Spica was originally from a small village of merfolk and Aventi somewhere on the SRR plateau. The aventi there, were in the minority and some of the merfolk still considered them as 'second class citizens' even though they were officially now considered as equal. When young, Spica's best friend had been a girl merchild who was roughly her age, and they were inseparable, playing, exploring the surrounding area, and getting into trouble together.
They grew up together, and one day, Spica's friend, Vydia, told Spica that she was falling in love with her and wanted to take their relationship to a completely new level. Spica was rather taken aback with that and ended up telling Vydia that she'd have to think about it. What she didn't tell Vydia was that she (Spica) was afraid if what the more conservative merfolk and her fellow Aventi would think of two girls, one merfolk, the other aventi, getting together like that. Aventi were expected to be with other aventi and make more aventi. Vydia was rather upset with Spica's reply and swam off.
The next day, Spica had decided 'to heck with it' and tell Vydia that she would … even if they were exiled .. at least they'd be together. But, before she had a chance to find Vydia and tell her, the entire village was attacked by sahuagin. Spica isn't quite sure, exactly how she escaped the carnage, maybe she fended off her attackers with her growing magic, but, however, she managed to survive and get away in an attempt to get help. Not many were so lucky. The sahuagin sacked the village and took away virtually all the inhabitants, both dead and living. Spica searched what was left desperately hoping to find Vydia but to no avail. Rescue was out of the question as she had no idea where the raiders had come from so she had to realise that she had lost her friend and potential lover for ever.
With a strong hatred for sahuagin in her heart, she set off to go looking but, as days turned into weeks, without any luck, she had to give up the search. She also had to quest for stronger magic and that meant gaining coin. So, the best thing she could find, was learning to be a ship's mage and navigator. She also passed herself off as human as she wasn't sure what would happen if she admitted she was Aventi.
Many voyages later, on merchant ships, sailing around the SRR and the occasional trips to the lands of Vorusand Eccles, she learnt new spells, (when she had the coin to be able to buy the scrolls), honing her skills and selecting spells in order to benefit her shipmates and fight sahuagin. She was piloting the 'Defiant', during the night watch, as second mate, (she preferred the night as the daylight was a bit bright - sometimes she wore an eyepatch so she would stay dark adapted in one eye) when the ship was attacked by pirates. The crew were alerted and the fight started, Spica used nearly all her spells fighting off the invaders but was knocked unconscious during the fight. Maybe she had been left for dead but, when she regained consciousness, the ship was flooding and going down. Being Aventi, drowning wasn't a problem but the increasing pressure could be. She had to quickly get out of the ship, pausing only to grab her spellbook, and using her last magic missile to 'put the ship's cat out of her misery' before the creature drowned. Having to kill that cat, which she had been very fond of, still affects her to this day. Also, she had no idea what had happened to the rest of the crew.
She escaped the ship but her spellbook had never been meant to be underwater for this long and the pages were rapidly disintegrating. She frantically memorised as many spells from it as she could, then consigned the book to the deeps. Swimming to the surface, she realised she was a long way from land, somewhere over the deep ocean, and surviving long enough to complete a long swim could be … rather problematical. However she had to try.
Several days later, she was near exhaustion from lack of food and fresh water. She closed her eyes to rest while floating just under the water, wondering if she was going to wake up again. However she did, when she was prodded by a dolphin's beak. Looking around while treading water, she discovered she was surrounded by an entire pod. That pod helped her get to a small island where she was taken in by the villagers. That was where she heard of the Mage Tower in Duirt and, after writing back all her spells into a new spellbook, with the help of the local mage, and nearly all the coin she had left, resolved to go there and get replacements for the missing spells. She was paying her way by pearl diving in the lagoon - still not sure that she wanted to reveal herself as an Aventi.
She was in the process of negotiating passage on a ship, when she encountered an adventuring party who were hunting pirates. It turned out that the people who had hired them were the pirates. After defeating them, she managed to get a free trip to Duirt by working passage on the 'Queen's Noose' under Captain Molly.
Now she's here looking for admittance to the Tower in order to regenerate her entire spell list and still wanting revenge against sahuagin. She wears a necklace that has been threaded with a tooth from every sahuagin she has killed.
She's delighted that she has met other Aventi here and realises that she doesn't have to hide who she is anymore. She was apprenticed to Master Malak Treny and has a good relationship with him and his closest friend, and now wife, Aleksara Treny (nee Atianna), She also attends classes at the Tower to catch up on stuff she missed, mostly magical theory, owing to her piece-meal education, including classes on Metamagic and Astronomy from Professor Phillip Hawking
Employed on the Atianna ship 'The Queen's Noose' under Captain Aleksara, as helm/navigation officer (and First Mate) with the rank of First Lieutenant
Has recently discovered that her friend, Vydia, is still alive and had been leading a bunch of refugees who had been hiding from the sahuagin. With the help of other adventurers, Spice helped get them over the deeps and they're now settling in the Mer Kingdom, off the coast of Duirt. The two of them plan to establish a learning centre for arcanists and psions as it appears that the mer kingdom is lacking in both. She wants to call it the Pearl Tower and hopes it will be similar and complementary to the Ivory Tower.
Spica used to live in a boat off the Western Docks, called the 'Happy Endings' which was gifted to her by Aleksara. The boat basically is a flat decked sailing ship with two holds, forward and aft, the bridge in the middle, and the living area between the two holds. The forward hold is mostly occupied by Spica's water tank that she uses to swim, dance and play in as well as an arcane area for scrying etc, while the aft hold is full of stuff and ballast to counter the weight of all that water. As a consequence the boat rides low in the water. The living quarters is big enough for two people and is where Spica keeps her library of books and charts. The chart table dominates the centre of the room. Aft of that is the sleeping area with a bed as well as room for a couple of hammocks with the head next to it while forward is the small galley - which Spica rarely uses as she can't cook very well, and a small storage area for clothes etc as well as access to the forward hold.
The water tank itself is six foot high, six foot wide and nine feet long, taking up most of the space and is full of fresh, clean, seawater. Spica can enter the tank, either through the top hatch, or through a small entry way at the top that she has to crawl through. A ladder leads to a platform which has just enough clearance from the roof for her to lie down then squirm into the water. The other alternative is to fill the tank to the brim, leaving no air pocket, then use Dimension Door spells to enter and exit.
She also has a fondness for chocolate, bacon, and the pastries at the Golden Lion Tavern and Inn.
If she uses Alter Self to transform to a mermaid, her tail colour is ice-blue.
Spica used to work as a teacher, teaching pre-pubescent merfolk and Aventi children (as well as one halfling). After marrying Vydia, the pair were involved in surveying and setting up the new Aventi settlement of Sanctuary where the pair now live with their two children. Harmony and Melody Capella. There, they establised the Pearl Tower which Spica now runs.