Kaina Merlyn
Early Life
Kaina was born in 426 to Konstantin Merlyn, a man-at-arms in the service of the Governor of Cobblepott in Western Irogonie and his wife Sina Merlyn-Hansch.As one of the most Westerly settlements in Irogonie, Cobblepott was often the site of conflict as part of the border skirmishes with The Kingdom of Rotheval. On One Particular Occasion, when Kaina was six years old, knights from The Order of the Flaming Bull breached the city's defences. They made it as far as the Governorial Estate, burning the home down and killing the Governor and many of his guards in the process, but were driven back by the timely arrival of several Black Knights who saved Kaina and her parents from the fire. Fortunately Kaina had little memory of the event, having slipped from sleep to unconsciousness from the smoke. Later, whenever she would think back to the event she would remember little, and thinking hard on the topic would often bring on a headache.
She grew up with a profound respect and admiration for Dualism. Had they lived nearer to Greenpeak or Dawnrise, or had she been born to a more powerful family perhaps she would have been sent to join the church, but Cobblepott was far from the spreading influence of Dualism, and Kaina was soon put to work in the governor's household as a servant to earn her own keep.
The Irogonie Aggression
The war that rocked The Continent of Greland in 440KS, called The Irogonie Aggression by those outside the country, touched every corner of the continent. Cobblepott was no different. As the armies of The Kingdom of Somercrag unexpectedly marched to resist Irogonie's latest expansion efforts, Irogonie's levies were raised in response, and both of Kaina's parents answered the call to war.By the end of the year Prince Lur Lighthelm, the crown prince of Irogonie, had been killed in battle. The Kingdom had surrendered, and the armies were returning to their homes. Kaina's parents, however, were among the long list of the dead, their bodies undoubtedly entombed in one of the many mass burial cairns that marked the battlefields of the war.
Kaina became a ward of her uncle, Heinry Merlyn. Within weeks of recieving the news of his brother's death, Heinry made an arrangement with the Governor of the city to send Kaina to The Spire in exchange for a Spire Advisor for the city and a comfortable life for himself.
The Spire
Kaina was one of the children who became Spire Class One-Hundred-and-Fifteen along with one other girl, Catlin Volmark, two boys from Greland, Colrin Blest and Kierat, and two Spire Foundlings, Eliar and Korb.Disclaimer
Through some misadventure, the group found themselves travelling through space and time, transported to The City of Bayglen on the day of King Samuel Somercrag's death in 433KS.
They worked for a time in the kitchens of Bayglen Castle until Lanard, the Spire Advisor to House Skanler of Farcastle, in the capital for the King's funeral, was able to arrange a way for them to travel North out of the city toward The Spire in Somercrag.
They left the city under the guise of a company of wagoneers carrying Erac and Alise Tallman and their possessions back to Summerswind at the end of their period of Wardship with House Blackbar of Castle Blackbar.
According to A Diary found under mysterious conditions in Riverfoot, while on the road, apparently Kaina spoke with Colrin Blest about the impact they might have while in their own past. She disappeared from camp that night.
From this point Kaina's trail becomes difficult to follow. It is known that she did seek out her parents and desperately beseech them to sit out the coming war. With their recent experience in the Assault on Cobblepott 432KS and their young daughter's agitation at being in the presence of Her Future Self, they were in no state to listen to this strange young woman and her impossible warnings. Indeed it is likely that word of this strange encounter played into the growing anti-Spire sentiment in Irogonie.
At some point, it appears that she became a Black Knight and began to form a Cadre of knights with whom she began to experiment, pushing the limits of the power available to the Black Knights, and combining it with what she had learned in The Spire. In particular she was interested in death, Reanimation and Control.
According to the records of Alis, the Spire Advisor to House Foxworth of Fairstrand, and her investigation into accounts from sister Katriana Whitewind and from the travels of King Tyon I Cray, it appears that Kaina was involved in a number of disastrous events, including: The Battle of Southmarket, the death of ser Mattheo Foxworth and ser Theadwyn Wynch and the later madness and death of ser Jacqueline Spenler; the abduction of Lady Ophelia Foxworth-Hayford and her temporary replacement with an Alternate Timeline Duplicates; the destruction of The Stableyard, the destruction of The Order of the Winged Steed, the subsequent attack on King Tyon's party and the death of several of his Kingsguard; along with multiple less significant murders and experiments throughout the Southern part of Irogonie. It is also presumed by Alis' notes that Kaina had some part in Katriana's sudden betrayal of House Foxworth and the slaughters at The Hollow and in The Rothevalian Royal Court orchestrated to abduct Brienna and Tyon Foxworth.
Ethnicity
Other Ethnicities/Cultures
Year of Birth
426 KS
29 Years old
Circumstances of Death
Beheaded by Katriana Whitewind overlooking the Spire in Somercrag.
Birthplace
Place of Death
Family
Children
Gender
Female
Aligned Organization
Depicted In
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