Chrys'tel Vel'Sharen
From The Orthorbbae Library
Chrys'tel is the youngest daughter of Zala'ess Vel'Sharen. Because she is a member of the Royal Family, Chrys'tel has a protector twin in the form of Shinae.
She became tainted after the events of the Nidraa'chal War, because the Sharen clan went 'Vel' after the conflict. Chrys'tel was still very young at that time.
Chrys'tel first encounters Ariel when Faen Val'Sullisin'rune tries to help the injured Sarghress who happened to fall down the shaft of Davya Tower in Orthobbae. She immediately has a hostile attitude towards Ariel, mainly because Ariel is a younger female student who should be left alone to die of her injuries. Chrys'tel's reasoning being that Ariel was too weak to defend herself from whoever attacked her, and the weaker drowolath should suffer the consequences of her failure.
When Faen begins to help out Ariel, Chrys'tel insults and slaps Faen in the face to try and get the empathic girl to realize that showing emotion and compassion is only a weakness for her, allowing other girls to pick on Faen with ease. As for Ariel, Chrys'tel believes it's none of hers or Faen's business to help the injured girl. She eventually leaves the pair, condemning Faen and calling her a fool for believing in caring for someone. She even openly dismisses the belief in the Goddess, thanks in part to her clan's beliefs, and what has been taught to her so far in school. Later on in the day, when Faen takes Ariel to their room, Chrys'tel gets even more aggravated towards Faen. After venting some more anger at the Sullisin'rune girl, Chrys'tel leaves the room, only to come back after Faen leaves to get help for Ariel.
After the incident which left Naal'Suul badly tainted, Chrys'tel acts much the same towards the Beldrobbaen girl as before, just as if nothing had happened. However, Faen becomes noticeably more agitated around tainted after encountering Naal'Suul. As Faen's roommate, Chrys'tel witnesses the empath's strange antics increase over time: she searches under their beds and in their closets, and awakes in the middle of the night from terrible dreams, crying. Faen also tries to explain her fears of demons to Chrys'tel, but the Sharen mocks her for them, calling her "Mad Eyes". To some degree, Chrys'tel is trying to harden Faen, make her realize she is being weak and fearful, but she begins to realize it is not working. Faen becomes more withdrawn and frightened, only calm when Ariel is around. To this end, Chrys'tel begins to believe that Ariel is in fact weakening Faen with her visits, and that Faen's actions between them is a result of that weakness. It never occurs to her that Ariel's visits are what brings Faen out of that state instead of what puts her in it.
Earlier Chrys'tel was seen hovering over Ariel as she passed out from her injuries after her fall through Davya, however it appears that Chrys'tel did not mention Ariel to Headmistress Snadhya'runes Vel'Sharen at the time. It is unclear why she kept Ariel's strange comings and goings to herself - perhaps she secretly allowed it for Faen's sake. Later it appears she regrets this action, but it is unclear if Khaless' discoveries of Ariel are based on any information from Chrys'tel.
While on break, Chrys'tel approaches her Sullisin'rune teacher about Faen's issues concerning demons. The Sullisin'rune agrees that perhaps Faen's fears of demons would be lessened if she took up summoning, especially the art of Velnar. It is unclear if the Sullisin'rune took Chrys'tel's suggestion to her clan, but when break ended Chrys'tel and the teacher had arranged a tainting ceremony and Faen agreed to it reluctantly.
However, on the way to the room Faen collapses in a fit again, and has an altercation with Chrys'tel's cousin, Nihi'liir. Faen snaps, and the emotional overload hits everyone in the vicinity, knocking Chrys'tel senseless. When she comes to, Faen is in a trance, Nihi'liir's arm is destroyed, and the teacher's mind is lost forever. When Faen comes out of her state, she panics and flees. Chrys'tel begins to stop her, but it is a lack-luster attempt. While she chalks it up to knowing Faen's fate is sealed anyway, her recollection of the event leads the reader to wonder if Chrys'tel secretly hoped Faen would escape or if she really did feel Faen's running would amount to nothing. Regardless, it also seems all the girls are reluctant to follow Faen because of the emotion they felt: while Chrys'tel reiterates she could never fear someone as weak as Faen, the event was like being in a nightmare.
A month later, on the next school break, Chrys'tel is walking with her friends down the streets of Chel'el'sussoloth. Unbeknown to her, she is being tracked by Ariel and three of her guards - the Fallen Legion. While in conversation with Kyo'nne, Chrys'tel is nudged by Shinae, who notes "Mad Eyes" Faen in a side alley. Chrys'tel tells her friends to stay put and follows the empath, silently cursing Faen for not running away. This gives some insight to the usually haughty, almost emotionally-closed Chrys'tel's feelings about Faen: the empath may be weak and their friendship may be questionable, but Chrys'tel seems to have hoped Faen had gotten away. When she catches up to Faen and the empath, who is noticeably different, questions Chrys'tel about that day, the Sharen attempts to shake reason into the girl. The way she yells at Faen and what she says seems to imply that she really is trying to get through to someone she thinks has lost her mind. She also seems upset by the fact that she'll have to turn the girl in. If it is a show for "Faen's" benefit, it is unknown, as what seems to be Faen turns out to be Ariel in disguise, who stabs Chrys'tel and beats her back.
Chrys'tel struggles and attempts to cast a spell with her blood (only succeeding in scorching Ariel's dress), but Ariel manages to bring Chrys'tel into submission. At that moment the other girls show up, and Kyo'nne attempts to trick Ariel into letting her guard down by offering to forgive her. This causes some argument among the girls (mostly Shinae who thinks Kyo'nne is betraying them), which is cut off by the arrival of Chirinide Val'Kyorl'solenurn, Warden of Sharess. The girls are chased away, and after Ariel's guardians are revealed to Chirinide, Ariel demands the truth of Faen from Chrys'tel.
Chrys'tel tells the truth, but during her telling she takes on a colder persona than the upset girl before who thought she was trying to tell Faen to run. She talks down to Ariel and mentions continuously about her own superiority (and that of her clan's). She also refers to Faen as weak and seems to disassociate friendship with her, and even goes on to say she should have never befriended Faen to begin with, and if she hadn't then Faen would have probably killed herself sooner after meeting Ariel. Her tale told and her insults given, she presses Ariel to decide her fate, as she is bleeding to death. Ariel brings up the event of Chrys'tel leaving her to die, which Chrys'tel seems to show no remorse about. The Sarghress heir then decides to bring Chrys'tel before Quain'tana's feet to determine the Sharen's fate, taking on a very Chrys'tel-like thought by comforting herself with the belief that Chrys'tel deserves whatever comes to her for being of an enemy clan.
While Chrys'tel is held captive, news comes out via spies that the Sarghress holds her. Her mother, Zala'ess, comes before Quain'tana with an entourage of her children and mate. While Quain'tana puts a Sharen spy on display, half tortured, in order to try and affront Zala'ess, the tactic does not work, as Zala'ess and her ilk use it as an excuse to point out why Quain'tana is a barbaric commoner in their eyes. Quain'tana then switches to the story that Chrys'tel is the one who brought the spy to her, and that the young Sharen had changed loyalties and was attempting to be accepted into the Sarghress Vals. Zala'ess is not fooled by the story (even though other spies probably saw a shape-shifted Ariel posing as Chrys'tel draw out the unlucky spy). She twists it to jab Quain'tana with an insult to Quain'tana's lineage, stating the warrior queen requires the Sharen's blood because the Sarghress has been poor about selecting heirs. Zala'ess leaves triumphantly after her point is driven home by Syphile's allowance of her to leave, and Quain'tana is left glowering and still itching for a fight.
Meanwhile within the Sarghress dungeon, Chrys'tel is in deep despair. She contemplates letting the taint within her to grow, and form a new demon. However, as that course of action would be tantamount to suicide she decides against it. Her despair grows further, hoping that her mother will come to rescue her from the 'peasant army,' but she realizes that because she lost to Ariel, it is quite likely that her mother and the rest of her family has lost all respect for her.
After what seems like countless hours to Chrys'tel, her aunt, Sillice, appears. After a bit of struggling to get out of the sorcerer's grip, Chrys'tel is frozen and dragged by her aunt. The older woman proceeds to talk down to her niece, while the girl accuses Sillice of being a traitor and murderer of her own family. Chrys'tel demands to know why Sillice is with the "commoner clan." Sillice counters by asking Chrys'tel if she really knows what happened in the Royal Tower of the Val'Sharess 16 years ago, or if she ever went there alone? Or whether Chrys'tel ever went into the depths of the school. Sillice tells her that no one within the Sharen bother to question or learn about what is happening or why it happens.
Sillice then terrorizes Chrys'tel, by showing her prisoner the torture room. Although Sillice is not authorized by Quain'tana to torture Chrys'tel, she still threatens the younger Sharen. If the girl should try anything demonic, whether it be summoning or letting her own taint grow, then Chrys'tel would fall under her aunt's pleasant care and no limits would be placed on the torture that Chrys'tel would have to endure.
Some time after re-uniting with her aunt Sillice, Chrys'tel's cell is once again opened by an unlikely rescuer: Syphile. On the condition that Chrys'tel will try to make Shyphile a noble within the Vel'Sharen, Syphile helps Chrys'tel escape the Sarghress Fortress. Chrys'tel escapes dressed up as Syphile's personal slave. During their escape, Chrys'tel finds out from Syphile that Ariel is the result of breeding between a drow and a demonic spider. Chys'tel plans to give this information to her mother Zala'ess.
While not surprising to Syhpile, it is surprising to Chrys'tel that there was no pursuit on their trail. When the two arrive outside the gates of the Sharen Fortress, they are confronted by Swarv'swati's daughter, Nihi'liir Vel'Sharen, and a group of guards. The Sharen believed that Chrys'tel turned traitor against them, and thus Chrys'tel is once again taken prisoner and thrown into the dungeon. A short time later after being imprisoned, her mother comes to interrogate her personally. She orders Chrys'tel to tell her why she sided with the Val'Sarghress. Chrys'tel explains rather adamantly that she never did such a thing; that she was in the dungeon the entire time. After a few moments, Zala'ess believes Chrys'tel and remarks that she is still her daughter, allowing Chrys'tel a measure of relief from her time as a prisoner.
Chrys'tel is eventually reunited with Shinae, her protector twin. Chrys'tel finds out that while she was a prisoner of the Sarghress, Shinae had been stripped of her nobility, and tortured by their mother for failing to protect Chrys'tel. As she recuperates and relaxes, Chrys'tel begins to remember the events of the Nidraa'chal war, and begins to wonder if what her Aunt Sillice told her may actually be true, or at the very least verify what she was taught is accurate.
Later, Chrys'tel remembers her debt to Syphile, and pleads for her comrade to Zala'ess, in an attempt to repay her debt to the fallen Val'Sarghress. Zala'ess laughs outright at the thought of that idea. She considers it absurd to give Syphile such a high status, when the girl doesn't even have enough courage to keep Zala'ess' gaze.
It is then that Chrys'tel gives intriguing information to her mother about what Quain'tana Val'Sarghress has been doing to get heirs to the throne of the Sarghress. To Zala'ess, that information is not enough for Syphile to gain any real rank within the Sharen clan. Chrys'tel then proposes the idea of making Syphile a noble for a short time, so Syphile could be sent back to the Sarghress when the time was right, to kill Quain'tana. This suggestion seems to please Zala'ess, proving that she has a capable daughter.
Quote:
"There is nothing you can do and there is no goddess that will help you either!"
- to Faen Sullisin'rune about the injured girl in Faen's arms, at the bottom of Davya Tower in the School of Orthobbae.
Relations:
Val'Sharess Diva'ratrika Val'Sharen - Grandmother
Snadhya'runes Vel'Sharen - Aunt
Sarv'swati Vel'Sharen - Aunt
Sillice - Aunt
Sae'ryn Val'Sharen (Not Featured) - Cousin
Nishi'kanta Vel'Sharen - Aunt
Zala'ess Vel'Sharen - Mother
Vy'chriel Vel'Sharen - Sister
Shinae Vel'Sharen - Sister and Twin Protector
Nihi'liir Vel'Sharen - Cousin
Nau'kheol Vel'Sharen - Younger brother
Ni'bai and Ni'ju Sharen - Cousins
Kiel'ndia Vel'Vloz'ress - Friend (former?)
Kyo'nne Val'Illhar'dro - Friend (former?)
Naal'suul Val'Beldrobbaen - Friend (former?)
Faen Val'Sullisin'rune - Orthorbbae roommate
First appearance: Chapter 2, Page 87
Appears in chapter(s): 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11
Other appearances:
Daydream