Lady Venta Darkwater
I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.
Description: Venta Darkwater shows her Lycene roots in her complexion and features, dark and dusky save for her contrasting eyes of sparkling tropical blue. Laugh lines have brought small creases at the edges of her eyes, and a hint of grey creeps into her hair, lending her a mature beauty and dignity that accentuates her personality. With an adroit grace that seems unhurried even if she lifts her skirts to run, with a voice that is calm even in the face of fury, Venta is the eye of the hurricane.
Personality: Venta Darkwater contraposes the Darkwater men with her overt warmth and her subtle precision. A woman of formidable intellect and strong will, she never allowed Draevor to disreguard her during their marriage and she was the most capable Voice that Darkwater has had in living memory. Raised in Nilanza with her Argento family, her values reflect the liberal Lycene upbringing, but tempered with the reality that she is now of Darkwater and must be circumspect in her liberalism. She has a precise nature, a facility for facts and figures, but does not neglect the social ties that bind people together.
Background: Venta Darkwater was born as Venta Argento, of Nilanza, but married to the Darkwater family to seal a breach in relations and to end a trade dispute that nearly came to ruinous warfare. Draevor Darkwater was a tyrant of a leader and while she would never have wished for his death, she was always gladder to see him leave on raids than when he returned. Still, in time they came to have a comfortable partnership as she took over as Voice of Darkwater Watch. She produced Draevor two fine sons, Ixion and Maximilian. Draveor favored the elder and discounted the younger, and Venta never quite forgave her husband for shoving Maximilian onto a ship as soon as he was old enough.
After the death of her husband, Venta arranged a marriage to Nekarris for Ixion and took a much stronger hand in the running of the realm. She reorganized the prize court, saw to the renovations of the Redoubt for defense and expansion, directed the rebuilding of the Darkwater shipyards and ensured that thralls received a base level of care from their regents.
Highly educated, Venta relished these tasks and improved upon Darkwater's already abundant trade, using her Lycene skills to bolster the realm while Ixion played sailor and flexed his new found power. Her proudest accomplishment however, was rebuilding the Redoubts library and actively acquiring new material for it. While Draevor and Ixion saw little purpose in books, Maximilian has supported her endeavors and given her leeway to indulge her educated sensibilities.
Since the death of Ixion, Venta has been in some measure of isolation, brooding on the death of one son and the renewed loss of another, as the soldier becomes the count. Called now to Arx by Maximilian for assistance in handling the family affairs, she is keenly aware of Maximilian's short comings and prepared to step in as his right hand. Venta is looking forward to the mysteries and challenges the city will provide after her long isolation in Darkwater Watch, and she is determined that boldness will be no vice.
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