Meresankh of Annu (which would later be known as Heliopolis) was born to nobility in the Egyptian city of Annu in 2360 BCE. Her father was a high ranking priest; her grandfather was in the court of xxxxxxxx. She was made Virehnai in 2343 BCE by Sekhemkare of Hut Ka Ptah. He was a merchant, and traveled extensively. His sire was one of Khnurn’s favorite children, Khety, who was biologically one of his grandchildren.

After being spurned by her noble human family, she went to Sekhemkare’s sire’s clan, headed by Khety, and quickly ended up in a relationship with him, if you could call it that.

Meresankh’s life soon revolved around Khety’s. She longed for his touch if he was absent – and simultaneously dreaded it while he used her. During his absences, she realized the power he had over her. For instance, he drank from her, but didn’t allow her to drink from him in return, claiming that privilege was his primary wife’s alone. It may have been, but it left her unequal. Khety initiated their encounters, not Meresankh. Meresankh was to stay with the other women unless he wanted her, which galled her. Meresankh was of noble birth; she had an expectation of equality that went to every area of her life, and when she became part of Khety’s clan, and his harem, she had no clue that he would eventually rule every facet of her life. If she was happy, it was because he allowed it. If she enjoyed their encounters, it was because he chose her to. He could just as easily cut her off from everything, or cause her pain for pain’s sake. What the rest of his harem and ‘family’ didn’t understand was why Meresankh and Khety danced the dance they did between them; none of his other wives had issues with him; he didn’t ‘rule’ over them or ‘lord’ over them in the way he did Meresankh. All knew that when Khety was engaging with Meresankh, it bordered on obsession, and they were locked out. They didn’t like it one bit, and outside of the harem, a dim view was taken of it, too. One thing they ALL knew was that it was detrimental to their Clan and their family dynamics. He was insanely jealous when it came to Meresankh.

The best way to describe their relationship was a ‘volatile dance,’ in which Meresankh was inequal. The relationship between them lasted 31 years; a long time in human years; not very long in the span of a Virehn. His primary wife, Hemetawy, had been that for over two hundred years, and they’d been lovers long before that.

Their relationship ended – abruptly and violently in 2312 BCE. Meresankh realized she had a problem, and she resolved it by killing Khety. It came exquisitely planned and executed. Meresankh ran then; first to Byblos, in Lebanon. It was here she came to grips with what she’d done and why, and by 2311 BCE, had established a new life…and identity.

When she left Byblos in 2298 BCE for the capital of the Assyrian Empire - Nineveh - she went there as Aramina of Byblos. She had a new name, a new outlook on life, and had resolved to never, ever let any other Virehn ever use her again as Khety had used her. She resolved to always have the upper hand in any situation or relationship

Meresankh-turned-Aramina had many fateful days in her very long life; one of the most fateful would be that day in 690 BCE when she stumbled upon a murder not far from her home. Aramina found the barely still-breathing body of one of the king’s guardsmen perilously clinging to life in an alleyway. Aramina looked at him critically. He looked to be around 30; surely not much older than that. He was sturdily built, of average stature, olive skin, dark hair, short beard. Big feet and nose, she chuckled to herself. It might be useful to have one such as him around, both for his knowledge and connections, along with any…other…attributes…she might discover he possessed. Aramina turned the man. That man? Today, he was known as Arjun Khatri; he would change his name to Alban Casimir once he moved from Assyria. One day, he would be known by Virehnai the world over as Ari Cottrell, first as the head of the Velascar Company…and then as head of VarenCorp.

This day, however, a man owed him a large sum of money, and decided it was easier for Arjun to be dead instead of to pay it back. Arjun was grateful to his sire that he didn’t die that day, and despite the many ups and downs of his relationship with his sire…he forever remained grateful. So much so that the nickname she gave him in moments of shared pleasure…Ari…he kept.

At the time of her death at the hands of Ari, she was one of the oldest, if not THE oldest Virehn currently alive, and was only three steps removed from Khnurn, one of the First Flames.