Rhea Aves

* Pre-Time Skip
* Post-Time Skip

## **Description**

### Appearance

As a 15 year old teenager, Rhea still stood a few heads above most other children at around 5'7. As perhaps the most human looking of her siblings, the only oddities that anyone could spot was her stark white hair and almost worrying weight, light as a proverbial feather thanks to both her hollow bones and poor nutrition.

Even as a child her pallor was somewhat pale from exhaustion, freckles visible and dark bags constantly present underneath her eyes. The light blue of her irises did nothing but make them seem worse than they actually were.

As an adult, most of the colour has returned to her cheeks, freckles hidden behind a blush and an old scar, though the bags underneath her eyes have done nothing but grow in time. At some point during the 7 year timeskip, her hair was chopped off unceremoniously, now messily cut to just below her jaw.

Currently, she stands at around 6ft tall, fully grown into her family's typically tall build.

### Personality

Rhea comes across as an incredibly gentle person with a seemingly unending well of patience. In actuality, both her and Piper share a similar hot-headed nature, Rhea has just learned to temper it down better. She is naturally somewhat quiet, though through dealing with a swathe of rambunctious children she has become used to forcing her voice to be heard. She can be somewhat overbearing and over controlling towards her siblings at times, but it is never out of a need for control, just intense worry.

She is typically soft-spoken and equally as soft-hearted, but she has a very strong backbone and thick skin. Unlike Piper, Rhea is used to and seemingly accepts the sneers and the general suspicion her family receives. She doesn't like it, obviously, but with both Piper’s temper and Gale’s nature, she has to be the one to show face. She is the kind of person who will go to the ends of the earth for someone, both as a friend and as a foe. Family comes first, above all else, even herself. The biggest regret Rhea has was not being able to go out looking for her parents after their disappearance.

She is a very functional person who doesn’t fully understand fads or fashion. If something even has the possibility of being fixed, she refuses to throw it away. This has resulted in her becoming something of a small hoarder.

Rhea typically avoids anything that could sway her senses. She is a very healthy and body-oriented person, the sort who employs a rigorous workout scheme and who tries to keep a purely nutritional diet, though she does tend to give others a lot of her meals. They’re still growing, she isn’t. Sweets and anything with too much sugar makes her feel incredibly nauseous, both the artificially made cakes from the bakers and the overly ripe apples from the odd tree. Despite this very health-oriented outlook on life, she has a bad habit of constantly pushing herself further than her limits, and the day she gets a full night’s rest is the day her family lives in a mansion.

She secretly has a very, very strong sense of wanderlust, and an equally as strong feeling of being lost in the world. She refuses to address either of these things, though; she has a responsibility to her family, and responsibility comes before everything else.

## **Background**

Rhea was born into Salt Landing as one of the eldest in her family, a title shared with her twin brother Gale. Piper came a touch later, far heartier and healthier than most would think after Robin’s fate. Their parents had only recently moved to the village and no-one, not even their children, knows exactly where they came from before.

Their parents were very human seeming, as was she and Gale. The further down the chain of siblings, though, the more apparent the anomalies became. Her younger siblings began to display more and more strange bird-like features, eventually culminating in out and out feathers and, as they aged, the development of talon-like nails.

## **Childhood**

From a very young age Rhea became one of the primary caretakers in her family. Due to her appearance, she was one of the few who could go outside without fear. She initially shared the burden with her parents and brother, but as the family increased in size and money became a larger and larger issue, both of her parents were forced to work longer hours, until eventually her and her brother were left to raise their siblings by themselves.

She used the forest as her ‘safe space’ of sorts. With a family as large as her’s in a house as small as theirs, she hardly had any alone time. Most of her siblings were too young to leave the house freely, and of those who were old enough, Robin didn’t have the energy, and both her twin and her parents worked more often than not. Piper sometimes accompanied her, but he was quiet enough that his presence was rarely felt.

Rhea has always felt some strange connection with the forest, one that isn’t shared by even her twin. It is often joked about in the family that where the rest of her sibling’s gained a bird appearance, she gained a bird’s heart.

Her family is one encased in abject poverty. Combined with their very poor reputation and the swathes of suspicion placed upon them by the local townspeople, they are the token pariahs of the village. The suspicion that her family faces isn’t because they are tieflings, but rather because they do not look like the typical tiefling. No one knows what they are, and in all honesty she doesn’t even know what race she is herself.

## **Present Day**

When Gale left things become a touch tougher, the family now dependent on only whatever her parent's could bring in and Rhea acting as the almost full time caretaker. With both of the eldest sons gone, money was tight, even if their absence meant that the cost of food was significantly lowered. The situation was bad, but not necessarily dire.

Four years into the 7 year timeskip, on one seemingly random day, her parents simply didn’t come back. There was no fan-fare, no missing persons case; they simply left for work and never returned. The village didn’t show too much fuss- although they hid inside the family house rumours of the strange bird children still got around, and suspicion was only exacerbated by the presence of the cult. Both her and her siblings were too young and too busy with the sudden increase in responsibility to look for either of them.

After that, things somehow became more strained. With a sudden lack of income, her family went from being poor to poverty stricken, house only held up by the shoulders of a 19 year old and whatever Robin could bring in. Things lightened slightly when Piper came rushing back, but with him spending most of his time at the docks, Rhea still took up the mantle of the sole caregiver of her entire clutch. Between Robin and Piper's funds, there was only enough money to cover the cost of housing and strict taxes, but food and clothing quickly began to run out. Rhea had dabbled in hunting before, and her aim was sharper than it had any right to be considering her lack of training, so her progression into hunter-gatherer was inevitable.

The sole positive that came from their parents leaving was the slight increase in reputation her family received. They were still treated with suspicion, but pity began to outweigh distaste. Her, Piper, and Robin were still the only three that dared to leave the house frequently, but time and age eventually began to help temper down her siblings 'conditions'.

## **Faith**

*'Soliel. The Mother. Lady of Dawn. Summerhost. Seharun-aril.*

*Soleil’s domains are numerous. Many claim that Soleil created time, that the chaotic deities could be measured. Others say she is Lady of Light, and she shed light on the disasters of the chaotic planes so that Echlune, the Father, could see the horrors. Soleil brings life and measures the passing of life. Soleil, or Seharunaril to the Elves, is the most widely worshipped of the Ayornas. She is the Goddess of Days, Memories, Light and Love.’*

Rhea wasn’t overly religious as a child, but she did frequent the Temple of the Many in town, and after her parents left she took up the faith with more fervour. Despite not knowing much about religion, she does find herself leaning towards Soliel. Though she rarely attends any ceremonies, the confessional box has become one of the few places in the world where she can break down and speak her mind.

## **Relationships**

**Piper:** Rhea easily gives Piper the most independence out of all of her siblings. She trusts him to be able to take care of himself, and if she worries about his past times, she gives him the courtesy of not asking. Despite this independence, though, Piper is easily the sibling Rhea has the most worry for. If he ever asks to follow her (or more likely if he ever just starts to follow her), she would never say no, if just to keep an eye on him.

Rhea has not encountered any of his past times, nor does she know for certain exactly what he does. She has heard rumours, enough to give her some confidence in her guesses, but she has not confronted him about them yet. Truthfully, Rhea understands where Piper’s anger comes from, and if she were being frank, knowing what he does in retribution for the pain their family goes through relieves some of her own anger as well. Besides, they are in desperate need of the money, and Rhea knows that some problems come before personal grievances.

**Lissie:** Rhea and Lis are close friends while still maintaining some sort of distance. The two only ever interact in the forest, where Lis runs wild and Rhea becomes a caretaker for another child, if only for a small while.

**Esmerelda:** Rhea and Esmerelda only really know each other in passing. There have been many occasions where a small child or family pet has wandered too far into the forests, and Rhea is typically the one who brings them back.

**Caelestus:** Rhea sees Cael as a reliable helper; she doesn’t know much about him, but he always manages to lend a hand where it’s needed or give a gift when it’s missing. She sees him most often whenever she finds the time to visit his family’s temple. Funnily enough, whenever she makes a confession, one of her wishes is always granted.

**Thomas:** Rhea doesn’t interact with Thomas all that much, but when she does it typically involves her apologising for one of her brother’s actions. Most days it’s after Piper confronts him, but there is the occasion where Gale accidentally sends him home crying.

## **Trivia**

* Rhea is a very apt seamstress and shoemaker. Even before the timeskip she was handy with a needle and thread, forced to stitch up a mountain of clothes every other day. After money became increasingly tight, she moved on from simply fixing clothes to making them. Now, if you give her enough material and a few hours, she can create an entire outfit fit for a rambunctious child.
* Rhea's aim isn't just purely a product of practice, but a combination of 10,000 hours of mastery and an innate keen eye thanks to her heritage. No one can really tell if she has 'eyes of a hawk' or literal eyes of a hawk.