Name: Aelthirë Halzaen Age: 137 (appears late 30s by human standards) Nationality: Former citizen of the Noctis Labyrinthus, now an exile living among Marineer frontier communities near the Mariner Canyons Role: Exiled Scholar-Mother-Keeper of Forbidden Memory -Reserved – Speaks softly and rarely, choosing words with care -Resolute – Accepts exile without regret, even when it costs her comfort -Melancholic – Carries deep sorrow but does not let it turn into bitterness -Protective – Her son is the one thing she will openly defy the world for Aelthirë was once a respected scholar-priestess within a Noctic enclave deep in the Labyrinthus, entrusted with the care of ancestral texts sealed away from outsiders. Her duty was preservation, not interpretation—Noctic law forbade sharing history with non-elves, believing knowledge diluted itself when spoken aloud. Her exile came swiftly and without ceremony. When her relationship with a Marineer man was discovered, the council judged it not as a personal failing but as a contamination of lineage. She was stripped of name-rights, forbidden from speaking the Noctic tongue publicly, and cast out into the canyon world above. She left without protest, carrying only what she could hide beneath her robes—and a child yet unborn. Among humans, Aelthirë lived quietly. She never denied her origins, but she never spoke of them either. She raised Sareth on stories half-told, teaching him survival, observation, and silence. Though she never returned to Noctis, she watches its shadow every night from the canyon rim, knowing she has already paid the price for love. -Never sleeps under open sky — caves or stone walls are required -Writes only at night, claiming daylight “distorts memory” -Refuses to speak Noctic aloud, even when alone -Collects broken pottery shards, repairing them with gold resin -Touches her son’s ears unconsciously, checking they are still “human enough”