Iana la Ferra[]
Photo by Matt Hudson
Iana la Ferra is an elf living with Circle. She first appeared in the Vale in Sowing of 654 MR.
She came into the vale with a rucksack full of books, mostly manuals on how to fight with swords and with bow. She acted for all the world like a warrior, fighting with sword and bow exclusively, and not seeming to realise that she was protected by magical armor.
In the cycle after her appearance she learned that what she thought was elfy luck was in fact conduit magic, that she could control. She also learned that Circle had a library. This caused her to seek out Circle, both for access to a Library and for learning to control her magic. As of Felling, she remains with Circle, having stayed even after finding out about the Arcanist Pandora's nature.
When the Archaeologist, Pollux Morozov, arrived to fill Pandora's vacant role in the middle of an Orc Invasion, Iana was surprised and pleased. She had already met the young scholar, and was hopeful that they would work well together. She has stayed in Circle through Rime, and was present on the ill fated Pirelli expedition. After the return from Frael, she has remained active in Circle and seems quite content with her position there. This continued until early 655, when after a confrontation with the Voice, she left the Vale, heading to Sindorien.
In the seasons since her arrival, she has been present throughout the Vale, making a concerted effort to meet as many people as possible and to learn the history of the Vale and it's people. She does not seem afraid of interaction with any type of people, talking equally freely with Ashborn, Narga Cultists, both Fallen and High elves, and followers of the Gods. She speaks Thaedian, Jindrisi, Fraelitahn, and Common fluently, and has some ability with Noble's Cant and Murethic. Before coming to the Vale, she had never met another elf, so she is only recently beginning to learn Elvish.
She spends an inordinate amount of time studying and practicing, and is obsessive about swords and swordplay. She has embraced having magic, but sees it as a supplement to conventional weapons and seems to believe that the only way she will ever guarantee that she maintains her freedom is to improve her swordplay.
She is open about her past, and what follows is all from stories that she tells openly. Iana was born in Solaria, in Thaedia, as an Indebted. This occurred at some point, she is not sure exactly when, in the late 2nd century. Her first dateable memory is the destruction of the Rhuu and their influx into the Indebted population in Thaedia. She served as a librarian for multiple generations of a Philosopher-Warrior's family. During this time, she secretly taught herself to fight, working from books in the library.
In the chaos that presaged the first Emperor, Prado Hexator, Iana's 'owner' was killed, and she used the moment to escape slavery, fighting her way out amidst the chaos having stolen an ancient elven sword from the family museum. She then spent the next decades working for the Thaedian Factions, more more accurately, the Mob. This life in the underworld sent her all throughout Thaedia, and even into Sogdul. During the chaos of the fall of the Emperor Nessius, Iana's faction was crushed and she used the opportunity to leave Thaedia forever.
She ended up in Jindris, where she developed a close relationship with a merchant family. She stayed there for almost two centuries, watching one generation after another die around her. In this period she developed a close spiritual relationship with Lianda. She describes it as the happiest time of her life. In the 480s, however, the Pharidae War came to Jindris, and only a few years into the occupation, Iana was forced to flee.
She hired one of Frael's myriad desert clans, the Banu Shirin, and helped them maintain their freedom throughout the long war. The only story she has told of this era is one in which she helped a group of clans fight off a Murethic artifact hunting raid. In the aftermath of the war, as Maphetopsis's influence increased, she began to feel she was a liability to her clan, as Elves increasingly became associated with slavery after the capture of many during the War. She decided it was better to leave, and headed to the Weft.
Player
Jo DS