Navarre

[Navarre]

(Note: I hope that this isn't too extravagant or outlandish for a first character! I know she's a bit older than most of the characters I've checked out, but I tried to balance that out by making her virtually defenseless.)

Name: Navarre
Age: 22 (Isyrion); 225 (in spirit)
Race: Elf (originally human)
Height: 5’9
Weight: 115
Physical Description:

Amanda (Original Body): Navarre hated her original identity the most, and pretends to forget that it ever existed. As Amanda, she was a homely farmer’s daughter with pasty skin and long, stringy brown hair. She was strangely tall for her age and had a lank, flimsy build. Her family was on the poor side, so she often wore simple hand-me-down dresses that once belonged to her aunts.

During her later years she “grew into her body” and became slightly more attractive, but still wasn’t anything more than an plain-looking young woman. By the time of her first transfer, Amanda was a tired, slightly overweight woman, aged prematurely by her stress and resentment.

Lady Navarre (current incarnation): This body was originally named Isyrion and belonged to the daughter of Lord Vesurian, a wealthy aristocrat. In this form, Navarre is a beautiful elf with milky white skin and golden eyes. She has long, wavy chestnut brown hair that cascades down to her shoulders. Celebrating her newfound youth and beauty, Navarre dresses in fashionable, somewhat revealing dresses and wears expensive jewelry. Although she accenuates her sexuality in this form, she presents herself as a powerful and intimidating figure to serve as the face of her movement.

As opposed to all of her previous incarnations, Navarre uses her true name openly in this new form.


Possessions:

Grimoire of Rebirth: An ancient spell book that once belonged to her husband, this is the book that contains the details of Navarre’s body swapping spell. Whenever she plans on jumping bodies, she makes sure to take this book with her, and hides it in a safe place once the transfer is complete. This grimoire is currently hidden away in her house in Marn.

Wealth: Navarre, as Isyrion, is a wealthy aristocrat. She has a decent amount of bishani at her disposal -- about as much as the average noble in Marn. Her funds have dwindled a bit since the death of her husband, however.

Book Collection: As one would expect of an historian, she has a large collection of books. Most of them are historical texts, but she also owns many fiction books. These are stored in a small library in her home.


Powers or Strengths:

Reincarnation:

Navarre uses this spell to transfer herself into other bodies, thereby prolonging her life. She first encountered this ability in an ancient tome in her husband’s collection of spell books, and it has since become the defining aspect of her whole being. This is the only special ability that Navarre is capable of performing, and she normally uses it fairly infrequently.

Despite being fairly advanced, this ability can be performed by individuals who possess little magical power – but at a price. Individuals who do not possess a strong control over magic suffer intense spiritual corruption from using this spell. With each jump, the caster’s spirit is tainted by the dark magic invoked during the transfer. The caster loses their moral compass and innate goodness, effectively becoming less “human” as a result. Eventually, the caster’s original personality fades and the caster becomes the embodiment of the darkness in their mangled soul.

As for actual limitations, this spell can only work on beings that are similar to the caster; for example, a human can body swap with other humanoids, but not a dragon or a colossal demon. The ritual itself involves reciting a long incantation. Overall, the ceremony takes about an hour to perform, so this ability cannot be used on a whim. Navarre has most of the spell committed to memory, but she often needs her spell book to perform it properly.

The success of this ability depends entirely on the strength of the target’s spirit. If the target is more powerful than the caster (and this is almost always the case for Navarre), the target will most likely be able to resist the transfer. The only way a spiritual confrontation can be avoided is if the caster attempts the transfer while the target is asleep. Due to the fact that Navarre’s soul is corrupted and weak, this is the only way she can succeed in a body transfer.

This ability may not be used successfully against player characters.

High Intelligence:

While depraved and slightly insane, Navarre is by no means a stupid woman. Ever since she was a little girl, she has had a strong interest and reading and studying. She is exceptionally bright and cunning, and is skilled at manipulating the weak-minded. Unfortunately, her intelligence is somewhat hampered by her laziness and hedonism, so it isn’t often that she really puts her mind to work.

Adaptability:

A woman who takes on many roles in life needs to play them well. Over the years, Navarre has become skilled at hiding her malevolent nature and falling into whatever “role” her host body held in society before she took control. Navarre, a deranged, parasitic spirit, has played a dashing thief and a sweet other girl (among other roles) without anyone discovering her secret. While those close to her victims often notice strange changes in their friend’s personality, Navarre has never led anyone to believe that something sinister was afoot.

Physical Beauty:

As if to balance out the hideousness of her personality, Navarre often chooses bodies that are highly attractive. This practice stems from her vanity and insecurities with her original appearance. She detests ugliness and usually abandons bodies once their looks have faded (Yzaguirre being the sole exception). Being something of a flirtatious vamp, Navarre often uses her looks to get her way.


Weaknesses:

Navarre sees herself as a superior being, but the fact of the matter is that whatever form she takes, she is still a human woman with minimal combat experience. She has absolutely no clue how to defend herself in a fight and has only used a weapon twice in her life. If someone were to attack her without any city guards around, Navarre would be completely at their mercy.

Her mind has been warped by her unnaturally long life. Once a fiery, ambitious girl yearning to make something of her life, Navarre is now a cruel, apathetic old woman who has essentially lost her humanity. Although she is still a competent planner, she has become rusty and short sighted in her advanced age. Her memory isn’t as strong as it once was, and the years of her life are starting to blend together to the point that it’s hard for her to remember what she was doing in each of her vessels.

Having an ego the size of a small moon, Navarre believes that she can do no wrong and never listens to advice when she feels like she's in control, which sometimes results in her screwing herself over. She also has a tendency to run her mouth when she's in a position to look down on people (such as when she's squatting in the body of an aristocrat), and considering that she has next-to-no fighting skills, this can definitely get her into trouble when there are no guards around to protect her.

Navarre's magic is also poor, which is the main reason why her body swapping spell is essentially flaying her soul. During her time with her first husband, she practiced magic and managed to master one or two basic spells, but she's long since forgotten how to use these abilities. Her only special skill is her reincarnation spell, and although it's definitely useful, it's absolutely useless in a combat situation -- much like Navarre herself.

History:

Overture: Amanda, Legendary… Farmer’s Daughter?

“What’s this? The gods have cast me as an extra in their little play! I do believe a recast is in order, mister director.”

Navarre, like most of the world’s monsters, did not come into the world in a blast of hellfire and destruction; rather, she was born into a loving family in a quaint little farming village. Her father was a simple, yet hardworking man, and her mother was the standard dutiful housewife. She was their first daughter after four sons, so needless to say she held a special place in their hearts. They named her Amanda after her grandmother, and dreamed of a happy, wholesome future for her.

Amanda, the name of a commoner, the name of a farmer’s daughter damned to push out children and clean her husband’s house for the rest of her days. She hated it.

Most of her early life was uneventful. A quiet girl, she spent most of her time locked away in her room, reading whatever books she could get her hands on. Her favorites books were romantic stories of young maidens being whisked away from their poverty by dashing princes and living happily ever after. Amanda often closed her eyes and pretended that she was one of those princesses, but was usually snapped back into reality by her father or brothers, who would call her outside to do some commoner work like pick fruit or milk cows. It disgusted her. She deserved something more than this, didn’t she? But despite her frustration, she kept her mouth shut and went about her duties, playing the role of the helpful daughter her parents always wanted.

But Amanda soon learned that bottling up her feelings wouldn’t solve her problem. Her discontentment grew as the years passed, and it soon turned to outright anger and hostility. She soon became a cold, unfriendly girl, and grew distant from her family and childhood friends.

In her late teens Amanda took a job as a maid at the local tavern. As much as she hated the job, she performed it well and didn’t make much of a fuss. One day, however, her frustration boiled over when dealing with a particularly obnoxious patron, but not in the way she expected: as she was yelling at him, a wave of dark magic flowed out from her body and knocked him right off his stool. Flustered and confused, Amanda rushed out of the tavern without a word – followed closely behind by a man robed in crimson.

The robed man confronted her in an ally. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he spoke to her in a soothing voice, calmly explaining just what she had done to the drunk in the tavern. She had used magic. Her fear soon subsided, and her lips twisted into a grin as his words sank in. She had just used magic! It was almost too good to be true. The opportunity had finally come for her to become something more than a mere farmer’s wife.

Amanda left with him that night and never looked back.

First Movement: Amanda, Legendary Revolutionary! …or not.

“This role isn’t exactly what I hoped for, mister director. I don’t think it’s too late for another change.”

As it turned out, the man who had confronted her that night was a revolutionary, a sorcerer who believed that magic users were a “superior breed”. Years down the line Navarre would laugh at the memory of his insane egotism, but as Amanda she hung on his every word. In her mind, he was the prince that she had been waiting for since she was a little girl on the farm. It was a fairytale come true!

Amanda studied under the sorcerer as his apprentice for the next few years. He provided her with countless books to read, but unlike the ones back home on her farm, these ones dealt with magic – simple magic that a novice like herself could understand. As the years went by, she traveled with the sorcerer as he attempted to spread his radical views to villages all over the land, practicing her magic all the while. Her abilities grew stronger – and so did her relationship with the sorcerer. They wed only a few years after their first meeting, and she soon bore him a daughter.

Their marriage took a turn for the worse not long after. While her husband continued to try and “help his magical brethren”, Amanda was stuck taking care of their baby in whatever in they happened to be residing in at the time. The same discontentment that she had felt as a girl began to return. When she first went with the sorcerer, Amanda envisioned an exciting life of leading a magical revolution, but here she was playing the housewife. Yes, she was studying magic, but she never had a chance to put it to good use. What’s worse, it was slowly becoming clear that her husband was something of a hack. She was out of sight and out of mind, raising a daughter that she didn’t even want in the first place.

Eventually, she settled down with her husband. He still went off on his little crusades, but at least she had a place to call home. Still, it was a minor improvement at best; her anger was still growing. Hoping to take her mind off her frustration, Amanda turned her attention to more advanced spells, leaving her daughter in the care of their lone servant. She spent her days reading spell book after spell book, memorizing as many incantations as she could. One in particular stuck out to her: a reincarnation spell, tucked away in one of her husband’s oldest tomes. While the thought of using it had yet to cross her mind, she liked it because it reminded her of how she worked so hard to reinvent herself.

Once she reached her mid forties, Amanda realized she could deny the truth no longer -she had thrown her whole life away. She had abandoned her family and went off in search of greatness, only to end up with a hack of a husband and a mistake of a daughter. Her worst fear had come true: she was nothing more than a simple housewife, a nameless part of the masses. The hatred in her heart soon dominated her entire being, destroying whatever love she had for her new family. The time had once again come to burn her bridges, and she knew just how to do it.

They never saw it coming. Amanda stabbed her husband in the back while he slept, then made her way to her teenaged daughter’s bedroom. Her chance to make something of her life had been cruelly snatched away from her, and now was the time to take it back. She performer the ritual on her slumbering daughter without the slightest hint of remorse. A strange sensation passed through her body, and before she knew it she was staring at herself from the bed. Standing up, she smoothed out her sleeping gown and strolled over to her old husk, looking down at it with disdain. That body represented everything that she hated about herself: her homely looks, her common heritage, and most of all, her foolish girlhood delusions. She took great pleasure in burning it with the rest of the house.

As far as she was concerned, the village was right: Amanda died that night in the fire. But a new woman was born from her ashes, a woman destined for much greater things. Before she could begin her new life, she needed a name to commemorate her glorious rebirth, a name separate from the many others she would take over her long journey. Closing her eyes, she quietly reflected on the many forgotten gods mentioned within her husband’s tomes.

Navarre, Goddess of the Dance. Her life would be a beautiful symphony of pleasure and fame, and one the day all the world would dance to her song.

Second Movement: Navarre, Half-Assed Thief Extraordinaire!

“See? This is much better! Now, let me show off my versatility!”

Navarre left her village the night of the fire. Her daughter’s body wouldn’t be among the charred corpses, so it was safe to assume that her neighbors would be looking for her, most likely to hold her as a potential suspect. The journey was long, but she eventually made her way to a faraway town and found work (funnily enough) as a waitress at a tavern. The irony of the situation was not lost on her, but she needed some means to support herself until she could locate her next target. In retrospect, she realized it probably would have been wise to take her husband’s savings before she torched the house down.

Before she could start scouting for potential vessels, her life took a rather unexpected turn. One day, while she was walking home from work, several men followed her from the tavern and descended upon her, knocking her unconscious. She awoke hours later in a camp outside of town, and was soon greeted by a handsome young man. The man introduced himself as Yzaguirre, a leader of a small band of rogues, and explained that he too was searching for young women, but unlike Navarre he wanted them for his personal harem. Refusal, he told her, was not an option, but he assured her that he took great care of his bedmates.

It was a nice offer, but she had grown tired of playing the love interest. Still, this was an opportunity for her to take her life in an excited – albeit unexpected – direction. Navarre spent her first night with Yzaguirre about a week after her abduction, and he made the very foolish decision of falling asleep beside her.

Wearing the body of a male took a while to get used to, but it was a welcome change.

Navarre, in the guise of Yzaguirre, took charge of his band of thieves and brigands. Being a domineering control freak, she fell into the role of a criminal quite easily. She lacked the fighting skill that someone of her status would normally possess, but she kept that hidden by remaining behind the scenes and limiting herself to planning operations. Yzaguirre had been a rather involved leader, so needless to say his men were confused about his sudden distant attitude and overall change in personality. Fortunately for Navarre, the thieves had nothing but the utmost respect for Yzaguirre, so they did not press the issue.

It was in this incarnation that Navarre’s selfishness developed into outright hedonism. Now an influential man with access to many of life’s pleasures, she took full advantage of Yzaguirre’s harem and spent much of her time exploring her sexuality with her new harem. Most of her lovers were understandably female while in this form, but she soon began taking many males lovers. Yzaguirre had never previously shown any homosexual leanings, so this change confused his men ever further. Still, they kept their mouths shut and just went along with it.

Once she settled into her new role, Navarre began to become more involved with her thieves’ raids. She had relied on the guidance and advice of the team’s senior members after taking Yzaguirre’s body, and eventually developed into a semi-competent criminal.. Although she was far too cowardly to risk her own life in a dangerous raid, she soon began participating in her men’s smaller heists. She left all of the fighting up to them, but was the first to rape, torture and kill hostages and prisoners. Dominating the helpless was a thrilling experience unlike anything she had ever felt before, and it would become a common practice in her future incarnations.

After several decades of being Yzaguirre, Navarre decided that she would soon need to reincarnate again. Her group was beginning to fall apart, and she lacked the funds to pay the few thieves that remained – thanks entirely to her own hedonism. As she made love to her latest whore, she dwelled on what she wanted from the next chapter of her life. Her eyes drifted down to the young woman beneath her, the pretty thing whose innocence she was busy taking.

Innocence.

A twisted grin appeared on Yzaguirre’s aged face.

Third Movement: Navarre, Daddy’s Little Girl

“Move over, Shirley Temple.”

Now a diseased old man, Navarre devoted the remainder of her group’s funds to locating a potential target. Her thieves were vocal about their displeasure of how she was driving them into the ground, so she needed to move quickly. Eventually, her sights fell on a wealthy family in a bustling trade town – a family with a darling five-year-old girl named Sophie. A perfect choice.

Navarre made her move when her future parents left her next body with a babysitter – a bland, homely neighbor girl. Sneaking into the house at night, Navarre cornered the young woman, forced her to the ground and slit her throat with a rusted knife. She devoted the rest of the evening to performing the ritual on Sophie, who had been sent to bed hours before. Yzaguirre’s lifeless corpse collapsed to the floor, and Navarre smiled contently as she curled up in her new bed, quickly falling asleep.

News of the murder quickly spread throughout the town. Sophie’s parents were glad that their daughter was safe and sound, but they were deeply saddened by their loss of the neighbor girl. The girl was hailed as a hero for standing up to the intruder and given a proper burial. Yzaguirre was identified a few days later, and his thieves, who had turned against him when they learned he ran off with all their funds, stopped hunting him as word of his death spread. Although glad that he was gone, the community couldn’t figure out why he had suddenly dropped dead in front of Sophie’s bed when he didn’t appear to have any wounds from his scuffle with the neighbor. Navarre realized she had handled the transfer rather sloppily this time around, and made a mental note to be more careful with her next jump.

The incident soon faded into the past, and Navarre was able to experience childhood once again. Just as she had hoped, this one was much better than her first – instead of spending her days milking cows and harvesting vegetables, she was being doted on by her loving parents, who would give her practically anything she desired. It was obvious to Navarre that Sophie’s parents had no previous experience with children, so she was able to manipulate them. As Sophie, she played the role of an adorable, lovable little angel who could do no wrong – and that’s exactly how her parents saw her.

Turning herself into an innocent little girl was a challenge at first – perhaps even harder than becoming a master thief – but she fell into the role soon enough. After all the murder and sexual abuse she committed in her previous incarnation, it was impossible for her to truly regain her lost innocence, but it was still fun for her to pretend. In fact, Navarre took a perverse joy in how she was able to trick two innocent people into thinking she was their daughter, then take advantage of their love in order to live a comfortable, carefree lifestyle. It was a horrible crime far worse than anything she had done as Yzaguirre, but what her parents didn’t know couldn’t hurt them.

Nearly three years after Navarre became Sophie, her parents presented her with some exciting news: her father had found more promising business opportunities in a city to the north – some place called Marn – so they would be moving there in a few months time. . Navarre had heard various things about Marn during her life as Yzaguirre, but never had the opportunity to go there. Having lived in villages and camps for most of her life, Navarre felt that a change in scenery would more than welcome. Most importantly, the big city offered a wide selection of bodies for her to take as her own, a whole library of tales just waiting for their star. But for the time being, she decided she’d enjoy being a child a while longer.

After all, she had all the time in the world. Why not take a little break from her deranged song?

Fourth Movement: Navarre, She-Who-Goes-Through-Bodies-Like-Tissue-Paper (Alternatively, Navarre’s Awkward Period as a Dwarf)

“I’m taking a little break from the acting scene, mister director! Famous actresses need to go on a wild ride of sex and drugs at least once in their life!”

Navarre, still under the guise of Sophie, settled down in Marn’s residential district with her parents. Her father’s new job brought in much more bishani than his previous one, so her life was much more comfortable than before. Suffice it to say, whatever she wanted, she got. Before long her room was filled with toys and cute little dresses, and she’d often invite the neighbor girls over to play with her dolls. Still as bitchy and petty as ever, she found it quite amusing to exclude some of the other children from her games and laughed at them when they’d start to cry.

As she entered her teen years once again, Navarre quickly lost interest in playing the role of Sophie. The next jump came on impulse: one day, while she and her parents were staying at an inn in Marn, she snuck out of her room at night and began fiddling with the knobs of all the doors on the floor. Finding an unlocked door, she opened it and entered the room of a slumbering male dwarf. Navarre wrinkled her nose in disgust. The last thing she wanted was to inhabit the body of such a repulsive creature, but she had to take what she could get. Finding a suitable host would be difficult while in a child’s body, and taking over one of Sophie’s parents wasn’t an option; she wanted both of them to be alive when the staff found Sophie’s body on the floor.

Fortunately, her possession of the stupid, stupid dwarf was short-lived. Navarre found an elven prostitute on a street corner not even twenty minutes after the transfer. Paying the whore with the bishani the dwarf had in his bag, Navarre went to a different inn with her and enjoyed quick romp. Having sex as a dwarf was easily the strangest thing she’d ever done, and she had a feeling that it was an even worse experience for the elf. This was probably the first time she’d actually sympathized with one of her targets. Still, the experience gave her a good chance to explore her future body. As soon as the elf fell asleep, Navarre performed the ritual and continued her malevolent dance.

Navarre decided to take a break from her adventures for the next couple of decades. Instead of manipulating innocent people for her own amusement, she devoted this portion of her life to having sex with as many pretty men and women as she possibly could. During this time in her life she jumped bodies much more frequently than before, but was still careful to space it out and only targeted nobodies and peasants. The last thing she wanted was to alert Marn’s guard to her little game. Being an unregistered magic user was bad enough, but a mass murderer? A child murderer? Death would be the easy way out.

Fifth Movement: Navarre, Distinguished Scholar (read: Mean Old Bat)

"Talented actresses always study their roles, love. I need to have something to work with before I can take center stage!"

Some time after the unfortunate dwarf incident, Navarre decided that it was time for her break to end. Now wearing the body of a young man at Marn’s university, Navarre began dating Madelynne Vendeleur, the youngest daughter of an aristocratic family. Madelynne's parents didn't approve of the relationship due to the fact that Navarre's vessel was a boy of low status, but Madelynne, being the rebellious girl that she was, saw Navarre against their wishes. Navarre found her bold spirit commendable, but unfortunately for Madelynne, it wasn't enough to save her from the depraved witch.

Navarre performed the next jump after convincing Madelynne to have sex with her. Madelynne was understandably hesitant, but Navarre managed to convince her by showing her with loving words and playing upon her dislike for her parents. Madelynne fell asleep in Navarre's arms, so Navarre had to be extra careful not to wake her beloved before murdering her in cold blood. There were no signs of a struggle, so Navarre was able to convince the guards that her "boyfriend" had died of natural causes in his sleep. The guards had been a little suspicious, but considering that no one from Madelynne's family had ever shown signs of practicing magic, they doubted that she had used any sinister spells to kill the boy.

Just like her jump to Sophie, this transfer had been handled rather messily. Navarre had a feeling that she wouldn't be so lucky next time. Over the past few years nearly ten men and women had been found dead in the streets without any wounds. It was suspicious. Too suspicious. Navarre had limited knowledge of the inner workings of Marn's government, but she knew that the guards were ruthless and competent. Such strange deaths would not go unnoticed. This time, she would have to bide her time before her next jump. Fortunately, now that she was wearing the body of a noble's daughter, she had a feeling it would be a comfortable wait.

Navarre did not play Madelynne as a rebellious tomboy; instead, she turned her into a dutiful and proper young lady. Madelynne's parents were too pleased with her sudden obedience to notice the changes in her personality, and the eccentricities they did notice were chalked up to the trauma from her lover's death. After her experience as Sophie, manipulating Madelynne's parents was easy enough. Over the next few years, she continued with her studies and graduated from Marn's University, becoming an educated young lady.

Shortly after her graduation, her parents arranged for her to wed a handsome bachelor from another noble family. Navarre was happy to comply with their wishes, but she would see to it that this marriage would be much more pleasant than her last. It was not a marriage of flawed love and girlish naivete, but one of convenience. Her new husband may have loved her -- she suspected he did -- but to her, he was nothing more than a bedmate like the ones she had as Yzaguirre. Instead of taking advantage of her station's luxury like she did as Sophie, she took a job as a historian at the university and devoted her time to researching the past. All but one of her magical tomes were long gone, and since Marn was incredibly prejudiced against magic users, Navarre thought it would be best to devote herself to acceptable literature.

Time passed by quickly, as it always did for Navarre. Madelynne's parents passed away - along with her husband - and age began to tarnish her once young and attractive body. Here she was, a glorified librarian nearing her sixties, in a vibrant city with so much to offer. Her sexual conquests had been enjoyable, her sick games had been fun, but was this what she killed her husband and daughter to attain? She needed to devote herself to a cause. She had transcended her humanity, and yet no one knew of her greatness! This would have to change. Yes, yes, this would have to change.

Navarre smiled as she stared at her aged body in her bedroom mirror, an insane glint in her eyes. It was time for her song to enter its next movement.

Sixth Movement: Navarre, Maestro of Destruction

“Oh, there will be blood on the dance floor.”

Navarre emerged from the shadows and took her place before the orchestra, baton in hand. The time had come for the whole world to dance to her twisted symphony.

During her time as Madam Vendeleur, Navarre began to hate the people of Marn like never before. Her position required that she interact with them on a daily basis, which required that she constantly hide her true nature. In her previous lives, she always had some way to express herself: as Yzaguirre and the merchant’s daughter she exerted her authority over others and indulged her every desire. But as Madelynne, she had to put on a smile and tolerate every idiot that crossed her path.
And what idiots they were! Slovenly, slack-jawed drones that plagued the streets of Marn, drowning in their own mediocrity. A veritable sea of excrement. What good were they to Marn? And, more importantly, to her? And yet she had to serve them if she wanted to succeed in her career!

No. She would not lower herself to the level of these drones any longer. If Marn wanted to enjoy her presence, then it had to change. Her music brought forth images of a vernal world of flowers. In this movement, she would be Marn’s gardener – and it was her duty to pluck the weeds. Some might think her views were petty, but she had a bright future to create.

But who would these “weeds” be? Anyone that she didn’t care to look at, for one thing. Those hideous faces she passed on the streets on her way to work – dwarves, gnomes, and so on – would be the first to go. What they were even doing outside their little hovels was beyond her. The uneducated and elderly rubbed her the wrong way, too – although there were exceptions to the latter category, such as herself. Of course, she couldn’t start speaking out against them until she gathered a lot of support.

These weeds mostly grew among the proletariat, although they were present at the higher levels of society. Purging them would benefit her in the long run: obviously, racial cleansing would make living in Marn much more tolerable, but it would also provide her with more suitable host bodies in the future. But in order for her revolution to take hold, it had to be popular among the aristocracy. Only then would she be able to turn the proletariat against itself and win over the government.

As Madam Vendeleur, she began to spend time among the aristocracy. She grew close to many nobles over the years and carefully observed their behavior. Occasionally, she would indirectly bring up the weeds and gauge their thoughts on them. Although some did not seem to mind, she was pleased to find quite a few who shared her viewpoints. Marn’s xenophobia was as strong as ever; she only needed to fuel it.

Two aristocrats in particular shared her viewpoints: Lord Modestine, a small-minded, gluttonous racist; and Lord Vesurian, an elvish nobleman who supported elf and human superiority. Neither were particularly vocal about their views, but she intended to change that soon enough. Modestine would be an effective mouthpiece among the aristocracy, and Vesurian would be her sacrificial lamb. And Vesurian’s lovely daughter, Isyrion, would play the greatest part of them all – her next vessel.

While she was researching Lord Vesurian’s family, she came into contact with a girl named Derin in Shim. After learning that this girl was a fellow immortal, she planned to use Derin as an assassin to eliminate dissidents in exchange for helping her with her research about Shim’s graveyard. Before she could finalize these plans, however, the two parted ways. Since Derin knew far more than she should, Navarre made finding and eliminating her a top priority if she refused to return to her service.

With Derin gone, Navarre set her plan into motion. When Modestine was out of town, she hired two dwarven assassins from outside Marn to come in and kill Modestine’s family and Lord Vesurian. She also requested that they search Modestine’s library for a “valuable book” he stole from her, and emphasized that she wanted the targets killed before they looked for it. In order to get her targets together, she convinced Lady Modestine to arrange a private dinner party at her mansion, and requested to bring Vesurian as her date. Vesurian, who had always been fond of Madelynne, accepted her offer. Navarre ensured that Modestine’s daughters would be there by telling their mother she wished to discuss their future education at the University.

When the night finally came, she feigned an emergency and told Vesurian that she would be arriving about twenty minutes late.As the assassins trailed Vesurian to Modestine’s mansion, Navarre mutilated her face and went to the city guard. Sobbing, she altered them of the massacre, saying that she only just managed to escape the slaughter. Her plan went off without a hitch: when the guards arrived at Modestine’s mansion, the targets had been butchered and the assassins were still searching for her non-existent book. The assassins put up a fight, and the guards killed them on the spot.

Just as Navarre had hoped, Lord Modestine blamed the death of his family not on the two assassins, but on dwarves as a whole. He and the mutilated Navarre spent many hours consoling one another. While he mourned the death of his family, Navarre poured her heart out to him, claiming that she and Lord Vesurian had planned to marry. She did her best to spread his hatred beyond just dwarves, claiming that all of Marn was in danger with the “lesser races” roaming around unchecked. Modestine’s racial prejudices took control of his life and he began actively trying to convince other aristocrats to side with him.

Navarre also spent time with the newly orphaned Isyrion. During one of her visits, she agreed to spend the night looking after Isyrion, who was still in a state of shock. Late at night, Navarre performed the transfer on the sleeping Isyrion and took over her body. She tossed Madelynne’s husk off the bedroom balcony and then let out a horrified shriek. When the servants came upstairs, a sobbing Navarre told them that Madelynne flung herself off the balcony after going out for a “breath of fresh air.”

The very next morning, “Isyrion” appeared at an aristocratic gathering and delivered an impassioned speech to the crowd. Her eyes welling with tears, she mourned the recent deaths and announced that she, too, was no longer among the living. She told them that she had died with her father and had become a new woman . Renaming herself Navarre, she announced her intention to honor her father by bringing order and justice to Marn.

Navarre looked out on the crowd and smiled through her tears. She still had a long way to go, but the flames were spreading. Soon, the Garden of Marn would be beautiful again.