Azana

Female she/her

Azana Kyral (formerly, changed after marriage)
Azana Vyur (formerly, changed after banishment)

Major side character and minor antagonist

53

Very skinny, long angular figure

6'3"

Reiyane Atalan with some northern heritage.

Medium brown skin, lighter than most in Reiyane Atale.

Once dark brown but turned entirely gray with age

Straight and reaches down to her collarbone, usually pulled up and out of her face in a bun

None

Very fine and adorned clothing, that is both simple but also elegant. She likes to wear limited jewelry and ornamentation so that she looks wealthy, but not so much that she looks gaudy. She places a lot of importance on drawing attention to her and her grace in an understated way. Usually wears pale unsaturated colors.

Long pointed face with a long and straight nose, face slightly wrinkled with age

Height, distinct wardrobe

Azana is incredibly intelligent. She is very charming, able to easily read people and know how she should act around them. People are often drawn to her cleverness and ability to hold a conversation. She is a very strong leader with a steel will and the ability to garner dedicated followers. She is also very independent, usually working on her own and being extremely secretive. Although she pretends to be friends with many she doesn't care about most and would be ready to betray them in a second. Her emotions are often very subdued, having learned to repress them because she believed that they only got in the way. She is very persuasive, convincing people of ideas that they might have before been opposed to. This also helps her be manipulative, knowing how to convince people to do her bidding, either through their devotion to her or through threats.

Azana can be extremely critical of and cruel to the few people she loves, believing that it helps them, which makes her a toxic person. She is extremely power hungry, and almost all of her actions are a way to benefit her. Even though she has gained power many times throughout her life, she never feels like she has enough and continues to work for more. She is often judgmental of others and arrogant, making her have little true trust in most other people. She can also be quite stern and aloof, and although she is able to draw most people in with her charisma, some are put off by her cold, calculating attitude.

After feeling powerless as a child, Azana wants to do anything she can to never feel like that again. She currently wants to be able to reclaim her title and her family name after her banishment. She also wishes to complete the goal of Valarae's Order and get revenge on the Maveryns by taking away their power.

Azana often manipulates and hurts people if she thinks it will benefit her. She understands what she's doing is wrong and will refrain from it when she thinks it is unnecessary, but usually thinks she is justified if she feels like she has to. She often acts to serve herself first, ready to push others out of the way if she thinks it will benefit her. She feels little regret for her misdeeds, always making up a reason that she deems as logical and correct for why she did such actions.

Although she had a good relationship with them in the past, Azana despises the Maveryns, especially the ruler Astezas Maveryn Dayane, for banishing her. Her hate extends even to the young Maveryn children, judging them on the actions of their parents. She desperately wishes to take away their power and banish them the same way they did to her. She looks down on commoners, thinking she is above them because of her supposed divine blood and that they are lesser people who need to be guided by the nobility. She scorns the Nameless, not thinking that she counts as one of them because she believes her banishment to be unjust. She is also disgusted by people that struggle with addiction because they remind her of her own father.

Azana is often busy watching over Valarae's Order and has little free time. However, she does enjoy reading when she has the time. She in turn became a strong writer and wrote a few texts on the history of the Vyur family as well as some political pieces that were banned in the royal court but are commonly read among members of the Valarae's Order. She also enjoyed going out and socializing, which she finds much harder in exile.

Azana is an extremely talented manipulator. She is able to easily understand people and coerce them into doing things she wants. She often keeps tracks of things she knows about other people so she can use it against them. Azana has a very sharp memory. She can easily recall things that most people would have trouble dedicating to mind. She is also a very quick reader and a strong writer. She has an extended knowledge on history and strategy and is well known for her intellect.

Azana has good posture, and combined with her height gives her a tall, intimidating figure. In almost every situation she seems graceful, always abiding by the proper etiquette. She rarely explodes when angry, instead staying composed and taking on a more subtle approach where her voice becomes darker and she focuses a dark glare on the person that she is upset at. She is very attentive, keeping eye contact and paying attention to a person's body language while they speak. When sitting she usually folds her hands on each other. She usually speaks in a level and mostly monotonous tone. It is hard to tell her emotions if she doesn't want them to be known, as she has learned to conceal them from her voice and body language.

Leader of Valarae's Order

Azana was a Lady of the Kyral House in her childhood and early adulthood. After her marriage to Lord Derys, she was High Lady of the Vyur House for a few decades before her banishment.

Practicer of Orazism. Favors Erzanya, the goddess of the sun and the past, as she takes an interest in history and desire to leave her own mark in it. She is a casual worshiper, not particularly invested but still following the required expectations and taking part in prayers.

Azana hates the fact that the Maveryns are in power, believing that the other houses should have that power instead, especially the Vyurs. She cares deeply about continuing to strengthen Reiyane Atale, be that through alliances or war. She cares less about social problems and flaws in the system that don't affect her.

Although Azana was well liked when she was younger for her intelligence and charm, she quickly fell out of favor after committing treason. Even when she was popular in the court, some people were not fond of her personality and the way she treated her children.

Dayane Maveryn
Astezas Consort Elionnel Maveryn

Azana used to be very good friends with the ruler of Reiyane Atale, Astezas Maveryn Dayane. Although when the first met, Azana thought Dayane was vapid and only wanted to pretend to be her friend to gain power, Azana realized there was a deeper side to Dayane and a genuine bond was formed. Both had come from similar backgrounds and also bonded over their intelligence and shared interest in history, gaining immense trust in the other. The two felt they could be more open with each other than anyone else. Azana's trust in Dayane started to falter as she began to question her power and work against her behind her back. Dayane soon discovered and was deeply hurt, banishing Azana for treason but sparing her from execution. Since then, Azana has held a deep hatred for Dayane, going as far as wishing to see Dayane dead.

Azana has a neutral view of Sarus, thinking of him as a valuable asset that she can use to get what she wants. She believes Sarus is below her because he is a commoner and Nameless. They often disagree in their ideologies and Azana quickly gets frustrated with Sarus for questioning her and acting out. She also does somewhat understand him and sees a small bit of herself in him, both being charismatic people who use deception to their advantage.

Azana does not like Caerisus but tolerates him because he is a fellow member of Valarae's Order and holds a great influence over the group. She is irritated by his attitude and carelessness, as well as his habits of partying and drinking. Behind closed doors, she openly speaks of her disdain for him.

Since Elionnel was married to Dayane, Azana and Elionnel considered each other as family friends. Although they personally weren't especially close, Azana's coldness clashing with Elionnel's friendliness, only being tentatively polite and spending time around each other for Dayane. Both were secretly quite judgmental of each other, Elionnel thinking Azana aloof and Azana thinking Elionnel dull. After the Maveryns banished Azana, she has openly despised Elionnel.

Azana had the proper education expected of nobility, being tutored and well taught as a child. Even that didn't satisfy her hunger for knowledge and she continued to do research in her own time, making her even more well learned than most nobles.

Azana was the middle child of three and her childhood started off average for nobility. She lived comfortably, provided to by servants and deeply loved by her mother, Amiya, who encouraged her ambition and intelligence. When Azana was eleven, Amiya died. Azana was heartbroken to lose her mother and she was left alone with her irresponsible and careless father, Khirim, who often neglected his children to cope with his wife's death through gambling and drinking. In his bouts of addiction, he lost much of the family's wealth and influence in the court. The family had trouble keeping their estate together as their money thinned and Azana was often mocked by other children. She felt powerless, and grew extremely bitter towards her father and the people who hurt her.

As she grew up, Azana wanted to make a name for herself in the court. It was difficult because of the status she had earned from her father but she learned to use her wit to her advantage. One way she went about this was befriending the heir to the throne of Reiyane Atale, Astezet Maveryn Dayane. Although at first Azana was only acting as Dayane's friend for power, she eventually formed a genuine fondness for Dayane. The two women were able to understand and be honest with each other in a way they felt they couldn't with most others and became extremely close. Eventually, Dayane ascended to the throne and became Astezas, choosing Azana as one of her trusted advisors. As her reputation was improving, Azana still greatly desired a higher position but was too far away from the direct Kyral line to ever become the High Lady of her noble house. However, she realized the Vyur family's bloodline was dwindling and the single heir, Cayeri, had no children. Azana saw an opportunity to move up in the world, and became close to Cayeri's parents and persuaded them to arrange a marriage for her with their son. Azana and Cayeri were married, giving the Vyur house the popularity it needed and Azana getting the power she craved by becoming the High Lady. Azana felt satisfied by her influence for a few months, but eventually started to feel even that wasn't enough.

After hearing that Dayane was pregnant with a second child, Azana also planned to have a child, hoping they would grow up to be an eligible suitor to one of Dayane's child and be able to marry an Astezet, an heir of the Astezas. The baby was named after Azana's father, Khirim, a sign of disrespect in Reiyane Atalan culture. Three years later she would have a second child, a girl named Meres, as a replacement if she deemed Khirim a failure.

Feeling immense responsibility over the Vyur house, Azana started researching into the history of the family. She was particularly intrigued by Vyur Valarae, the foremother of the Vyur house. Valarae had taken part in a war that had united Reiyane Atale and brought the six noble houses into power. However, Valarae was upset that the Maveryn foremother, Eilainn, got most of the power even though the other houses had put the same effort into the war. Valarae was shamed for speaking out against Eilainn, so she started writing about her ideas in secret, and they had passed down the Vyur lineage for generations. Azana agreed with Valarae, believing that even in her own time the Maveryns still had too much power over the other houses. She soon started Valarae's Order, an organization that wished to overthrow the Maveryns and divide the power equally among the noble houses. She was a strong leader, intelligent and manipulative, and quickly grew a sizable amount of supporters. Even though she was still friends with Dayane, she secretly worked behind her back to steal her influence and was growing less trusting of Dayane.

Eventually, one of the members of Valarae's Order snitched on the organization. Several members, including Azana, were revealed to be trying to steal power the Maveryns. Although all the other members were executed, Dayane still loved Azana and couldn't bear to order her death. Instead, Azana was banished to a small island far off the coast of Reiyane Atale and was stripped of her family name and title, marking her as a Nameless. Much of Azana's work was destroyed, her group dispersing. However, Azana still held great influence and was able to get her ties to fake her death and rescue her from the island only a few months into her isolation. Her children and husband were safe, but suffered serious backlash to their reputation from Azana's fall. The Vyur family kept her on their estate in secret, and even in exile she continues to lead Valarae's Order, trying to rebuild her former glory and take another attempt on the throne.

Vyur Derys is Azana's ex-husband, the marriage having been broken off when Azana was banished. The two felt no romantic love for each other, their marriage and children for purely political reasons. They have become awkward acquaintances because of how long they have known each other, but have trouble connecting any further because of their clashing personalities. Azana looks down on Derys for how gentle he is, believing that he is weak willed. Azana also frequently views Derys as below her, thinking of him as less intelligent and another puppet she can use to get what she wants.

Azana genuinely loves her children, Kiram and Meres, but rarely shows it and believes that the best way to help them grow up is to be harsh to them. She has a very narrow expectation of who she wants them to be, and greatly reprimands them if they try to rebel against her. She can even be emotionally abusive towards them, but doesn't see any problems with it, thinking that her lessons will help them in the long run.

Azana despised her father for being absent in her life and ruining the reputation of their family. On the other hand, she had a very close relationship with her mother, Amiya, who was always there for her and promoted her ambitions. Azana closed off and changed after her mother's death.

Azana is not particularly fond of her siblings, Tomai and Korlassa, because she felt like they were never there for each other in childhood. She especially dislikes Korlassa for rebelling against the expectations of the royal court, seeing her as a disappointment to their family.

Azana has a huge extended family. She hates most of them, believing that they kept her away from taking the title of High Lady of the Kyral House.

In the very early draft of False Prophet, formerly titled Disappearance of the Heir, I had a major character named Lyssa Vydur. Lyssa was formerly a commoner who married into the noble Vydur family and was part of an organization called the Order of the Heir, a group working to find a fraud to pose as the dead heir to the royal throne. Lyssa had a very similar cold and cruel personality to Azana, but was a younger woman, held less power, and was overall less developed. I eventually scrapped Disappearance of the Heir, but still loved the premise and decided to rewrite it with some major changes as False Prophet. Originally, Lyssa was going to be split into two characters, Azana and Nalyia, a kinder counterpart who married Derys after Azana was banished. Nalyia shared too many similarities to Azana and I felt like I had too many characters, so I eventually removed Nalyia from the story, merging her role with Azana.