Linnea Ban-Fajir

Appearance
Ban-Fajir has the typical height for a Nephilim, cut only by the fact that she is, of course, Fatebound. Standing at 6'2", she has long legs, a tucked waist and small breasts, and that perfect flair of hips. She's not thin or fat, but rather maintains that in-the-middle lusciousness that makes men (and women) want to dig their fingers into her tempting skin. Beautiful, yes, the woman is definitely beautiful, but was there really a question of it? She is a Nephilim, after all.

Pale blue skin, eyes that switch from dusky storm to tropical ocean to deep evergreen forest in color depending on her mood, and a mass of blonde-to-white ringlets just add to her beauty's exotic nature. And she isn't afraid of herself, dressing in close that accent all those curves and colors, and walking with her head tall, shoulders straight, and back full of pride touched with a dancer's lithe grace.

Fae
The first pure-fae child of a pure-fae Nephilim and his Talebound wife and the first grandchild of the indomitable Nin-Shubur - Queen of the Jeweled City Uruzazalag - Ban-Fajir was an instant joy to her family. Unfortunately, that joy was incredibly short-lived as the Darkening settled over the Labyrinth when she was six years old. Her memories of that time are small and distant but terrifying.

After her parents and grandmother fell to the Dark, Ban's aunt - Nin-Baradari - and uncle - Amar-Damu - saw the effects manifesting on their small niece and did the only thing they could - they kidnapped her and stole her away with them and the other refugees to Tir Na Nog. There, Ban stayed and lived and learned under their loving care.

Nin-Baradari is a practiced sorceress from the ancient days of the Tower and she taught her niece the arts of the Crown of Marduk as well. Still, her wanderlust was strong and about three-hundred years ago, she left Tir Na Nog to return to Earth. Amar-Damu followed shortly after, and Ban was left to train and learn in Findias on her own.

Curious by nature and needing to tie up the loose ends of her past as well as filled with a desire to see her lost family again, Ban eventually also made the choice to leave Tir Na Nog and trace her way towards her parent's home in the darkness. Nothing in the Labyrinth, unfortunately, goes as planned, and after a year of searching, she was forced to find her way back to the surface. During this journey, she found a dying human woman who she made a bargain with, changing both of them forever.

Mortal
Erin Simmons wouldn't go so far as to call her daughter a mistake, but she would call her an unfortunate surprise. It's not that she doesn't love Linnea, but when she and her husband Roy accidentally continued the Simmons line, she decided on her daughter's destiny and tried to force it on her from that point on.

And so it was from a young age that Linnea was instructed on Dokkalfar, how to fight them, and how to deal with the treacherous roads of the Labyrinth. Even so, in her small moments of free time, she yearned to do other things such as dance, and for a few short months with the help of her indulgent father, even managed to take dance classes without her mother knowing.

Shortly after she turned fifteen, however, her life changed completely. Erin was an accomplished Helldiver, and Roy paled in comparison. The Dokkalfar, enjoying their matote with Erin, brutally murdered her husband in her home while she was away on a dive, and it was Linnea who found him, and Linnea who had to deal with her mother being out of communication for weeks, and Linnea who spent six months in a foster home before her mother could regain custody of her.

Unsurprisingly. the situation put an even larger strain on her relationship with her mother, who pushed her even more firmly into the role of a huntsman to get revenge for her husband's death. Having no other choice, Linnea put her goals of college and dance school aside and followed her mother's path into the Dark.

Now, twelve years later after that fateful change, Linnea barely scrapes by, balancing being a cave dive instructor with helldiving with her own crew. Her long-time relationship with fellow Helldiver David Jones dwindled apart a few months prior to her Fatebinding, and it was at that point that Linnea decided it was time for a change and to do what she wanted for once. Unfortunately, "one last dive", almost cut off that future in one deadly blow.

Fatebound
Linnea and Ban-Fajir made a deal of necessity. The human, on the verge of death, wished to survive. The Nephilim, on the verge of darkening, wished to find the surface. It was nothing short of Fate that they happened to be in the same place at the same time to offer each other hope.

Now, freshly Fatebound, two strong-minded women have merged into one and they both know exactly what they want from this life - to take hold of their own fates and make something great for themselves.

Connections

 * Nin-Baradari: Sorcery mentor and aunt, this ancient Nephilim born during the height of the Empire is as close to a parent as Ban-Fajir has. Directly responsible for convincing her brother, Amar-Damu, to kidnap their niece and steal her away from the Labyrinth into Tir Na Nog, Nin-Baradari took her responsibility to the child seriously by personally raising her and teaching her the Crown of Marduk. Ban loves her like a mother, and fondly refers to her as "Aunt Nin".
 * Abd-al-Rad & Hadiyya: Ban's Nephilim parents. She loves them in the idealistic way that children taken from their parents and raised on stories of their greatness do. In some ways, though, her relationship to them is more as if they were heroes of old, long dead, than living people that she cares for.
 * Resh Khamere: In some ways, Ban's views on Resh are similar to her views of her parents. A handsome prince she met as a child and was promised to, she's had over a thousand years to wind up fantasies in her mind about her betrothed. Now that he's flesh and blood in front of her, different and yet similar to the tales she spun for herself, she's not really sure what to do. Resh is quite the embodiment of Prince Charming, but his heart already belongs to someone else, and that makes him off limits, despite the fact that he was promised to her first.
 * Erin Simmons: Linnea's human mother is an obsessive Helldiver and that has put a strain on their relationship from the day little one was born. She loves her mother, sure, but in that exasperated way that people who will never see eye-to-eye do. Now that she's Fatebound, the Nephilim has decided not to bother Erin with tiny details like "Nephilim" and "Dark-touched". There's no good way to do that over e-mail anyway, as the woman has been in Venezuela for the last couple years, fighting the good fight.

People

 * Pearl Spectrum: It's really hard to tell what's with up this Enchanted Maiden. When she's not crying - and rightly so - she has a stiff backbone and is threatening homicide. It's obvious that the rainbow-blooded girl is good at manipulating people, so perhaps it's all a facade. Either way, Ban-Fajir isn't really sure if it's a game, Pearl's bipolar, or just suffering from too much stress, but what she is sure about is that she views the Nephilim princess as competition - again, rightly so - and that's never a fun place to be.
 * Simon: Her first view of Simon was a dwarf with a rifle patrolling the Waypoint like a soldier. However, after he offered to stand up to her being cornered by two Unseelie Nephilim and then laid all the charm in the world on her, Ban is determined to build a friendship. He's a flatterer, a charmer, and filled like his broad shoulders with a dry and rich sense of humor. Plus, he makes really, really pretty things. What girl wouldn't appreciate that?

Courts
In Tir Na Nog, Ban-Fajir spent all her time in Findias. She trained sorcery there and learned of the differences between the Courts more from the ivory tower view of Nin-Baradari than the front-lines of the war. She sees Seelie Court perhaps less idealistically than some on the battlefield, being embroiled in the internal politics of it more thoroughly than those on the front line who get the brutal experience of the war. It isn't the Eternal War that drove Ban away from Tir Na Nog, but instead her own curiosity and desire for answers. She holds little spite for Unseelie likely due to the fact that her aunt and uncle raised her from their own long-lived perspective. That said, she does have a disdain for how easily they toss off things like love and honor in a grab for power, and it frustrates her at how callously others can be tossed aside for rungs on a ladder. Her perspective is likely to change with more genuine personal interactions with members of her court's opposite.

Principles
Seelie Unseelie
 * Honor: Honor is a complicated thing, wrapped up in doing what's right even when you wish to do what's selfish and doing your duty even when you wish to follow your own way. Honor frustrates Ban, and while she does believe in doing what's right over doing what's selfish, she hates the idea that tradition and the decisions her elders make for her could trump her desires and her own path.
 * Love: Ban values love over any other principle. Her youth was filled with stories of her parents' passionate love story, and it's that ideal that has shaped her views. She firmly believes that love triumphs over everything, that the kiss can wake the princess, and that it's the cornerstone of civilization. After all, without love, wouldn't everyone just be animals? It's a strange perspective for a woman who has never experienced true love herself, but perhaps that's exactly why she feels that way.
 * Beauty: Second to that solid cornerstone of love is Beauty. Ban sees beauty as something that is to be nurtured and groomed and perfected, and that ugly things in life are useful but less necessary than those that make your heart ache and yearn like a magnificent painting or an exquisite dance. However, her passion for beautiful things is something she turns inward rather than outward, preferring to perfect the beauty inside her own body and soul than try to change others.
 * Power: Power is as complicated for a Seelie Nephilim as honor is for Ban. She can appreciate the Unseelie's constant grabs for power because she is, after all, a Nephilim. Her people of either court have done the same thing for generations - and their generations are long. However, she cannot abide how power seems to make Unseelie courtiers forget about every other important thing in their life, and she views it in the same way she views her human mother's obsession with hunting Dokkalfar - as an ideal that needs to be tempered with other softer values.
 * Passion: Passion is something that Ban truly appreciates, especially as an accent to love. In her mind, the two compliment each other perfectly - love should, after all, be an all-consuming passion. Plus, when the Nephilim commits to something, she always commits 100%. There is no halfway, not ever, and it is this Unseelie principle she embraces more than any of the others.
 * Change: Change is something that happens, and Ban looks at it with uncertainty. While she is happy to embrace it when it is in her own hands, she's not so happy to just go with the flow. Embracing change without having any control over it is a dangerous proposition, and a risk she would rather not take. Better to let change happen when you want it to, and hold it off until the right moment.

Tropes

 * They say if you Play With Fire then you're going to get burned, but Ban might be the exception. All Aries all the time, this Nephilim doesn't just hate water, she embraces fire. Whether it's through that passionate body, her hot temper, her flaming sorceress crowns, or that wicked mouth, anyone interacting with Ban-Fajir should be ready for a sick burn.
 * Well Excuse Me Princess: Sarcasm and wit doesn't always look good on royalty, but this Nephilim doesn't really care. She takes as good as she gives, and truth be told, likely started it first. Don't let that confuse her for a Royal Brat, though. This girl isn't afraid of hard work or tough times, and that snarky mouth of hers is likely just a cover for a soft heart.
 * A thousand years old might be young for Nephilim standards, but a certain local royal family - especially a specific prince - may have noticed this young lady is All Grown Up. Or maybe he didn't notice and that's just part of the fun, princess.

Theme Songs

 * Main Theme: Alicia Keys - Girl on Fire
 * Motivation: Little Mix - Wings
 * Current Status: Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten
 * Comeback Fight: Tommy Trash - Wake the Giant