Decades ago, a child was born. This would not be such a grand event, if the child was not Fated to become one of the Sidereal Exalted, the Viziers, the keepers of Fate. She would be a Joybringer, a Chosen of Venus. She grew up in a relatively peaceful part of Creation, so she was checked up on from time to time but mostly left alone until she grew up.

But Creation in the Second Age does not play nice. Nobody gets out unscathed, and for young Estela, that tragedy would manifest in the death of her Mother when she was a mere six years old. Soon after, her Father, consumed with grief and mad from loss, ran off, shouting something about bringing her back. Estela did not know then, but by that time, her father had fallen in with a Dragon-Blooded Necromancer

For weeks, the child was alone. She was able to eat what meager supplies were still in the house, but after a few weeks, she went hungry. Two months went by. Estela did not leave the house-she had been taught not to wander far without her parents. Desperation saw her almost ready to abandon those rules when a knock came on her door. A wealthy patron who lived a few days away had knocked, curious that the home seemed abandoned. “Where are your parents?” The wealthy woman asked. Poor Estela broke into tears.

The woman wisely decided to take Estela and more or less adopt the child. She grew up learning the many arts of dance, music, poetry, and more. She took her lessons gracefully, and grew up to be the sweetest, most well-behaved young woman that her adopted mother ever knew. Her adopted mother had no children of her own-but if rumor was true, it was not for lack of trying.

An orphanage was built, around the time Estela was a teenager. Within days, the place was filled to capacity, and one of the few staff members was a man Estela recognized, and yet didn’t. Her curiosity gripped her, and she investigated the place. She learned the identity of the man-her father. And she found a large supply of a lethal poison stashed in the basement. Whatever was planned, it couldn’t have been good. But without the skill or resources to do anything herself, instead, she hatched a daring plan. Rather than take some of the poison and show the authorities, she took a vial and stashed it in a potted plant. That same night, she convinced her adopted mother to encourage the local law enforcement to investigate the place. When they did, they found the stashed vial, and used it as a reason to investigate more closely.

What was the dark, insidious plan? Estela learned later that her father had been brain-washed by a Dragon Blooded Necromancer, Ravina Iselei, and the pair planned to poison the orphaned children-many of them made orphans by Ravina-in an effort to curry favor with a powerful undead and gain more knowledge of necromancy. Estela’s efforts stopped that plan cold. Ravina escaped, but her father was arrested and put to death. The night the dark plan was uncovered, Estela took her Second Breath, Exalting as a Sidereal-a Joybringer.

Her adopted mother took over the orphanage, using her other business ventures to finance the place, but Estela was found by a messenger from Yu-Shan and taken to Heaven. It was sad to leave, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She parted ways with her mother amicably, telling her nothing of her new fate as a Sidereal. Her mother reminded her that she always had a place back home. But as if to twist the knife, one of the first things she was taught in Yu-Shan was how people wouldn’t remember her. She wanted to murder the poor elder Sidereal that told her that one.

Her training in heaven was intense, but she took to her lessons swimmingly. Her background as a noblewoman’s child-adopted or not-made it far easier for her to absorb the knowledge presented to her, whether academic or practical. Her lessons in astrology made her gleeful-she remembered the name of Ravina. How that woman took her father from her. The Bronze Faction of Sidereals had laid a few blessings on her stars, so Estela took a different tactic-cursing her underlings. She had many mortal allies, and slowly, Ravina learned what the old saying of ‘whatever can go wrong, will’ really meant.

When she completed her training and began her work as a Sidereal, she dedicated herself to helping those who were in a position like she was-orphaned, by accident or design. She learned two lessons that classes never could: 1: You can’t change Creation on your own, and 2: you can’t do anything without pissing someone off. Weighing her options, she allied herself not with the gods of Humanity-as her dedication to orphans might suggest. Oh no, the God of Orphans was in that Bureau, and she immediately realized that they wouldn’t get along-her end-game saw him out of a job, more then likely. Instead, she found allies in the Bureau of Heaven. Her work found her support among gods of brotherhood, companionship, and of course, family. Abstract gods, sure, but powerful gods. Gods that aided her. Gods that defended her from the Bureau of Humanity when the God of Orphans wanted to chew her out.

And, she found a lover. Among the gods of abstract concepts, family was another abstraction. And the god of that particular abstraction fell in love with Estela. At first, the Joybringer was shy, and hesitant to respond to the god’s advances. In time, the two became close. VERY close, to the point where the God gave Estela a very grand gift-a massive Celestial Manse to call her own.

She has no intention to join either the Bronze Faction or the Gold, though that hasn’t stopped both from trying. Doubly so now that she has such a grand Manse. She tries her damnedest to stay out of it, since she already has enough allies and enemies, but she may not get a chance to stay neutral for much longer…

It has been 30 years since Estela joined the ranks of the Viziers, and already, she’s seen enough politics, combat, love, hate, and more for several lifetimes. She has several centuries to go. Some days, even she wonders if she can make it.