When she is first introduced Arianna is a student in Collegium and also a Rekef sleeper agent, passing information back to the Wasp Empire. She becomes the lover of Stenwold Maker.
Appearance and Personality[]
Arianna is described as pretty without being a cutting beauty like some Spiders. She had copper colored hair she wears short, in the local style of Collegium, and freckles. Like many Spiderlands expats, she vows never to return to her homeland.
Arianna is charming, daring, and calculating. She was trained in subterfuge in the Spiderlands and is confident in her skills. Arianna holds genuine sentiment for her adoptive city of Collegium. While she was happy enough to sell her skills to the Wasp Empire before the War as she thought imperial conquest was inevitable and that Wasps would see the value in the city. She had no desire to participate in the sacking of Collegium and the enslavement of its populace as the Vekken would surely desire. Arianna greatly admires Stenwold Maker for his intelligence and indomitable will.
Plot synopsis[]
Dragonfly Falling[]
Arianna is one of the rekef outlander sleeper agents planted in Collegium posing as a regular student exiled from the Spiderlands. She and her fellow agents Hofi, Scadran, and Graf are activated by Thalric at the start of the first Lowlands War, during the opening days of the seige of Tark. Arianna's brief is to gain access to Stenwold Maker's (a former professor of hers) inner circle and encourge him to take his anti-imperial message to the streets thus creating friction between him and the Assembly. However Thalric misjudges the debate minded citizens of Collegium however and his plan backfires; the Assembly agrees to hear Stenwold precisely because of his rabble rousing. Arianna is given new orders to lure Stenwold, Tisamon and Tynisa into an ambush, but it is unsucessful and all three targets escape while many of Thalrics hired assailants are killed.
Following the failure of his schemes to stifle and silence Stenworld, Thalric reveals his more significant orders to the circle of agents, the plan for the Vekken to besiege the city of Collegium a second time while the empire occupies the Beetle city's greatest allies Sarn. Arianna, Hofi, and Scadran privately balk at these plans, having no desire to see the city destroyed by the vengeful Vekken. The three betray Thalric and try to kill him, of the resulting fight, only Arianna and Thalric survive and the Spider flees Thalric until she runs into Tisamon, who was seeking her to kill her for her betrayal of Stenwold. Arianna witnesses Tisamon's duel with Filise Mienn. Afterwards she convinces the Mantis to let plead her case to Stenwold. They arrive to find Stenwold newly appointed War Master by the Assembly, and Arianna shares news of the coming Vekken attack.
Arianna is imprisoned within Collegium but as the city is dealing with the Vekken siege, no one has time to deal with her. Stenwold visits her and out of a combination of pity and lingering affection he sets her free and they resume their sexual liason.