Safiya fon Hasstrel

Art by @NipuniDraws

**Safiya 'Safi' fon Hasstrel** is a Truthwitch and the Threadsister of Iseult det Midenzi. She is also the empress of Cartorra and the light half of the Cahr Awen.

## Biography

### Early life

Safi comes from the Empire of Cartorra. Her parents died in a fire when she was young and she was put in the care of her uncle, Dom Eron. After having issues with Eron, Safi gets sent away to study with Mathew and Habim. Iseult det Midenzi saved her life from a Cleaved Earthwitch when she was twelve years old, an event that ultimately bound their lives together, making them Threadsisters.

### *Truthwitch*

Safi and Iseult det Midenzi are conducting a highway robbery north of Veñaza City, because Safi lost all her money to the Chiseled Cheater and wants it back. However, the carriage that she and Iseult hold up belongs to Guildmaster Yotiluzzi. It's being guarded by a Bloodwitch called Aeduan. After a quick fight the girls retreat to the lighthouse. There, they regroup before heading to their mentor Mathew's coffee shop. Their luck gives out as guards think they're breaking in, and the girls are forced to flee to the docks.

At the docks, they encounter a cleaving Tidewitch. They begin to fight it when a shirtless Nubrevnan man comes to their aid. He kills the Tidewitch-against Safi's wishes, who wants him to not interfere- and the two get into an argument before Habim pulls Safi away.

Habim tells Safi that she and her uncle are required to attend the Continental Truce Summit ball. He sends Safi off to Guildmaster Alix's to get ready, where she meets Mathew. He tells her that her uncle has a plan for her and not to worry.

After Safi is dressed, she finds her Uncle Eron. He tells her that after she's done with the ball, she will be free to go wherever she wants. Safi immediately begins puzzling out where Iseult went after they were separated. She decides that if her uncle wants her to play the role of domna, she will.

Safi arrives at the ball late. She runs into Leopold fon Cartorra, a childhood friend of hers, and then into the Nubrevnan man who fought the Cleaved Tidewitch at the pier with her. When he asks her to dance, Safi finds out that he's actually Prince Merik of Nubrevna. They share an exhilarating dance together and after, Safi can't figure how she feels. Before she can process, Leopold and Emperor Henrick make sure to dance with her multiple times. Once the dancing is over, Henrick reveals that Safi is to be his bride and the new Empress of Cartorra.

The lights go out soon after the announcement, with Safi leaving the dance and a glamour making sure it appears that she's still there. She flees with Eron and Mathew to a cart, where Mathew uses his Wordwitchery to force Safi to stay under the cart until someone picks her up at the docks.

However, Safi manages to break free of the magic. She leaves the cart and goes to a stable, where she steals a horse and pitchfork. She sets off into the night but finds her path blocked by the Bloodwitch and four other Carawen Monks. When she races to escape them, she runs into Iseult. The two head for the lighthouse and scramble to the top, where Merik joins them in fighting the Bloodwitch. With his winds behind them, the Bloodwitch thinks that they look like the Cahr Awen.

Safi and Iseult are taken to Merik's ship, the *Jana*, where she is told she is to be taken to the ghost town of Lejna. When Safi refuses to cooperate, she has her air taken away by the first mate, Kullen Ikray. She wakes in a cabin belowdecks next to a healing Iseult and a Waterwitch Healer monk called Evrane.

After Evrane kicks Safi out for being too distracting, she runs into a girl called Ryber Fortiza. They head the the deck of the ship. The two watch the sailors perform drills while Ryber answers Safi's questions. Eventually Merik and Evrane can be heard arguing about how Iseult will die if she doesn't get to a Firewitch Healer, and how Merik refuses to take the *Jana* ashore to get her one. Angered, Safi challenges Merik to a fight. He wins and she is chained up.

When Safi learns of the Marstoki naval ship that Vivia Nihar has attacked, she sees that it's carrying a Firewitch Healer. She convinces Evrane to take Iseult onto it for healing.

Iseult is healed by the man, but the ship is attacked by sea foxes. The girls manage to badly injure one of the foxes, and it vanishes while the other follows. Merik uses the opportunity to fly all of them back to the *Jana*, where flaming barrels of chum are launches off to draw the foxes away.

The *Jana* sails to the coast of Nubrevna. As Evrane explains the plight of her homeland, Safi begins to realize that Merik needs her uncle's contract badly. When Merik confronts her about her recklessness taking Iseult aboard an enemy ship, Safi doesn't fight. She accepts everything Merik says and goes into the irons without a fight-and Evrane soon joins her. However, Merik has a change of heart when he sees her drinking rainwater, and releases her early.

Safi, Iseult, Merik, and Evrane go ashore to begin the trek to Lejna. They are ambushed by Master Huntsman Yoris, who brings them to the village of Noden's Gift. Safi and Merik share a moment in an abandoned ship before Safi sets off to the dead Water Well in the hopes of healing Iseult completely.

At the Water Well, Saif and Iseult go to the heart of the Well. When they touch the stone at its center, light glows and an earthquake shakes the ground. When they emerge from the waters of the Well, Evrane is crying, as she thinks that Safi and Iseult may be the mythical Cahr Awen.

The four set off to Lejna by horseback. Safi and Merik bond a little on the way. They stop to camp for the night, and Safi and Merik sneak away. They share a kiss, but are interrupted by the news that the Bloodwitch is on his way. Merik sends Safi back to the campsite before returning to the *Jana*.

Evrane stays behind to try and slow to Bloodwitch, but while Safi and Iseult are streaking towards Lejna, they realize that Marstoki Adders have arrived. Iseult dresses like Safi in an attempt to lure them away while Safi heads for the pier she has to reach in order to complete the contract. However, she encounters Empress Vaness of Marstok in her way.

After a quick fight in which Safi is weakened, she makes a deal with the empress: she'll use her magic in any way Vaness desires if the empress will open negotiations with Nubrevna. Vaness agrees and takes Safi onboard her ship to sail to Azmir.

### *Windwitch*

Safi and Vaness are onboard one of the empress's ships when an assassin comes for Vaness. After she kills him, the ship is engulfed by seafire. The two of them manage to escape to shore, but none of the Adders onboard survive. Vaness is wracked by grief as she and Safi head deeper into the pirate republic of Saldonica.

However, they are apprehended by three Hell-Bards, who put a collar around Vaness to prevent her using her magic. They bring the two to the gates of Baedyed

## Physical description

Safi has wheat, golden hair, storm blue eyes and tanned skin. She is muscular, with callused hands and feet.

## Personality

Safi is hot-tempered and impulsive, and often needs Iseult to calm her down. She is fiercely loyal to her Threadfamily, and will do anything for them. She tends to run from her emotions or beat them into submission.

## Witchery and abilities

### Witchery

* **Truthwitchery**: Safi has the ability to always know when someone is lying by feeling it with her witchery. It is considered a very powerful magic and extremely rare, though it may not be as powerful as most think. According to Safi, she's "easily confused by strong faith".

### Abilities

* **Skilled Fighter:** Safi is also a trained fighter. She has the ability to fight with any weapon within reach.
* **Multilingual:** In addition to her native Cartorran, she speaks Arithuanian, Damotti, and Nubrevnan. Her Nubrevnan is so proficient, she sounds like a native.

## Relationships

### Eron fon Hasstrel

Safiya has a strained relationship with her uncle. Safi is not fond of her uncle mostly because he is an alcoholic, or so she thought until he helped her escape a Bloodwitch.

### Iseult det Midenzi

Iseult is Safiya's Threadsister. Overall, they share a healthy relationship. Safi was a little bit racist to Iseult until she saved by her when she was twelve. They are now the best of friends.

### Caden fitz Grieg

Hell-Bard - A good friend, ally and former love interest

### Other

* Mathew - Thread-family and mentor
* Habim - Thread-family and mentor
* Vaness - Ally

## Appearences

* *Truthwitch* (First appearance)
* *Windwitch*
* *Bloodwitch*
* *Witchshadow*

## Trivia

* Seagulls always happen to poop on her head.
* If she sorted into Hogwarts, Safi would be a Gryffindor.
* Her favorite part of a heist is creating aliases.
* Safi is pansexual.

## References

1. ↑  Susan Dennard (@stdennard) on Tumblr: "They’re supposed to be 18. It’s VERY possible I messed up and wrote 19 somewhere." (2021-08-03) — in reply to @decaffeinateddonutrebel: "Another one...How old are Safi and Iseult actually?? In Truthwitch, I think they were 18 but in Bloodwitch, I am pretty sure it mentioned that they were 19. But in Witchshadow, they are 18?" (backup link)
2. ↑  Susan Dennard (@stdennard) on Tumblr: "He was Safi’s mother’s brother. So that is accurate." (2020-12-09) — in reply to @un-empressed: "In my translation Eron is Safi's maternal uncle - as in, the word for that is used... Still, do we actually know whose sibling Eron was?" (backup link)
3. ↑ *Truthwitch*, Chapter 1
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Truthwitch*, Chapter 33
5. ↑  Susan Dennard (@stdennard) on Twitter: "Fun Fact: if the #Witchlands characters were in HP Houses, I'd say..." (2018-01-27).
6. ↑ *Windwitch*, Chapter 7
7. ↑  Susan Dennard (@stdennard) on Tumblr: "Pan!! She is very pan. I have yet to find a way to work that naturally into the text, but I’ll find a way!" (2019-12-29) — in reply to @queenie-fantasia: "YASSSS we love a bi or gay queen!!!!" (backup link)