Background

The first four years of Adella’s life were spent in an orphanage for girls in a country she no longer remembers.  She only knows that her mother was killed for reasons unknown to her and her father was never found.  Adella was allowed to live because of this.  If the people had found who her father was he could have been killed just for associating with her mother and then Adella’s fate would have been doomed.  Instead, the village elders allowed her to live in the local orphanage for young girls where she was to be taught the old traditions. 



On the day of her fourth birthday a family from the western country of Amira came across the Morrigan Sea to adopt her.  They were a prominent and wealthy family who then brought her to live in the large city of Luenthia.  Her new mother and father were very important people in Amira’s capital city but decided that the loud city and Adella’s unique appearance would draw too much attention to them so they decided to live in the small town of Gildred instead.  Not only was it smaller but it was a lot quieter and the people were generally friendlier.  Jazin and Thalia were also unusually kind and generous people.  Jazin, a healer who knew the cure to most any ailment suffered by the people of Luenthia was the one people turned to whenever they were sick.  Thalia, known mostly by Lia, was the midwife of the city.  Any woman who had borne children or was currently with child saw to her for advice.  Lia was also a skilled seamstress who crafted a lot of clothes sold in Gildred.  Because of their useful skills and knowledge, both Jazin and Thalia were well loved and seen as strong leaders in the town. 



It was this family that taught Adella the rights and wrongs of the world and she loved them very much, but when Adella was five, just one year after her adoption, Thalia and Jazin had their first natural child.  The couple believed they were unable to have children and so they adopted Adella without hesitation.  When a beautiful little girl was born Adella believed she had been replaced.  She didn’t think she belonged anymore and since Thalia and Jazin had a child of their own, she thought it would be best if she just ran away.  Fortunately for Adella, her adopted parents didn’t see it that way.  They loved both girls equally and unconditionally.  Adella had finally found her family.  She grew along with her new sister Jillyan and they both became very fond of each other.  They were almost inseparable.  Adella had found where she belonged, or so she thought. 

The years flew by and the two girls remained very close throughout those years.  It wasn’t until the year Jillyan turned ten, and Adella fifteen that things began to change.  It was custom in the village of Gildred that young girls who were of age, being of at least fifteen years, should attend school outside of the village to gain a better understanding of the world they grew up in.  Adella, who had just turned fifteen this last August, was now of age and preparing to go off to the city of Luenthia where a proper girls’ school, and proper Luenthian education awaited for her.