At first glance, Arany is the pleasant, unassuming proprietor of The Book, Bell & Candle. Out of a tiny storefront in the back lanes of Ul’dah, she deals in centuries old texts and relics that have recently flooded the market. Despite the humble location, her work remains in high demand with Ul'dah's wealthiest.Merchants and private buyers from across Eorzea make the trek to her door seeking all manner of esoteric and exotic works. As an elite member of the Order of Nald'thal, she became the premier expert on Thanalan funerary rites both contemporary and ancient. Through this experience Arany developed a discerning eye for detail and craftsmanship. Countless relics and texts have been lovingly restored by her hands. These works are known to sell for princely sums to collectors across Eorzea.Despite this affluent association, she has a positive reputation with the average local. It is well known amongst the city’s poor that they are guaranteed payment if they bring her a scavenged scroll or largely intact artifact. Her more generous payouts are so frequent, many risk facing even the undead in a gamble for treasure.Less well known are Arany’s ties to the criminal world. Her personal motivations remain a mystery, but for the right trade, there is little she wouldn’t do…
Gallery
Trivia
Arany is the last Emissary of Anubys. Worshiped as a Thanalan death god until the fall of Sil'dih, Anubys was supplanted in cultural significance by Nald'Thal.
Aranya is a girl's name of Hindu origin, meaning "wild forest". While Arany is a Hungarian surname that means "golden." Together they are meant to inspire imagery of an important local in the character's origin.
The name of Arany's shop, "Book, Bell, and Candle," refers to a Latin Christian method of excommunication by anathema, imposed on a person who had committed an exceptionally grievous sin. Evidently introduced by Pope Zachary around the middle of the 8th century, the rite was once used by the Roman Catholic Church. Shakespeare also uses the phrase in King John. In Act 3, Philip Faulconbridge says "Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back, When gold and silver becks me to come on."
An eager student of occult lore, Arany hunts down rare or forgotten tomes pertaining to the religious rituals of ancient Thanalan. She zealously hoards the knowledge her painstaking research produces. Aberrations fascinate her for many reasons, not the least of which is because their anatomy is wholly alien and yet, to the insightful, eminently sensible.
Nickname
"Ara" by intimates
Training
Black Mage & Alchemist
Age
47
Race
Elezen
Occupation
Artisan Shopkeep
Underworld Role
Thief
Book
A student of the Frondale's Phrontistery, Arany Vadas met Tristan Mondesir by chance when traveling to Gridania. She had been sent to seek aid in cultivating a more potent strain of Althyk Lavender. They shared a brief exchange at the Botanists' Guild and were surprised to run into each other again at Ul'dah’s Aetheryte Plaza.Ever studious, Arany pursued both alchemy and thaumaturgy, whiling away all her hours in the halls of the Arrzaneth Ossuary. Though her accumulated knowledge was vast, she struggled to disastrous effect when it came to execution. Criticized for lacking the focus and a strong enough will to wield the chaotic forces of fire, ice and lightning, she found herself relegated to the menial work of repairing the guild's ritual paraphernalia.Having recently completed his studies at the Stadium in Sharlayan, Tristan had arrived in Ul’dah seeking to enhance his somanoutics expertise through alchemy. Descended from an ancient line of Mondesir conjurers, Tristan was an outlier among his own kin. To his great shame, he found himself rejected by the elementals. Traditional healing spells drained him of his latent aether; the wounds and illnesses of others becoming his own. Undaunted, he pursued mastery in new the healing arts devised in Sharlayan, trading a wand or cane for nouliths.The two found respite in each other’s company. Arany’s devotion to discovering and hoarding abstruse truths bordered on the fanatical but Tristan admired her passion. She found herself inspired by his own zealous devotion to mastering preventative healing both with his shields and now tinctures. His belief that improvement was a never-ending process restored the hope she held for her future. The two spent increasingly more time studying and playing together, encouraging each other's passions. It was not long before their affection for each other grew into love.
Bell
Arany found support in her practice of thaumaturgy with a secret sub-sect of the guild. Calling themselves the Emissaries of Anubys, they were descendants of black priests from the ancient kingdom of Sil’dih. Preying on her insecurities, their leader, Sokar Khabakar, claimed their deity was the the true god of death and that her struggles were no fault of her own. Under his tutelage, she was given renewed direction and aid in the form of a tincture. It was a largely forgotten Sil’dihn formulation requiring dream flowers, milkroot and the same althyk lavender that lead her to meet Tristan.Under the influence of this tincture, Arany went into a trance like state. It unlocked dormant aetheric pathways, increasing her capacity to channel from the environment beyond that of any of the elders at Arrzanet Ossuary. When Tristan expressed his apprehension about the drug, she attempted to hide her usage from him. As a healer, the toll it took on her was impossible to conceal. In equal parts anger and fear, Tristan confronted her over the attempted deception. Seeking to increase his influence over her, Sokar Khabakar had long goaded Arany into believing Tristan jealous of her success. The two engaged in an explosive argument that effectively ended their relationship.Despite the fissure in their bond, Tristan blamed himself for being the first to introduce Arany to the idea of seeking lost Sil’dihn knowledge. Older and more experienced than she, it had not occurred to him that Arany would take such a carelessly hands on approach her findings. Through his own research, he discovered evidence of a summoning he believed the Emissaries of Anubys were preparing for - one that required a life sacrifice.Working out the time and location, he rushed to Thal’s Respite - once a shrine to Anubys that had been converted by the Ul Sultanate. Through Arany’s enhanced power, the cult sought to summon their deity. He watched in horror as he realized they were in actuality bringing forth a massive voidsent. Arany made a pact to fuse herself with it and allow the entirety of her aether to be consumed.Tristan disrupted the ritual, attacking and catching the cultists unaware. He fired off every conceivable shield in his arsenal in an effort to separate Arany and halt the monstrous transformation. All failed. Fighting off a possessed Arany and the remaining cultists, Tristan made one last despite attempt and cast Benediction. When Arany came to, it was to the blinding white Liturgy of the Bell.
Candle
Within the Order of Nald'thal, few are as respected as the semi-retired thaumaturge, Arany Vadas. After taking on a rogue black mage sect that sought to desecrate Thal’s Respite, none questioned her stepping away from life within the Arrzaneth Ossuary.Knowledge of the altercation did not leave the small circle of the highest members of the order who arranged to have the shrine be purified with fire. When the thaumaturges arrived they found that very ilm of stone had already been scorched black. A warped Sil'dihn scale and cracked cystal foci were all that remained. Local student researcher, Tristan Mondesir, went missing around that time and was presumed dead by many.With a significant stipend, Arany left the oil lit halls of the Ossuary to live a quiet life as a shopkeep with her two assistants.