The Aldridge-Wests have always been known for their ambition, and Clara is no exception to the legacy that her family has set out for her to follow. Her determination to succeed is obvious in her relentless pursuit of the truth in her job, chasing down every lead until she's unravelled the full story, sometimes even getting to the evidence before the actual authorities have. Now that she's in a higher position where she doesn't have to do as much legwork, she's still no less demanding, expecting the very best of her journalists and coming down hard on them if she so much as suspects laziness. Her ambition has also led her to ensure that she's built a solid, reliable network of people around her, aiding her in both her journalistic and criminal exploits. The people that helped her to climb to the top of the Larkan social ladder, as well as to the upper positions of the Larkan Legacy, all cite her as being an opportunistic lady who never takes no for an answer.

Some might accuse Clara of having little experience with adversity, having come from a rich and powerful family. However, growing up in the shadow of her older siblings, she's learned how to fight for herself against her own family, who barely give her the time of day under the continual excuse of teaching her how to fend for herself in the "real world". Well, by now the world is her little oyster, and she's taught herself to come up with contingency plans so that she's never caught out without a plan of attack. It's very rare that a situation catches her unprepared, and in the event it does you can bet she'll still have some ways of worming out of a problem.

That being said, if you want something done properly, you need to do it yourself. Clara is rightly wary of the people she surrounds herself with, never fully trusting anyone with all her secrets. Though it's unlikely for a person of her position to do so, she tends to go along with her subordinates to ensure that they do exactly what they were instructed to do—especially on Raven business. She's thorough in carrying out her business, leaving no loose ends out.

Despite everything, despite the constant paranoia and stress that hounds her, she's always proper, always consistent in her presentation to the world. She respects the people she works with, and knows better than to underestimate them, understanding that if enough dissent is stacked against her she could be pulled from power in an instant. It's the same quality that makes her a good leader—she always makes sure that she's earned the loyalty of her subordinates by treating them with the respect they deserve, thereby gathering the power that makes up the Ravens of Larkan today.

Clara's story seemed fixed from the start. Third child and second daughter to one of the most prestigious families in Larkan, her businessman father and socialite mother already had her path planned out for her—she would study and excel at financial services, then be put in position to take over part of her father's business. With this goal firmly in mind, her parents focused their attentions on building a foundation for Clara's older siblings, helping them to establish connections and business alliances so that they could have the freedom to choose their own paths later on in life. Clara's resentment at being shoved into her siblings' shadows only grew with time, and it quickly became apparent that with two successful children her parents only saw her as the backup, the one that could still keep their family name safe should the other two fail in their ventures.

Still, she dutifully followed her parents' wishes, making her way into the University of California, Berkeley to study business and management. In her pursuit of extra credits, she took a journalism course—and what she learned there changed her course for good. She changed her major, setting her sights on investigative journalism, and excelled in her classes, returning to Larkan a changed person.

Against her parents' wishes, Clara entered the offices of the Larkan Legacy, beginning right from the bottom as an investigative journalist. With the connections she already had thanks to her family, she was more efficient at chasing down leads, producing a number of fairly successful articles that toppled her father's business rivals from grace. Working her way through the ranks, she rose quickly almost to the top of her office—and then she met her mentor.

Marek Czajka was tough, cared nothing of Clara's family's status, and was incredibly old-fashioned—but he was a damn good investigative journalist. Despite his prolific career, he was incredibly bitter about the state of affairs as he reported on them, and it soon became clear why. With all the corruption and professional cover-ups he saw, he'd become embittered with humanity, and far from Clara's early wide-eyed wonder, he only cared about doing what he could to give people their "just desserts", as he called it. And the more she worked under him, the more Clara saw what she could do with the power her name accorded her and the knowledge she gained through her line of work.

It was a straight path from there. Once he was sure he had Clara's trust, Marek revealed to her the Ravens, a criminal faction that he was the leader of. With members spread out over positions of power in Larkan, he had the ability to control even the Larkan authorities, treating them as little more than puppets. With the obvious incompetence of Larkan politicians, the Ravens quickly installed themselves as the unofficial lawkeepers of the city, rising above the other criminal factions as they busied themselves with punishing those that they felt had wronged their city. Marek made clear to Clara that he wanted her to join their ranks, and eventually take his position—one that she coveted much more than any position her father could have given her at his company.

It was only a matter of years before Marek retired, leaving Clara to run the Ravens as she saw fit. With all the power she had at her fingertips, she grew even more ambitious and controlling, running her criminal syndicate right under her family's noses while continuing to make use of what information she could gain from her position - now as editor at the Larkan Legacy.

And what a legacy it is; from the Aldridge-Wests to the Ravens, Clara has carefully managed her criminal empire so far, using it to topple her enemies and remove people for good to avoid loose ends. The power to kill or to appoint rests almost entirely in her hands, and she's not about to lose it anytime soon.