I recently joined a second Ars Magica campaign; the story takes place in the aftermath of the Schism War, in an alternate timeline where Rome still reigns supreme.
Nix began life as the daughter of a destitute fisherman and his captive Merrow wife (Merrows are related to Selkies and Swan Maidens, and share a similar mythology). When the faerie inevitably escaped and returned to the sea, Nix’s father gave chase and was never seen again. Nix would have starved if she hadn’t been discovered by her parens, Rubinius of Tytalus, during a coastal raid. He took her to Waddenzee, and she grew up among the raucous, intemperate men of the infamous pirate covenant. Nix was treated like a slave by the resident magi, but the rank-and-file sailors believed her to be their “good luck charm”, and showed her many kindnesses. Two of them in particular — the cook and the carpenter — appointed themselves as her unofficial protectors and father figures.
As the years progressed, Rubinius slipped further into addiction and vice, and his cruelty intensified. Though all of Nix’s (numerous) escape attempts were thwarted, one of them bore unexpected fruit: Nix met her mother, who gifted her a Merrow skinchanger of her own — a white sash — and supplied her with a fae-touched shark’s tooth. She was able to conceal these items from her master, biding her time, until his own carelessness put him at her mercy. As he lay on the floor in a drunken stupor, she cut his throat with the serrated tooth. As is custom in House Tytalus, she was immediately elevated to full mage status, and lauded for her “accomplishment.”
Nix was not interested in sticking around at Waddenzee. She and her two pirate dads left the crew and set out for destinations unknown. Nix is a woman in search of a purpose, with a tendency toward wanderlust. Because of her background, she often serves as a bridge between different factions: faeries and humans, magi and mundanes, lawful citizens and criminals, land and sea. She has excellent conflict resolution skills and is adept at influencing others. She resents authority figures, although she is a faithful devotee of the Roman goddess Salatia, with whom she shares a special bond.