Esperetta Alia Gimbernard

Race: Fayren

Culture: Rhukichii

Gender: Female

Guild: Scholars , Artisans , and Patricians

Loyalties: the Golden Script caravan (*familia Gimbernard*), The Heroes of Skyfall , Rhukichiin Nation

### Name

Children are named carefully within the Golden Script caravan, as the name chosen is meant to reflect the fate of the child. Parents usually choose names that express their wishes and hopes for the child's future or else some trait they hope the child will come to embody. While Retta can be strangely close-lipped about her own naming, she freely translates it for anyone who asks. Esperetta Alia can mean either "the Spiritual Daughter of the Eternal Blue Sky" or "the Heir to the Heavens". To her friends, however, she claims to be simply "Retta".

### Early Life

Born the First Daughter and Heir of the Golden Script caravan, a primarily Gimbernard caravan led first by her grandmother (a Lizuna and former Councilwoman) and now by her mother Adelina Nicoletta Gimbernard (a high-level merchant of good standing in the Patrician's Guild) with the expectation that she should continue the tradition and become the next matriarch of the caravan, despite the fact that her older brother, Darius Vasilios Gimbernard , had been recently named its Lieutenant. Retta doesn't seem to have been too concerned about this, given that this is she managed to publish her very first book during this time period, *Wings in the Gloam: Fayren Fairy Tales*, based on the old stories told to her by her grandmother and grandfather. A little after her 23rd birthday, an age when many fayren are just barely considered adults, Retta departed her natal caravan under mysterious circumstances. What is known is that she left at the behest of her grandmother, the formidable Esperetta Auryona Gimbernard (Mama Retta). Mama Retta gave her three things before her departure: a set of old tarot cards, an obsidian crossbow, and a letter to be delivered to her uncle in Ejheria . When asked about this period of her life Esperetta tends to grow melancholic and cradle her crossbow, saying only that "My youth...it was a golden time. I could have conquered the world just by believing that I could. But that time is over now...it ended...and I had to leave someone behind to do it". The obsidian crossbow, dubbed Aurelia, is presumed to have been named in honor of whomever was "left behind".

### Professional Life

From her home caravan, Esperetta made her way to Ejheria. Whatever message the letter contained, it was enough for her estranged uncle, Faustus Fane Gimbernard , to take her into his home and sponsor her admission to the Scholar's Guild . Retta flourished in the Guild, taking ranks as a Diplomat and Historian before finding her niche as a Librarian . Faustus, a historian and publishing agent for the Scholars Guild, seems to have done his best to welcome her and make her comfortable, given her rather fond recollection of him as "feet on the ground and head in the Dream, but always there when I needed him". It was here she became acquainted with her cousin (and one day publisher) Nerys Kahina Gimbernard, her uncle's second child & fellow member of the Scholar's Guild. This happy time came to an end with an incident that caused her to leave Ejheria.

Esperetta next moved to Maerisius, joining the traveling group of "freelancers" headed by her aunt, Sarika Agrona Gimbernard . Here, rather against her will, Retta was taught to fight, since as her aunt puts it "those who can't fight become arrow fodder". Thus, Retta finally learned to use her crossbow. Esperetta struck up a close friendship with her cousin, Rayner Alastair Gimbernard . Knowing that Retta's heart was not in the group's work, Rayner introduced her to the Artisan's Guild , were she immediately specialized in Written Word . Her first major book for the Guild would be another anthology of short stories, commissioned by Rayner, *The Dancing Blades,*later republished as *The Dancing Blades of Itzpaplotl: Queen of Swords,* an anthology of his mother's exploits that had hitherto only been told as a rather detailed drinking song. Like Ehjeria, however, her happiness was not to last and she would depart Maerisius following another incident of a strange nature. This time she would head all the way to Vikaa'ra seeking peace.

Her time in Vikaara was spent with her paternal grandparents, a fayren grandmother (Nayeli Aelfstan, formerly of Familia Yfandes) and a Vikaaran Ragna'ar grandfather (Lachlan Aelfstan, a warrior of Clan Leucetormr and hereditary warden of the Bjargskaut). SHe would also come to know her uncle Bataar, current warden of the Leucetormr Bjargskaut, and his daughter Araceli, warden apprentice. Though the family regreted her that her father (Lucien Dragomir Multaverii) had left them many years ago, they welcomed their relative with open arms. It was here that a number of her adventure stories were written, some direct translations of Vikaaran sagas and others inspired by them. Retta became fascinated by the Bjargskaut and republished her initial anthology (*Wings in the Gloam*) in Vikaara. This brought her to the attention of a Vikaaran chieftain, the leader of a cadet branch of Clan Anvindr . One averted minor clan war later and Esperetta had crossed the mountains into Maerisius .

For a time Esperetta dwelled on the island of Thalasa Limenas , staying with her elderly great-aunt Melpomene Siofra Gimbernard . Things went well for awhile until her great aunt, a diviner powerfully possessed by her gift, handed down a prophecy of such magnitude that the deliverence of it nearly killed her. Retta has never spoken of just what was contained in the prophecy, save that its contents were "of an extremely personal nature" and "a secret she must keep above all others, the one story I will never commit to anything but memories". From there Esperetta left for New Theopolis and reportedly lived by herself for a number of years. She would even reconnect briefly with her old caravan as they passed through, meeting her brand new baby sister Feliciana Estella Gimbernard . A number of her serious treatises on history and culture were published during this time, providing her a stable living. She would take a number of commissions for biographies during this time, primarily through her renewed connections in the Patrician's Guild , of which she had been a member since her caravan days, as a Socialite . This came to an end with yet another incident of a mysterious nature, causing her to flee Maerisius for Amiri'z .

Retta would eventually settle down in New Winthrop in the Mezo Amar region. She delighted in the mix of old-fashioned and cutting-edge that is Amiriiz, an enthusiasm that translated to her writing. She soon found her niche in writing dime store adventure novels starring daring airship captains and southern belles, silly stories that nonetheless seemed to please the masses. A run-in with her cousin Nerys ( a publisher and particularly avid fan of her work) led to her adopting a second psuedonym to write with, Adelina Amatus . For awhile the money she made as Adelina dwarfed the more scholarly earnings she made as Esperetta, despite the fact that Adelina's sole writing genre could best be described as softcore smut. Naturally, the fact that this is some of her most well-known work is a point of embarassment for Esperetta. Despite this, Esperetta made a good life in New Winthrop until another set of circumstances forced her retreat into Nava Opar. {Spoiler unlocked by Lysander and Shimmer; Retta's retreat from New Winthrop was caused by the sudden and suspicious apparent suicide of her friend and lover, a middle-aged Miu gentleman (Louisoix Steward) of whom she was much beloved. His family blamed her, and for whatever reason she blamed herself for his passing.}

She would eventually come to rest in Dry Gulch in the Amiriizian region of Nava Opar . She would eke out a living here as a writer of newspaper articles, sending news from the frontier back to Mezo Amar and Sudar . From there news of the group known as "The Heroes of Skyfall " began to trickle in. Retta became fascinated by the group, as well as the interest they drew from the general public. In time her old publisher approached her with a commission, to write as many stories as she could on these so-called heroes, with a special bonus offered for anything resembling an erotic novel. And so a whole cavalcade of stories based loosely upon our heroes came into being, much of which only superficially resembled the heroes (as evidenced by such stories as the six-part Lady Heat books, extremely loosely based on Tefira ). This continued until the fateful day that an invitation to a game of Amiriizian Hold'em arrived on her doorstep. There she would meet up with her former lover Dulant , better known as Kendall Multaverii , Voice of the Rhukichiin People and General of the new-formed Rhukichiin Army. After a quick escape by airship, Esperetta would join the Heroes of Skyfall as a researcher, information gatherer, and artifact keeper.

As of the Raising of Altea, Retta has reconnected with her birth caravan for reasons she cannot share.