Darla

**Darla** is an enormous Gerant novice at the convent of Sweet Mercy. Nona Grey first meets her when she joins Grey Class. Although they get-off to a bad start, they eventually become close friends.

## Appearance and Personality

Darla is a massive girl due to her strong Gerant traits. She has a blunt face, and brown hair that she often keeps short, whether by choice or through regularly being punished with having her head shaved. Darla considers herself the top-dog of Grey Class and regularly gives new novices a beating. Despite her reputation as a bully, she eventually forms a friendship with Nona and her group of friends, even if she retains her fondness for "tough love", frequently shoving and mocking the girls.

## History

Darla is the daughter of a renowned senior officer in the army of The Empire, serving on the staff of General Cathrad. Her father eventually rises to the rank of General himself.

### *Red Sister*

Darla considers herself top-dog of Grey Class. When new novices join the class incuding Hessa, Darla gives them a beating. However, she meets her match in Nona Grey. Nona gets badly injured, but breaks Darla’s finger and some toes, before Sister Tallow breaks-up the fight. Nevertheless, Nona doesn't hold a grudge, and some days later helps-up Darla when she slips on the ice, which marks the beginning of an unlikely friendship.

Darla, Nona and the other Grey Class novice go on the annual Ranging across open country from Harran Fens to the Kring. After the novices become split-up in a ice-storm, they realise that the region is full of armed men, who seem to be Durnish raiders. Darla, Nona, Ara, Zole, Clera, Ruli, and Jula eventually gather in a cave with Tarkax the Ice-Spear for protection. He explains that the men are in fact Tacisis soldiers disguised as raiders.

Eventually the soldiers surround the cave. As they are preparing to fight them, Clera reveals herself to be a traitor, poisoning Talkax, Ara, and Zole before the others can subdue her. Despite these losses, Nona insists on fighting anyway. Using a combination of her Hunska speed and Path energy, Nona hurls herself at the soldiers and begins tearing them apart. Four of the soldiers try retreating into the cave, but Darla, Ruli, and Jula kill them with their makeshift weapons. With the novices exhausted from dealing with the soldiers, Raymel Tacsis suddenly appears swathed in scale-armour. The four novices attack the giant Gerant, but the devils inside him make him virtually impregnable. Even a barely recovered Ara can't damage him with Path energy. It's only when Nona uses Yisht's Amulet of Negation that she can finally kill him.

### *Grey Sister*

Darla is the first of Nona's friends to graduate to Mystic Class. When Nona joins the class she quickly gets into a feud with another novice, Joeli Namsis. Joeli goads Nona into exploring the undercaves where her friend Hessa died. While Darla, Nona and the others are searching for a route to the spot, they encounter a Holothour, a mysterious entity bred by The Missing. The Holothour causes the novices to flee in panic, to dread returning, and even to forget the experience. Nona eventually cures the other novices with Thread-Work, but finds the effort too exhausting to fix Darla too.

Joeli's feud with Nona continues. One day she and four of her friends ambush her outside the bathhouse. Nona puts up one hell of a fight, injuring the five girls as badly as she gets hurt herself, before Darla breaks-up the brawl. Darla is also co-opted, along with the others, into helping Nona succeed at the Shade-Trial against Joeli. Darla's role is to hurl Nona from the high balcony over the Novice Cloister into the Centre Oak, without the other novices seeing.

When the Inquisition descend on Sweet Mercy, None is forced to flee the convent, and Abbess Glass is arrested for heresy. Both Darla and Arabella manage to convince their families to let them attend Glass' trial at Sherzal's palace. During the trial, Joeli tries to manipulate the judges with Thread-Work, but Darla and Ara intervene, Ara countering her manipulation and Darla distracting Joeli with a hefty shove. Eventually Abbess Glass turns the tables on Sherzal, instead putting her on trial for stealing the Sweet Mercy Shipheart. But Sherzal does not intend to face justice, despite all the Sis in attendance, breaking up the trial with her soldiers. A fight ensues with Ara walking The Path and unleashing her power, while Darla deals with the archers. With Ara's power spent, Abbess Glass urges them to escape through the servants entrance. Darla and the ringfighter Regol try to shield their escape, but Joeli uses her Thread-Work against them. Regol flees in confusion, and Darla gets swarmed by the soldiers. Ara manages to rescue her, but she's mortally wounded. She makes it as far as Sherzal's stables, where they meet-up with Nona, but dies.

The pain of Darla’s death fuels Nona to walk The Path for a second time in the same day, and successfully escape Sherzal's palace.