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There are many people associated with the Maharani of the Varati. Thalia has gathered about her many talented young women. These women form the nexus of her court and participate in many aspects of her life.

Najwah din al'Far Suiliman

     Najwah din al'Far Suiliman spent her first 20 years in the company of war horses, wyverns and gryphons in the western half of Varati's northern mountain range. Born into a clan known for animal breeding and training, Najwah, like her peers, learned to ride before she learned to walk. She is in the Kshatri caste, so learned to read and write in her teens. Although she had her share of male admirers, Najwah has never been married. Her reasons are her own and she simply does not talk about it. Recently, her family gifted her to the Queen-Maharani of the Varati, Thalia Khalida. Thalia appointed her to the position of her own personal secretary.

Medhakara Vasanti Chikravatti Messala

     Some Varati women may be lovely and demure, others doggedly challenge this paradigm. Medhakara Vasanti Chikravatti Lityakanaka is most certainly one of the latter.
     Attention always seemed to follow her, no matter where she went or what she did. Perhaps it was her powerful voice or penchant for unusual raiment and adornments. Perhaps it was the assertiveness that she -- a Varati woman! -- dared to possess. Whatever it was that drew the mind and the attention, Medhakara was, and still is, never to be ignored.
       There are whispers of her past among the Varati of the city. Whispers that her husband was killed in the war. Rumors that she herself killed him for some heinously /traditional/ demand placed upon the spirited woman. Secrets passed from mouth to ear that -- most dreadful of all! -- she never married in the first place. Few know the truth, and the rumors are doubtlessly more interesting in their salaciousness.
       What is known, though, is that she now serves as vociferous part of the Maharani's public relations. Indeed, if there is news to be had of the Varati Queen's recent activities, Medhakara knows of it. Rumors are not needed to know of her devotion to Thalia and her diving husband.
       The rest, though, is fodder for debate.

Ishani bint Adhitya Al' Alam Zulyat

     First daughter of Adhitya Al' Alam Zulyat, Ishani was brought to Haven when her father was displaced from their dwelling in the northeastern Varati lands and assigned to the foreign ministry in the city. Fond of his daughter and unwilling to marry her off to unsuitable suitors, Adhitya decided that the best course of action would be to present her as a gift to the Maharani.
      Only sixteen, Ishani is a talented painter whose skill is only limited by the fact that she is a woman, and hence unable to obtain the attentions of the master painters to train her. She spends much of her time drawings and sketching when she is not serving the Maharani. She also enjoys writing poetry and had managed to learn how to read and write from an adoring cousin.

Karida Nahjal

      Of the Vaisya Clan Nahjal, Karida Nahjal has ever been the apple of her father's eye. One of the more wealthy merchants in direct association with the prestigious Clan Messala, Nahahad Nahjal favored Karida above his two other daughters, she being the youngest, and perhaps the most charming of them all. Her sisters knew she was going to end up spoilt, and indeed, she as aged into a somewhat pampered, even more naieve, young Varati lady who at sixteen has yet to find a husband. Whispers among the Clansmen hinted at disapproval, and her "doting father" soon became the object of some ridicule.
      So it came to be that Nahamad Nahjal decided it was time to find his youngest daughter a suitable, and hopefully respectable, husband. Which is what prompted him to send Karida with the Messala Qadi and the rest of the large caravan heading for Haven.
      Young and inexperienced in the ways of the world, Karida went as duty demanded. Exciting and terrifying at the same time, the idea of the trip fascinated the girl. Exciting, because she would be seeing something different, something great, something other than what she had known. Terrifying because she would be left in the hands of the insensitive Vasuki in unfamiliar territory.
      Arrival at Atesh-Gah in Haven was something of a marvel for Karida. Little did she know that the first day, the first moments she would spend in Haven, would change her life so drastically.
      The Queen-Maharani herself was there to see the arrival of the Messala caravan, and after gifts of precious gems, treasures, weapons and animals had been passed in a show of prosperity and devoted service to Khalid, the Queen would not be satisfied until she learned of the well-being of Messala's people. To Karida's horror, she found herself, along with a few other women, pushed forward to give a pleasing account of Messala affairs. And even more to her chagrin, all Karida could do was stutter over the words like a child. What a shame she must have been in Vasuki's eyes! And yet... and yet... Queen Thalia for some curious reason insisted that such a disgrace of a girl be added to her retinue of handmaidens. What a surprise. What an utterly terrifying, horrible surprise. Why, of all the women the Queen had to choose from... more experienced and better taught... why did she choose Karida?

Roxana

     Born the sixth child of her father's marriage, Roxana was a disappointment to him. Not only was she his fourth daughter, but the mismatched eyes staring out of her face convinced him that her violet-eyed mother had been lying with another - one so tainted could not be his natural offspring. He wound himself into a great rage at the side of his wife's birthing-bed, and only when the priestess of Ushas present as midwife threatened to call down the vengeance of her Goddess if he so much as laid a finger on mother or baby did he restrain himself, telling her that if she wanted the pair she could have them. The priestess consulted with her order, and found that such things although rare could happen naturally.
     For many years, Roxana's father remained convinced of her mother's perfidy, until the Ushasti presented him with proof positive that there could have been no other man and he took her back at his side. Two of his other daughters had gone to the Atarvani in the intervening years, and the eldest had been irrevocably shamed, forcing him to disown her. At that point he had to accept his last daughter as his own and overlook the education and religious instruction Roxana had already been given at his command. Although he was not initially pleased by the prospect, he found his fourth daughter to be both dutiful and beautiful, educated in everything proper for a woman to know, and to his credit he did try to do his duty by her - presenting prospective husbands and noble suitors by the score. Unfortunately, most of those who were not disenchanted by her eyes were horrified at the prospect of marriage to an Ushasti, and any others found brides more to their liking elsewhere or were killed in the war. Roxana's father has finally brought her to Haven, in the hope that amongst the broader minds of the city he can find one broad enough to accept her.

Petra Calliope Thanatos Tritonides

      Petra came to Haven, after a nearly two-year absence from Empyrean society after the deaths of both her husband and only daughter. Petra was born and raised in Civitas Dei. Her life in the city was simple and traditional. At 16, she was arranged in marriage to the older and established Acrisian Severin Tritonides. She inherited a son with the marriage, Gaelius, and added four children to the family (three sons and one daughter). Petra was fond of history and scholarship, and took to reading and studying the stories of the different peoples in Aether. She even wrote essays on several of the more esoteric points of language and society, and was asked to advise members of the Aegis and at the court of the Empyror. Petra obliged, but found her true joy in teaching. When her own children were fully grown, Petra would act as a tutor to many of the children of noble houses, for no compensation. Petra never forgets a student.
      Having arrived in Haven, Petra went to visit her kinswoman Maharani Thalia Tritonides Khalida in Atesh-Gah. Now, she serves as an advisor to the Queen on Empyrean and Varati affairs and takes up residence both in the Palladium and in Atesh-Gah.

Zahrah Sahar al-Bezhad

'(U)pon the Holi festival of my eighteenth year... my family came to Haven to celebrate with me. They were not well-traveled and found the exotic atmosphere of the city to their liking, especially (my sister) Jasmine. She had unfortunately grown quite rebellious for a female... I truly wished that she would mature and settle down. Unfortunately, that was not what was on her mind. Three days into the festival, she disappeared from my parents' rooms. Verily, it didn't surprise me much but it did apparently surprise and upset my sire. He denounced her name in public the next day, leaving him with but one son and no daughter.'

Hakan Adham-Numair al-Behzad

---

      No daughter, that is, but me. As is proper, I forgive Numair his lapse. A sickly infant, I'd not been expected to live when my brother left our vara for Haven and the mystic portals of Delphi, years before. He had weightier matters on his mind than a weakling sister, before and after leaving home. In truth, so many years separated us that the gulf between my brother and I may as well have been as wide as the sea. And at least as deep.       Even at age 6, having been too stubborn to die as expected, I was still far beneath my Rakshasa brother's notice. I was not, however, as able to escape our father's wrathful gaze. Especially after Jasmine disappeared. It soon became clear to me that I would not have the opportunity to bring disgrace to Clan Bezhad, and to that end, I would never be given the freedom my sister had. My temperament-- always strikingly similar to Jasmine's-- so distressed my father upon his return from that disastrous journey to Haven that he eventually banished me. I was not allowed in his sight, not even as he lay dying. I hasten to add that he continued to provide for me, as a dutiful father and honorable man should. I have much to be thankful for.       I note this merely to explain why Numair may have... at least momentarily... forgotten my existance. And I forgive him if that is indeed the case. Even though I worshipped him from afar for years.       Now that I am older, and the burden of my care has fallen to Numair, I am perhaps harder to forget. I've recently been honored by a summons from my brother. And after recovering from my journey to Haven, I write this from my room in the great halls of Atesh-Gah. My beautiful room, which lies within a new suite given to Clan Bezhad. I have been remembered.       You may be certain that I will not be forgotten again.

Zahrah Sahar al-Behzad

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