Deva Velenosa
Description
Wild, untamed, beautiful -- whether discussing the woman's fiery red hair or her temperament, Deva cannot be easily mistaken or forgotten. Fierce green eyes flare with mischief and challenge in equal parts, expressive and captivating. Her slender body is honed for speed and strength, with the long and toned limbs of a dancer. She moves with more predatory grace than a proper woman might, and she often stands in an indolent posture, not bothering to hide her natural disdain of convention. Her thick, vividly crimson hair is usually loose or in practical styles; she seems to have little patience for enduring endless hours of styling to achieve the perfect coiffure. Years spent away from court have sharpened an already rough edge, made evident in the volatile intensity of her gaze, the striking angularity of her face, and the unique collection of scars not always hidden from plain view.
Around her left wrist is a vibrant tattoo of flickering flames: red and orange spikes and peaks, in a seamless wall of painted fire under her skin.
Personality
It's not that Deva sets out to give gray hairs to everyone that cares about her, or that she wants to be a troublemaker... even if those moments are often hilarious. She just loves freedom above all else and instinctively buckles against any kind of constraint ever set down on her, whether it's the polite suffocating rules of noble society or the pragmatic duties set forth for a high born princess. She's passionate and fiery, caring so deeply and fervently about any just cause that piques her bone deep sympathy for individuals fighting for their rights. She does try to restrain herself now and then, knowing how easily a princess can bring scandal down upon House Redrain, but the surest way to make her forget that restraint is to tell her she cannot do something.
Background
Despite the best efforts of Deva's parents and dedicated legions of servants, the young Redrain princess was always an unruly wild child. Deva learned early on that her father found her outbursts and fits of rebellion privately hilarious and adorable, even if his responsibilities as the Prince of Farhaven and high lord of House Redrain meant he was well aware how problematic the young hellraiser might be in the future. By her teenage years, Deva's mother had finally managed to find tutors that could make limited strides towards turning the young hellion into a 'proper young noblewoman', though it's still a rare individual that risks the fiery princess' temper by telling Deva she cannot do something.
Though she'd never admit it, her parents efforts were far more effective than they know. Deva has a firm awareness of the responsibilities of a high born princess of House Redrain, and knowing that the wrong word or scandal could bring down ruin upon her house weighs heavily upon the fiery young woman's mind. But she rankles under the notion that she has to become as repressed and boring as every stodgy southerner, and she can't help it if shocking their sensibilities is hysterical. House Redrain did not become one of the five great houses and control the North by meekly copying southern fashions, as far as Deva's concerned. While she might vehemently deny caring what southerners think about her, she has been careful to avoid creating too embarrassing of a scandal.
While publicly Deva might give her twin brother Darren grief for possessing the audacity to be born a few minutes before her and rob her of a chance of ruling over House Redrain, privately the young woman knows that heavy is the head that wears the crown. More to the point, watching her father constantly get into exhausting meeting after exhausting meeting, being high lord seems like no fun at all. Just no one better tell her that she's incapable of leading if she wanted to. That would sound suspiciously like a challenge, and Deva likes nothing more than a challenge.
