Taranis

How is it that the people who should be the freest of all instead built themselves the most guilded cage?

Tara was raised in the informal capital of the Air Shiji-Long; a gorgeous city built on a floating island high above the clouds, which arose over the course of many millenia around one of their grandest elder temples. In a city founded in spirituality and ritual, it was no surprise that Tara's mother was a high-ranked air priestess deeply devoted to the wind elder. A calm and composed woman, she valued the sancitity of their city, their traditions, air-to-air soulbonding, and loyalty to their elder. Although slightly more progressive, Tara's father moved to their home city after bonding with her mother, giving up a life of travel to become a scholar instead. Although he encouraged Tara's curiousity as a child, he full expected her to grow out of it... And found her curiousity about the ground to be quite troublesome the older she became. 

Tara's parents did love her in their own ways, but were both distant. Being the middle child didn't help the situation either - as Tara was often left to take care of herself or in the care of her eldest sister, who was her complete opposite in nearly every way. 

From a young age, Tara felt a deep desire to leave the city - which felt so restrictive to her. She craved chaos and freedom... She grew to believe that you should question everything, love who you love, and that you owned nothing to the elders: Shiji-Long had long ago become their own creatures and they didn't deserve to be indebted to beings like the elders. To her, the beautiful cities and temples of the Air Shiji-Long were nothing more than guilded cages of their own making. 

Tara chased her first storm as a teenager, returning home days later to the chagrin of her parents, who didn't want to listen to her excited tails and chastized her for disappearing. And for some time, it worked... But as her sister settled down with another Air Shiji and pressured her to do the same following her elaborate, traditional soul-bonding ceremony, Tara found herself frustrated - and even panicked - more often than not. She began to struggle to sleep, staying up late into the night when everyone else was asleep. She bottled up her anxiety, longing, dread, and even weariness, and replaced it with a snippy personality and passive sparks that kept nearly everyone at bay, including the younger brother who loved her dearly. 

One night as a storm passed below their sanctuary, when she felt as though she might burst if she spent another moment locked in the restraints of her homeland, she disappeared into the night and never turned back. Her sister, ashamed, never tried to reach out. Her younger brother, who idolized her, quietly tracked her movements from home and kept in contact with her from time to time... But it was generally done in secret, as her departure was frowned upon by the society she was raised in. 

And although her parents didn't disown her... After traveling Shengdao for some time, Tara realized she had a problem: her soulmate was not an air shiji. Part of the pull she'd always felt was the pull of her soulmate - waiting, grounded on land, for her. Although she could care less who she loved, she actively avoided the pull, because she felt she could never put anyone through the judgement that would come from her family and homeland - or the complete lack of familial support - that would come with being mated to her. For her own sake, she actively avoids her soulmate any time she feels the pull. Knowing that her family already disapproves of her lifestyle and would probably fully disown her if she ever confessed that her soulmate wasn't an air Shiji, she actively avoids both of her parents... Preferring to leave their relationship in limbo rather than confront the truth. 

These days, Tara makes her living chasing storms, using her familiars to warn smaller farms, villages, and unprotected travelers from severe weather. These individuals and towns offer her shelter and a place to stay, as well as donating supplies to her when she stops by. She also takes research assignments and partners with scholars in larger cities like Tianshu to gather information on how storms impact crystal formation, form naturally, and can be influenced by Shiji-Long magic (including air magic). These funds allow her to live the nomadic lifestyle she so deeply desires.