Blargh. Having some problems with my backstory. I have MOST of it, but I'm blanking where I need certain things to happen.
In a nutshell, Arcata's family was once wealthy and influential as one of the few that had ships seaworthy enough to follow the coasts and trade with other cities too far or across terrain too treacherous and dangerous for land routes to get to safely.
At some point in their past a rival family engineered their fall by arranging for the male heirs to be killed via buying off an insider. The House survived by quickly secreting away the only remaining child, a daughter, who gave birth to a son without being married (and thus losing the name). This caused a scandal however, and a loss of prestige that cost them business and created an exploitable vulnerability that this rival used to systematically force them out of business.
Since then, each time the Marinos have started to successfully attempt a comeback, the first-born child somehow dies...though rarely from anything that can be attributed to another person. The family's got a reputation now as being cursed.
Arcata's father was better educated than most, and has a great interest in the new sciences and naturalism. He's patronized several men and women of innovation and education, and these efforts paid off when old ruins from before the Harrowing were discovered on his property while they were excavating foundations for a new library building on the grounds.
Immediately scholars, sages from the Guild Arcane, and of course beady-eyed priests of the Maker descended...and being a savvy man, Lord Marino profited from this interest and from the access to these old rooms that he now controlled. More than just money though, he had the ears of men and women with some power and influence, and had some idea of what do with this.
And then his oldest daughter Arcata came ill with some terrible wasting sickness. Despite having priests and magi and doctors around, none seemed able to do more than simply keep her alive a bit longer.
...
So that's all fine, as far as it goes. But I need some kind of mysterious event or intervention that saves her and instills this sorcerous origin...and I need her to have to go to this city...and it can't be too obvious.
The GENERAL shape in my head is that Marino made a secret deal with the Guild Arcane; giving them access to some kind of magical source that had been found (and kept secret) in exchange for a ritual they believed would save Arcata. The ritual did work, but instead of simply being fueled BY this magical source, it fused the source WITH her...which left everyone in a very awkward position.
The Guild Arcane's leadership wasn't aware of this deal...I'm thinking it was likely the work of a relatively radical faction WITHIN the Guild, who desired more freedom for the practical exploration of magical theory. They were hampered by the fact that actual magic power just isn't commonplace, and hoped having something to study empirically would solve that problem. They STILL hope that, but now that 'something' is actually 'someone,' which complicates things because they can't just lock her in a vault underground and only let people who have the secret decoder ring have access to her.
Meanwhile, Lord Marino recognizes his debt to these men of the Guild, and he wants to see it met...but he's obviously not keen on having saved his daughter's life only to have her spirited away. That violates the spirit of the deal, if not the letter, and the reality is that neither side is actively looking to piss off the other, if it can be avoided. Marino also knows that what's happened to Arcata also puts her at no inconsiderable risk however, especially in the superstitious backwater they currently live in.
The tentative deal arrived at so far then is that Arcata has gone to the city to study with the Guild. It's an odd pursuit for a lady, but no one expects better of bumpkin nobility like the Marinos. Of course the reality is that this story is mostly just a cover for why she sometimes vanishes into the Guild for a few days at a time.
There are some fraying ends of the rope though. The research that can be done on the source is...limited due to the interference of having a body and soul encasing it, and the frailties of such. Darker voices suggest that should the girl die, the source would be freed. Arcata herself grows weary of the demands and tests and experiments placed on her, and wishes to be free of old men poking and prodding and muttering over her. Meanwhile, without meaning to, the Guild has been teaching her to sense the power within her, and to focus and channel it. It was necessary, you see...she's the only way they've found to let that magic into the world properly. Whether or not that's safe is something that rarely occurs to them to ask.
And of course, the 'curse' of the Marino family still lingers, its price yet unpaid.
...
Hm. That came out better than it did when I was first thinking of it. I think it'll work.
What do you guys think?
