Born in a humble home in Solluhawh - the result of a surrogate birth to two loving fathers (as well as biological mother) - Niyaye grew up surrounded by warmth and laughter. They spent many of their days being juggled between their fathers, who both keep occupations within Tucruitora; from the Stilted City with Emory, exploring the bookshelves in the archives of the college and looking through pages of political jargon and understanding not a single thing (but mindful to pay attention when their father went on about it, due to its importance and his passion); to the depths of the Captital City with Sut, walking through the many stalls of the Market Plaza and Ptithian-watching both the locals and travellers alike, practicing their bartering skills with the merchants and checking out the latest doodad from beyond the city.

When their jobs allowed, anyway.

Sometimes, the work would take them beyond the city (or became too dangerous, in Sut's case), and on those days, Niyaye would stay in their tiny home, wishing a good day for his fathers. He understood, of course, and never felt left behind, as what they did was important work. In fact, when those days came around, Niyaye would make meals for his fathers to take on the road, as more likely than not, they'd be in too much of a rush to even remember to eat. Through this, Niyaye discovered a love and passion for cooking, and as he grew older and started taking less trips with his fathers to work (not out of unwillingness, mind you; as with most adolescents, he simply was beginning to find his own way in life), he spent more time honing his skill in the kitchen, which eventually culminated in him running his own stall in the Captial for a time, using the population as his test audience for new recipes.

Eventually, after years of having a modestly successful stall, Niyaye found herself longing to expand her craft. Though the various merchants and travellers introduced her to newer kinds of cuisine, the likes not found commonly in Tucruitora, she would look to the borders of the city and wonder what it would be like to experience it in their places of origin, to visit the various kingdoms and learn from their people, become a proper culinarian. She was of the age to fly outside the nest, as it were, so with the blessing of her fathers, Niyaye packed a bag or two and set out into the world, aiming to become a culinarian of renown.

Through the ancient method of throwing a dart at a map, Niyaye decided to begin with Sequ'Manko, an exciting prospect considering the kingdom was so drastically different from the one they grew up in. It was there that they meet Mese, who would come to be a close friend and also the means for them to expand on their craft (and for her to finally get a cook that actually knew what they were doing; we don't talk about the previous incident).