Dunaetha

Dunaetha is the head of the royal Kastairn family of the South's capital Jaraska, former ruler of the Southern royal alliance before its dissolution, and is now an equal member of the Southern Concord. She is the sister of Avandias.

Appearance
Though not as tall as her brother, Dunaetha still stands above most other people. She dresses in rich royal colors, usually blues or purples with a splash of red, and all her clothes are made of only the finest embroidered linens and imported Northern silks. Her appearance is usually accented with gold or bronze jewelry on her arms and in a simple circlet around her head, though as a Kastairn she always wears one of a set of two large ruby pendants engraved with the family crest. Her hair is black and hangs past her shoulder blades with only a touch of waviness, and a few threads of gray beginning to show. Despite her stature making her appear lean, she is quite soft-bodied, unused to any kind of physical labor, though the stress of her position is just as hard on her body.

Background
Dunaetha took up the mantle of Lady Kastairn from her mother more than ten years ago. She married Thael in the year following, and bore her son shortly after that.

Southerners who remember her from this time recall how happy she used to be, even after the death of their beloved Lord Dunirias, and how she was stern but just in her rulings for the South. They recall how hopeful she was for the continuance of the Kastairn legacy, and how hopeful all of the South was by extension. They recall all this with wistfulness in their voices.

Dunaetha ruled the South in the years following her son's death with coldness, though she refrained from cruelty. Her grief made it difficult for her to bond with her daughter, who was born in the year after. She instead turned all her attention on the Lekapos, finally fed up with their subtle and secret acts of aggression against her for years. The South's prosperity stagnated during this period; it did not wither, but neither were any new relationships forged or improvements made. She believed if she could just unseat the head of their rival family, Metsis Lekapos, they would be free of their torment and the South could prosper once more. With her husband's knowledge, she planned for years how to lure them into revealing their antagonizing to the alliance and breaking their treaty, and in the last few months resolved to destroy the Lekapos blood phylactery and kill Metsis after his mercenaries briefly took control of the Foothills Outpost. Her brother's sudden arrest and return to Jaraska nearly threw a wrench in these plans, but when his friends appeared to plead for his life, she saw an opportunity and took it.

The endeavor was a success, though in the process Dunaetha was exposed to her royal allies for her lies surrounding her son's death, her brother's disappearance, the Kastairn phylactery research, and their duplicity against the Lekapos in time of treaty. Unable to trust her to lead them unquestioned, the royal families dissolved their alliance, and only agreed to forge a new agreement under Avandias' instruction. Since that time, the South has reforged itself under the name of the Southern Concord; Dunaetha has been permitted to keep her city and some of her power under the Concord, the same as all the others. She is still embittered towards Avandias over what has happened to the South and the Kastairn legacy, and by extension his friends, though she is focused enough to recognize that her first priority should always be her nation and its people. Though many Southerners feel uncertain about the future, they still respect their Lady and have high hopes for how she will direct them.

Leader
Even when things are at their worst, Dunaetha is able to keep a level head and address the situation as needed, though her hot temper still shows through more readily than her brother. She has mastered the skill of putting her own emotions aside to be dealt with in privacy in order to maintain the confidence her people need to see of their ruler in times of crisis, and time and time again she has sacrificed her own comfort not only for the good of the South, but the good of her family as well.

Horsemanship
Like all Kastairns, Dunaetha learned to ride at an early age and is a skilled rider, though she has less and less time for recreation with the palace horses these days.

Language
Fluent in the common tongue of Kalon, Dunaetha also speaks the Southern dialect and all its variants.

Extra

 * Like much of the South, she is a devout follower of the Celestial Dhanir; her faith often clashed with her duty during her family's phylactery research.