Early Life
Narana was born in the village of Zinereth, in the kingdom of Okonara. Through her youth, she trained to be a baker, like her parents. Her early childhood was a time of optimism, the last dregs of an era of peace that had blessed Esken for centuries. She hoped to help her family open a new bakery, and to possibly even start making new traveler's treats for the new tavern. She loved making cakes and pies, and dreamed of going to a city to be a professional chef. But the
Feywilds raids only got worse, the distant fronts of war grew steadily closer, and support from the rest of Desmia dwindled. The need for more bakers in Zinereth declined as the population was dragged off to war and the fields were burnt by raiders. When Narana's older brother chose to stay and man the bakery instead of going to war, her future in the village evaporated. Her family tried to keep her on as an assistant, but she was left with a constant sense of being dead weight. Between the dire mood of the village youth and her own unhappiness with life, a terrible depression set in.
She had always done well in Temple-training, but her family held her close and aggressively discouraged military service. During her rite of passage, she proved herself quite capable as a warrior and survivalist, but the priest promised her parents to keep her from getting scooped immediately off to war. One day, though, when a group of bandits took residence in a nearby forest, Narana and her squad drunkenly decided to rally the other youths to hunt them. One of the bandits proved to be a Feywild dryad and Narana returned with their head to the village priest. The priest saw that Narana was skilled and clearly itching for a fight, and went back on their promise to her parents. Narana and her squad was armed and sent to the
Golden Crusade, eager to prove themselves.
The Golden Crusade
According to legend, Narana was chosen to be a person attendant to the commanding General,
Vadri of
Torza, after the quartermaster tasted the cake she had brought and took some to the general in excitement. Perhaps it was a case of ordinary military advancement. Either way, by 1470, Narana was working in general Vadri's retinue as a chef, taster, and butler for the general. For years she fought, and for several years she worked in the retinue.
In 1471, she began her rise to fame and glory. The Mathari had been steadily pushing the Golden Crusade back since the 1460s but had made huge gains in the last year. One army, led by the Mathari Ursha (or Emperor), Eradar, had punched through the Desmian line and was tearing through the Desmian supply lines. The other crusading armies were pinned down, unsupplied, and surrounded;
Emperor Eradar was virtually unopposed in his push towards Esken. And, as the heretics of the West were pressing in on the Western forts, a rogue Mathari army could potentially see the Golden Crusade pushed all the way out of Esken. General Vadri's army was the only force that could intercept the Mathari force. It was the battle of the century.
The Battle of Ulikip in the fall of 1471 was that battle. Vadri's forces had marched from the Heretic's front to Ulikip, a hill in along the border between the Crusading Lands and Esken. Emperor Eradar rushed forward to meet them before they could fortify their position. The resulting pitched field battle was brutal, full of risky gambits and heavy casualties. Narana, despite being a cook before being a bodyguard, joined in the retinue on the battlefield. All seemed lost for the Desmian army when General Vadri was struck down by Mathari forces, despite the retinue's best efforts. Most of the retinue retreated, desperate to try and save their mortally wounded commander, but Narana knew that the blow was lethal. So, instead of going to help organize a retreat, Narana charged on horseback towards the Mathari Emperor. Through immense luck and skill she was able to make it to the Eradar, who she killed. According to legend, she was so ferocious and terrifying that the Emperor's retinue fled before her and she gave chase on foot, inspiring a massive charge of Desmians that swept the field.
Regardless of how, the result is the same: the Emperor died, Narana survived, and the Mathari were forced to retreat from a battle they were previously winning. The battered Crusading army gathered around Narana, who they named their new general. For three years, Narana led this army against the Mathari. None of her victories were as glorious as Ulikip, but she was instrumental in allowing the other crusading armies to escape encirclement. The crusaders got to regroup in Esken and were able to hold the line - but Narana fell in the effort. She was slain on the field of battle in the Spring of 1475, at the Battle of Argenten while leading a cavalry charge.
Legacy
Narana almost immediately became a celebrity in greater Desmia. She never found out the extent of her popularity because of how long it took for information to travel, but there were vigils for her death in the cities of
Avana and
Pakray. In 1480, she was beatified into an honored ancestor, one of the fastest beatifications in Desmian history. She was buried in Ulikip, and a massive statue of her was erected there in 1971. Her hometown of Zinereth has become a pilgrimage site, as has her tomb and the site of her death at Argenten. Narana's family were granted a plot of land from the reclaimed crusading lands and their descendants are minor nobles to this day.
Narana was a greatly skilled warrior, but was above all a lucky person in the right place. This is part of what made her so popular. The hope of divine intervention was also in high demand in the 1470s and 1480s:
Seruvianism was on the rise,
The Kidon March was destroyed and
Nefkan armies had cut off the Northwest from the South,
Ralev, raiders from
Boram were raiding across the South, and
Samvaran invaders were still fighting in the Southwest. Desmia needed hope and validation, and Narana provided just that.
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