Naia Lore

Naia Lore is the former first watch on the SNCV Abraham. She is Earthen born, from French Canada. She is the ex-lover of Armando Latorre, and a long time friend of Peter Reynolds. She is an unofficial private in the Knights of Fall, and as of July 35, 27 A.O.G., is still travelling with Peter Reynolds, under watch of Thane's Guard Captain Caitlin Baudin. She is a major POV Character in Book Two: Prisoners and Pirates.

## Appearance & Character:

Naia Lore is a woman of African descent, with long, black braids running down her back. She is considered to be extremely beautiful. Naia is 37 years old. Naia has brown eyes, and is seen wearing multiple sets of garments in "Universe Eight" and "Prisoners and Pirates." These range from military uniforms, to civilian clothes (such as jeans).

Naia is a forward-thinking character, who is fiercly loyal to her comrades. Naia, however, will not back down when challenged, and sticks with her convictions until proven wrong beyond a doubt. Naia is said to have the keenest eye in the Sun Nation navy, owing to her position on the prized battlecruiser of the Sunnese Fleet. Naia struggles with rejection, possibly due to the traumas of her Earthen demise. She seeks love and admiration, but is grounded and will only take brazen risks in a last resort. Naia is easily annoyed by vulgarity and what she deems as "nonsense", and is vocal about returning situations to a sensible manner.

While initially loyal to the Sun Nation, after learning of the fate of the Northern Isles, Naia begins to question her Sunnese upbringing, and whether the government is as worthy of loyalty as she previously thought. As she travels through Thane's Isle, she begins to become more cynical.

## History:

Naia Lore was born in the year 1740 A.D., in French Canada. She had at least one sibling, a younger brother. Not much is known about her past, other than she and her family were forced to flee their home for an unknown reason. Naia was nineteen years old at this time. Their family attempted to flee Port Levis on a boat, during the siege of Port Levis, in 1759. Their boat was accidentally rammed by a french fire ship, and the Lore family's boat quickly sank. Naia drowned attempting to rescue her brother, who was pinned to the deck by the ship's mast.

Naia arrived on the Afterlife, somewhere on the Sun Nation. Her first job upon joining the Sunnese was to join the Sunnese First Rangers, a police-like organization responsible for protecting the desert roads. It is here that her "keen eye" was first noticed. Naia left the Rangers for an unknown reason.

To conquer her fear of water, Naia joined the navy, first on a patrol boat, but then joined the officer's academy. Naia's first assignment was the position of second watch, on the *SNCV Georg Thiel*. Later, she was promoted to first watch. During her stint at the officer's academy, she met Peter Reynolds, and Casper Roald. She had a brief romantic relationship with Armando Latorre, which left a major emotional impact on her.

Naia served in the Moon Sea War, and was present for the Battle of the Northern Isles. She, like many of the sailors, assumed that there had been an inactive volcano present on Flowergrove Island. This later proved to be false. She and the crew of the *Georg Thiel* assisted in fishing the few survivors of the Sunnese vessels from the water, before being chased away by Thane's Isle aircraft.

At some point, either late in the Moon Sea War or afterwards, Naia was reassigned to the SNCV Abraham, now under the command of her peer, Peter Reynolds. When the Abraham is pulled from mothball, Naia was charged with getting the ship ready for the voyage. Naia is informed of the true nature of the battle fleet's mission: To locate and retrieve Peter's grandson, Benjamin Reynolds.

## Recent Events:

### *Universe Eight:*

Naia is already aboard the ship when Peter Reynolds arrived to the Southport docks. Naia performs her duties as usual as the ship initially sets sail. She is visibly displeased by Armando and his new lover Martha Zlata's public display of affection, and despite the captain's attempts to get them to stop, they don't, which annoys her.

Naia is the first on the Abraham to spot the bluesteel seaplane, and during the attack does not take her eyes off of it, constantly updating and reporting its position. When the seaplane crashes in the water, Naia is one of the few who do not celebrate, as she sees a torpedo coming towards the Abraham, though is pensive at first. The crew is distracted, and Naia's warning comes too late. The torpedo strikes the Abraham, and knocks most of the officers to the floor.

When the second torpedo strikes the Abraham, Naia glances through her binoculars to see the fleet oiler has been struck as well. She watches in horror as it breaks in half and sinks. She gets driven into a rage when Armando and Martha comfort each other and kiss, possibly due to her own emotions on the matter, and possibly due to the inappropriate nature of the acts.

Naia evacuates the ship with the non-essential crew, and participates in the battle in the cannonade. She is almost shot by Andrey Ivanov, but Ben stops the fight before this can occur. She is captured by the Knights of the Northern Isles, and cruelty towards her and the others is stopped by Benjamin. She rides the ferry across the water with the captured sailors.

Naia is made emotional by Peter's speech, possibly because she fears that they will never return home, despite the captain's assurance.

Naia determines to continue the mission, to the chagrin of the more unaware crew. She tackles Laura Skarpelis when Laura attempts to choke Ben to death. Naia, Laura, and Martha get into a shouting match about two different topics, before the Butcher arrives, and executes Laura. The crew is sobered by this, and those who believed Laura was right vilify Naia, Peter, and Armando. She attempts to stand up for Peter, claiming he has given the crew everything, and they squander it for nothing. The crew does not heed her words.

Naia is nervous about the parlay with Captain Manuel Jaco. When the parlay fails and a battle breaks out, Artemon hastily promotes the Sunnese to privates in the Knights of Fall, so they will be able to more easily reach Thane Zenzele. She, Peter, Armando, and Ben escape with Commander Artemon's help.

In the long walk north, Naia's resolve breaks down, and she considers having Ben kill them with his wisp blade, as the situation seems hopeless. When Ben takes a drink from the Salt River, Naia is jealous of his ability to drink salt water. It is then they encounter a Thane's Isle guard patrol, led by Leon Broks.

Leon questions the nature of the party, first assuming they are deserters. When he realizes Ben is an apocolite, he becomes doubly curious. Leon brings them back to the reinforcement camp, where Naia first meets Desiree Forcier, and Caitlin Baudin. Eventually, Sophia Miller arrives, and taunts them, saying that most likely the Sunnese will be executed. Thane Zenzele states that he would allow two of them to go free back to the Sun Nation, as Ben wishes, but one would be brought to Retirement Row for questioning. Armando is selected, and Peter and Naia are sent free, though Naia does her best to swap places with him. Zenzele does not allow this swap, and Naia is devastated, having lost Armando twice now, this time seemingly permanently. She blames Peter for this, but Peter responds with an icy demeanor, claiming nothing could be done. Caitlin and Naia are snappy with each other, and their relationship gets off to a rocky start.

Naia is taken with Peter and Ben by truck (with the Thane) to Huxley Homestead, where the Huxleys feed her and the group. She gets into a political debate with Caitlin and Joe, and is terrified by Zenzele's power. She comforts Ben, who is distraught by the previous week's events. When the thane and Ben get into an argument, the Thane reveals it was he who destroyed the Northern Isles, and Naia is shocked that the Sunnese Government would lie to the nation about such a calamity. The motorcade arrives, and Naia rides in the limousine with the thane, Ben, and Peter.

During the car ride, Naia notes Zenzele's drug and alcohol abuse, and eventually takes a drink herself. She laughs and spills whiskey on herself when Ben makes a crude joke. She reveals she saved one of the photographs from the Abraham, and shows it to Peter. It is a photograph of when the crew was young, all together, the first time they were deployed on the Abraham. Peter and Naia share a tender moment of friendship.

When at the Great Bridge railroad station, a terrorist attempts to assassinate Zenzele. Naia is shocked that the terrorist got so close before being brought down by the Thane's Guard, but Zenzele tells her it's not a problem.

Naia and Peter board a train bound for the Brokyles, and she watches Ben and Peter say their goodbyes. Caitlin Baudin of the Thane's Guard accompanies them, as an escort.

### *Prisoners & Pirates:*

Naia is a POV Character in Prisoners & Pirates

## Notes:

1. Naia Lore is one of author Dorsey's favorite characters.