Zhena Ararian Taru

Zhena, or Jena Ararian Taru, christened Sinth Vivienne Sicarius, formerly known as Zhena Ararian Le'Gaunt, and for a period of eight years, Leah Vivienne Sicarius, was born well over 70 years ago, but her age is hard to keep track of. She was raised by Anastasia and Jeremia Taru, is the ex-wife of Zaox/Zayr/Zaovyr Le'Gaunth, and the mother of two children, Drask Jr. and Liu-Fleora Sicarius. Her last known residence was in the Taru household's old holiday home/Sicarius family's old magical weapons store in the Brimhaven Jungle, and is presumed deceased by all those living who know her.

Zhena is a character played by the user LeahSicarius. She is the role-player's second-oldest character, and was created in October 2010.

Appearance
Zhena has always boasted a healthy, glowing complexion, though since her encounter with Zaox's ex-wife, Cierra, shortly after her own marriage to him, she ceased being human, and became much more gaunt and wiry-looking, as if she were malnourished and hollow, losing her forest green eyes to cold, empty grey ones - save under the light of the full Moon, when her eyes shine with an alien glow, as if lit by swamp-lights from a distance place, and her skin glows, as soft and vigorous as a newborn's. Despite this, arguably her most memorable feature has remained largely unchanged ove rthe course of her life; a cascade of blazing vermillion waves, which she has often preferred (when able) to grow out - all the way down her back. She stands at a massive 5'10" (typical of Kel & Xuksesra's line), which only exaggerates her gaunt appearance.

Marks
A product of her encounter with a Genie, Zhena bears two copies of each magical rune on her body as a mark that is faintly visible in darkness, but glow brighter as she channels magic through her body - Air runes on her palms, Fire runes on the back of her hands, Water runes on the back of her forearms, Earth runes on her feet, Law runes on her shoulders, Soul runes on her upper arms, Nature runes on her shoulder blades, Body runes on her lower back, Mind, Chaos, Death and Blood runes on her diaphragm, Astral runes on her thighs, and Cosmic runes on her shins.

Her most prominent mark, however, is the Sicarius Scar in an inked gothic tattoo-like design, slashed permanently and impossibly deep into the black-stained skin, muscles, tendons and nerves in her left wrist, forever a reminder of where she came from, and where she's going.

Personality
Zhena has changed significantly over the course of her life, having been greatly affected by those around her - primarily her biological parents, Kel & Xuksesra Sicarius, and her ex-husband, Zaox Le'Gaunt.

Child
Jena was raised in a powerful Asgardian household, alongside her two siblings, Liuna and Elaena, as well as her bastard albino sister, Ana (not that they came into contact often), though was far from happy. Her father often neglected her while showering her elder (and more talented) sister Liuna with praise and gifts, and her mother was often ill, leaving her only with her younger sister to look after and play with- however, Jena was never the playful type, as she sought to gain her father's approval by bettering herself to surpass her sister, even after Liuna was sent to the Wizard's Tower as an apprentice. As an adolescent in Morytania, and then as a street urchin in the far East following her family's apparent demise, Jena became tougher and more pragmatic as she continued to search for the power and knowledge she desired, changing her name to fit the local tongue in the process: Zhena - someone who could protect herself and her own.

Leah
When Zhena became Leah, she was not only partway through adolescence, but also deep into the criminal underworld of the Far East. Kel's supression of all her past memories ironically had the positive effect of relieving her of the stresses that had been eating away at her since her parents' deaths. The false memories Kel created for her remain with Zhena to this day, and are no less real than her own: those of a life of a Sicarius, a member of a millenia-old family-cult who trained their children to be prepared for a war of their own making, on both the physical and mental planes, and of a girl who was snatched away from her royal mother  as a babe. Leah was twisted, bitter, violent, and deeply melancholic about things she hadn't the ability to recall - perhaps that's what drove her to stalk the ever-so-familiar Archmage of Yanille, Liuna Taru, eventually leading to her death almost a decade later.

Adult


At the age of twenty-two, Zhena regained her actual memories when her mind was recreated after three years beyond the plane of the living, and relinquished her Sicarrian heritage, at least in principle. Despite feeling for a long time that she was now alone in the world, that changed when her salvation came in the form of an engagement to her old acquaintance, Zaox Le'Gaunt. Being economically secure in an Ardougnan household allowed Zhena to pursue her study of magic, continuing where she left off as a child. Though Zhena succumbed to depression for a short period after losing her first child, she was generally happy. and ambitious in her new goals for herself.

Fae
Transformed into one of the odd, sometimes demonic, sometimes fairy-like race known as the fae by Zaox's bitter ex-wife, Zhena's negative traits, especially those drilled into her by her fellow Sicarii were brought to the fore of her mind, and she fell back into the dark recesses of her reckless, violent past once again, fortunately limiting her fits of magically-aided destructive rage to beyond the borders of Kandarin. She was only helped through this turbulent period by her husband Zaox (then Zayr) who would always be there to comfort her during her lapses, and keep their home warm and safe for her returns to Ardougne, whenever they were.

Abilities
The majority of Zhena's non-magical abilities come from either Leah or her Fae half. Due to that fact she's a fae, Zhena has slightly better sight, hearing, and sense of smell than most humans, though this waxes and wanes with the Faen Lunar Cycle. She is also more agile than a lot of humans, but, again, this changes with the Fae Moon. In fact, at the peak of the Faen Lunar Cycle, Zhena is also stronger than many humans, including ones with more training than her. However, at its lowest point she is weaker than most humans with less training than her.

Magics
The ability Zhena uses more than any other would be her ability to use rune magic without runes. This is the result of her encounter with a Genie in Varrock, who granted her wish to draw power directly from the altars through her body. As Leah, she studied elemental, portal, and enchantment magicks at the Yanille Wizards' Guild, and excelled in each field once given the time and freedom to study. The elements Zhena uses most in combat are Wind and Fire, and combines them to great effect in battle, manipulating all nearby fire sources when she becomes nervous, in case she has to make use of them. Zhena actually does have access to the Ancient and Lunar Spellbooks, though she also rarely use them, as she finds the modern spell set to be more practical.

Sicarrian
Kel and Erik's training during her time in the Sicarius Family ensured that she received a comprehensive understanding of most basic weaponry: Longswords, shortswords, axes, spears, hammers, crossbows, longbows, shortbows, magical weaponry, and of course, dozens of types of knives. She also learned many different combat techniques, though is little help in heavy armour, preferring to stand light on her feet.

History
This history is pretty long and complicated and has been forgotten in parts and retconned, but it will get written eventually. In a few years, probably.

Trivia

 * She was actually about 37 upon her death, due to partially raising Drask and Liu-Fleora in the Fae realm, where time runs differently to Gielinor.
 * Zhena was first created as Leah Sicarius, and only became Zhena Taru nearly a year later.
 * Though Erik Sicarius was allegedly Leah's father, they were both of a similar age. This is because Kel had access to a reality in which time travels thousands of times faster than on Gielinor - and so told the family that Leah had been raised in said pocket reality, also filling her own brain with this artificial past. In reality, Leah was Sinth, Erik's slightly-younger biological sister, who he and the rest of the family assumed died at birth - except Kel, who had been searching for her for over fourteen years when the Family tracked her down in the Wushanko Isles. To this date, Kel is the only living soul who is aware of this. The real Leah was returned to her mother (Jamey) following Kel's murder of his adoptive son and her adoptive brother, King Avant of Kandarin, and she still lives to this day.
 * Zhena's present race, the fae, were inspired by a race and world of the same name in Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles.
 * Zhena often wore a 'Z' shaped necklace of similar design to Zaox's own.
 * The "zh" in Zhena is pronounced as "je" would be pronounced in French or as the Cyrillic letter ж is, not "z" as amerikans are wont to do