Kaliana

Kaliana is the daughter of a **petty king** from a region South of **Vengron**. Her father (rightfully) suspected that she has some minor magick channeling ability. Aware of Vengron's search for channelers, he has invited a Vengron delegation to test his daughter. Having no interest in what either success or failure meant for her, Kaliana fled her home with her falcon Babs, trying to get as far as possible from their reach. She had initially set out to reach **Val Kahden**, literally on the edge of the continent, but a chance encounter with the well-traveled gnome **Ummerlingen Broadheart** had her change her mind. Looking to escape intrigue and court politics, she decided to investigate the **Stonemist Swamps** instead, perhaps also in the hope that the witches rumoured to live here would aid her in understanding her own powers.

## Kaliana's story

The shrill whistle of the hawk pierced the evening sky. Kaliana winced as it landed with one talon off her glove and digging into her arm.

"Babs, you really have to work on your landing. Clawed to death by my own hawk is not how I want to go. What got you so excited, girl?"

Kaliana turned her hand upward. The palm of the glove was stained with dark brown splashes. The bird shuffled closer and deposited the dead mouse it was holding into her palm, the proceeded to feast on it.

Kaliana waited patiently for her to finish. It was a habit Babs had never grown out of. She had not been selected by her father's royal falconers, dismissed as too small and weak for her age. It had been Kaliana's twin determination to always prove everyone wrong and to annoy her father whenever the occasion arose that had saved the bird. She had fed her by hand and reared it, and it was part of what forged their indestructible bond. The other part was less obvious.

Babs was just about the only thing about Kaliana that pointed to any noble heritage. Her traveling clothes were sturdy, but plain and worn, her hair matted and tangled after days spent alone in the wilderness. Her last enjoyment of civilized life luxuries had been back in Melo Mada. As much as she had enjoyed the wonderous sights of the desert city where Ummer had led her, lingering in any large settlement was not an option for her. She had gladly accepted the world-savvy's gnome's offer to accompany him at least part of his journey to the North-Eastern Duchies.

She had hoped that Val Kahden, at the edge of the world, would be far enough from Vengron's reach. However, Ummer's tales of the courtly intrigues and the subtleties of politics had left a bitter taste and conjured up the memories of her flight from home. So she had taken her leave from the friendly gnome and parted ways when they approached Glindhaven, the Southern Duchy's border.

That had been three days ago. True to the map she had copied from Ummer's vast collection of notes, she had reached the banks of Blackwater River. She was officially in blank territory now. Maybe she could pick up where Ummer had left off. After she cooked the rabbit Babs had caught for her and got a good rest. And a bath in the morning.

### Extract from Kaliana's notes as she approached Mount Ahima

"Mudballs and hog's piss! Ummer made it look so easy. My heather looks like sickly flames, my rowan trees are a child's scribbles. Babs could have done a better job with her talons. Still, I promised my gnome friend that I would take note of these lands, and I never break a promise. Else, I would not be in this forsaken wilderness.

The land holds a strange beauty. There's strength and danger in its bones. Babs knows it, too. She keeps checking in on me, the darling. Still, at the surface, there's an ethereal beauty holding its breath. It waits for soothing rains to exhale in relief.

When I arrived, the land was as black as the Vengron's captain's heart. After two days of rain, the soil exploded in a lush green and a hundred shades of heather. It's breath taking. But the rowans... the rowans worry me."