Aya Naida

1866 - 1887
Aya was born Anette Delaceur on a plantation outside New Orleans. Her mother had been a slave on the plantation and her father was a lecherous French-American owner of that plantation. There's was not a cruel existence, however, and her mother chose not to leave their life when slavery was ended and the Confederacy lost the war. Besides that, she had been having a secret affair with the plantation owner for years and had enjoyed a luxurious position within the household, much to the chagrin of the owner's ailing wife, who had never provided him with children. Anette was her third child with the former slave owner.

Her life was good, for the most part. She was secretly taught to read and write, learned to speak French because half the household spoke it, and trained in the ways of keeping a house. Everything changed when the owner's wife finally passed away. He became morose, sometimes unkind, and then he became enamored with Anette. She'd like to say it was for protection that her mother banished her from the house, but really, it was out of jealousy.  Thrown out onto the unkind streets of the post-Civil War south at just sixteen, she turned to prostitution, where she quickly became one of the leaders of a brothel. She caught the eye of a Setite, Atiq Farad.

After renting her services and getting her interested in the history of Egypt, he eventually revealed himself to her. He ghouled her and she became a servant in the local temple. She spent three years as his ghoul, showing much promise, and was embraced on her 21st birthday. She renamed herself Aya Naida at that time, cutting out all connection with her previous, mortal life.

1887 - 1923
Not long after being embraced, the temple in New Orleans was targeted by hunters and she and Atiq were forced to flee. They went to Chicago. The temple in that city was small, not as stepped in history as the New Orleans one had been, but it was home while they were there. When the Columbian World Fair came in 1893, she performed at night in the Streets of Cairo exhibit. A year later, the same hunters that targeted them in New Orleans routed the temple in Chicago, which prompted them to flee to Alexandria, Egypt. Atiq had become enamored with the idea of returning to the country after the fair, anyway. In Alexandria, she learned to read hieroglyphics and really delved into the history of the Followers of Set, and the mythology they were a part of. She gained her affinity for snakes there, using snake charming acts to lure unwitting tourists.

At some point, she pissed off the elder that ran the temple in Alexandria, and while she survived the conflict, her and Atiq were sent away, and the destination they chose was Haiti.

1923 - 1971
The Setites had one of the Haitian islands to themselves, and the temple on it was truly something to behold. In some ways, she felt closer to Set there than she ever had in Egypt. That said, it was a tumultuous existence because the Serpents of the Light also had a foothold in Haiti and the two sects were in constant conflict. There was time in between to begin developing, beginning to choose a different path, one that she felt was complimentary to her duty to prepare for Set's return. This caused conflict with her sire, who had imagined a different path for her, and she and he began to grow apart.

In the late 1960s, there was a culmination of conflict with the Serpents of the Light. Aya had forged a friendship, unknowingly, with a vampire that was secretly one of their ranks. She had been a pawn in their scheme to infiltrate the Setite temple. It turned into all-out war, and the Masquerade was broken. The Camarilla was pissed, the Sabbat were pleased, and the Followers of Set were hellbent on purging the Serpents. Aya was almost forced into torpor for her part. The temple was abandoned, and Aya almost left Atiq then. Instead, she went with him to Montreal and watched him get enamored with Simon.

When Atiq embraced Simon, Aya decided it was time for her to go out on her own.

1971 - 1995
She went back to Chicago, but the temple was still dead there. She traveled along the West coast, picking up a ghoul in San Francisco along the way. A young, smart woman named Sydney. They lived in LA for a time, but when she went to embrace Sydney, she learned she had infertile vitae, and her ghoul perished in the attempt. Sadness ensued, and she took off into the American southwest, attempting to set up her own cults along the way. The Salton Sea, Phoenix, Tuscon, Santa Fe, El Paso...a trail of blood and failure, abandoned temples either due to hunters, Sabbat, or the Camarilla not wanting her present. In one particular case, it was her own followers that turned against her and drove her out, though she was fairly certain they were influenced by someone.

1995 - 2022
She made her way across Texas and back into Louisiana where it all began. Over 100 years after they had been forced to leave the New Orleans temple, it was mostly abandoned. The Camarilla had control of the city. Her presence was controversial, but she eventually got into good graces with the Prince there and was allowed domain to get the temple up and running again. She began with ghouls, and then attracted young Setites, building a cult of neonates, and then began spreading the token corruption of the clan into the city. Instead of rocking the boat, she let it be a slow burn this time.

At the end, she and another Setite came into conflict, and due to her history with the Serpents of the Light, she was convinced that they had infiltrated her cult. She lost the ensuing fight, and the rest of the cult sided with the other vampire. Rather than be torpored, she fled the city with her last loyal ghoul, and headed for the last known location of her sire's other childe, Simon. Maybe he could use some help with his own cult? After all, what are big sisters for if not to support their younger siblings?