From the outside looking in, the Romanichal culture is a colorful fantasy that people tend to look up to and dream about. The truth, is that they are a bullied group of people, often forced to leave their settled areas and to settle again in another city. Rosella Roth learned this at a young age, when every several weeks or so, her parents would pack up their trailer and move on to the next destination. She would eventually grow used to it, even picking up a knack for the traveling, but it was hard as a young girl to make friends, when half of the people she grew up with went west, and the other went east. It took no time at all for her to recognize the pattern, learning that she and her family moved with economic opportunities and that it was all strictly for the betterment of their family.
Despite being young and finding such beauty in the word gypsy, she was taught the hard way that even though they upheld their morals and standards, the rest of the world saw them as panhandling, cheating fortune tellers and crooks. Rose was often bullied for her heritage and teased by other kids, her age and older, and told that she didn't belong in the states, that she just another immigrant who stole. She would eventually learn to brush it off, knowing that despite what people thought about them, it wasn't true. Her culture was a good culture, one that shouldhave been revered and looked up to, one that held family above all else and had the lowest number of convicted criminals than any other culture.
Although she often tried to break away from the Romanichal stereotype, Rose found so much joy in traveling and performing with her family. She was the oldest of three kids, and while her father was able to find a full day-time job wherever they went, and her mother stayed at home taking care of the children, Rose absorbed as much of their culture as she could and stepped foot out of their bubble and into the world. When she was but a teenager, living in California, she found herself enthralled by any freakshow, any side show, and any chance to show off her talents. For weeks, she'd visit the same show over and over, memorizing the acts, getting to know the people, introducing herself as a real Romanichal Gyspy, and making a name for herself amongst her peers.
At 19, because Rose had decided not to marry within Rom rules and standards, she was forced to stay behind in California while her parents moved onward to the next city. Although she wasn't completely ousted for her decision, she knew the strain between she and her family would last forever. With no proper schooling and nothing more than a backpack, she took to a local shelter and used this as an opportunity to transform herself. Having picked up such a huge love and respect for the shows she had visited weekly, she begged for a job, showing off what she could do, and what she was willing to do, as long as she was able to have a roof over her head. This opened up more doors than she thought imaginable, and Rose was able to pick herself up and start over.
Taking on the stage name Arella, Rose became a street performer for the Venice Beach Freakshow, taking on multiple acts to ensure her value within the group. Her most popular acts were sword swallowing, breathing fire, and belly dancing. The latter of which she learned from her elders back in Oregon before moving away. She kept in touch with her parents, proving that despite the taboos and dishonor often associated with their culture, it was possible to be more than a stereotype.
When she was 22, she followed a girl from Venice Beach across the country. Together they performed their curiosity acts across different state and county fairs, making their money as street performers and taking each show for all it had to offer. They may have lived frugally, but they were living, and to a 22 year old girl who had been gently ousted from her family, that was what was important to her. When they settled in Boston, Rose was able to find herself a part time job selling high-end lingerie, and moonlighted as a burlesque dancer to pay her bills. Since then, she's taken on a slew of mixed jobs, some involve staying at home in her pajamas, others forcing her out into the world and dealing with the public. Her resume is impressive, but she hasn't quite found that one job that she wishes to turn into a career.
A dark, moody character, Raven is the half-breed daughter of a human mother named Angela Roth (also known as Arella) and the demon overlord Emperor Trigon. Raven was born and raised in the pacifistic reality called Azarath by the Azarathian monks, after her mother ran away from home, which was possibly in Gotham City, and joined a cult (possibly the Church of Blood), where she was raped by Trigon. In Azarath, Raven was taught to "control her emotions" in order to suppress and control her inherited demonic powers by Azar, the founder and leader of Azarath.
