Known relatives: Duke Thassos of Tritonia (father); Countess-Duchess Tethys of Neo-Mare (mother, deceased); Duchess Amphitrite (stepmother); Nerys (sister); Peleus (half-brother); Metis (half-sister); Baam (half-sister?).

Tetis is the daughter and eldest offspring of Duke Thassos of Tritonia. The ducal house of Tritonia is the oldest, richest, and most influential noble family of Kurayami who are not related to the royal family. The house was founded by Count Triton the Pirate, who was one of Beryl-hime's captains; his son Marius the Moneygrubber was the first duke, and it was his son, Duke Tritonis the Trimmer who laid down the rules which succeeded in preserving the duchy when most Kurayami nobles perished.

The basis of the Tritonian wealth has always been their heriditary power of aquamancy. In most it is very slight, hardly more than 'water sense,' but this has been, in and of itself, a great advantage in the shipping, fisheries, and mines of Kurayami. And some of the Tritonian aquamancers have been quite powerful indeed?

In accordance with family tradition, Thassos, the tenth duke, married his distant cousin Tethys, who was descended from a younger son of Duke Marius and was the last heiress of the counts of Neo-Mare. Tetis was their first child. A year later, Tethys died in delivering their younger daughter, Nerys. As her mother's heir, Tetis immediately inherited the title, estates, and wealth of the county of Neo-Mare 'in her own right.' Thassos remarried a few years later and his second wife produced several offspring, including a son, Peleus. Under Tritonian family law, Tetis can inherit her father's coronet only if he and Peleus both die childless.

From infancy, Tetis was one of the richest of the Kurayami nobility, and scion of its most influential house. In addition, she was soon discovered to be the most powerful aquamancer the family ever produced. This combination of social, financial, political, and thaumathurgical power, combined with an assertive personality, made it impossible that she could follow the family tradition of inconspicuous caution. Taking the bull by the horns, Thassos sent her to court to become an attendant to Crown Princess Beryl. There Tetis fell under the older girl's charismatic spell and became her most loyal supporter.

Tetis had been one of the spoiled darlings of fortune, born so rich, she had never even been tempted to steal; so beautiful that she never knew envy; so powerful, she had no need of ambition; so highly placed, that disloyalty would have been meaningless. Then, on a state visit, she met and fell, hopelessly, permanently, in love with the Guardian Jadeite---thus was her terrible fate.

As a royal, Jadeite was as far above her as she above the common run of mortals. Her wealth, power, and position were rendered meaningless. From that time, Tetis had but one ambition: to make herself worthy of marriage with her prince.

Tetis is certainly the strongest aquamancer in Kurayami, possibly the strongest on Earth. Her powers include water breath, water sense, and water manipulation. She can breathe under water, survive in an aquatic environment indefinitely, and swim at great speeds. She can extend her senses over bodies of water to great distances; also she can 'empower' limited amounts of water to act as remotes (she must actually contact the water she is powering) or spies. She can create and control water 'golems,' she can project powerful water blasts, she can raise walls and shields, and she can change the appearance, texture, or temperature of water. Her ability to manipulate steam or mist is limited, and she cannot freely control ice (except to melt it). She needs water to perform her magic, and is strongest in or near the sea. Although Tetis learned a smattering of thaumaturgical theory, she was never more than a casual student, and all that she knows about her magic is self-taught and practical experience. Tetis has as good as no combat training or hand to hand ability; her style in a fight is to stand well back and rely on her magic.

In character, Tetis is loyal, devoted, self-willed, ruthless, often subtle, and stubborn to the point of irrationality. She has never learned when to give up or cut her losses. She is sociable, but not gregarious, and spends a lot of time alone. She is clever, but self-indulgent; as a student she did well in subjects that interested her and poorly in those that did not. She is a bit of a showoff, and enjoys impressing people with her beauty, her power, and her wealth. Her worldview is strictly hierarchial and shark-eat-minnow: the poor and weak should defer to their betters and serve them loyally. Stronger types should in turn serve the strongest, as she serves Beryl. There is no place in nature for weakness, nor for weak types in positions of strength.

Tetis is defined by two, vaguely contradictory, constraints: total loyalty to Beryl and absolute love for Jadeite. To her mind, her principal obstacle is not Jadeite's personal indifference, but the difference in their ranks, countess to prince. Thus her ambition to increase her status, limited by the oppressive tyranny of Elysium and the Moon. Any discontent with the status quo Beryl feels, Tetis will share.

Tetis's hobbies are mostly aquatic, swimming, diving, undersea hunting. Her wealth mostly derives from shipping and trade. Her favorite color is seablue, her gem is the sapphire, and her instrument is the woodwind. Her artistic sense is poor, but she is a shrewd judge of commercial value.
 

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