Arachnea

Aranea is a Zarosian Mahjarrat roleplayed by QueenArasene on W42.

She has no reputation: Few know of her existence.

Goes under the Pseudonym: Amanda Fisher.

~*^¨Ancient history (Pre-RP)¨^*~
Aranea was brought to Gielinor in the second age by Itchlarin, like many other mahjarrat.

She happily joined Zaros when he offered them more and better battles, because her fingers were itching to use her powers. In this time, it never occured to her that she might ever have to hold a blade, she was after all a great magic user? When Zamorak betrayed Zaros, she stood loyal to her god. In the battle ensuing in Zaros's fortress she was terribly wounded by a stray blast of power. Using what seemed to be her last breaths, she teleported away from the bloody battle that suddenly had lost its attraction. Finding a reasonably safe spot, she buried herself and went into hibernation.

Centuries later, the ritual was for some reason conducted right above her hibernation place. The recharging of her powers was painfully intense, as she was not used to be so close to the ritual, being a weaker mahjarrat. Aranea found she would not be able to contain the power blasted into her by the ritual, and focused it into a space on her forehead. In the place where she focused the power, her bones were turned into diamond by the sheer power. After the other Mahjarrat had left the ritual site, Aranea came out of her grave like a zombie. She knew that the other mahjarrat might kill her if they found her like this, so she efficiently disappeared. During the next 500 years she learned how to hide herself so well that the other mahjarrat failed to pick her out in the group awareness. After the next ritual, where she hid in the shadows of the other mahjarrat, he decided that she needed to know more about the art of healing herself. Seeking out places where one taught such magic, she wandered around Gielinor.

~*^¨Newer history (Post-RP)¨^*~


Eventually, she found such a place, but was rejected because the guild leaders found out she was a Mahjarrat, and they distrusted mahjarrat. She tried again, in another magical school, and was rejected again. The guild-leaders did not know then what a terrible mistake they had made in not accepting her. Now driven by anger, she looked for someone to help her fight these unworthy so-called magic schools. In the Aren family she found what she was looking for.

Vox Ex Affectum
The Arens taught her the basics of more elemental magick, mostly water and air. In her time with these dark mages, she met many of her "friends"; Julian Duphrane, Aranitus Aren, Zane Aren.... Oh yes, she enjoyed herself there. She even started to like some of them, something that of course will turn out to be a mistake. Together with Jlian and Aranitus, she went out in the hunt for Aranitus' father, who did not live long after they went out for the hunt.

Alas, the enjoyable time in the Aren family, called Vox Ex Affectum, could not last forever. Yanille, under Eden Syivan, attacked and eventually destroyed the family; Aranitus escaped, though destroying the Aspera tower in the process. Luckily, Aranea had thought of rescuing their valuable artifacts before the tower went down in a gigantic fireball. This, of course, ended the relaxed atmosphere in Vox Ex Affectum. Aranea turned to the far north, hiding in a cave and cursing herself for surrounding herself with humans once more.

After that little disappointment
Weeks later, Aranea was disturbed in her meditation. Julian Duphrane, the Demon Lord of Chaos himself, had foolishly entered her temporary residence. In her paranoia, Aranea thought he was herer just to gloat, and attacked. Not even a demon lord can withstand the power of an enraged mahjarrat, and he was subdued quickly. To find the truth, Aranea brought Julian to a secret place, preparing to torture him until he told her everything. A night pinned onto a water wheel in motion, being ducked under every two minutes, almost destroyed the demon. Lucky for him that he was rescued. Aranea, however, retired to her cave once more.

Too soon, she was disturbed again. A woman of around 35 rattled the peace of the cave, unsettling the mighty being within. It turned out to be a traveling mage sick of the horrible doings of the world. Aranea extracted the womans name; Wilma. The middle-aging one seemed curious as to what Aranea was doing. In fact, she exasperated the old Mahjarrat so much that Aranea let slip a silent prayer to Zaros. The foolish woman tried to ask Aranea out. Eventually, Aranea let slip on some of the knowledge of Zaros. The young woman seemed happy with what little she knew, so Aranea appentriced her; eventually brainwashing Wilma enough so she thought Aranea was her mistress, whom she had to report everything important to. After this piece of magic, Aranea sent the young one out to locate Zarosians foolish enough to make themselves noticeable. And surprised was Aranea when Wilma actually found some. Under the leading of a mahjarrat, no less.

So she let Wilma continue the research of Ice and his little folks, while she herself pursued more important matters.

Eventually, Aranea made a pact with an old aquantance: Aranitus Aren. They got engaged, and Aranea hed to reveal her true nature. No living thing, excepting maybe the other mahjarrat, had ever seen Aranea's true form. Of course, Aranitus was unsettled. Even more so when Aranea sealed his tongue, rendering him unable to willingly tell anyone of Aranea's true nature. They started making their plans, to spite their enemies by getting married right in front of their noses.

Wilma's Death
The plans were interrupted by Wilma's death. One late night, Wilma appeared near Aranitus' hideout with a loud scream. He found her in a bush, almost cleaved in half by a mighty swordcut. While Aranitus did his best to heal her (He probably didn't even know why), Aranea came along. She understood that the situation was hopeless for her young appentrice, and slave. So she decided that the White Knights had wrought this, and the White Knights should recieve her spite. Aranea picked Wilma up, and teleported to the White Knights Castle. The teleblock was easy to remedy; Aranea just appeared above it and let herself gently to the ground. And then she let Wilma's body go up into a net of holy flames dedicated to The Great Lord.

After that sad scene
Aranea withdrew from the world, smothering her loss and anger at the Death of Wilma. Eventually she returned, when it became clear that Wilma somehow had gotten herself revived in mysterious and strange ways.

Wilma got involved in the Enchanted Gems legend, and another mahjarrat, something Aranea wasn't too fond of; then again, she never liked others of her race since her fall. Aranea agreed to keeping one of Wilma's Gems in her house, safely away from the world.

Some Gem stories
 In the late evening, Aranitus summoned Aranea to his house to talk about the Gems. She was slightly shocked to see the state he was in, with an eyepatch and all. They discussed a while, about giving Aranitus' demon friend, Julian Duphrane, the gem to keep Aranea "Out of harm's way" and about their new ploy to dispatch Zenthos. (As if Aranea needs to be held out of harms way (See the Mary-Sue test on her -> 47 (Totes OP, Especially in her own house))) Sometime in the middle, a random persona by the name of Felix appeared and was led away by Julian, so as not to reveal the gems to him. While the two were gone, Aranitus convinced Aranea to trust Julian (Who has been betraying her several times already) just enough. So Aranea got up and started summoning the Gem in her safekeeping. It took several minutes, because Aranea's house does resemble a high-security prison, just with more traps. Eventually, with Aranea murmuring "Behold..... The Topaz" the Gem appeared, warm and damp from the journey. Aranea carefully handed it to Julian, who had come in again. She made sure not to touch it, and reminded him again that if he lost it in any way, his life was nothing more worth.

The tale continues

Aranea was called into the Aren tower, where Zenthos was trying to escape. He had entered through a rather dark and suspicious hole, freshly made by, you guessed it, himself. Too bad that Aranitus had trapped him after that. Now Zenthos was trying to escape, hindered by Julian Duphrane, Renthgar, Felix, Aranitus and Aranea Aren. Xido, on the other hand, seemed more willing to help Zenthos, along with an unknown would-be assasin ranger who randomly appeared through the hole Zenthos had left.



In the ensuing fight, Zenthos used his Freneskaen linguistics, to drop all humans in the room to their knees.

Aranea fell too, to not spoil her "Elven" appearance. As they rose again, she cleaved Zenthos' head almost in two even as Xido blew him clean through the keep wall. Aranitus, Xido and Aranea stormed out to intercept Zenthos, while Renthgar, Julien and Areya battled with the would-be assasin Ranger. Zenthos had managed to summon his ship of undead, which now started to attack the four on the Keep's moat.

Xido started some kind of storm, and so the battle went inside again. Eventually, Zenthos and the would-be assasin ranger (who was still not dead) turned into shadows and went to flee. The ranger escaped, but Aranea managed to trap Zenthos, who went to hide in the shadows of Xido's armour. Aranitus eventually dispelled Xido's Family Ring, causing him to fade out of the tower. Zenthos escaped this way too, but at least he would not be around for a long, long time afterwards. Head wounds of that calibre heal slowly, even for mahjarrat.

Now, (Idon'trememberthecharacternameit'sLiamtheBig) brought an army of undead to storm the tower. While Aranitus and Renthgar fought them, Aranea headed upstairs to meet her "Stepdaughter". She found Areya in the process of trying to make a shiv. And Aranea was nice to her! ~One needs good followers, and these must be loyal. But not too close...~

Note the mighty vegetable mage scene.
Then one day, Aranea returned to Keep le Aren to find her daughter-in-law, Areya, kidnapped. Obviously, she is way displeased about this. Just as she is about to fly into a rage, Aranea remembers the day before, where Xido betrayed them all, helping Zenthos to escape. Reluctantly, she recognizes him to be the bigger threat for the moment, and sets out to set up a trap that is supposed to keep him from betraying the Arens once and for all.

Of course, a trap of the sort she set takes a lot of power to build up, and her body slumps into a mini-hibernation, to keep the drain from harming her. Aranitus is hugely alarmed, as his wife seems to be dead. However, Aranea wakes again, and starts plotting once more, still exhausted from her trap-setting. Soon after, her letter to Elizabeth, the Queen of Ardougne, appears on the desk of the aforementioned person. It mentioned a minor threat, along with the information that Aranea knew Elizabeth's real, mahjarratean name, and the request to get Areya and Felix back.

Few days later, her request for Areya's release not having been answered yet, and Wilma getting her only remaining Gem in trouble, Aranea decides to take matters into her own hands, and resolutely takes the Onyx off Wilma's hands.

The following day, as she came into Ardougne, she saw, and couldn't believe her eyes; for it looked like Areya being burned at a stake. Not exactly a pleasant sight for the mahjarrat who had grown to like the young woman somewhat. As a result, Aranea set out to tell Kisbeth off once and for all; she set Ardougne on fire. Subtly, of course, but leaving an unmistakeable trace that she was sure Kisbeth would notice and follow.

Meeting Kisbeth.
Ah, and now Aranrea meets Kisbeth. (MIND GAMES! ZOMG!)

And then I died
Yup. Aranea made a big show of her "Death".

And back to life.
The Gem RP has ended. What now?

~*^¨The realm of Aranea¨^*~
Of course, a mighty mahjarrat must have a place to live. Aranea has built on this place with magic for around 300 years, and is close to achieving perfection. Not even Aranitus, Aranea's spouse, is welcome In this house. This is Aranea's inner Sanctum, the place where noone should disturb, and if they do.... Death is only the beginning. The house itself lies on an island somewhere, away from all shipping routes and under a mighty teleblockage. On the Island, Aranea has planted a maze of hedges. The maze stretches for almost a kilometre in each direction, before you meet the actual house. It is possible to cut through the hedge, but not advised, as Aranea has let strange and dangerous animals build their homes in there. If one comes as far as to the actual house, an admirable task, what with the complicated maze and all, you would find a welcome sign at the door.

Do not be fooled, (And don't metagame this) because treachery is the essence of surviving as Mahjarrat, and welcome you most certainly are not. If you try the door, you will fall into a pit of sharp, shadowy spikes that will enter your flesh, poisoning it until there is nothing left of you other than an empty shell. The house itself is constructed as a Rune on the face of the earth, learned from Zaris himself, and for one purpose only. Enemy mages entering, after having passed the unfriendly entry door, will notice their powers ebbing more and more, until you meet the study, where you should be about as mighty as the common man on the street. Here is where Aranea will stand up to you, More powerful than ever, thanks to the large Glyph of power that her house is. The house itself houses few traps, and obvious ones at that. The cellar, however, is a maze even to that over the ground. One can expect a new trap against invaders every two steps, and the farther in you come, the more deadly the traps become.

And one more thing! She has managed, with paint and good lighting effects, to make her keep-like, trap-filled house look like a all-round glass walled summer house in the caribbean.

Appearance
Being a Mahjarrat, Aranea can take almost any form she wishes.  All of her forms have a mark, or a gem in their forehead.
 * 1)  THIS FORM IS OFFICIALLY RECOGNICED AS "DEAD":  - Female elf in her later years. While looking like this, she always wears completely white robes and a bunch of flowers. Her hair will be gray, according to the aged look, and curly. This form has, if one came close enough to notice, two long scars on each arm. Her eyes will in this form resemble a lively, if cold, Sea-Blue. Height: 5'5". This form has a silvery mark on her forehead, where the Gem is in her real form. The kind of mark that might easily show up in the dark, and is pretty easy to conceal by using a headband.
 * 2) Human of around 35. Like this she resembles Wilma, only without the hat and always dressed in a mourning black. This form has eyes as black as her robes. If you come close enough, you could notice that her left hand seems burnt long ago, and she doesn't move it around a lot. This forms' headmark looks like a natural spot.
 * 3) "Amanda Fisher": A slim, tall woman, usually dressed in green, and with mysterious tattoos all over, from her right cheek down to her left heel.
 * 4) Real form; She only uses this one to scare people or at home, when she can be completely sure that no one sees her. In this form she is about 6' 1" Tall, with glowing, Deep Purple eyes with gold sprinkles. This form usually wears a set of robes resembling the Dagon'Hai, and has a malicious-looking staff that looks ready to impale anyone with a bolt of magic. In the past, Aranea has demonstrated both her willingness and ability to do so. A clear Dragonstone is embedded in her forehead, glowing slightly.

Skills and abilities

 * Great High Master of Shadow Magick.Aranea_-_With_Cane.png
 * ArchMage of Enchantment
 * Able to hide her presence to the point where she is invisible
 * In a curious state of continous, waking hibernation that prevents other Mahjarrat from sensing her, unless very close. With another mahjarrat nearby, sensing her should be near impossible.
 * Dabbles in Necromancy.

Personality
Aranea has a terrible temper. It leads to her being very skilled at ripping things apart. In newer times, though, she has had to learn to restrain herself so as to avoid attracting attention.

As a result, Aranea is a rather calm person, though if you really anger her, you will probably be able to see the heavy iron bands on her rage.

Trivia

 * Current status:  Alive, armed and Dangerous. 
 * Always carries a dagger for close-up protection
 * Hard to locate. Also, her house is well hidden.
 * Knows exactly how to make someone's head explode.