Ravara Leung

Born in a small village that exists just outside of Nanjing, northern China in 1822- Ravara’s world was very small. She had her maternal grandparents, her parents and her little brother. She had heard conversations from her parents about conflict happening but she was too young to fully understand. She lived just outside of the capital of Nanjing, playing/getting annoyed by her little brother, singing with her mother, taking care of her grandparents, and watching her father work.

December 13, 1937 was the end of her small world, and the start of a much more sinister one. Her grandma and grandpa took Ravara and Elanelis to a hiding place and told them not to look, but Ravara didn’t listen. She managed to peek through and watched as two men assaulted and killed her mother and made her father watch, after killing him as well. It didn’t take long for the two men to find their hiding spot, but their grandma and grandpa forced them to run away as far as they could- so they did. Even over the chaotic screams and machine fire, two gunshots distinctly stood out above the rest. Little to her knowledge, the tragedy had spontaneously created a connection with a deity whose realm was doomed to extinction, as both of their pain had formed a bond with one another.

Ravara eventually found her way to the safe zone with her little brother, despite the name of the zone, she saw that the troops were targeting primarily women and children, she couldn’t feel safe anywhere knowing it was just her and her brother. Until a dream she had as she slept, she felt a presence that had told her that she was always protected- she had assumed that her family had come back in her dream to say goodbye. It was then she discovered new abilities and had always felt protected, no matter how many horrors she had witnessed. Days dragged onto weeks, which dragged onto months, eventually the Japanese had left, but her home wasn’t home anymore.

After staying in Nanjing, and venturing along the coast, Ravara struggled to find food and shelter for herself and her little brother. It wasn’t until 1965 where she managed to find passageway onto a ship with many others trying to immigrate to America. During her travels along the coast she had come in contact with a family friend in America who was able to help them get documents to get to the mainland of San Francisco and get a green card.

Ravara is thankful to know that Elanelis has little memories from their time home because of how young he was. Only remembering vague glimpses of fond memories with their parents and grandparents. Elanelis has a beautiful family and Ravara continues to be protected by her diety, unbeknownst to her.

Ravara has always been relatively introverted, even as a little girl. However she was more rambunctious during her youth. She enjoyed keeping to herself and spending time with her family in their village. Though the tragedy of her family's death, as well as the horrors that she had experienced, had caused her to become guarded. Having to scramble for food and shelter for her little brother and herself created a much more panicked and anxious mind within her. She remembers a great deal of the trauma that she endured during her family's death, but especially the aftermath of their deaths. Her time in the safe zone and the time she had spent out of it, and many of the dark torturous massacres. While she tries to hide her trauma responses to loud noises like gunshots and fireworks, they still maintain control over her. Though her brother knows that her time spent protecting and caring for him has affected her, he cannot fully comprehend how much pain she has endured.

Despite her recluse nature and a great deal of trauma, she has not let it harden her heart. She is dedicated to living her life peacefully and caring for her niece and nephew. She meticulously makes sure that they are not involved too deeply with the magical world, despite being magical creatures themselves. Ravara only wants her brother and his family to live in safety and security. She loves to sing and the freedom that she feels when she does. Her past has not destroyed her ability to love and feel compassion for others. She has an acute sense of knowing when someone is from a foreign land and often tries to provide them comfort.

As much as she tries to move on and let go of her past, she cannot forgive many of the things that the Japanese had done to her home, her family, and herself. Alongside many other Chinese citizens, Ravara was enraged when Japan faced no repercussions or justice from the evil that they had wrought. Ravara does not like to talk about her experience in her homeland but will talk about journeying to America and their genral immigration story.

Whenever the occasion arises where her niece, nephew, or brother asks about her parents and their village, she only tells them pleaseant memories because it's important to her that they only know of her home the way she would like to. It's also important to her that Elanelis has the life that was deprived of them both when they were kids.

Ravara lives in a world that is parallel to ours, she lives on planet earth with humans. The difference between her world and ours is that Ravara’s earth protects magical creatures with a veil to hide their true identities. Only humans who have prolonged awareness of the veil can bypass its filter. Those who cannot bypass the barrier will see magical creatures as fellow humans.

During the San Francisco Stock Market Crash of 2008, the undead of the financial district retaliated and sought to take over. The crash had caused them to revolt and created a war within the magical world. Ravara took part in this war to protect her family and to save her new home.

Ravara is a pacifist and refuses to harm another life, she always tries to use her abilities to find another way to solve her problems. Though there are times when she has no choice, this does not inhibit her will. Ravara’s trauma has made her reluctant to harm or kill another life, her memories of Nanjing have made her hesitant to inflict damage on others. Despite her unwilling nature, this does not stop her from eating meat because food is just too good to refuse.

Her family used to make homemade Shengjianbao (生煎包) and perfected the family recipe. It used to be her and Elanelis’s favorite but it had been lost in the massacre. They both had tried to remember it but haven’t been able to get it the same.

Ravara's primary language is Cantonese but learned how to speak Mandarin when she needed to find a way to America. She then taught herself English to prepare for her citizenship.

Ravara likes to follow Daoist principles, meaning she likes to go with the flow and doesn’t believe in trying to attain control. She believes that the point of life is to live it and that you can only join the flow of nature, as opposed to retaining a sense of command over it. Ravara isn’t necessarily religious but perceives her beliefs as a way of life, rather than a system of faith and worship.