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Feb. 19th, 2012 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fearlessherosheartCHARACTER
NAME(S): Tazendra Lavode, Baroness of Daavya
AGE: Approximately 1000, this is about equivalent to a human in their 30s. Tazendra looks somewhat younger, as is common for those who study magic heavily.
FANDOM: Dragaera series (by Steven Brust)
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
[fan wiki]
The Dragaera series is set on a lost colony of Earth (maybe: humans are established as extraterrestrials from our Earth, but canon is open about how they got there), with a technology roughly at Renaissance-era Europe and two main subspecies of humanity: Easterners (who are standard humans, possibly with enhanced psychic powers) and Dragaerans/elfs (genetically engineered to be taller, thinner, less hirsuite and longer-lived). The Dragaerans were created by advanced aliens, the Jenoine, before the beings now called the Lords of Judgement (aka the gods) rebelled and kicked the Jenoine out of their universe (and left a ecological disaster, the Great Sea of Amorphia, that ended up powering one type of magic, sorcery (in both its normal and elder/pre-Empire forms)).
Confusingly, both species call themselves 'humans' and consider the others non-human. Despite other intelligent non-humans native to the planet that look Totally Different, general bigotry means even many who should figure out the common ancestry of both groups... don't.
The series is set in the Dragaeran Empire, the main political unit of Dragaerans. Tazendra parent's were the Baron and Baroness of Daavya, a small territory in the southeast of the Empire. Tazendra's family was a member of the House of the Dzur, one of the seventeen castes of the Empire believed to dictate personality; the Dzur, for instance, are known for being honorable, if fight-crazy and adrenaline-junkie, heroes. (How many Dzurlords does it take to sharpen a sword? Four, one to do the sharpening and three to put up enough of a fight to make it worthwhile.)
Tazendra's father's liege-lord, the Duke of Arylle, got into a political mess that led to him being in disgrace. As a result, an army of mercenaries invaded Arylle, and the Duke suspected he or his heir, Temma, wouldn't make it out of this alive, regardless of circumstances. The Duke asked Tazendra's parents to escort Temma to safety, then draw pursuit away from them.
Tazendra knew none of this, as she was a child of thirty (remember: elf -- she was probably the equivalent of a grade schooler) at the time. All she recalled was her nurse getting her away from the fight and her parents, rather than riding towards the enemy, were seemingly running away -- an act whose cowardice would have gotten them removed from the House of the Dzur, had they lived. (They died to protect Temma's life.)
Tazendra spent the rest of her childhood among her extended family, learning a noble's education, despite denying her parents' titles because of their acts. She was interested, in clearing the family name, but her childhood didn't give sufficient clues to remember where Daavya was or to gather more clues as to what happened that night. As a result, she made plans as a young woman to ride to the capital and find out.
It was there she happened to stop at an inn for a game of cards and a drink. And find out that one of her opponents was cheating. And challenge him to a duel. And ask one of the other players -- Aerich of the House of the Lyorn -- to officiate, as the Empire distinguishes between 'violent crime' and 'a matter of honor' by whether the forms were obeyed. Aerich called on the assistance of one of the bystanders, Khaavren.
It wasn't much of a fight, but it did introduce Tazendra to two of what would become her dearest friends. Khaavren was traveling to the capital as well, to join the Phoenix Guard, the Empire's personal guardsmen. Tazendra thought this was a wonderful idea, and let herself get distracted by the promise of adventure. Aerich, for his own reasons, agreed as well.
The three traveled to the capital and were shown around by Pel, another new guardsman. Some unfortunate happenings with their patrol partners -- in Tazendra's case, she picked a fight with her first partner (or he with her), which ended badly for the partner -- led to the four being assigned together, and, to save on rent, they also chose to rent a house together. After Tazendra challenged the Warlord's brother to a duel and accidentally killed him, the four decided it was best to escape the capital for a mission to the border. (To add to that, Khaavren had gotten himself in a mess with a lady he was besotted with, Lady Illista, and had promised to protect a known fugitive... who happened to be in the area they were going.)
Anyway, the four travel to the border, and on the way, Tazendra gains the services of a peasant named Mica, who was pretty much starving and homeless and being beaten up by thugs. While at the border, they find the fugitive, which they expected, and an invading army of Easterners, which they didn't. Furthermore, Lady Illista and several other nobles, reveal that a lot of this was part of court intrigue and it would be for the best if Khaavren and company get killed by the invading army.
Khaavren happens to cleverly negotiate a treaty with the Easterners -- to Tazendra's disappointment, as she was looking forward to fighting an army -- and the four of them manage to thwart the court intrigue. Furthermore, in the sort of twist that happens in these sorts of stories, Aerich reveals that he is in fact, Temma of Arylle, and that one of the conspirators contributed to his father's downfall.
Unfortunately, another conspirators, Lord Garland, escapes, and alerts his friends back at the capital. Which means, instead of a welcome, Tazendra and her friends gets arrested and thrown into a cell to rot. Pel cleverly slips a message out via a guard, which gets them a trial... at which only Khaavren is allowed to testify and he's required to outwit the opposition to get the Emperor's pardon rather than get them all executed for treason. But it all works out, Illista is exiled and Garland is disgraced, and furthermore, Aerich is able to help Tazendra restore her title and her family honor.
Tazendra retires from the Guard and spends the next five hundred years realizing that being Baroness of Daavya isn't that interesting. She appoints a staff to handle the day-to-day running of things, and mostly spends her time in the study of magic. It says something about her intelligence that this didn't get her killed, despite at least once causing major structural damage to part of Castle Daavya, enough that Aerich has to ride out and check on her after seeing the smoke.
Some five hundred years after Tazendra retires to become a baroness, Aerich receives a disturbing letter from Khaavren -- just promoted to Captain of the Guard after his predecessor was killed -- about a threat on Khaavren's life. Aerich recruits Tazendra to go visit Khaavren to help him... which sounds good to her, so off they go. In short order, they stop (or help to stop) at least two more attempts on Khaavren's life. This is also when Tazendra meets Sethra Lavode, Enchantress of Dzur Mountain and the most powerful sorceress in the Empire.
Unfortunately, part of the unrest is that the Heir, Prince Adron e'Kieron, decides he's going to start a coup against the Emperor, and no one can talk him out of it -- though Sethra and Aerich sure did try. Khaavren is given the order to arrest Adron, and takes Tazendra, Aerich and Pel along to do so. On the way, they discover the source of the conspiracy against Khaavren -- Lord Garland and his outcaste daughter, Grita. Garland is killed, but Grita escapes... and Khaavren is too late to stop the Heir triggering a spell to steal the mark of Imperial rulership, the Imperial Orb.
The Emperor dies from a separate assassination (paid for by Adron's daughter) right as the Adron's spell activates and the Orb's 'find the next Emperor' function divides by zero, leading to the spell to backfire... which destroys the capital in the magical backlash, since Adron was dealing with some pretty heavy-grade, illegal, and downright dangerous magic there. Furthermore, Sethra Lavode's attempts to keep the Orb from being destroyed also made normal sorcery -- the major type of magic practiced by the Empire -- stop working. The whole mess is generally known as Adron's Disaster, and Tazendra and her friends only survive as Adron, figuring out his spell was about to explode everything, teleported them to safety.
Tazendra finds being a baroness without magic to be even more boring than being a baroness. At some point she rides off 'on a quest' with Mica and doesn't tell anyone where she's going. Her path takes her to Dzur Mountain, the home of Sethra Lavode -- whether it was to see if Sethra knew of something interesting for her to do, or to challenge Sethra to a fight, who can say? (My personal canon is she challenged her to a fight, and Sethra decided she was too useful to kill so offered her a job. Sethra has said that all of her apprentices save Sethra the Younger have tried to kill her at one point.) However, it ended in Tazendra becoming a Lavode -- one of the warrior-wizards tasked with defending the Empire against unusual threats -- and learning elder sorcery, a dangerous form of magic that still worked even after Adron's Disaster.
As a Lavode, Tazendra accompanied the mission to escort the next Empress to the entrance of the afterlife, where Sethra had stowed the Orb for safekeeping. This led to a merry game of cat-and-mouse as they discovered Grita had sworn revenge on Tazendra and her three friends (none of whom were present with her at the time, but..) and wanted them dead for killing her father. While the Empress retrieved the Orb, the rest of the party rode all over the hinterlands, trying to track Grita down. And, in another coincidence, right as the Empress returned with the Orb, Tazendra's party ran into Khaavren and Aerich (who had been looking for them), and Pel (on his own business)... who informed them that the Duke of Kana was very interested in taking the Orb and having an actual Empress rather than a dead Emperor wasn't going to deter him.
So more avoiding armies happened as the Empress was escorted to safety... safety being the then-County of Southmoor, near Dzur Mountain, where the local lord, Morrolan e'Drien, was enlisted for aid. There was a battle in which the Empress's forces were vastly outnumbered, which Tazendra ended by levitating the castle into the air. Then Tazendra, realizing that the return of the Orb meant she could use her old sorcery, and that divine intervention had happened to strengthen magic through the Orb, came up with the first successful teleport to break the siege, thoroughly discrediting Kana.
Tazendra continued her work as a Lavode, but a year after this, during a visit home to Castle Daavya, she was surprised and kidnapped. Grita and Illista had joined forces with Kana, and Grita, an accomplished sorceress, had opened a gate to where the Jenoine waited, and was using their power to put Kana into power and kill Tazendra and her friends for revenge. Tazendra -- the only one of the four who could magically stand up to Grita -- got to be the bait for the other three.
Both Mica and Aerich track Tazendra down, but neither is able to break Grita's sorcery keeping Tazendra aware but immobile, or the spells that render Grita and Illista invincible. Grita decides she needs to cut off Tazendra's ear to lure Khaavren and Pel in, and Mica and Tazendra use that momentary loosening of the binding spell (and Mica hitting Illista over the head with his stool) to let Tazendra get free. Unfortunately Mica gets a knife in the chest for his troubles and Grita just decides she's going to force-choke Aerich to death and also kill off the Unexpected Bystanders (which happens to include Khaavren's son).
Tazendra goes into a berserker rage at this, and summons up enough power to crush Illista against her own magical protections... pretty impressive, when those protections are powered by some of the most powerful magical beings in the universe. Grita casts a spell to mortally wound Tazendra, who stays alive by sheer willpower until Illsta dies and she can proudly declare that she has bested a Jenoine in single combat.
You might have guessed that this is what I'm choosing for a Strength of Heart memory. A fighting moment seems appropriate for a warrior, and a magic using memory for a wizard, and Tazendra is both. Furthermore, while Tazendra takes joy in battles and in magic-use, this moment also shows off aspects of her personality: she can't stand seeing helpless people hurt, and she is loyal unto death to the people she cares about.
PERSONALITY: Tazendra is a straightforward woman, who loves studying magic, gambling, generally carousing and occasionally dueling when someone happens to seriously piss her off or she’s bored. And she's easily bored, so usually can be found out and about -- or studying magic, or perhaps painting (a hobby she picked up in prison, as her cellmate was a noted artist).
Tazendra comes across as confident to the point of arrogant in her abilities, especially her abilities in a fight -- she's been known to ask people to bring friends if she doesn't think fighting them on their own will be interesting. She also brags a lot about her exploits, and stretches the truth, usually unintentionally. On the other hand, she isn't too arrogant to admit what she doesn't know; she's been known to ask some damn stupid questions and tell her friends she doesn't understand something without any shame. She is comfortable with the image of being the 'dumb bruiser', even if she's far from stupid.
Instead of being stupid, Tazendra is a selective sort of impatient. She is a skilled sorceress which occasionally means focusing on one thing for quite some time, but she has no patience for court politics and leaves tactical plans beyond ‘let’s change them!’ to her friends. This also covers her observation skills -- if it’s not magical or combat related, she generally leaves the deductive skills to others, and ignores things like ‘hey, those two nobles are acting funny’. Her introduction with Sethra Lavode included Sethra calling her out on her bullshit of 'I'm not smart or observant' -- no one stupid, careless or unobservant can learn that much sorcery and live through it. It's more that Tazendra won't expend the effort unless she has to, and has little patience for subtlety (except in magic, combat and art). Having friends who are interested in such things means she'll trust them to cover her own weaknesses and lack of interest.
Tazendra doesn’t hold grudges -- in fact, she barely remembers Garland, Grita or Illista -- but she is quick to challenge others when slighted, and has a strong bloodlust. Most people would describe her as affable, but most people where she's from take care to not insult a member of the House of the Dzur, as it's considered a form of self-injury (if not suicide) in the Empire. She tends to be blunt, and is widely known for her complete inability to keep a secret when you bring up a subject -- Pel once told her to not tell Khaavren something, and she let it slip in her first conversation, as Pel had intended. She does feel rather ashamed of this... at least ashamed for her, which means 'bad until something else happens to distract her'.
Tazendra considers herself honorable, but her honor is somewhat flexible (moreso that Aerich's, decidedly less so than Pel's). She took bribes as a Phoenix Guard, but only because many gambling places would rather bribe officers than pay taxes -- what they were doing was illegal solely because they didn't pay for licenses. She didn't see anything wrong with eating stolen food given to her by a friend, but wouldn't steal herself. Basically, she tends to go with 'will this actually hurt anyone who can't afford to be hurt?'.
Growing up in the Dragaeran Empire -- where reincarnation is a fact, and one can journey to entrance of the the afterlife by horse -- means that Tazendra really doesn't rank physical harm or even killing as high on the moral wrong scale provided it's done in a duel or self-defense or at least in a semi-honorable fashion against someone who should know how to defend oneself. Granted, if you try to kill her or her friends or anyone who can't defend themselves, she'll try to kill you, but... well, if it's for a good reason, she's not likely to take it personally.
Conversely, Tazendra ranks risk of dying as a lot more desirable than many things, including cowardice and boredom. In short, she's an adrenaline junkie, especially when it comes to fighting. She is, perhaps, the only one disappointed that her and her friends didn't get to make a glorious last stand against an army when they were young, as she knew she would never get that kind of chance again. In general, the worse the odds, the happier Tazendra is, since it means she's being challenged and there will be ample opportunity for honor and glory. This comes to the point where she will refuse to fight or injure anyone she perceives as too weak, as it would be dishonorable. (She will if ordered, or if they bring friends; and yes, she will suggest to people she sees as too weak that they should gather friends to make it a more interesting fight for her.) This disdain for picking on the weak is coupled with a high degree of noblesse obligee. Tazendrqa is quite willing to take umbrage to bullies and punch them to the curb to rescue others; in fact, others have used this to provoke Tazendra into a fight or to hurt her -- it's far more painful to her to watch others suffer and die without being able to help than it is to be maimed or even die. In general, mind games and such are a far better way to hurt Tazendra than physical torture.
Her background renders her rather racist and classist: she knows that peasants and tradesmen are necessary to the Empire's operation, but are certainly not her equals (for all that she considers Mica her friend, she also still expects him to serve her meals, take care of her stuff, and so on -- in return, she protects him, provides for his food and board, and at least pays him a small bonus, if not a wage). Tazendra is somewhat informal for a noble, in that her class groupings appear to be 'outcastes', 'criminals', 'peasants', 'tradesmen', and 'nobility' -- she has been known to be unintentionally rude to Emperors and use princes' first names, despite the fact they outrank her. Never the less, they are distinctions and she'd be annoyed at a peasant or a merchant not showing her her due deference. Tazendra annoyed tends to lead to violence and in a setting outside the Empire, this will compound the culture shock.
The racism deserves its own mention. Tazendra hasn't been shown interacting with Dragaera's native intelligent non-humans (cat-centaurs, Serioli, and jhereg, though the last cannot easily communicate with others anyway), but her opinion of Easterners (aka baseline humans, or as close as the world comes) is highly negative, as she thinks of them as uncultured, hairy barbarians, hindered by a short lifespan and lack of citizenship with the Empire (which they can only get by becoming serfs). She doesn't seem to have an issue working with the Warlock or Arra, two Eastern witches, so it's certainly possible that she can make exceptions, especially in the case of skill at magic (the Warlock was also awarded a title by the Empress for his service, so he may have short-circuited this by appealing to Tazendra's sense of class) -- Tazendra does seem to look down a bit on Eastern witchcraft, but mostly because it's a lot more an art than a science (unlike sorcery), and less useful for blowing things up.
This will be a serious weakness when Tazendra is taken out of the context of the Empire, where Easterners are a new minority, and put into Penrose, where 'Easterners' make up many of the people she must work with (and she may not recognize the natives as different from baseline humans, given that both are short to her), and she is the only of her species present. Especially as much of her claimed superiority doesn't exist in Penrose: she's a foreigner, Penrose has a better standard of living than even the Empire's nobility thanks to higher technology, and many people can and do study magic and will be better than Tazendra when she starts out. And, if she wishes to go on missions -- and she will -- many of them will alter her form to be a tall human rather than a seven foot tall elf, which will throw in body dysmorphia.
On the plus side, with rare exceptions, Dragaerans don't lend themselves to sexism and, while their marriage definition is in the 'only that which can produce a legitimate heir' (so no same-sex or cross-caste marriages), same-sex attraction and liaisons are no more inherently worthy of gossip than opposite-sex attraction and liaisons. (Of course there is gossip. Because they're still human.)
Appearance
As Tazendra is a book character who doesn't even get cover art, let alone a movie/comic, we only have text descriptions of her.
Dragaerans range from six to eight feet tall, are extremely unlikely to be fat, and in general only have thick hair on their heads and eyebrows/eyelashes. While they do seem to have some body hair, it tends to be extremely wispy and scant, even for adult men. They can't grow facial/chest/back hair at all. Those within the Empire often have distinctive racial features that mark their House (caste), though that's not always true -- there are several examples of people being mistaken for the wrong House, and both the Houses of the Jhereg and the Yendi are described as having ambiguous features.
Tazendra is noted as being a beauty by Dragaeran standards (and given the opinions of Easterner narrator of Taltos on Dragaeran standards of beauty, would probably rank as good looking to most humans). She has straight, black hair with a noticeable widow's peak, dark skin and black (or nearly so) eyes. Her face has high cheekbones, slanted eyes, a long nose and a strong chin.
Tazendra is noted as being the same height as (the average-for-a-Dragaeran) Khaavren, so she's probably somewhere between seven and seven and a half feet tall -- enough to get past 'tall woman' into 'Guinness Book of World Records'. She is well-proportioned and athletically built, and easily strong enough to wield a sword that's nearly as big as she is -- though, as her skill at sorcery increased, she downgraded to blades she can manage one-handed.
She's normally wearing a lot of black, and is something of a fashion plate, though the fashions of the Empire are somewhat dated (as Renaissance-era fashion is customary, though with less of a divide between men's and women's clothing).
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
♥Aerich - The first of one of Tazendra's three lifetime friends, she met him over a game of cards where he recognized her as the daughter of the couple who saved his life, and the two often interacted from that point on until their deaths (as Aerich dies shortly after Tazendra, from injuries sustained during his attempted rescue of her) -- they were housemates for a year, then Tazendra's was Aerich's sworn liegewoman.
Tazendra canonically tells Pel that, were it legal and were Aerich willing, she'd marry him -- however while socially both are nobility, their differing castes made a marriage impossible. Not only does she consider Aerich a true friend, but she is both romantically and sexually attracted to him -- feelings which are reciprocated, but Aerich's own personal honor forbid him from taking a lover, let alone cohabiting with a woman he can't legally marry (which would cause a major scandal). On the other hand, Tazendra being... well, Tazendra, rarely dwells on this. While she would like to be more than friends, that's not the way the cards were dealt, so she's going to enjoy her close friendship.
Aerich is a far more introverted sort than Tazendra, so a lot of their interactions are mostly her talking and him listening, but he's also a bedrock for her and she values his advice and general wisdom. And, as her liege-lord and the man who proved her parents were honorable vassals rather than cowards, she has a deep undercurrent of respect.
♥Mica - Mica is Tazendra's personal servant (lackey), but he's been with her for most of her life after she offered him a job after rescuing him from both a gang of thugs and crushing poverty, and she does consider him a friend. In fact, she's probably spent more time with him than any of her other friends, Aerich included. While propriety and Mica's duties as a servant require certain things (his service for her protection), as Mica obeys these constraints without a second thought, Tazendra doesn't seem wrong with talking to him about whatever and generally being interested in his life.
While she might not phrase it as such, she respects his loyalty and his bravery -- what would be effortless for her, a well-trained noble with a weakened sense of self-preservation, is a lot harder for a peasant with no weapons training, and yet he remains by her side in combat, and has even embarrassed a few enemies by defeating them with a barstool (his preferred weapon, as not only is it an effective bludgeon and good shield, you can also sit on it).
♥Khaavren - The other person Tazendra met over a game of cards, and lived with for the better part of a year while they were in the guard together. Tazendra seems to have taken to Khaavren first, as he's the first person she tells her backstory to (she was drunk at the time, though, and Aerich and Pel had retired for the night). Canonically the two spent some time exchanging sword techniques, and were often workout partners, so Tazendra grew to respect his skill with a sword.
She treats him as the leader, and regards him as the smart Idea Guy of the group. However, with him spending time in the capital (and, later Adrilankha when he marries the Countess of Whitecrest), they mostly correspond via letters. She's still fond of him, and was pleased to see him again. She was also a bit jealous that he had a spouse and son, though she was uncertain if she ever wished to marry -- more of a 'might have been'.
♥Pel - Tazendra met Pel a day or two after Aerich and Khaavren, as he was another new recruit to the guard, and the four of them were part of the minority of Guards who were not of the House of the Dragon. He was also her housemate and friend in the guard.
Pel and Tazendra seem to have developed a friendship based on the fact the two of them are the party-goers of the four friends. The two are opposites -- Pel is a political schemer and had a mind as twisty as a corkscrew, and Tazendra never pretended to understand what he was doing half the time, which suited both of them just fine. He was also one of her go-to guys for getting at others emotions, as Pel had made a career out of studying people (for his own gain). Like Khaavren, she mostly kept in touch via letters, and lost track of Pel between Adron's Disaster and when he shows up to swear his service to the Empress.
♥Sethra Lavode - It is perhaps worthwhile to mention that Sethra Lavode, Enchantress of Dzur Mountain, is the only woman on the planet who Tazendra was actually intimidated by when they first met when Sethra was seeking Khaavren's (then captain of the Phoenix Guard) help on the murder of her friend. Technically Sethra killed one of Tazendra's cousins, but, well, it was honorably fought and Sethra deserved to win, so Tazendra doesn't seem to hold it against her. (Also, it's likely every member of the House of the Dzur has a family member who challenged Sethra to a fight and lost. It's kind of a thing to do when you're bored enough to court near-certain death.)
Despite this, Tazendra quickly warms up to Sethra, as Sethra encourages her magical studies and shows a deep understanding of Tazendra's nature that her other friends never quite get -- Sethra herself is of the House of the Dzur (kind of) and gets some of the longing for heroism and glory and challenge that get glossed over in jokes by other Houses. The two connect as sorceresses and Dzurlords, and it is perhaps natural that Tazendra seeks Sethra out when she wants to find something to do, and puts herself under Sethra's command as a Lavode. Sethra is as much a mythic figure as a real person, and Tazendra tells people that she believes everything that she hears about Sethra, or at least that Sethra can do anything unless proven otherwise. Despite this mismatch in power, Tazendra is comfortable with Sethra as a friend and mentor.
♠Grita and Illista - Honestly, Tazendra probably wouldn't have remembered these two, except that Illista killed Mica and Grita tried to kill Aerich, and both are traitors to the Empire and Grita summoned a Jenoine, which is stupid and dangerous. Trying to hurt her isn't a big deal to Tazendra, though still merits her trying to hurt you back -- she was seriously bantering back when they talked about sending her to her friends in pieces (ears, fingers, toes... there are a lot of small body parts one can live without) -- but don't you dare touch the people she loves.
That and Grita touches on a difficult subject, in that Grita is of mixed houses and her mother was a Dzurlord (her father was Lord Garland of the House of the Tsalmoth). So there's a bit of embarrassment on behalf of Tazendra's House (birth control is such that affairs aren't a big deal, but having a child is, and a mixed-house child is usually destined to be an outcaste with no proper place in the Empire...), especially given Tazendra's own feelings towards Aerich.
TIMELINE SUMMARY: Her death; 2 (2/1/1/1/1/2) 16/3, Sethra Lavode ch. 96
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
"Do you know, I believe I have bested a Jenoine in single combat."
Tazendra knew she was going into shock and most likely dying, and that a loss of consciousness was quite normal under such circumstances. Then, if the stories her mother had told her were true, she would awaken at the foot of Deathgate Falls --regardless of whether her body had been brought there -- and journey to the Halls of Judgement. She looked forward to telling the gods of her deeds.
Darkness came, but Tazendra found that she was still breathing and aware of being awake, though she felt curiously weak. Most likely a result of her injuries, no doubt. But... if she was truly dead, then what need did her soul have for the body?
She waited in the darkness, and felt it press against her, darker than night or even the innermost caverns of Dzur Mountain, almost like the opening Grita had placed to the place of the Jenoine.
Was this a trial of the Jenoine, then? Had, somehow, her soul been drawn in by the gods' ancient enemy and the creator of the Houses, if not humanity itself, rather than staying by her body? Had her vengeance, had striking down Illista instead of Grita or attempting to close the hole Grita had torn between planes... had that threatened the Empire? Was the Empress and Sethra Lavode now combating a Jenoine invasion?
"Bah," she said. "If the Jenoine have intruded onto our world, I will fight them here and now and remove them." She had no sword, and couldn't even feel the Great Sea of Amorphia, let alone her link to the Orb. But... well, she'd think of something. "Show yourselves!"
She felt a gentle tug on her floating form, and something pulling her down, slowly, enough to let her regain her balance as her boots touched the floor. Below her feet... it looked like the stained glass she had commissioned for the entry to Castle Daavya, after she had unintentionally blown a hole in the wall. The form of a dzur, teeth bared, was in the center, made of a purple glass so dark it was nearly the proper black, but still allowed light through. Around the edges, she could see other animals -- sixteen, one for each house, which had not been a part of her design, but was quite pleasing. "Well! This is all very hospitable, but you have not presented yourself."
"The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?"
Tazendra couldn't tell if this was a true voice, or a psychic communication. Perhaps it didn't matter. "What a silly question! I am not dead. Well," she amended, "perhaps it would be better to say that I am conscious and still have use of my legs." She might be dead, or otherwise having a dream or out of body experience.
And, yet, she still had the weakness she had been thinking of as shock. Was this some sort of experimentation? Sethra had told her that had been the Jenoine's purpose -- and, while Tazendra hadn't believed everything Sethra had said on the subject, she could believe that fact.
But she was not going to fail here, especially if this was the Jenoines' work. It was harder than she expected, but she slowly positioned herself in the center of the circle, standing on the emblem of her house and letting the rest of the cycle surround her. "Well?" she asked the darkness.
"Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose wisely."
Three pedestals rose from the darkness -- Tazendra only caught the third by trying to turn to catch it, and nearly losing her balance. "I would not refuse the return of my strength." She could see objects on the three -- her wizard's wand and her sword on two, but the third appeared to be a bundle of cloth until she staggered over to have a closer look.
It was the cloak she had worn as a Phoenix Guard long ago, with the emblem of the Emperor and the Red Boot Battalion sewn on the breast. When she looked at the pillar beneath, she noticed the carvings: Aerich, as she had remembered him appearing at the cave mouth only... how long? shortly before she had arrived here... except without his sword. Instead his bracers were held up in a guard position. On the other side, she recognized Mica -- a younger Mica, when he had two working legs -- with his barstool. Between the two carved figures,a carved phoenix. She reached out to feel the fabric of the cloak. 'The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?'
"Bide," Tazendra said. She did wish to aid her friends, but she had never had that much use for shields, save when necessary to deflect sorcery. And, of the three objects, this was the one she no longer owned, and the least obvious as a weapon. But that offered some clue that things were not as they seemed, as the Paths of the Dead were said to be.
She approached the sword next. The central carving here was of a dragon, and the ones to the side were of Khaavren and Pel, swords drawn. "The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?'
"Well," Tazendra said. That was tempting and she nearly grabbed her sword back right away. But... "I need no courage granted by a blade. I am a Dzurlord, and we are fearlessness itself. So, the wand..."
Here the carvings were of Sethra Lavode, Iceflame in hand, in the heart of Dzur Mountain, and Morrolan, holding Blackwand, seated among his coven of Eastern witches. An athyra was carved here. "A phoenix for the Empire, an aythra for sorcery, a dragon for the army... bah, they were better served by using a dzur for a warrior there, but I see the pattern. Well, what do I gain by choosing my wand over my sword?" She touched the wand.
'The power of the wizard. Inner strength, A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?'
She paused, feeling the wand beneath her hand. "No," she said. "The sword calls to me more, I was a warrior before I undertook a serious study of sorcery, and I am a Dzurlord."
The walk back to the sword taxed her reserves, but as she grasped the hilt, she felt her strength return to her as the sword glowed... and vanished. "What treachery is this?" she cried, whirling to try to catch her tester.
The voice didn't comment on her remark 'Now, what will you give up in exchange?'
"You did not inform me of that!" Tazendra said. "Why, if you would do me the honor of standing here, I will not need a blade to dispatch you, and I will then have both the wand and the cloak, as well as my sword returned to me."
Unfortunately, the treacherous voice did not answer. Tazendra waited, and eventually stalked over to the cloak. "You give up this power?" the voice finally asked.
"I do," Tazendra said. "I am a wizard and a warrior. Though I guard my friends and my vassals, they have the strength to stand on their own." She did pause, placing a hand on the carvings of her friends. She had a moment of doubt here; she was far less close to Sethra and Morrolan -- which was no slight to them -- even if she had less use for the cloak than her wand. Both Aerich and Mica had come to rescue her. And, now, Mica was dead, and after her own death -- or whatever this was -- Aerich would most likely be Grita's next victim. She felt a pang of grief, and bowed her head. "Even without a shield I will fight for you, my friends. You always have my blade, and the power of my spells." Then, as it seemed proper, she bowed to the staff and and sword's pedestals.
'You've chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the guardian. Is this the form you choose?'
"It is!" she said. "Now show yourself and we shall fight! I challenge you!"
There was no response to the voice. Instead the glass she was standing on cracked, and she saw the pillars crumble. Tazendra attempted to keep her balance, and even reached again for the Orb, for the Great Sea, for any source of power to arrest her fall. The scream she gave as she fell was not as much fear as frustration.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
I went back and forth about whether to go artificer or swordmage on this, and didn't know how it would go until I wrote the sample. Tazendra throwing away the shield means that she'll be vulnerable to Darkness's influence, especially through rage.
Aside from longer lifespans, Dragaerans aren't especially different from baseline humans. In fact, a doctor or biologist would easily figure out Tazendra's species probably was at least a close cousin of H. sapiens, and a geneticist could probably guess that her ancestors had been genetically engineered from baseline humans (and she has a small portion of alien feline DNA).
Tazendra's sword skills are superb, and she's able to use a dagger as an offhand or main weapon, though this isn't her preference. Her canonical magic is Dragaeran sorcery and elder sorcery, which she'd be unable to use in the setting even without the rules in place -- it's powered by amorphia from the Great Sea of Amorphia, which is unavailable outside of her own world. On the other hand, the practice of spellcraft will give her a leg up on learning the native magic.
As a result of being a swordmage, Tazendra retains skill in the magical arts, though she'll have to learn spellcraft again based on Penrose's native magic. Tazendra's canonical magic tends to be obvious and combat oriented. She explicitly notes that she never learned healing magic, for instance. On the other hand, being from a setting where magic is learned rather than innate, there's no reason to think any spells are barred from her. And she's shown a great deal of ability to improvise.
In addition to 'spells that make things explode', several other noted spells Tazendra uses are illusions, levitation, teleportation, and the creation of flashstones (single shot magic items that can be used by anyone, and are somewhat analogous to early firearms). Again, since her power source has been cut from her, she'll have to adapt to the new magic offered. Tazendra is capable of scholarly studying of practical magic, so most likely will be a source of many spells.
As for mundane skills, Tazendra can ride and care for horses, and is capable of fighting mounted. Her domestic skills are pretty crummy, as she's used to servants, but she can at least do camp chores and can care for her own horse and weapons. As mentioned, she's something of an amateur artist and had an interest in fashion and clothing. Tazendra knows plenty of games of chance and drinking songs, but her skill at cards/dice/s'yang stones is terrible. Also, most of the games she knows aren't from Earth.
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
Tazendra will want to return to her world to confirm that the Jenoine were defeated by someone and that Sethra (at least) knows about this Darkness thing. (OOCly I understand the latter will be difficult, if not impossible.) She'll wish to learn magic for its own sake, but the appeal of missions or even becoming a Finder (that is, someone who braves the darkness to heroically rescue others) will call to her. In general, she'll be seeking out Adventure and Excitement.
Given the narrative text -- the narrator didn't know what Tazendra was drawing on when she overpowered the Jenoine -- it could easily have been the Darkness coming in for the purpose of the game. Since she was lost in rage that only faded once Illista died, that also seems to thematically work. (OTOH, I'm okay with it being her normal power source as well.) Either way, I'd like some struggle with inner darkness.
I also mention that Tazendra is racist and classist -- definitely against normal humans and possibly against unknown non-humans. While some of it will probably be tied to ego -- a canonical example being the rivalry between the Houses of the Dzur and Dragon (both are nobles, both are Dragaerans, both are warriors... and both think they are the best at fighting) -- I'd like to have her have some kind of an arc as she learns that, in general, those people she has to work with aren't so bad. Since this is also the first time Tazendra has left her home country and, believe it or not, she does get homesick, she'll also have to cope with being the only one of her species in Penrose (unless she gets canonmates). So making friends with non-Dragaerans will be good for her.
That and, given her recklessness and her throwing away the shield, she'll need someone to be able to come and get her and/or reboot her soul at some point.
NAME(S): Tazendra Lavode, Baroness of Daavya
AGE: Approximately 1000, this is about equivalent to a human in their 30s. Tazendra looks somewhat younger, as is common for those who study magic heavily.
FANDOM: Dragaera series (by Steven Brust)
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
[fan wiki]
The Dragaera series is set on a lost colony of Earth (maybe: humans are established as extraterrestrials from our Earth, but canon is open about how they got there), with a technology roughly at Renaissance-era Europe and two main subspecies of humanity: Easterners (who are standard humans, possibly with enhanced psychic powers) and Dragaerans/elfs (genetically engineered to be taller, thinner, less hirsuite and longer-lived). The Dragaerans were created by advanced aliens, the Jenoine, before the beings now called the Lords of Judgement (aka the gods) rebelled and kicked the Jenoine out of their universe (and left a ecological disaster, the Great Sea of Amorphia, that ended up powering one type of magic, sorcery (in both its normal and elder/pre-Empire forms)).
Confusingly, both species call themselves 'humans' and consider the others non-human. Despite other intelligent non-humans native to the planet that look Totally Different, general bigotry means even many who should figure out the common ancestry of both groups... don't.
The series is set in the Dragaeran Empire, the main political unit of Dragaerans. Tazendra parent's were the Baron and Baroness of Daavya, a small territory in the southeast of the Empire. Tazendra's family was a member of the House of the Dzur, one of the seventeen castes of the Empire believed to dictate personality; the Dzur, for instance, are known for being honorable, if fight-crazy and adrenaline-junkie, heroes. (How many Dzurlords does it take to sharpen a sword? Four, one to do the sharpening and three to put up enough of a fight to make it worthwhile.)
Tazendra's father's liege-lord, the Duke of Arylle, got into a political mess that led to him being in disgrace. As a result, an army of mercenaries invaded Arylle, and the Duke suspected he or his heir, Temma, wouldn't make it out of this alive, regardless of circumstances. The Duke asked Tazendra's parents to escort Temma to safety, then draw pursuit away from them.
Tazendra knew none of this, as she was a child of thirty (remember: elf -- she was probably the equivalent of a grade schooler) at the time. All she recalled was her nurse getting her away from the fight and her parents, rather than riding towards the enemy, were seemingly running away -- an act whose cowardice would have gotten them removed from the House of the Dzur, had they lived. (They died to protect Temma's life.)
Tazendra spent the rest of her childhood among her extended family, learning a noble's education, despite denying her parents' titles because of their acts. She was interested, in clearing the family name, but her childhood didn't give sufficient clues to remember where Daavya was or to gather more clues as to what happened that night. As a result, she made plans as a young woman to ride to the capital and find out.
It was there she happened to stop at an inn for a game of cards and a drink. And find out that one of her opponents was cheating. And challenge him to a duel. And ask one of the other players -- Aerich of the House of the Lyorn -- to officiate, as the Empire distinguishes between 'violent crime' and 'a matter of honor' by whether the forms were obeyed. Aerich called on the assistance of one of the bystanders, Khaavren.
It wasn't much of a fight, but it did introduce Tazendra to two of what would become her dearest friends. Khaavren was traveling to the capital as well, to join the Phoenix Guard, the Empire's personal guardsmen. Tazendra thought this was a wonderful idea, and let herself get distracted by the promise of adventure. Aerich, for his own reasons, agreed as well.
The three traveled to the capital and were shown around by Pel, another new guardsman. Some unfortunate happenings with their patrol partners -- in Tazendra's case, she picked a fight with her first partner (or he with her), which ended badly for the partner -- led to the four being assigned together, and, to save on rent, they also chose to rent a house together. After Tazendra challenged the Warlord's brother to a duel and accidentally killed him, the four decided it was best to escape the capital for a mission to the border. (To add to that, Khaavren had gotten himself in a mess with a lady he was besotted with, Lady Illista, and had promised to protect a known fugitive... who happened to be in the area they were going.)
Anyway, the four travel to the border, and on the way, Tazendra gains the services of a peasant named Mica, who was pretty much starving and homeless and being beaten up by thugs. While at the border, they find the fugitive, which they expected, and an invading army of Easterners, which they didn't. Furthermore, Lady Illista and several other nobles, reveal that a lot of this was part of court intrigue and it would be for the best if Khaavren and company get killed by the invading army.
Khaavren happens to cleverly negotiate a treaty with the Easterners -- to Tazendra's disappointment, as she was looking forward to fighting an army -- and the four of them manage to thwart the court intrigue. Furthermore, in the sort of twist that happens in these sorts of stories, Aerich reveals that he is in fact, Temma of Arylle, and that one of the conspirators contributed to his father's downfall.
Unfortunately, another conspirators, Lord Garland, escapes, and alerts his friends back at the capital. Which means, instead of a welcome, Tazendra and her friends gets arrested and thrown into a cell to rot. Pel cleverly slips a message out via a guard, which gets them a trial... at which only Khaavren is allowed to testify and he's required to outwit the opposition to get the Emperor's pardon rather than get them all executed for treason. But it all works out, Illista is exiled and Garland is disgraced, and furthermore, Aerich is able to help Tazendra restore her title and her family honor.
Tazendra retires from the Guard and spends the next five hundred years realizing that being Baroness of Daavya isn't that interesting. She appoints a staff to handle the day-to-day running of things, and mostly spends her time in the study of magic. It says something about her intelligence that this didn't get her killed, despite at least once causing major structural damage to part of Castle Daavya, enough that Aerich has to ride out and check on her after seeing the smoke.
Some five hundred years after Tazendra retires to become a baroness, Aerich receives a disturbing letter from Khaavren -- just promoted to Captain of the Guard after his predecessor was killed -- about a threat on Khaavren's life. Aerich recruits Tazendra to go visit Khaavren to help him... which sounds good to her, so off they go. In short order, they stop (or help to stop) at least two more attempts on Khaavren's life. This is also when Tazendra meets Sethra Lavode, Enchantress of Dzur Mountain and the most powerful sorceress in the Empire.
Unfortunately, part of the unrest is that the Heir, Prince Adron e'Kieron, decides he's going to start a coup against the Emperor, and no one can talk him out of it -- though Sethra and Aerich sure did try. Khaavren is given the order to arrest Adron, and takes Tazendra, Aerich and Pel along to do so. On the way, they discover the source of the conspiracy against Khaavren -- Lord Garland and his outcaste daughter, Grita. Garland is killed, but Grita escapes... and Khaavren is too late to stop the Heir triggering a spell to steal the mark of Imperial rulership, the Imperial Orb.
The Emperor dies from a separate assassination (paid for by Adron's daughter) right as the Adron's spell activates and the Orb's 'find the next Emperor' function divides by zero, leading to the spell to backfire... which destroys the capital in the magical backlash, since Adron was dealing with some pretty heavy-grade, illegal, and downright dangerous magic there. Furthermore, Sethra Lavode's attempts to keep the Orb from being destroyed also made normal sorcery -- the major type of magic practiced by the Empire -- stop working. The whole mess is generally known as Adron's Disaster, and Tazendra and her friends only survive as Adron, figuring out his spell was about to explode everything, teleported them to safety.
Tazendra finds being a baroness without magic to be even more boring than being a baroness. At some point she rides off 'on a quest' with Mica and doesn't tell anyone where she's going. Her path takes her to Dzur Mountain, the home of Sethra Lavode -- whether it was to see if Sethra knew of something interesting for her to do, or to challenge Sethra to a fight, who can say? (My personal canon is she challenged her to a fight, and Sethra decided she was too useful to kill so offered her a job. Sethra has said that all of her apprentices save Sethra the Younger have tried to kill her at one point.) However, it ended in Tazendra becoming a Lavode -- one of the warrior-wizards tasked with defending the Empire against unusual threats -- and learning elder sorcery, a dangerous form of magic that still worked even after Adron's Disaster.
As a Lavode, Tazendra accompanied the mission to escort the next Empress to the entrance of the afterlife, where Sethra had stowed the Orb for safekeeping. This led to a merry game of cat-and-mouse as they discovered Grita had sworn revenge on Tazendra and her three friends (none of whom were present with her at the time, but..) and wanted them dead for killing her father. While the Empress retrieved the Orb, the rest of the party rode all over the hinterlands, trying to track Grita down. And, in another coincidence, right as the Empress returned with the Orb, Tazendra's party ran into Khaavren and Aerich (who had been looking for them), and Pel (on his own business)... who informed them that the Duke of Kana was very interested in taking the Orb and having an actual Empress rather than a dead Emperor wasn't going to deter him.
So more avoiding armies happened as the Empress was escorted to safety... safety being the then-County of Southmoor, near Dzur Mountain, where the local lord, Morrolan e'Drien, was enlisted for aid. There was a battle in which the Empress's forces were vastly outnumbered, which Tazendra ended by levitating the castle into the air. Then Tazendra, realizing that the return of the Orb meant she could use her old sorcery, and that divine intervention had happened to strengthen magic through the Orb, came up with the first successful teleport to break the siege, thoroughly discrediting Kana.
Tazendra continued her work as a Lavode, but a year after this, during a visit home to Castle Daavya, she was surprised and kidnapped. Grita and Illista had joined forces with Kana, and Grita, an accomplished sorceress, had opened a gate to where the Jenoine waited, and was using their power to put Kana into power and kill Tazendra and her friends for revenge. Tazendra -- the only one of the four who could magically stand up to Grita -- got to be the bait for the other three.
Both Mica and Aerich track Tazendra down, but neither is able to break Grita's sorcery keeping Tazendra aware but immobile, or the spells that render Grita and Illista invincible. Grita decides she needs to cut off Tazendra's ear to lure Khaavren and Pel in, and Mica and Tazendra use that momentary loosening of the binding spell (and Mica hitting Illista over the head with his stool) to let Tazendra get free. Unfortunately Mica gets a knife in the chest for his troubles and Grita just decides she's going to force-choke Aerich to death and also kill off the Unexpected Bystanders (which happens to include Khaavren's son).
Tazendra goes into a berserker rage at this, and summons up enough power to crush Illista against her own magical protections... pretty impressive, when those protections are powered by some of the most powerful magical beings in the universe. Grita casts a spell to mortally wound Tazendra, who stays alive by sheer willpower until Illsta dies and she can proudly declare that she has bested a Jenoine in single combat.
You might have guessed that this is what I'm choosing for a Strength of Heart memory. A fighting moment seems appropriate for a warrior, and a magic using memory for a wizard, and Tazendra is both. Furthermore, while Tazendra takes joy in battles and in magic-use, this moment also shows off aspects of her personality: she can't stand seeing helpless people hurt, and she is loyal unto death to the people she cares about.
PERSONALITY: Tazendra is a straightforward woman, who loves studying magic, gambling, generally carousing and occasionally dueling when someone happens to seriously piss her off or she’s bored. And she's easily bored, so usually can be found out and about -- or studying magic, or perhaps painting (a hobby she picked up in prison, as her cellmate was a noted artist).
Tazendra comes across as confident to the point of arrogant in her abilities, especially her abilities in a fight -- she's been known to ask people to bring friends if she doesn't think fighting them on their own will be interesting. She also brags a lot about her exploits, and stretches the truth, usually unintentionally. On the other hand, she isn't too arrogant to admit what she doesn't know; she's been known to ask some damn stupid questions and tell her friends she doesn't understand something without any shame. She is comfortable with the image of being the 'dumb bruiser', even if she's far from stupid.
Instead of being stupid, Tazendra is a selective sort of impatient. She is a skilled sorceress which occasionally means focusing on one thing for quite some time, but she has no patience for court politics and leaves tactical plans beyond ‘let’s change them!’ to her friends. This also covers her observation skills -- if it’s not magical or combat related, she generally leaves the deductive skills to others, and ignores things like ‘hey, those two nobles are acting funny’. Her introduction with Sethra Lavode included Sethra calling her out on her bullshit of 'I'm not smart or observant' -- no one stupid, careless or unobservant can learn that much sorcery and live through it. It's more that Tazendra won't expend the effort unless she has to, and has little patience for subtlety (except in magic, combat and art). Having friends who are interested in such things means she'll trust them to cover her own weaknesses and lack of interest.
Tazendra doesn’t hold grudges -- in fact, she barely remembers Garland, Grita or Illista -- but she is quick to challenge others when slighted, and has a strong bloodlust. Most people would describe her as affable, but most people where she's from take care to not insult a member of the House of the Dzur, as it's considered a form of self-injury (if not suicide) in the Empire. She tends to be blunt, and is widely known for her complete inability to keep a secret when you bring up a subject -- Pel once told her to not tell Khaavren something, and she let it slip in her first conversation, as Pel had intended. She does feel rather ashamed of this... at least ashamed for her, which means 'bad until something else happens to distract her'.
Tazendra considers herself honorable, but her honor is somewhat flexible (moreso that Aerich's, decidedly less so than Pel's). She took bribes as a Phoenix Guard, but only because many gambling places would rather bribe officers than pay taxes -- what they were doing was illegal solely because they didn't pay for licenses. She didn't see anything wrong with eating stolen food given to her by a friend, but wouldn't steal herself. Basically, she tends to go with 'will this actually hurt anyone who can't afford to be hurt?'.
Growing up in the Dragaeran Empire -- where reincarnation is a fact, and one can journey to entrance of the the afterlife by horse -- means that Tazendra really doesn't rank physical harm or even killing as high on the moral wrong scale provided it's done in a duel or self-defense or at least in a semi-honorable fashion against someone who should know how to defend oneself. Granted, if you try to kill her or her friends or anyone who can't defend themselves, she'll try to kill you, but... well, if it's for a good reason, she's not likely to take it personally.
Conversely, Tazendra ranks risk of dying as a lot more desirable than many things, including cowardice and boredom. In short, she's an adrenaline junkie, especially when it comes to fighting. She is, perhaps, the only one disappointed that her and her friends didn't get to make a glorious last stand against an army when they were young, as she knew she would never get that kind of chance again. In general, the worse the odds, the happier Tazendra is, since it means she's being challenged and there will be ample opportunity for honor and glory. This comes to the point where she will refuse to fight or injure anyone she perceives as too weak, as it would be dishonorable. (She will if ordered, or if they bring friends; and yes, she will suggest to people she sees as too weak that they should gather friends to make it a more interesting fight for her.) This disdain for picking on the weak is coupled with a high degree of noblesse obligee. Tazendrqa is quite willing to take umbrage to bullies and punch them to the curb to rescue others; in fact, others have used this to provoke Tazendra into a fight or to hurt her -- it's far more painful to her to watch others suffer and die without being able to help than it is to be maimed or even die. In general, mind games and such are a far better way to hurt Tazendra than physical torture.
Her background renders her rather racist and classist: she knows that peasants and tradesmen are necessary to the Empire's operation, but are certainly not her equals (for all that she considers Mica her friend, she also still expects him to serve her meals, take care of her stuff, and so on -- in return, she protects him, provides for his food and board, and at least pays him a small bonus, if not a wage). Tazendra is somewhat informal for a noble, in that her class groupings appear to be 'outcastes', 'criminals', 'peasants', 'tradesmen', and 'nobility' -- she has been known to be unintentionally rude to Emperors and use princes' first names, despite the fact they outrank her. Never the less, they are distinctions and she'd be annoyed at a peasant or a merchant not showing her her due deference. Tazendra annoyed tends to lead to violence and in a setting outside the Empire, this will compound the culture shock.
The racism deserves its own mention. Tazendra hasn't been shown interacting with Dragaera's native intelligent non-humans (cat-centaurs, Serioli, and jhereg, though the last cannot easily communicate with others anyway), but her opinion of Easterners (aka baseline humans, or as close as the world comes) is highly negative, as she thinks of them as uncultured, hairy barbarians, hindered by a short lifespan and lack of citizenship with the Empire (which they can only get by becoming serfs). She doesn't seem to have an issue working with the Warlock or Arra, two Eastern witches, so it's certainly possible that she can make exceptions, especially in the case of skill at magic (the Warlock was also awarded a title by the Empress for his service, so he may have short-circuited this by appealing to Tazendra's sense of class) -- Tazendra does seem to look down a bit on Eastern witchcraft, but mostly because it's a lot more an art than a science (unlike sorcery), and less useful for blowing things up.
This will be a serious weakness when Tazendra is taken out of the context of the Empire, where Easterners are a new minority, and put into Penrose, where 'Easterners' make up many of the people she must work with (and she may not recognize the natives as different from baseline humans, given that both are short to her), and she is the only of her species present. Especially as much of her claimed superiority doesn't exist in Penrose: she's a foreigner, Penrose has a better standard of living than even the Empire's nobility thanks to higher technology, and many people can and do study magic and will be better than Tazendra when she starts out. And, if she wishes to go on missions -- and she will -- many of them will alter her form to be a tall human rather than a seven foot tall elf, which will throw in body dysmorphia.
On the plus side, with rare exceptions, Dragaerans don't lend themselves to sexism and, while their marriage definition is in the 'only that which can produce a legitimate heir' (so no same-sex or cross-caste marriages), same-sex attraction and liaisons are no more inherently worthy of gossip than opposite-sex attraction and liaisons. (Of course there is gossip. Because they're still human.)
Appearance
As Tazendra is a book character who doesn't even get cover art, let alone a movie/comic, we only have text descriptions of her.
Dragaerans range from six to eight feet tall, are extremely unlikely to be fat, and in general only have thick hair on their heads and eyebrows/eyelashes. While they do seem to have some body hair, it tends to be extremely wispy and scant, even for adult men. They can't grow facial/chest/back hair at all. Those within the Empire often have distinctive racial features that mark their House (caste), though that's not always true -- there are several examples of people being mistaken for the wrong House, and both the Houses of the Jhereg and the Yendi are described as having ambiguous features.
Tazendra is noted as being a beauty by Dragaeran standards (and given the opinions of Easterner narrator of Taltos on Dragaeran standards of beauty, would probably rank as good looking to most humans). She has straight, black hair with a noticeable widow's peak, dark skin and black (or nearly so) eyes. Her face has high cheekbones, slanted eyes, a long nose and a strong chin.
Tazendra is noted as being the same height as (the average-for-a-Dragaeran) Khaavren, so she's probably somewhere between seven and seven and a half feet tall -- enough to get past 'tall woman' into 'Guinness Book of World Records'. She is well-proportioned and athletically built, and easily strong enough to wield a sword that's nearly as big as she is -- though, as her skill at sorcery increased, she downgraded to blades she can manage one-handed.
She's normally wearing a lot of black, and is something of a fashion plate, though the fashions of the Empire are somewhat dated (as Renaissance-era fashion is customary, though with less of a divide between men's and women's clothing).
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
♥Aerich - The first of one of Tazendra's three lifetime friends, she met him over a game of cards where he recognized her as the daughter of the couple who saved his life, and the two often interacted from that point on until their deaths (as Aerich dies shortly after Tazendra, from injuries sustained during his attempted rescue of her) -- they were housemates for a year, then Tazendra's was Aerich's sworn liegewoman.
Tazendra canonically tells Pel that, were it legal and were Aerich willing, she'd marry him -- however while socially both are nobility, their differing castes made a marriage impossible. Not only does she consider Aerich a true friend, but she is both romantically and sexually attracted to him -- feelings which are reciprocated, but Aerich's own personal honor forbid him from taking a lover, let alone cohabiting with a woman he can't legally marry (which would cause a major scandal). On the other hand, Tazendra being... well, Tazendra, rarely dwells on this. While she would like to be more than friends, that's not the way the cards were dealt, so she's going to enjoy her close friendship.
Aerich is a far more introverted sort than Tazendra, so a lot of their interactions are mostly her talking and him listening, but he's also a bedrock for her and she values his advice and general wisdom. And, as her liege-lord and the man who proved her parents were honorable vassals rather than cowards, she has a deep undercurrent of respect.
♥Mica - Mica is Tazendra's personal servant (lackey), but he's been with her for most of her life after she offered him a job after rescuing him from both a gang of thugs and crushing poverty, and she does consider him a friend. In fact, she's probably spent more time with him than any of her other friends, Aerich included. While propriety and Mica's duties as a servant require certain things (his service for her protection), as Mica obeys these constraints without a second thought, Tazendra doesn't seem wrong with talking to him about whatever and generally being interested in his life.
While she might not phrase it as such, she respects his loyalty and his bravery -- what would be effortless for her, a well-trained noble with a weakened sense of self-preservation, is a lot harder for a peasant with no weapons training, and yet he remains by her side in combat, and has even embarrassed a few enemies by defeating them with a barstool (his preferred weapon, as not only is it an effective bludgeon and good shield, you can also sit on it).
♥Khaavren - The other person Tazendra met over a game of cards, and lived with for the better part of a year while they were in the guard together. Tazendra seems to have taken to Khaavren first, as he's the first person she tells her backstory to (she was drunk at the time, though, and Aerich and Pel had retired for the night). Canonically the two spent some time exchanging sword techniques, and were often workout partners, so Tazendra grew to respect his skill with a sword.
She treats him as the leader, and regards him as the smart Idea Guy of the group. However, with him spending time in the capital (and, later Adrilankha when he marries the Countess of Whitecrest), they mostly correspond via letters. She's still fond of him, and was pleased to see him again. She was also a bit jealous that he had a spouse and son, though she was uncertain if she ever wished to marry -- more of a 'might have been'.
♥Pel - Tazendra met Pel a day or two after Aerich and Khaavren, as he was another new recruit to the guard, and the four of them were part of the minority of Guards who were not of the House of the Dragon. He was also her housemate and friend in the guard.
Pel and Tazendra seem to have developed a friendship based on the fact the two of them are the party-goers of the four friends. The two are opposites -- Pel is a political schemer and had a mind as twisty as a corkscrew, and Tazendra never pretended to understand what he was doing half the time, which suited both of them just fine. He was also one of her go-to guys for getting at others emotions, as Pel had made a career out of studying people (for his own gain). Like Khaavren, she mostly kept in touch via letters, and lost track of Pel between Adron's Disaster and when he shows up to swear his service to the Empress.
♥Sethra Lavode - It is perhaps worthwhile to mention that Sethra Lavode, Enchantress of Dzur Mountain, is the only woman on the planet who Tazendra was actually intimidated by when they first met when Sethra was seeking Khaavren's (then captain of the Phoenix Guard) help on the murder of her friend. Technically Sethra killed one of Tazendra's cousins, but, well, it was honorably fought and Sethra deserved to win, so Tazendra doesn't seem to hold it against her. (Also, it's likely every member of the House of the Dzur has a family member who challenged Sethra to a fight and lost. It's kind of a thing to do when you're bored enough to court near-certain death.)
Despite this, Tazendra quickly warms up to Sethra, as Sethra encourages her magical studies and shows a deep understanding of Tazendra's nature that her other friends never quite get -- Sethra herself is of the House of the Dzur (kind of) and gets some of the longing for heroism and glory and challenge that get glossed over in jokes by other Houses. The two connect as sorceresses and Dzurlords, and it is perhaps natural that Tazendra seeks Sethra out when she wants to find something to do, and puts herself under Sethra's command as a Lavode. Sethra is as much a mythic figure as a real person, and Tazendra tells people that she believes everything that she hears about Sethra, or at least that Sethra can do anything unless proven otherwise. Despite this mismatch in power, Tazendra is comfortable with Sethra as a friend and mentor.
♠Grita and Illista - Honestly, Tazendra probably wouldn't have remembered these two, except that Illista killed Mica and Grita tried to kill Aerich, and both are traitors to the Empire and Grita summoned a Jenoine, which is stupid and dangerous. Trying to hurt her isn't a big deal to Tazendra, though still merits her trying to hurt you back -- she was seriously bantering back when they talked about sending her to her friends in pieces (ears, fingers, toes... there are a lot of small body parts one can live without) -- but don't you dare touch the people she loves.
That and Grita touches on a difficult subject, in that Grita is of mixed houses and her mother was a Dzurlord (her father was Lord Garland of the House of the Tsalmoth). So there's a bit of embarrassment on behalf of Tazendra's House (birth control is such that affairs aren't a big deal, but having a child is, and a mixed-house child is usually destined to be an outcaste with no proper place in the Empire...), especially given Tazendra's own feelings towards Aerich.
TIMELINE SUMMARY: Her death; 2 (2/1/1/1/1/2) 16/3, Sethra Lavode ch. 96
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
"Do you know, I believe I have bested a Jenoine in single combat."
Tazendra knew she was going into shock and most likely dying, and that a loss of consciousness was quite normal under such circumstances. Then, if the stories her mother had told her were true, she would awaken at the foot of Deathgate Falls --regardless of whether her body had been brought there -- and journey to the Halls of Judgement. She looked forward to telling the gods of her deeds.
Darkness came, but Tazendra found that she was still breathing and aware of being awake, though she felt curiously weak. Most likely a result of her injuries, no doubt. But... if she was truly dead, then what need did her soul have for the body?
She waited in the darkness, and felt it press against her, darker than night or even the innermost caverns of Dzur Mountain, almost like the opening Grita had placed to the place of the Jenoine.
Was this a trial of the Jenoine, then? Had, somehow, her soul been drawn in by the gods' ancient enemy and the creator of the Houses, if not humanity itself, rather than staying by her body? Had her vengeance, had striking down Illista instead of Grita or attempting to close the hole Grita had torn between planes... had that threatened the Empire? Was the Empress and Sethra Lavode now combating a Jenoine invasion?
"Bah," she said. "If the Jenoine have intruded onto our world, I will fight them here and now and remove them." She had no sword, and couldn't even feel the Great Sea of Amorphia, let alone her link to the Orb. But... well, she'd think of something. "Show yourselves!"
She felt a gentle tug on her floating form, and something pulling her down, slowly, enough to let her regain her balance as her boots touched the floor. Below her feet... it looked like the stained glass she had commissioned for the entry to Castle Daavya, after she had unintentionally blown a hole in the wall. The form of a dzur, teeth bared, was in the center, made of a purple glass so dark it was nearly the proper black, but still allowed light through. Around the edges, she could see other animals -- sixteen, one for each house, which had not been a part of her design, but was quite pleasing. "Well! This is all very hospitable, but you have not presented yourself."
"The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?"
Tazendra couldn't tell if this was a true voice, or a psychic communication. Perhaps it didn't matter. "What a silly question! I am not dead. Well," she amended, "perhaps it would be better to say that I am conscious and still have use of my legs." She might be dead, or otherwise having a dream or out of body experience.
And, yet, she still had the weakness she had been thinking of as shock. Was this some sort of experimentation? Sethra had told her that had been the Jenoine's purpose -- and, while Tazendra hadn't believed everything Sethra had said on the subject, she could believe that fact.
But she was not going to fail here, especially if this was the Jenoines' work. It was harder than she expected, but she slowly positioned herself in the center of the circle, standing on the emblem of her house and letting the rest of the cycle surround her. "Well?" she asked the darkness.
"Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose wisely."
Three pedestals rose from the darkness -- Tazendra only caught the third by trying to turn to catch it, and nearly losing her balance. "I would not refuse the return of my strength." She could see objects on the three -- her wizard's wand and her sword on two, but the third appeared to be a bundle of cloth until she staggered over to have a closer look.
It was the cloak she had worn as a Phoenix Guard long ago, with the emblem of the Emperor and the Red Boot Battalion sewn on the breast. When she looked at the pillar beneath, she noticed the carvings: Aerich, as she had remembered him appearing at the cave mouth only... how long? shortly before she had arrived here... except without his sword. Instead his bracers were held up in a guard position. On the other side, she recognized Mica -- a younger Mica, when he had two working legs -- with his barstool. Between the two carved figures,a carved phoenix. She reached out to feel the fabric of the cloak. 'The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?'
"Bide," Tazendra said. She did wish to aid her friends, but she had never had that much use for shields, save when necessary to deflect sorcery. And, of the three objects, this was the one she no longer owned, and the least obvious as a weapon. But that offered some clue that things were not as they seemed, as the Paths of the Dead were said to be.
She approached the sword next. The central carving here was of a dragon, and the ones to the side were of Khaavren and Pel, swords drawn. "The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?'
"Well," Tazendra said. That was tempting and she nearly grabbed her sword back right away. But... "I need no courage granted by a blade. I am a Dzurlord, and we are fearlessness itself. So, the wand..."
Here the carvings were of Sethra Lavode, Iceflame in hand, in the heart of Dzur Mountain, and Morrolan, holding Blackwand, seated among his coven of Eastern witches. An athyra was carved here. "A phoenix for the Empire, an aythra for sorcery, a dragon for the army... bah, they were better served by using a dzur for a warrior there, but I see the pattern. Well, what do I gain by choosing my wand over my sword?" She touched the wand.
'The power of the wizard. Inner strength, A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?'
She paused, feeling the wand beneath her hand. "No," she said. "The sword calls to me more, I was a warrior before I undertook a serious study of sorcery, and I am a Dzurlord."
The walk back to the sword taxed her reserves, but as she grasped the hilt, she felt her strength return to her as the sword glowed... and vanished. "What treachery is this?" she cried, whirling to try to catch her tester.
The voice didn't comment on her remark 'Now, what will you give up in exchange?'
"You did not inform me of that!" Tazendra said. "Why, if you would do me the honor of standing here, I will not need a blade to dispatch you, and I will then have both the wand and the cloak, as well as my sword returned to me."
Unfortunately, the treacherous voice did not answer. Tazendra waited, and eventually stalked over to the cloak. "You give up this power?" the voice finally asked.
"I do," Tazendra said. "I am a wizard and a warrior. Though I guard my friends and my vassals, they have the strength to stand on their own." She did pause, placing a hand on the carvings of her friends. She had a moment of doubt here; she was far less close to Sethra and Morrolan -- which was no slight to them -- even if she had less use for the cloak than her wand. Both Aerich and Mica had come to rescue her. And, now, Mica was dead, and after her own death -- or whatever this was -- Aerich would most likely be Grita's next victim. She felt a pang of grief, and bowed her head. "Even without a shield I will fight for you, my friends. You always have my blade, and the power of my spells." Then, as it seemed proper, she bowed to the staff and and sword's pedestals.
'You've chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the guardian. Is this the form you choose?'
"It is!" she said. "Now show yourself and we shall fight! I challenge you!"
There was no response to the voice. Instead the glass she was standing on cracked, and she saw the pillars crumble. Tazendra attempted to keep her balance, and even reached again for the Orb, for the Great Sea, for any source of power to arrest her fall. The scream she gave as she fell was not as much fear as frustration.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
I went back and forth about whether to go artificer or swordmage on this, and didn't know how it would go until I wrote the sample. Tazendra throwing away the shield means that she'll be vulnerable to Darkness's influence, especially through rage.
Aside from longer lifespans, Dragaerans aren't especially different from baseline humans. In fact, a doctor or biologist would easily figure out Tazendra's species probably was at least a close cousin of H. sapiens, and a geneticist could probably guess that her ancestors had been genetically engineered from baseline humans (and she has a small portion of alien feline DNA).
Tazendra's sword skills are superb, and she's able to use a dagger as an offhand or main weapon, though this isn't her preference. Her canonical magic is Dragaeran sorcery and elder sorcery, which she'd be unable to use in the setting even without the rules in place -- it's powered by amorphia from the Great Sea of Amorphia, which is unavailable outside of her own world. On the other hand, the practice of spellcraft will give her a leg up on learning the native magic.
As a result of being a swordmage, Tazendra retains skill in the magical arts, though she'll have to learn spellcraft again based on Penrose's native magic. Tazendra's canonical magic tends to be obvious and combat oriented. She explicitly notes that she never learned healing magic, for instance. On the other hand, being from a setting where magic is learned rather than innate, there's no reason to think any spells are barred from her. And she's shown a great deal of ability to improvise.
In addition to 'spells that make things explode', several other noted spells Tazendra uses are illusions, levitation, teleportation, and the creation of flashstones (single shot magic items that can be used by anyone, and are somewhat analogous to early firearms). Again, since her power source has been cut from her, she'll have to adapt to the new magic offered. Tazendra is capable of scholarly studying of practical magic, so most likely will be a source of many spells.
As for mundane skills, Tazendra can ride and care for horses, and is capable of fighting mounted. Her domestic skills are pretty crummy, as she's used to servants, but she can at least do camp chores and can care for her own horse and weapons. As mentioned, she's something of an amateur artist and had an interest in fashion and clothing. Tazendra knows plenty of games of chance and drinking songs, but her skill at cards/dice/s'yang stones is terrible. Also, most of the games she knows aren't from Earth.
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
Tazendra will want to return to her world to confirm that the Jenoine were defeated by someone and that Sethra (at least) knows about this Darkness thing. (OOCly I understand the latter will be difficult, if not impossible.) She'll wish to learn magic for its own sake, but the appeal of missions or even becoming a Finder (that is, someone who braves the darkness to heroically rescue others) will call to her. In general, she'll be seeking out Adventure and Excitement.
Given the narrative text -- the narrator didn't know what Tazendra was drawing on when she overpowered the Jenoine -- it could easily have been the Darkness coming in for the purpose of the game. Since she was lost in rage that only faded once Illista died, that also seems to thematically work. (OTOH, I'm okay with it being her normal power source as well.) Either way, I'd like some struggle with inner darkness.
I also mention that Tazendra is racist and classist -- definitely against normal humans and possibly against unknown non-humans. While some of it will probably be tied to ego -- a canonical example being the rivalry between the Houses of the Dzur and Dragon (both are nobles, both are Dragaerans, both are warriors... and both think they are the best at fighting) -- I'd like to have her have some kind of an arc as she learns that, in general, those people she has to work with aren't so bad. Since this is also the first time Tazendra has left her home country and, believe it or not, she does get homesick, she'll also have to cope with being the only one of her species in Penrose (unless she gets canonmates). So making friends with non-Dragaerans will be good for her.
That and, given her recklessness and her throwing away the shield, she'll need someone to be able to come and get her and/or reboot her soul at some point.