Jianna

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Jianna Illustration by suunotshoe Pontifex Populi and Co-Founder of Liber Tenure: 48 BC - Present Born: 70 BC Father: Fabius Mother: Junnia Player: Roses_Of_Ji

Jianna was a Sacerdote, later chief priest (Pontifex Populi), of the Roman Clergy. One of the only plebeian-born priestesses in clergy leadership, Jianna was a loud advocate for plebeian rights and standings. As such, she was also the head of Liber alongside Tonius Popilius.

Biography

Jianna was orphaned as a small child, leading to her living on the streets for a while. She survived due to the help of her childhood friend, Tonius Popilius, and later picked up fortune-telling for money. As she grew up, her devotion to the gods made her join the Roman Clergy. Spending her days as one of the Sacerdotes, always interacting with people, she watched the Plebeians struggle every day. Her heart was torn until one day, while reading the cards, Trivia spoke to her with a new calling - the gods were also unhappy seeing their followers suffer. There was a new task for the Plebeian priestess - she was to become the voice of the people. She needed to start the changes she wanted to see. With this new duty, alongside Tonius, who shared her views, they started Liber - a revolutionary group calling for equal Plebeian rights, named after one of the faces of Bacchus, the patron deity of Plebeians. Liber planned from the shadows, gathering like-minded people under the same goal at night, while during the day Jianna fulfilled her duties as a priestess. As Liber was getting ready to go public, the heretics began to run rampant in Rome, requiring action from the Clergy, which was stretching Jianna thin as she gave her all to both causes. Unfortunately, tired people make mistakes more easily. Liber was discovered, and it led to Jianna being accused of heresy by a suspicious priest, and then by the Pontifex Beneminius Fulminii, who didn't recognise Liber as one of the faces of Bacchus, but called him a new heretical god. The charges, however, were dropped extremely fast and without a trial, due to Jianna's known devotion to the gods among the members of the Roman Clergy, as well as the death of the accuser, Pontifex Beneminius Fulminii. Instead, due to the previous Chief Priest Alba Verus Kaine stepping up to become one of the new Pontiffs Maximus, she was offered a promotion and became Pontifex Populi. She proceeded to fight for Plebeian rights with Liber openly, while also putting her utmost efforts into stamping out the heretics still left in Rome, now bearing even more responsibility in front of the gods. Even in the face of everything that happened in Rome, she remained loyal till the end, always carrying the mission given to her by the Pantheon.

Appearance

Jianna is a rather short, slim woman due to malnourishment when she was a child. Tonius used to joke that a gust of wind would blow her away if she wasn't careful. Ever since she joined the clergy, her situation has improved, however, the damage was already done, so her frame stayed forever petite. Her purple hair goes down to her waist, and it's fine and wavy - sometimes almost puffy, looking like a lilac cloud whenever a breeze blows through it. Her eyes are green, like her father's, and big just like her mother's. She has small lips with a pronounced cupid's bow, and a mole right under it on the right side. Her skin is pale, due to staying in the temples all day, and also because she seems a bit sensitive to sunlight - whenever it's bright outside, it makes her eyes sting, so she prefers to just stay indoors. She wears simple white dresses with a lilac trim, a matching shawl always thrown over her shoulders and covering her head. It was a gift from her then Chief Priest, Alba Verus Kaine, to congratulate her on joining the Sacerdotes. After all, all priests and priestesses had to wear something purple to identify them. With her promotion, she had to buy the new shawl herself after the dust had settled. The old one still lies in her closet, in pristine condition and neatly folded, a reminder of a dear friend and mentor.

Personality

Her heart has always been filled with determination. Jianna believes the most important thing is to proudly stand with what you believe in. This makes her fiercely loyal, whether it is to her friends or to the gods. It causes her to commit to everything she does fully. She would spend whole days at the Temple, only to come back and make plans for Liber with Tonius till the middle of the night. Witnessing so much injustice towards Plebeians as a child, Jianna took a very strong stance on equal rights between them and Patricians. She used her influence as a priestess to help out as much as she could, while secretly figuring out how to fix the unfair system in place. She is extremely pious, believing that everything in the end is the will of the gods - even the cruel things that happen around them. However, that doesn't mean everything is out of their hands - after all, everyone can be an agent of the gods, and it's their responsibility to fight for the better future the divine can offer. Level-headed, mature, and responsible, she prefers for things to be fully planned out rather than taking impulsive action. While empathetic and understanding toward most, she can't bring herself to feel anything other than hate when faced with the heretics - not when they are actively attacking their only true pantheon. The ones she met so far have only ever been truly malicious, not one of them a soul she could understand - thus, this selfish image of them settled in her mind.

Story

Pre-FOTR

Orphaned young, Jianna found salvation in the calling of Trivia. Pushed out to the streets, every day was a fight for survival for such a young child fending for herself. Her parents died in a fruitless war, all of their possessions confiscated by the state, leaving the poor child alone.

If it wasn't for her friend, Tonius Popilius, who regularly snuck out some bread for her and left the back door of their house open for her to sneak in at night and sleep, she would have been long dead. That was, until one faithful day, when Trivia finally called for her. Wandering around, looking for any scraps to eat, she stumbled upon a Romani fortune teller, who was reading the cards in a back alley. Feeling an unexplainable pull, like enchanted, she approached the woman. The cards were speaking to her, whispering about the past, present, and the future. She watched the fortune teller perform the reading for one client, then another, and another, and before she realised, she stood there for over half a day. She might have stood there for even longer if the woman didn't finally approach her herself.

With a mysterious glint in her eye, the fortune teller took her hands and put a deck of cards in them. The same tarot cards she had been using this whole time.

"Now that you understand, go forth, my child."

The voice sounded like mist curling up the walls, a slithering of a snake, moonlight slipping in through the window, and yet, at the same time - it was somehow warm. As Jianna looked up from the cards to meet the woman's gaze again, she was met with nothing. The fortune teller disappeared. The only evidence of her ever being here was the small booth she gave readings from, and the cards in Jianna's hands.

That was the first time she spoke with Trivia.

Thanks to the goddess' gift, Jianna was able to survive by giving readings to people on the streets for a coin or a loaf of bread. As she deepened her faith, she soon joined the Roman Clergy as well. She is a devout follower of all gods, but she never forgot her mission to spread the word of Trivia. Fortune telling is a gift given to her by the gods, and she uses it every day to connect them with the people.

Responsible for rituals and ceremonies, she acts as a guide between heaven and earth, bringing the divine to the common. She takes it upon herself to make sure the word of the gods is communicated properly, and that they are also worshipped as required. For those who cannot speak to the gods directly, she shall act as a messenger through the ways bestowed upon the Temple. And beyond the official rituals, she acts as a medium through readings, giving them out to those who seek to know their fate, wish to hear the will of the gods, or seek advice from the divine.

The Fall of the Republic

[WIP]

Timeskip

[WIP]

Notable Relationships

Tonius Popilius

[WIP]

Alba Verus Kaine

[WIP]

Lucilla Cytheris

[WIP]

Punnia Aurelia

[WIP]