The human Vaenya Tellen, by her full title Her Grace, the Sublime Queen of Vaethia, Vaenya Tellen of Ard Vaer and the Flowlands, was the heiress and queen of the Sublime Monarchy of Vaethia.

Biography

Girlhood

Vaenya Tellen was born from the alliance between King Syron of Vaethia and Lady Ieria of the Flowland in the 6th Year of Her Holy Grace. She was the cherished child of Syron, who had lost his wife on Vaenya's birth; he invested all his love into his one and only child, and named her heiress against the spirit of the constitution.

She spent most of her young life in the Vaethian capital, San Vaeth. She had several private teachers who taught her the classics of Lilith culture, as well as science and arts; and even from a young age she was taught to be proud of her station and live the part of a future queen. Though she was occasionally seen at court, standing at the side of her father, she rarely stayed in the palace; she preferred the nearby lavish mansion called the Hôtel of the Pond, which stood out for its lush garden, the privacy, and the view down into the Crag. And, of course, its large marble pool.

Princess Regent under National Purpose

In 97 OW, her father was sick and unable to spend much time out of bed; his chancellor ruled the bureaucracy in his name, until Vaenya would be ready to rule. But a coup premeditated this transition and Vaenya found herself the hostage of proud military men who kept her locked in the Hôtel cellar and forbade her to talk to her father. Her assigned guards had been arrested or killed, and her sworn shield - a young man who had sworn his life to protect her - was also taken away. Still, she understood the role she was to play as the legitimate future ruler of Vaethia, and when she was told to dress in courtly attire and given a short speech to give to the people, she understood that the junta needed her for their legitimacy. She realized she was in their power, so she went along; but she understood rhethorics and politics, and so she spoke more than the plotters had told her to, and guaranteed herself some freedom. She invited armed loyalists into the capital and made sure she wouldn't be easy to get rid of.

For two years, Vaenya was the figurehead ruler and Princess Regent of the National Purpose regime. Though she had the loyalty of the people and the legitimacy of rule, the coup men controlled most of the police and military forces in the capital, and did not allow her to leave the palace without a heavy guard. Thus, she - and her large following, most prominently the Faith of Vaethia grouping - had to tolerate the regime, which continued to control the bureaucracy through the cabinet and make virtually all executive decisions.

Queen

King Syron expired in his bed in 98 OW. After a period of mourning, a massive coronation ceremony was held in San Vaethia (in spring 99). Vaenya rode a proud white steed at the head of a long parade column, surrounded by her self-chosen bodyguards in lustrous black regalia and her Faith of Vaethia militia (with which she had replaced the regime-loyal palace guard) seemed the most glorious. She was given the crown by three prostrated maidens, and all the notables - including the regime heads - bent the knee before her. She dressed gorgeously, in a bluish-purple corsage, flowing black silk dress, and a regal tiara of black silk embedded with light blue diamonds and ringed with gold; she looked the part of a strong queen.

The Sublime Coup

Over time, Vaenya had managed to build up the position of her loyalists in the capital. She was no longer surrounded by coup men, but by her bodyguards and the Faith militia; the people were on her side; and many officers not directly linked to the regime recognized her not only as their commander in name, but also in practice. Still, most of the armed units were in the hands of the regime, and - since they controlled the cabinet - this was unlikely to change anytime soon. So Vaenya devised a plot of her own; the centerpiece was her growing friendship with one of the plotters, Lord Colonel Aturion, the commander of the Royal Guard, a large and well-armed gendarme unit. He came to the palace for long visits, and Vaenya went to great lengths to gain his affection. Finally, she managed to plan a coup with him: the Royal Guard, together with her Faith militia and the small military units whose officers knew her personally, would be able to overpower the regime's forces in a coup.

This masterful operation was known as the Sublime Maneuver. Aturion did most of the dirty work, rounding up the regime leaders and their associates. Those people had sizeable defensive measures in place and numerous bodyguards, making it a bloody affair; several died, shot by Aturion's men, because they resisted. Then Vaenya employed her militia, and 500 Cuprien soldiers who had pledged to support her as she was, after all, the legitimate ruler, to arrest Aturion and his Guard officers. Thus, in one move, she had gotten rid of all the regime leaders, and the rest of the country quickly rallied behind her. The plotters were tried and sentenced for treason, to face the firing squad, while Aturion first had his tongue torn out, then he was quartered by horses, and finally his corpse was thrown into the Crag (this punishment was not public).

Vaenya was finally Queen in her own right, and went on to rule Vaethia with a strong hand.

Royal Romance

Vaenya was notorious for her lack of a proper royal engagement and clean marriage. In her young years, until her official engagement was finally announced as she reached the age of 29, there were rumors about something between her and her sworn shield: the man was only eleven years her senior, and the smart-looking, black-haired man in a cleanly pressed black uniform seemed to always be standing at her side. People who knew her more intimately, however, were aware of her very close friendships with two court women; Illena, the younger daughter of the Gulliver Lord, with whom she had been friends already in her princess days; and Lady Lanaele of Purple Castel, later on.

She was officially engaged to Grand Commendatore Ulrid of Armuria, and married him in 114 OW; the King Consort was not often seen with his queen outside of official venues, however, as she spent most of her free time in the Hôtel of the Pond alone or with friends. She would nonetheless have two children with him.