Valithria Ryder

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Valithria Ryder is one of the main characters of Scars, and the head of the household in which the story takes place.

Early Life
Valithria was born in Austria in 1935 to Lavinia Ryder. Her father's identity was unknown as was her birth name and she was raised by Lavinia and her wife Naomie. Valithria was homeschooled in her early life so her mothers could avoid revealing their relationship to others. Valithria described her mothers as kind, but is usually tight-lipped regarding any other details.

Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938 and the onset of anti-Romani propaganda caused Lavinia and Naomie to go into hiding. They were eventually discovered in 1941 when Valithria (only six years old at the time) made the mistake of greeting a soldier. Lavinia and Naomie were separated from their daughter and taken to Ravensbrück while Valithria was transported between numerous camps before finally being trapped in Auschwitz in 1942.

Prisoner and Liberation
Valithria spent three years in Auschwitz, constantly hiding and making ill-fated escape attempts. It is not known how exactly she survived as long as she did, as official records seized by Soviet troops stated that she was killed and she did not identify herself by her original birth name after her release.

When she was retrieved by Soviet Troops in 1945, she refused to identify herself at which point the soldier questioning her decided to call her "Valithria" in the absence of any other name to which she adopted. With her refusal to co-operate, there was no way to identify her and the Soviets handed her over to the British. Valithria finally relented and told her identity to an American woman who promised to keep everything about her secret. This woman was able to find the information about Valithria's mothers and that they'd been killed a year prior.

American Immigration and Family Life
Valithria was moved to the United States and placed into a refugee orphanage where she remained until she turned 21, then spent the next 3 years wandering the country and couch-surfing before attending a community college to study psychology.

After leaving college, Valithria adopted an orphaned girl named Tolrah and moved into a two-bedroom apartment to give the girl her own space. Several years later she adopted another girl named Ascentia and moved them into a small house. In 1976, Valithria met a young woman named Megan who was interning at her boss's practice and the two quickly became friends. Megan quickly took to the girls, though they were considerably more wary of her.

In 1977, Valithria adopted yet another girl named Sutanu.

Two years later, Valithria and Megan began seeing each other romantically. In 1984, Valithria announced to her daughters that she and Megan were getting married. While Sutanu was excited at the news, Ascentia and Tolrah openly voiced opposition, claiming that Megan was only a few years older than she was. Animosity grew between Tolrah and Megan, which resulted in Tolrah moving out and keeping contact with her family to a minimum.

In 1990, Valithria discovered Phyaun crawling around the wilderness, clearly feral. With no trace of her parents and Vital Statistics unable to trace her whereabouts, Valithria opted to take her in.

In 1991, Valithria received a call about a particularly troubled young girl named Elethyn, who had been in and out of foster care for most of her life. Seeing a bit of herself in the girl, Valithria opted to adopt her as well.

Personality
Valithria is a generally quiet woman, though she cares deeply for her daughters and her wife. She usually busies herself with her studies and her work, though she takes care to make time for everyone in her house. Valithria spends most of her free time with Phyaun, as she requires the most direct supervision. She spends the least of her time with Tolrah due to the latter's self-imposed estrangement.

Due to her upbringing, Valithria is extremely claustrophobic and does not respond well to unhygienic conditions. She is known to keep her house spotless and doesn't appreciate it when the girls leave messes lying around for too long.

Valithria is known to possess an extremely dark sense of humor, as noted when police threatened to pepper spray her.

Tolrah
Valithria's relationship with her first adopted daughter was strained after she became engaged to Megan, who Tolrah strongly disapproved of. Tolrah left in a huff and barely spoke to them after that. Tolrah only kept in contact with her sisters and neice.

The relationship between Valithria and Tolrah started to mend itself after Tolrah's drug abuse was discovered and she was forced to get help, with Megan being the primary source of Tolrah's care after rehab.

Ascentia
Ascentia is the one to whom Valithria is closest, and seemingly has few complaints about her. When Ascentia gave birth to Magselyn and was forced to move home, Valithria offered to let her live there for free. Ascentia's pride prevented her from taking this, however, and she insists on contributing financially.

Valithria has always been concerned about Ascentia's tendency to go through relationships very quickly, seemingly having a new girlfriend every other week.