Zara Moon

Zara Moon, heir to Frostfall, is a High Elven vigilante and leader of The Barbed Quills. Despite carrying some rather famous genes from House Blackthorne and House Karhall, Zara is best known among nobility as the bastard child of Darius Heartstone and Arianne West. Gossip among the nobles states she grew up mostly under the tutelage of her father and fought in The Pirate War, and had trouble settling back into a noble, or even common, lifestyle.

## **Biography**

### **Early Years (1025 - 1035)**

Zara Moon was unfortunate enough to be conceived shortly before her parents had a very final and messy breakup. Her presence in her mother’s womb wasn’t noticed until deep into the pregnancy and she was born into an uncomfortable predicament. Arianne told Darius of Zara's birth, and that she would be raising the child herself. Darius, feeling Zara was probably better off with Arianne in Bastion City with a good education and family, left well-enough alone.
Zara was a troublesome baby, and Arianne wasn't suited for motherhood. By the time she was two years old (1027), her mother finally gave up. Arianne loved her daughter, but hadn't bonded and felt she couldn't raise her - she set her up in a foster home and tried to visit regularly, oft accompanied by her squire (and Zara's cousin) Valoria Blackthorne. Zara had trouble learning conventionally, was extremely disobedient, and acted up at every opportunity she could. Over the years she began to resent her mother for leaving her. Her foster family was not unkind, but it wasn't *her* family. The resentment only built every time Val came with Arianne as Zara realized this young woman was more Arianne's daughter than *she* was.

### **The Dastardly Duo (1035 - 1046)**

Darius heard news of his brother Lyron's upcoming nuptials and travelled to Caybourne a few weeks before the wedding so he could get to know the bride. It shouldn't have been a surprise it was in fact a groom, but Darius accepted Aegis into the family happily enough. However, around this time he also heard news that ten-year-old Zara was no longer with Arianne - that she was with a foster family. Furious, he caught a ride over to the mainland, found Zara, and took her back with him to the wedding. Zara was delighted to finally meet her father, and danced with him at the wedding of her uncles.
She had the opportunity to meet her uncles Lyron and Aegis; Casim and his wife Rivka; cousins Gwenaelle and Dagan; her aunt Serenity and her husband Drake. She also met an assortment of other relatives and family friends including Claire, Richard, Carndas, and Nimbe Webb. She and her 11-year-old cousin Gwenaelle agreed to write letters.

Arianne quickly took chase after her estranged ex-lover and child. She arrived shortly after the wedding and was able to track them down before they returned to Darius' home in Ardent Quay. After a heated argument and many threats of violence, Zara's parents finally calmed down and agreed it was best that Darius took sole custody.

Zara's life with Darius was exciting and every day was a new adventure. He taught her hunting and fishing and survival tactics, and began training her in combat almost immediately. They lived on the beach in Ardent Quay and Zara was exposed to all sorts of cultures and races as Darius began teaching her the art of trade. He encouraged her to learn how to be independent and provided plenty of opportunities. Zara was a common sight running about on the docks with other children her age, trading shells and lost coins for knick knacks from merchants.

In 1036, Gwenaelle wrote to Zara that her parents were pregnant again. Shortly after, Vankul Vennet was born. Darius agreed to visit Casim and Rivka so Zara could spend time with Gwenaelle and meet her new cousin. Her 7-year-old cousin Dagan was going through a phase of pulling up girls' skirts. Zara is the reason his nose is slightly crooked now.

In 1037, when Zara was 12 years old, news reached her father of [Caybourne Magic Uprising] and the death of Richard Holdenhome. Briefly they visited the mainland and went to Homefast to pay their respects to the widowed Claire Ludlow. Darius chose to do this instead of writing a letter to give Zara an opportunity to visit Bastion City and see her mother, but Zara declined the suggestion vehemently. Instead she got to meet her cousins once-removed. Only days later, news of Serenity and Drake's first childbirth (Seren Morvala) reached them also. Zara was excited to have another cousin and wanted to go there, but Darius admitted that even at the wedding two years ago, he and his sister were not on great terms and he was not welcome.

In 1040, when Zara was 15-years-old, shocking news of her cousin Owyn's murder spread to Ardent Quay. 16-year-old Griff Holdenhome was now heir to House Holdenhome. Darius and Zara attended Owyn's funeral and Griff's ceremony in Homefast. Darius had planned to stay if Claire needed the support, but he believed with Carndas and Nimbe there, she would be all right. Again, Zara had an opportunity to seek out her mother, but she didn't.

A year later, Zara returned alone to attend Griff's wedding to Rhynanywn Monmoth. Darius remained home because he didn't feel like travelling all the way out there again - Zara affectionately told him he was turning into an old man. Zara did take the time to go to Bastion City this time and enjoyed herself in the markets and some seedier establishments. She considered trying to find her mother, but chose not to yet again. Around this time she experienced her first fling, but that went nowhere and she returned to Ardent Quay. She became obsessed and terrified with the concept that perhaps she was pregnant and she admitted her dalliance to her father. He reacted kindly and took her to a healer to ascertain whether she was or not.

She was. This forced Zara to face many of her issues surrounding her views on motherhood. Darius made it clear to her that he would love her and care for her no matter what she chose to do with this unborn child. She was yet to entirely decide when her body made the decision for her. She suffered a miscarriage. Although she experienced relief, there was also a deep emotional pain and it made her scrutinize whether or not she wanted to be a mother in the future.

This experience softened her resentment for her mother, and although she still did not seek her out, her feelings surrounding her mother relaxed somewhat.

Zara's cousin Alexi Morvala was born in 1043 when she was 18, but she didn't hear about it at the time. She enrolled into a local community college, brand new in Ardent Quay. With her survival and fighting skills, Zara decided she would like to experience life as an adventurer for some time, perhaps as a mercenary like her mother if need be. She became interested in archaeology and history, surprisingly enough considering her childhood hatred of book-learning. She wasn't the best student when it came to grades, but her passion made up for it.

### **The Pirate War and the Scouring of Briochi (1046 - 1052)**

In 1046, on a sunny day in Ardent Quay, Darius and Zara were celebrating her graduation. While dining at a seaside restaurant on an outdoor deck, Darius waved over somebody he knew. Nimbe Webb approached the duo and struck up a conversation, claiming she was just passing through the area. But within the space of this conversation, Zara's world came crashing down.
A cannonball struck the building behind them and Nimbe managed to grab Zara before the rubble could strike her. Darius wasn't so lucky and his skull was caved in by a chunk of the restaurant's sandstone wall. (The Pirate War begins)

Cousin Athilde Mae Morvala is born in 1049. Zara was at Pirate Wars Sorrows Betrayal in 1050, and Motter’s Spiral in 1051. Scouring of Briochi also happens in 1051, Zara is impacted as Dagan Vankul is her cousin via Casim Ludlow. In 1052 Zara saves Aegis’ life but he loses a leg, Pirate War ends.

### **The Germ of Rebellion (1053 - 1054)**

Zara came back from the Pirate War and tried to be a normal person. She realized soon enough that she wasn't mentally equipped to settle down. By the time 1054 rolled around, she had realized what her purpose would be: She needed to stand up for the commonfolk which the nobility cared little for. She wished to somehow place them in a position where they could choose their own leadership. This is when her interest in democracy began.

## **Personality and Traits**

A good person doing bad things for the right reasons in the wrong way
## **Relationships**

### **Romantic**

* Arti of Bastion City - Zara only had one lover during her early adulthood before the Pirate War. This fling in 1041 wasn't destined to go anywhere, but she did get pregnant to him and shortly after lost the unborn child to a miscarriage. This experience burned her for a few years and she shied away from relationships and intimacy.
* Cynthia Silvers - Met in 1048 while both fighting under Garin's command in the Pirate War, they began a casual relationship. This helped Zara get over her fear of intimacy, while also helping Cynthia get past her body image issues from her prosthetics and scarring. This relationship may have been able to go somewhere, but when Zara was transferred to another command in 1049, they agreed to remain in contact as friends. Later, when Zara invited Cynthia to help her found the Barbed Quills, their relationship remained platonic.
* Drakken Mugflayer - When Zara met Drakken in 1053, it was to ask for assistance in funding and providing materials for the Bladed Quills. She felt some attraction for the man and attempted to initiate something. However, Drakken shot her down and suggested that she would have more leadership potential in her group if she abstained from sexual relations with its members or contacts. Although she originally thought it a stupid notion, she has found he was right.

### **Familial**

#### Parents and Guardians

* Darius Heartstone (father)
* Arianne West (estranged mother)

#### Siblings, Friends, and Other

* Cynthia Silvers
* Gwenavere Blackthorne
* Iris Storm
* Beatrice Knox
* Zephora Knox
* Yvenna Holdenhome
* Magnolia Holdenhome
* Sebastien Rodin II
* Reef
* Lark
* Renato
* Dominic the Viper
* Sofia Rookwood
* Drakken Mugflayer
* Deadbolt
* Gwenaelle Vennet
* Dagan Vennet