius when the time comes.
• She is rural by nature, and is not unused to working out in the field and in the sun, especially with her father’s livestock. Everything about her is soft and delicate except her hands which are callused and worn much like Sertorius’ for farm labor.

• She hums Gaelic tunes regularly.
• When upset she becomes irrationally stubborn. She can be as firm as an army commander. When angry she is an impossible nut to crack.

• Feeding the birds in the peristyle, and attempting to teach them to hum Gallic tunes.

• That Sertorius will remarry. More pointedly, that she’ll be left alone again.

• She poisoned one of her early masters.

• No one can say she is unpleasant. Some say that it is unbecoming of Sertorius to hold a slave in such high regard, but no one can fault the woman herself, from the finest nobles to the servants.

• Tending the birds in the peristyle.

• All of life’s meaning can be discerned only in quiet moments with nature. She believes in dwelling on the fragility of life. Sertorius says “you dwell on momento mori and you have never read the stoics” she replies “I didn’t need philosophy to teach me how fragile life is when everyone I love has been taken from me.” He says “not everyone”, and places a hand on her arm.

• The fact that she is barren.

• She has a hard time showing any care or concern of Roman slaveholders.

• Claims she cannot understand the Roman religion. She still prayers to the Gallic gods of her father.
• She does have a great deal of respect for the Roman worship of ancestors and the household gods.
• Despite her lack of faith in the traditional Roman gods, she makes it her job to ensure that Gavius is raised with a proper understanding of his own religion and learns the basic rites and rituals so she can ensure he follows proper procedure.

• Calm and cool. Her face gives away her emotions, but she tends to become quiet and considers the best response possible before offering one.

• When talking quietly with Sertorius she always seems to be inspecting him delicately, running her fingers over every loose strand of his tunic or the etching on his breastplate. She seems determine to find every scar along his arms and neck, and likes to ask him questions about them.

• To raise Gavius into the kind of son she is unable to have.

• To help Sertorius grow into the kind of man he can be.

• Her father was a merchant who often spent time in Roman villages,  and therefore she knows Latin well.
• She was always on the move, but called the tribe of the Ruteni her home.

• When she was just coming of age, her village was raided. Her home is destroyed, her family killed. She is passed from slave owner to slaver owner and used for her beauty.
• At one point she becomes pregnant. The master beats her until she loses the child, and afterwards she is believed to be barren.

• She remembers riding on the back of her father’s horse as they walked a herd of sheep to the market, the bells around their necks jiggling softly to match their bahs. 

• When the painted Gauls raided her village. She remembers only the smell of fire and sulphur, and the site of her father being surrounded by armed men and the daggers that flashed in the light of the flames.

• Received no formal education, but her father taught her the basics whenever he could when they would camp with their caravan along the road.

• Poisoning the man who beat her so badly.