Sinaria Verlien
by Ohad ShahamCountess of High Sonden
High Mistress of the Secret Craft of Fire Elementalism
Secret Leader of the Followers of the Fire
Secret Founder of the Free Anachronic Society of Aalban
AC 1014
"Glantri was once a proud nation, now it is full of the unimportant and the unworthy."
Appearance
Lady Sinaria Verlien is an important noble and her appearance reflects this. She is in her late seventies, but uses magic to maintain her looks in her early fifties. Sinaria has common Flaemish coloration of hair and skin. She has a very tight hairdo that is tied on top of her head. Her hair has some grey tints but these only enrich the golden-red colour. Sinaria is tall and has a commanding posture. She usually wears traditional Flaemish wizard robes of gold and red with tastefully small jewellery. She would not be caught dead in adventurer's garb. Sinaria has a very deep voice but it is still quite feminine.
Personality & Quirks
Sinaria is very nationalistic. She is confident of Flaemish superiority, and the old traditions of the magocracy. Sinaria feels that the country is going downhill with the introduction of alien elements, such as technology and (Rad forbid!) religion. Sinaria also feels that she should rid Glantri of the despised Ethengar, especially the Virayana family.
Sinaria is going out of her way trying to find out about the Radiance. Not only does she covet its power, she also thinks it is the peak of magical research and a Flaemish tradition.
Sinaria thinks that she deserves to be a Princess of Glantri, but she is loyal to the Vlaardoens and does not want to usurp them. She is planning to take over some other Principality, preferably Krondahar or Bramyra.
History & Background
Sinaria is a descended from a very old and powerful Flaemish noble family. Her father, Garnaar Verlien (M34, CN), was one of the strongest wizards in Glantri's history, as well as a cousin of Lady Wilhelmine Vlaardoen, wife of Prince Vanserie Vlaardoen XI of Bergdhoven. Sinaria was the only child of the Verlien family, and an apt wizard in her own right.
In AC 959, when Sinaria was studying at the Great School of Magic, her father's experiments blew up the tower of High Sonden in a terrible magical firestorm. The tower and most of the buildings around it were destroyed and hundreds of people died, including Sinaria's mundaner mother.
After Sinaria's graduation, she returned to her dominion and ordered the rebuilding of the tower. Her orders were to reconstruct the tower exactly the way it was before, brick by brick.
Lady Sinaria and Lady Wilhelmine Vlaardoen secretly fabricated the Free Anachronic Society of Aalban, a underground group of wizards, dedicated to destroy technology and science all its forms using subversive and violent methods. This conspiracy would not only continue an ancient Flaemish tradition to "halt to the corrupting influence of Grey Sorcery (an archaic term referring to technological science) lest it interfere with the rightful ways of magic," but it would also destabilise the mechanically-progressive Principality of Aalban, once a great Flaemish duchy but now occupied by the pale-faced Hattians and the most hated Alphatians. Lady Sinaria covertly enticed Frau Gertrud von Drachenfels, the beleaguered Alphatian wife of Prinz Jaggar von Drachenfels of Aalban, to lead the Anachronics, knowing she would not disagree with the anti-Hattian inclinations of the Society.
Web of Intrigue
Sinaria is strongly connected to all of the powerful Flaemish families. She is also friendly with the neighbouring family Drachenfels. After Vanserie's demise, Sinaria took control of both the Followers of Fire and the Secret Craft of Fire Elementalism. This gave her tremendous political power in Bergdhoven and at the capital. She is also one of the key professors in the Great School of Magic, giving lectures on fire magic, sound magic, and the Outer Planes.
Sinaria has a loyal cadre of well-trained personal bodyguards, with numbers exceeding the basic needs of her tower. She created rings of fire resistance for all of them (a tremendous effort on her part), in order to give them an edge in a battlefield bombarded with magic (most probably her own magic!).
Sinaria is very suspicious of Sir Anton Vlaardoen, Prince Vanserie's brother. She knew Anton well from their years in the Great School together, and even had an affair with him once. She finds that he is "not himself" the last few years.
Sinaria is not married and never has been (She feels that it is a non-Flaemish custom), but she has three children from two different Flaemish nobles. Her eldest son Pieter (M12/Fire Elementalist 3, N) is married to Savena (M5, NG) and has four children. He has been declared heir to the County of High Sonden. The older daughter Visantia (M9/Fire Elementalist 2, N) is married to the Bürgermeister of Kopstar, Egbert Rjevens (M9, AL N), cousin of Wilhelmine Vlaardoen. She lives in Kopstar where she is mother to six children. The younger daughter Andora (M4, CN) lives in Glantri City. Andora married Mikhail Zirchevski (M15/White Dracologist 3, N) who is a Boldavian and not even a noble, much to her mother's dismay! Sinaria takes comfort in the fact that he is at least a powerful wizard and that he has given her the most gifted of her grandchildren. Katya (M6, CN) is only eleven, but is the current whiz kid of the Great School. The Grand Master of the Great School is ecstatic about this girl and has great dreams for her. This kind of prodigy is second only to Angus McGregor, whom the Grand Master despises.
Sinaria has many enemies. Both elven clans think she is a racist, and they are right. The Virayana family has declared war on Sinaria, ever since she captured and tortured Rejladan Virayana, and they veto her every move in Parliament. And although Frau Gertrud von Drachenfels has remained unaware about Sinaria's involvement with the Free Anachronic Society of Aalban, Frau Gertrud's Alphatian ally and another Anachronic, Lady Serena Aendyr, has uncovered the covert and sinister manipulation behind the scenes, and has rightfully come to suspect Lady Wilhelmine Vlaardoen and Lady Sinaria as the masterminds.
Statistics & Style of Magic
21st-level mage (AC 1000), 26th-level mage (AC 1014), Fire Elementalist of the Fifth Circle.
Str 12 Int 17 Wis 11 Dex 12 Con 12 Cha 8; AL C (D&D), LE (AD&D).
Languages: Flaemish, Thyatian (Glantrian dialect), Traladaran (Boldavian dialect).
Weapon Proficiencies: dagger, staff (although it has been decades since she last had to use either).
Skills: etiquette, ancient history (Flaemish, Glantri), heraldry, politics, spellcraft, reading/writing, spellflash, geography (Known World), planar lore, quick casting, riding/air-borne (pegasus).
As a Fire Wizard, Sinaria is well versed in all fire-based spells and Fire Elementalist powers. She knows many of the rare Flaemish Fire spells, such as Vanserie's flaming exit. Sinaria is well acquainted with specific locations in the Elemental Plane of Fire, but has travelled to many Outer Planes as well.
Sinaria is also the creator of a series of spells based on magical soundwaves called Sinaria's Soundwaves of Power . She is currently teaching the lower forms of these spells at the Great School, and many wizards know this spells by now.
In battle, Sinaria will try to avoid fighting herself. If possible, she will always conjure elementals and other planar creatures from the Elemental Plane of Fire, using her spells and Fire Elementalist powers. She is very good at concentration, and therefore prefers her elementals to do the fighting for her. Sinaria will use the fifth circle power Metamorphosis only as a last resort. (She has never had to use it to date.)
Sinaria is in possession of two very special magical treasures. One is The Brooch of Mind Keeping, one of The Seven Legendary Brooches of the Flaem, given to her by Lady Wilhelmine Vlaardoen, wife of Prince Vanserie of Bergdhoven. The other is an artifact that she keeps a secret. It is the legendary Crown of Halzunthram. She acquired it during a venture to the Outer Planes, and is currently studying its powers.
"This snob is a dangerous one, as she has more power than the Princes."
(Prince Urmahid Krinagar)