Ιερέα

The character known to the Order of Adamant as Ιερἐα joined the group at a later point in their adventures. The Order is currently unaware of her whereabouts. She was last seen in a Skaven prison, and some members fear she is dead as she was unable to escape with them and retrieve her affects.

Ιερἐα was born on the southern edges of the Darri forest, into a criminal band of Orcs. She was the product of a (quite unholy) union between an Air Genie father and an Orcish mother. As Genies seldom have interest in their mortal offspring, (seeing them as accidents; many feel nothing for their genasi children at all), she was left with her Orcish mother and never knew her father.

Her mother always felt ashamed of her. She only did the bare minimum to take care of me and otherwise exploited her for her own benefit, as she found out that her daughter had a knack for stealing and sneaking around the camp to eavesdrop for secrets - which her mother often used to blackmail her fellow Orcs.

During her youth, Ιερἐα was not yet her name. Her Orcish family named her Kashadjina, which is Orcish for 'Genie filth' (kasha = filth; djina = genie). Those who held a small amount of sympathy towards her called her Djina (pronounced: Gina), but most of her campmates named her Kasha.

As most Orc-bands are semi-nomadic, Kashadjina travelled around with them to steal and subsequently trade illegal wares. This is how she eventually met Ilion, a young bard. From the moment they met, Djina clung at his lips (quite literally). He could tell the most wonderful myths and legends, and convinced Djina that she was done wrong by her Orc family. Together, they chose a new name for Djina. From then, she was named Briseis – after the main character of her favorite story. Ilion used to joke that her new name sounded somewhat like 'breeze', but he thought it was fitting because she was swift and lightfeeted as the wind, and sometimes even appeared to show a form of air-related magical powers.

And so Briseis and Ilion fell in love, and for the first time in her life, she was happy. However, her happiness was short-lived. While she now only stole the bare minimum for the Orcs, she happened to steal one object that changed her life…

On this unfortunate night, she stole an amulet from a rich-looking lady in a bar. One glance at the jewel and she had known that this was the last thing she and Ilion had to steal before finally running off together and starting their own life. She had given Ilion the sign to distract the crowd with an act and made her move. Little did she know that the woman she stole the amulet from was a warlock, bound to Darric, the Zaligon of air. The amulet was inscribed with a name: Ανεμο Ιερἐα (A-nie-mo Ie-jeh-ree-ja; which translates to 'priestess of the wind' in an unknown language).

Briseis had not even given the amulet a proper look. She did not get the chance: the warlock found her the same night in her bed. Ilion was still out playing in the bar. They did not even get sell the amulet yet.

The warlock demanded her amulet back, but Briseis was not willing to hand in her ticket to freedom without a fight. A gruesome battle broke loose among the two women, who were evenly matched. By a hair, the warlock was able to overpower Briseis. When she pried the amulet out of Briseis' limp hands, however, her eyes widened with shock. A look of pure horror settled on the warlock's face, and she shook Briseis violently awake. Pinning her down with a knife, the warlock brought her face close to Briseis (and the amulet even closer), and screamed: "Read it! What does it say?!"

Briseis, still drowsy, focussed her eyes. She had no choice but to obey the furious warlock in front of her. Although she had never seen the language before, Briseis was shocked to find that she was able to read the text on the amulet. "Ανεμο Ιἐρεα", she slurred.

The warlock almost dropped the amulet and let out a furious scream. Unbeknownst to Ιἐρεα, the warlock had heard only a muffled noise when Ιἐρεα had read out the text on the amulet, as if an unseen force had censored her words.

By stealing the amulet, Ιἐρεα had unknowingly stolen the warlock's name and bond with Darric as well. The warlock had now forgotten her own name. The amulet had been a gift from her Zaligon, and it contained her holy name – the only name she had left after pledging her life to Darric. The name on the amulet was blurred for her eyes, and whenever someone spoke her name, all she could hear was muffled sounds.

The warlock stood up, determined to kill Ιἐρεα. When she tried to slice her throat though, she was stopped by an unseen power. Ιἐρεα was protected from her by the bond she now shared with the Zaligon of air. The amulet was ripped out of the warlock's hands by a strong gust of wind and landed in Ιἐρεα's lap.

The warlock was livid, but couldn't hurt Ιἐρεα. Before she left, the warlock asked Darric a final favor, which he granted. And so Ιἐρεα was cursed with the following. to curse me with the following. Each time she got closer to the one she loved most, she was blown away by the wind and had to reside in her amulet until the one she loved most had decided to move away again.

Ιἐρεα, not being the type for superstition, had at first seen the night as a victory on her part, and had gone back to bed. She would sell the amulet in the morning and run off with Ilion. This dream, however, sadly never came true.

When she got to the market square the next morning, she tried to sell the amulet to the highest bidder. She found that she could not let go of the amulet, nor were the greedy merchants able to pull it out of her hands. Growing more concerned by the minute, she tried to find Ilion to discuss the matter with him. Ilion was nowhere to be found. When she asked around for him, no one seemed to know who she was talking about. It was like he had never existed.

As if remembering a nightmare, the words of the warlock came back to her: "Darric's storms will blow away the fullness of your heart. Never again will you see the one you love most."

In horror, Ιἐρεα fled the Orc camp. She walked and walked. The more her feet hurt, the less tears she cried. She was determined to find either Ilion or the warlock and break the curse.

Two years later, still frantically roaming around the forests and hills, Ιἐρεα stumbled upon the Order of Adamant. These were the first people she trusted in a long while. She often had the feeling that there was something that she needed to tell them. It felt wrong that they called her Ιἐρεα, but she did not know why.

The words of the warlock still echoed in her ears at night sometimes. She could not let her new (and only) friends get too close. If she grew to love them too much, what happened with Ilion would also happen to them. She could not let them become the people she loved most, so she put on a hard and unloveable mask. Taunting them at their every move, she tagged along with them, always keeping an eye out for Ilion - always reaching, but never touching.