Character History: Livianna Mahelt is the daughter of Edward Julius Mahelt, a wealthy industrialist who made his fortune through the production and trade of cotton, and his wife Elisaveta. Livvi was their third child, born three years after twins Lucien and Lucreci, and her early childhood was typical for a girl of her age and social class. She was taught at home by a governess from an early age, and in addition to her academic studies, Livvi also learnt needlework, dancing and music. Her relationship with her parents was always rather distant, as her father spent much of his time working, and her mother was more concerned with the demands of high society by her children, but she was close to her sister, her governess and many of the others who worked in their household, and she looks back on those first years as a happy time.
When Livvi was ten, she began to see things that weren't there, waking dreams. At first, she kept very quiet about these images, knowing it wasn't usual and hoping they would simply go away. It wasn't to be. In fact, they increased in frequency and intensity, becoming more violent and frightening in nature. She decided to confide in her mother. Despite the fact that their relationship wasn't a particularly close one, Livvi trusted her, and was confident that if anyone could rid her of these visions, Elisaveta Mahelt could.
Imagine Livvi's shock, then, when upon hearing her describe what she had seen, her mother burst into tears and sent her away to her room.
It was her father who explained it to her, later that day. He told her that she was beginning to manifest Gifted: that she had abilities beyond what was normal, and that would cause some people to admire her, and others to envy her, and that while her visions weren't in themselves dangerous, they probably weren't the full extent of her extraordinary gifts, just the beginning. Livvi would have to go away to school, to be with others like her and learn to control her abilities; it was the only way of ensuring that she would be safe.
It wasn't as if she hadn't heard of the Gifted. They weren't talked about much, but Livvi listened, and she knew that there were plenty of things they weren't allowed to do, and that some people were envious but more were afraid. She began to wish she hadn't told anyone at all, but her father, who loved Livvi dearly, found a place for her at the best and most expensive school for gifted children in the country, Charrington College for Girls.
For the most part, Livvi enjoyed school. She was able to learn just as much as she wanted, she developed solid friendships with the other girls, and in time she was even able to get past the homesickness that had plagued her in the beginning. She found the place intellectually and socially engaging, and certainly not the sort of horror she had been led to believe it might be. However, for all the students, using whatever unusual gifts they possessed was strictly forbidden, and there were classes for those who hadn't mastered conscious control, with the sole aim of stopping spontaneous manifestations of talent.
Livvi wasn't ever able to stop the images she saw from appearing, but she learned to keep quiet about them, and to distinguish the real from the unreal even under stress, and she began little by little to understand how this world she could perceive, the world of 'thought behind thought' as she called it, operated. After a year at the school, she also realized she had control of another gift, that of healing. A friend, Francesca, had fallen ill with influenza, and Livvi sat at her bedside, wishing fervently that she could do something to help her, when suddenly a blue light sprang from the palms of her hands, connecting her to the other girl, and instinctively Livvi knew that she had to draw up the sickness through that connection, to make Francesca well again.
Livvi Mahelt II
Livianna Mahelt is the daughter of Edward Julius Mahelt, a wealthy industrialist who made his fortune through the production and trade of cotton, and his wife Elisaveta. Livvi was their third child, born three years after twins Lucien and Lucreci, and her early childhood was typical for a girl of her age and social class. She was taught at home by a governess from an early age, and in addition to her academic studies, Livvi also learnt needlework, dancing and music. Her relationship with her parents was always rather distant, as her father spent much of his time working, and her mother was more concerned with the demands of high society by her children, but she was close to her sister, her governess and many of the others who worked in their household, and she looks back on those first years as a happy time.
When Livvi was ten, she began to see things that weren't there, waking dreams. At first, she kept very quiet about these images, knowing it wasn't usual and hoping they would simply go away. It wasn't to be. In fact, they increased in frequency and intensity, becoming more violent and frightening in nature. She decided to confide in her mother. Despite the fact that their relationship wasn't a particularly close one, Livvi trusted her, and was confident that if anyone could rid her of these visions, Elisaveta Mahelt could.
Imagine Livvi's shock, then, when upon hearing her describe what she had seen, her mother burst into tears and sent her away to her room.
It was her father who explained it to her, later that day. He told her that she was beginning to manifest Gifted: that she had abilities beyond what was normal, and that would cause some people to admire her, and others to envy her, and that while her visions weren't in themselves dangerous, they probably weren't the full extent of her extraordinary gifts, just the beginning. Livvi would have to go away to school, to be with others like her and learn to control her abilities; it was the only way of ensuring that she would be safe.
It wasn't as if she hadn't heard of the Gifted. They weren't talked about much, but Livvi listened, and she knew that there were plenty of things they weren't allowed to do, and that some people were envious but more were afraid. She began to wish she hadn't told anyone at all, but her father, who loved Livvi dearly, found a place for her at the best and most expensive school for gifted children in the country, Charrington College for Girls.
For the most part, Livvi enjoyed school. She was able to learn just as much as she wanted, she developed solid friendships with the other girls, and in time she was even able to get past the homesickness that had plagued her in the beginning. She found the place intellectually and socially engaging, and certainly not the sort of horror she had been led to believe it might be. However, for all the students, using whatever unusual gifts they possessed was strictly forbidden, and there were classes for those who hadn't mastered conscious control, with the sole aim of stopping spontaneous manifestations of talent.
Livvi wasn't ever able to stop the images she saw from appearing, but she learned to keep quiet about them, and to distinguish the real from the unreal even under stress, and she began little by little to understand how this world she could perceive, the world of 'thought behind thought' as she called it, operated. After a year at the school, she also realized she had control of another gift, that of healing. A friend, Francesca, had fallen ill with influenza, and Livvi sat at her bedside, wishing fervently that she could do something to help her, when suddenly a blue light sprang from the palms of her hands, connecting her to the other girl, and instinctively Livvi knew that she had to draw up the sickness through that connection, to make Francesca well again.