Siylvea
Biography:
Originally born, as a rare few Nymphonian Plasamena are, to a consummated couple in the Viosphere of Cleio, Siylvea (known then as Siylvara) has always impressed her elders and peers alike with her precocious nature and indomitable spirit. Much in spite of her upbringing under the Oomantissai as the Aphridia, young Siylvara closely took after her biological parents, the Manatar Cefalona and Iodhatar Thelemire; curious, clever, and adventurous with an indefatigable individualist streak. However, much unlike the Black Matron with whom she is often compared, she took her prescribed role in stride, such were her proclivities for power from even an early age.
Siylvara's early life as Aphridia was not without its stumbling blocks, of course. For most of her juvenile years, she harboured an unusually strong disliking for Aristor, her Adoniscos, and for effectively all of her youth exhibited a disconcerting disregard for the customs and traditions not just of her position, but of all Neonymphonia—this being born not so much of rebelliousness, as with the Black Matron, but rather simple contempt. Nevertheless, her natural propensity for eloquent grace and thoughtful compassion, products not of her culture but merely her person, well-equipped Siylvara for the true substance of her role, shorn of decorum, in Neonymphonia and Novaluna alike.
Spending much of her childhood seeking satiation for her ravenous desire for knowledge and understanding, Siylvara became an ardent student of the Manatar Clade, finding a semblance of escape from the isolated Neonymphonia in which she grew up and felt so imprisoned by through her eager study of the outside world. Fascinated by the history and affairs of Novaluna, and rather affronted by the idea that her nation would choose to run away from the problematic inevitabilities of the world rather than facing them down and solving them, she dedicated much of her study to the oft-shunned grit of politics and its ancillaries, cultivating a complex view of the world all at once cynical, idealistic, and ambitious, much in contrast to the typical fearful resignation of her kinsfolk. Her outlook one of unyielding aspiration, when she became Aphroarch she resolved to make the most of her power, whatever the cost.
The first major test of her firmament of will, in fact, arrived just days before she was due to receive the mantle of Aphroarch. In the lead-up celebrations precipitating the Aphreian Ceremony, the absolutely unthinkable occurred; the newborn child of Dolarea, Siylvara's outgoing predecessor, was abducted, sending the then-Aphroarch into psionic catatonia and very nearly jeopardising the entire ceremony. Under the express concern of keeping everything entirely covert from public knowledge, Siylvara led a small retinue to Vistora under the guise of diplomatic travel, helping to retrieve and secure the infant girl mere hours before the ceremony was due to begin, narrowly averting an unmitigated national disaster of a scale not seen since the Nereid War.
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(c. 462 PT)
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Siylvea (/si.ˈylve.aː/),
the Violet Queen
430 PT
32
Viosphere Cleio
Dolarea, the Silver Priestess
Female
Polysexual
Nymphonian
Neonymphonia, ONI
Isopedinic Sympathism
None
Cefalona (mother)
Thelemire (father)
Yet for Siylvea, now Aphroarch, the tribulations were truly yet to begin. Not two years into the span of her rule, and another personal crisis came to dominate her life; Thevini, one of Siylvea's Seirenes and her dearest friend and companion beside her Adonarch, Ariston, abruptly Severed herself from the Sympath and left Neonymphonia. Much like the Black Matron, her personal idol, Thevini gelled poorly with the rest of Nymphonian society, long seeing herself as an outcast and pariah offered nothing in life by her nation—save her beloved companions—and having little to offer in return. Although stricken by this event, Siylvea nevertheless decided to leave Thevini to her choices and move on, focusing on her governing project of restoring extensive ties with the surface world and enhancing the scale and capabilities of the Iodhatara.
For the next twelve years, Siylvea and her administration continued with business as usual. Public enthusiasm for her policies had yet to ebb, and she had already made something of a name for herself as a stateswoman of standing on the international stage. And yet, after all this time, when the Aphroarch received word of her wayward Seirena's location, she well-demonstrated that she had never forgotten. In a series of events collectively known as the Fae Reclaim, Siylvea discovered Thevini to be no less than the leader of the Elves, a Vistoran criminal gang of psionics, and convinced her to return to service as a Seirena alongside her. After this watershed moment in Siylvea's life, she, Ariston, and Thevini spent the ensuing eight years intermittently departing the bounds of Neonymphonia on various secretive tasks, in a manner some found uncomfortably reminiscent of the Black Matron. At the same time, much in spite of the tide of public sentiment turning against her, she doubled down on her expansion of the military.
In the face of such mounting disapproval, the strength, even audacity of Siylvea's will became clearer still, encapsulated in no better a moment than the vernal months of her twenty-sixth year. By now, global tensions between ONI, of which Neonymphonia was newly a part, and the Black-Green Pact had escalated severely. Staring down the overwhelming syneidocratic pressure to halt course and accepting the nadir in popularity it would bring, Siylvea did the heretofore-unthinkable; she initiated war. Levied against the Grove Eternal so as to secure the Bladed Strait for ONI, as an action it nearly spurred the first proper riots Neonymphonia had seen in centuries. And yet she persisted, for her ventures had taught her a sobering truth about the events to come; nothing short of everything would be adequate to ensure her nation's survival. This she communicated as best as she could, yet the populace at large remained sceptical, until at last her predictions became true. The Black-Green Pact declared hostilities against ONI, and the entire world went to war.
Personality:
Though it is a likely proposition that, among the esoteric criteria held by the Sympath for selecting Aphroarchs, a vivid personality is one of them, Siylvea's is well and widely known for being the most complex. A common thread does, however, run through many of her foremost characteristics, and that is of a certain "rawness" to her personality. Whether worshipping or resentful or simply deferential in character, the relationship most Aphroarchs had with the Sympath mirrored that of their people; ultimately submissive. Siylvea was the first to depart from that long-held truism, listening to the Sympath as if it were her "peer" yet not allowing it to dictate the terms of her behaviour. Her personage, therefore, is notable for being very "natural", originating not from Nymphonian social strictures but simply from within herself, unimpeded.
Shrewd, witty, and incredibly intelligent, Siylvea is often renowned for her erudition in all matters of her position and beyond, handling technical governing and diplomatic proceedings with ease and envious competence, telling of a wisdom far beyond her years. A dedicated student of the social sciences, Siylvea approaches many problems with a certain farsighted, dispassionate logic generally considered uncharacteristic of most Nymphonians and the warm, familial pathos for which they are known. Though this has the quality of yielding positive policy results, the flipside is her strong tendency to appear aloof, uncaring, and out-of-touch with her people; severely exacerbating these are her tenacious spirit, ambitious determination, habit of speaking bluntly, disregard for tradition, and, above all, her candid pride and even arrogance in her own abilities, knowledge, and moral rectitude. Her unassailable personal conviction that her chosen course was the best, contrary to much popular sentiment, won her few plaudits as a leader of the people, vindicated later on as she was.
Nevertheless, when push comes to shove she is, albeit perhaps in her own way, an exceptionally kind, compassionate, and genuine person who often struggles personally with the many impossible compromises her position demands. When finally aware of how wounding her loftiness had been to Nymphonian society, she undertook a massive effort to, quite literally, sit down with her people and hear their concerns. Moreover, she is notable for her curious reconciliation of faultless grace and iconoclastic charisma. Both borne of her natural style shorn of pretense, she frequently juxtaposes fluid elegance and eloquence with the wry rhetoric, dry humour, and lively engagement that earned her the distinction of one of the best orators of her august world-leader peers, even if she does often have to check herself from lapsing into condescension and sanctimony when provoked.
She is incredibly fond of herbal decoctions ("teas"), drinking numerous varieties of them all throughout the day, in nearly any situation imaginable. Though she does occasionally enjoy other beverages, such as liquor, she vastly prefers tea over all alternatives. Certainly not unusually for a Nymphonian, she enjoys mild flirting and courtship with close acquaintances. Though much of her average day is spent on the administrative duties she assigned her position, in what spare time she has, she frequently reads, pens fictional literature (under a pseudonym), constructs and tends to small vivaria, makes her own teas, and meditates. She also has a few intentional verbal tells in her address of others that clues them in to the sentiment behind her words, primarily by using different terms of endearment is consistently different ways. For example, whenever she calls somebody dear or sweetheart, it is typically intended to be mildly sarcastic and patronising. Honey and baby are even more sardonic, while anything overbearingly saccharine is downright acerbic. For actual lovers and people she has an emphatic adoration of, she prefers My Dear or My Love.
Abilities:
Although Siylvea does not consider herself to be much of a proper combatant, as Aphroarch she nevertheless lays claim to a host of significantly powerful abilities, considered important for self-defense given both her position as Aphroarch and her propensity for leading near the front-lines of battle, if not necessarily fighting. She commonly carries with her a long, stavelike sceptre that, while primarily ornamental, can be used in combat as a psionic amplifier. Though she favors a wide variety of low-movement combat psionic techniques on the rare occasions she is forced to fight as Aphroarch, her "signature" abilities revolve around electromagnetic radiation in the short-wavelength visible and ultraviolet frequency bands.
Conversely, as Devarchi, Siylvathoria is one of the most powerful psionic beings in the known world, only possibly surpassed by the Speaker of the Scions. As an effective living superweapon, Siylvathoria wields the destructive power of entire militaries at her fingertips, capable as she is of summoning devastatingly energetic storms to ravage the battlefield, or create violently disruptive spacetime-distortion fields around large volumes of space, to name but a few of the superlative powers at the Devarchi's command.