Kahia Rothwell

Kahia's base sprite

Kahia Rothwell is a pyromancer and a member of the Gifted Few. She is forced to participate in the Game of the Gifted at Espera's Keep alongside her fellow students.

## Appearance

Kahia is slightly taller than average, around 5'6'', with orange hair, brown eyes and pink-toned skin. She wears a pleather vest, zipped at the front and studded on the sides, with black skinny jeans, ankle boots, and fingerless gloves. On her head, she keeps a pair of industrial goggles, something given to her by her mother to protect her eyes from the light of her fire.

## Personality

Coming from a rough area, Kahia has a very bold personality. She is used to having to fight for what she wants, both figuratively and literally. As such, she often rushes into action without thinking, acting purely on impulse as opposed to thought. She is often very blunt with her speech. She says what she thinks, sometimes without considering the impact of what she's saying. She struggles to think critically, something that often hinders her during investigations.

She is known for having a very short-temper. She quickly becomes frustrated with people acting hostile or superior, without much thought to why they may be acting that way. She tries to mitigate this by forcing herself to be quiet or removing herself from confrontations, but she very rarely manages this.

Despite this, she is a firmly moral person. While her methods of resolving conflict aren't always the most helpful, she always stands up for what's right and tries her best to work with others, even when she might not like them. She is the kind of person who prefers having lots of less intimate friendships than a small, tight-knit circle, meaning she finds it easy to get along with almost everyone around her.

## History

### Early Life

Kahia grew up in a housing project in a relatively poor neighbourhood. Her parents both worked part-time jobs, unable to find stable full-time employment within a reasonable distance. As a young child, she spent most of her time playing with the other local children, though none of them knew each other well enough to consider themselves friends. Despite this, Kahia remembers her childhood fondly, particularly the time she spent with her parents.

Her gift manifested at the age of 3 when she lost her temper and set fire to her bed. For several years after that, she had trouble learning to control her gift in times of heightened emotion or stress. She often found herself starting small fires around her house, though her parents were always around to minimise the damage. Even after gaining full control over her magic, she was still known to deliberately set fire to her clothes or bedsheets in acts of defiance.

At school, Kahia often found herself starting or joining fights. Her short temper and tendency to speak without thinking frequently landed her in detention. Despite this, her adequate grades kept her from facing any more serious punishments.

### The Prequels

Kahia's summons to Espera's Keep arrived at the end of the school week. Initially, Kahia believed she'd been sent to detention again after an altercation with her classmate, Tristan Temple. Her principal, however, had no knowledge of such an incident, even after Kahia's accidental confession.

When presented with the letter, which she immediately recognised, Kahia refused to believe it was for her. Despite knowing that imitating the Gifted Few is a crime, she couldn't understand why such a prestigious organisation would take interest in her. Eventually, after thinking about what her parents' reaction might be, she found herself much more excited by the prospect.

*You can find links to the prequel chapters here.*

### Game of the Gifted

#### Prologue

Kahia wakes up in Espera's Keep with no memory of how or when she got there. Upon leaving her room, she finds Cora Valen standing alone in the hallway. After an initially hostile introduction, the two discover they are both future members of the Gifted Few and agree to explore together. Before they can start, Kahia returns to her room to dress, noting the rooms décor and the multiple copies of her exact outfit in her wardrobe. Back in the corridor, she and Cora meet Gabriel Elwyn and Wren StClaire, the four of them forming an official investigation group.

The group moves downstairs into the entrance hall, finding Lyssa Masterson, Malachi Linden and Ambrose Delaney already "investigating" the room. Lyssa and Ambrose leave shortly after introducing themselves, but Malachi seems eager to stick around.

Making their way out onto the grounds, Kahia and the others encounter the wall the surrounds the Keep and the force field that encloses it, neither of which seem to have any breaks. They also notice the four external towers, remarking on how there seems to be no way to enter them from either the outside or inside. Before they can discuss this any further, they encounter Silas Reid, who seems suspicious of the Keep and whoever might have brought them there. When introducing himself, he uses his gift on Kahia, stripping her of her magic and almost knocking her unconscious. Ignoring all protests from the others, he leaves her weakened and heads back to the entrance hall. Cora and Gabriel decide to follow him, leaving a furious Kahia in charge of Malachi and Wren.

She decides to investigate the rear grounds, making her way to the back of the Keep with Wren and Malachi in tow. They find all sorts of facilities, including a target range, combat ring and a wooden patio. Wren briefly leaves the group to check the perimeter of the force field, looking for any breaks. While she's gone, Kahia meets Jana Kess, who she immediately notices for her striking beauty. They briefly introduce themselves, though Jana refuses to tell Kahia about her gift. After Wren returns and begins making conversation with Jana, Kahia realises Malachi has wandered off and introduced himself to Julian Amato. In trying to make conversation, Kahia asks Julian what his gift is, a question that makes him noticeably uncomfortable. While he does eventually tell her, Kahia sees this as her excuse to leave. She pretends to be looking for the bathroom as an excuse to go back inside the Keep.

Making her way through a staff entrance, Kahia finds herself in the kitchen. Whilst there, she finds Ianthe Aurin picking on Adina Feld, the latter of whom has hidden under a table. Ianthe, under cover of invisibility, pushes Kahia to the ground, to which Kahia responds by kicking Ianthe's legs out from under her. Having gotten the upper hand, Kahia helps Adina out from under the table and sends her out to the rest of the group. Once Adina has left, Kahia goes back to confronting Ianthe, who petulantly tries use her Legacy status to intimidate Kahia. Kahia couldn't care less who Ianthe is, and leaves her alone in the kitchen.

She then finds herself in the Great Hall, where she meets Ceres Lane. The two discuss the Keep and Ceres shows Kahia a hidden metal vault door behind an old tapestry. Shortly afterwards, Emmerich Tennyson interrupts their conversation, and Kahia is briefly forced to talk to him until she can make her escape. After another conversation with Ceres, and a somewhat awkward encounter with Cassius Gage, they discuss theories about the Keep. Solomon Garrick ends up joining in this conversation, before the group hears an announcement summoning everyone to the Great Hall.

*More coming soon.*