Sivak Praetora B'lanna

B'lanna is a silver dragonborn who appears in the Undesirables campaign. At that time, she is the current Praetora. She is also the cousin of player character Sivak Gol'rotta. Her kresh name is Snapdragon. She is played by I.W.

Description

Appearance

B'lanna is a silver dragonborn of the Sivak clan. She is below average height for her people, with few being as small as her. Her features are slender and fair, with her sharpest features being the ridges in her reptillian face that give a very dramatic conture. Despite this, in a culture that finds the most desirable features to be ones that exhibit strength, she is almost considered ethereal in her beauty. Poised with a delicate grace and elegence, B'lanna's pressence draws all attention towards her. With the light blue skin tone and her silver scales, she often appears to be made of shimmering ice. Her eyes seem to shift between pale green and blue, shimmering like the Aurora Borealis and her horns have a subtle S-curve to them.
She has a fondness for silk dresses and robes, often seen wearing a matching set of them in lusterous white. The robe over the dress conceals the pair of kukri blades at the small of her back as the sheathes hang from the waist sash. The dress itself has high slits up each leg, also hidden by the robe, that keep her from having her movement restricted.

Personality

As one of the youngest praetoras in all dragonborn clans, it would be unwise to assume that her position was only granted to her through her marriage to the current praetor. B'lanna displays a strong sense of calm and rational thinking. Highly intelligent, she seems to carry a lot of the weight of the clan on her shoulders without signs of outward complaint. With Praetor Kal'bortaash only interested in leading the clan in battle, and not even worrying about strategy and tactics, the rest of the responsibilities land on her. She has shown creative aptitude that helps her achieve forward momentum in the care of the clan, even with her husband undermining her and her abilities.
In private, the stress of running the clan and the loneliness of lack of personal connections seem to be getting to her. Her nerves are freying and her poise has begun to crack as her situation continues to get worse.

Biography

Background

B'lanna hatched into the Sivak clan, seeming to take after her mother for her smaller size. With her fragile looking exterior, but a quick and often vicious response to provocation, she was given the kresh name 'Snapdragon'. With her cousin, Gol'rotta following not long after, she was allowed to remain with the other children as she would often be defended by her much larger cousin. With their knowledge of being related, something rare in the clan until they were older, they became as close as sisters. As much as she was jealous of Gol'rotta's size, it made her work harder in other areas to make up for it. Four years in the kresh and she was informed that she was going to have a sister as well. Sutra'ber was hatched small from an underdeveloped egg, and so she was rarely allowed around her little sister. This did not stop her or Gol'rotta from trying to be near, often getting them into trouble.
Tragedy would strike most of her childhood, as both of her parents would end up being killed in battle before she was allowed to meet them, per clan law. Her sister, given the kresh name 'Pip', would be abducted not long after, disappearing for several weeks into the Feywild. Her hope returned to her after her sister's eventual return, but the further isolated Pip in an effort to assess how much she had been affected by fairy magic. Just before her tenth birthday, when she and Gol'rotta would be brought home by Gol'rotta's parents, they would learn that her aunt, Gol'thaga, had been slain in a drow ambush. She witnessed her cousin lay eyes on her mother for the first time at her funeral. While they were still cared for by her uncle, Rotta'ghan, she knew her cousin was in anguish for being robbed the chance to meet her mother, but would never say so to her since she had lost both of her own. Their time with him was full of love and happiness, but as the wars of the Sivak clan raged on, Rotta'ghan too would fall in battle, leaving them all alone to care for Pip when she was old enough to leave the kresh as well. Remaining as strong as she could for Gol'rotta as she cried at her father's funeral, she decided that she would do something to make a change in the clan so that no more life would be lost one day.
She carried this mentality as she entered her mandatory military training, dedicating herself to study and practice. She was declared the top of her class, despite having slightly lower scores than one other clan member, Toy'wl, due to her higher performance in combat capability. This drew the attention of the newly appointed Sivak Praetor Kal'bortaash. Combined with her blossoming beauty as she came of age, he proposed to her so as to have her as the praetora alongside him. Knowing full well the strange hatred he had for Gol'rotta and her hope of starting to make a difference in the clan to preserve life, she accepted his proposal in hopes of making things better for everyone. They were wed quickly, bypassing her compulsorary military service and allowing her to begin trying to make a difference for the clan and soothing relations between the praetor and her cousin. It quickly became apparent that the marriage and her appointment to fellow leader was merely ornamental, as Kal'bortaash would openly call out her inexperience in order to have things go the way he wished. It also became easily apparent that whatever hatred he had for Gol'rotta, it would only get worse, though it didn't have any rhyme or reason behind it. As much as she tried, it eventually began to wear on her relationship with her cousin. Seeing her marriage as a betrayal, along with the increasing amount and intensity of harassment, Gol'rotta began to distance herself from B'lanna.
Realizing that she would make no headway if she were to approach anything directly, she began altering her tactics. It was B'lanna's call to appoint Toy'wl as Gol'totta's lieutenant when she was selected by the generals to become a captain. Focusing on her lack of physical prowess, it was easy to sway Kal'bortaash into believing that it would make things harder for her cousin without outright stating it. She also began accepting talks from diplomats that her husband felt he couldn't be bothered with, establishing better relations with other nations of the world and making favorable trade agreements for the clan. While there was a lot going well, Kal'bortaash would often take the credit and while B'lanna was annoyed, she always let it slide as it was too important to keep things moving forward. With the growing isolation from her family, B'lanna made a decision that would help her to gain more of the clan on her side. In her selection of her Praetorian Guard, rather than picking the most powerful soldiers, she went to the estranged members of the clan, seeking out rangers and those deemed Fey-touched. While her choices shocked the clan, it quickly became apparent how loyal they were to her, highlighting the benefit these members provided and how necessary they were to the clan's survival, despite traditional views.
Things would take a turn for the worse when three humans tore through the town, stealing from the food stores. While it was obvious they were starving, Kal'bortaash called for their execution and assigned the duty to Gol'rotta without conferring with B'lanna. As much as she pleaded with him and the council of elders, the order could not be changed as it would show hesitation and weakness. Witnessing the execution, B'lanna could see the internal struggle of her cousin, which the praetora knew was partially due to her having become a paladin somehow. Fearing exposing her, as the clan would not look kindly on it, but also fearing what the act would do to her, B'lanna watched helplessly as Gol'rotta killed the prisoners. Before her very eyes, she watched Gol'rotta's scales tarnish at a rapid pace. Without a way to console or apologize to her, she watched Gol'rotta leave not long later.
As if Gol'rotta's tarnished departure was enough to satisfy Kal'bortaash, his interest in B'lanna completely disappeared as if she had served her purpose. Desparate to abate her growing loneliness, she sought to conceive a child with her husband, but keep the child secret from him. When she was certain she was successful, she began planning to either retire from leadership or find a way to remove Kal'bortaash from power. Almost completely alone, she found comfort in one of her guards, Sarik and his drake, Draga. Without him, her last thread of sanity would have snapped as she struggled to manage the clan under the radar when Gol'rotta's letter arrived. With the information of the atrocities of Frostbane and war on the horizon, she tasked two of her guard to retrieve Gol'rotta to present her story, only for Pip to go in their place.

The Undesirables

Praetora B'lanna is a major character in arc four of the Undesirables campaign, as well as the overarching story with a large role in the coming war with Forstbane. She is an ally to the greater cause, but must put the needs of her people above smaller issues.

Relationships

Gol'rotta

The two grew up as close as sisters, doing everything together in their childhood. B'lanna was the rock for Gol'rotta at each of her parents' funerals. They both would butt heads over who was more in charge with B'lanna being just a little bit older and smarter, which would be countered by Gol'rotta deciding she was because she was bigger. With their different study focuses, they became more independant of each other until B'lanna's marriage to Kal'bortaash. Gradually becoming distant, there came a rising tension between them. Gol'rotta never knew how hard B'lanna worked to improve her situation with the clan and praetor, and she wouldn't tell her either. In turn, Gol'rotta bonded with her unit and learned to shut her emotions down to keep herself from getting further hurt. Each thinks the other resents them while unsure of how to show each other how much they care from arm's length.

Pip

As her closest living relative, B'lanna has always been protective of her sister. While Pip is hard to get close to, it could easily be argued that B'lanna is the only one she listens to. Pip and B'lanna care deeply for each other, but the younger dragonborn doesn't know how to express her feelings. B'lanna tended to dote on her when they were younger, but as her duties as praetora kept her busy, Pip would avoid her so that her own bad reputation wouldn't reflect on her sister.

Sivak Praetor Kal'bortaash

In her adolescence, B'lanna once found Kal'bortaash attractive, so when he asked to to marry him and help lead the clan, she agreed. Believing she could fix his hatred for Gol'rotta and steer the clan in a better direction. These hopes were dashed almost immediately as her inexperience was openly mocked by him every time she made suggestions before the Council of Elders to improve things. Building resentment for her husband, B'lanna has begun to subtly insult Kal'bortaash in ways that he doesn't pick up on, but are noticed by a select few members of the clan. As her popularity rises for the good changes she's been making for the clan, Kal'bortaash in turn seems to have a growing disdain for her. Some believe he has come to fear her because of her skills with a blade and her superior intelligence, while others believe the negative whispers about their relationship are nothing but rumors spread by faeries to spread discourse in the clan.

Character Information

Quests

In the Argentum Bastion, B'lanna will require statements from the party regarding any interractions with Frostbane. Depending on information given, she could request additional aide to her clan or offer secondary quests based on the needs of her people.

Legacy

• B'lanna is the youngest leader in Clan Sivak's history.

• As praetora, she has pushed for the greatest economical growth and improved ally relations more than anu before her.

Notable Items

• Ruby Weave Gem

• Platinum Scarf

Quotations

• “Do not think that I haven’t sat up every night wanting to go out and get her myself, position be damned.”

• "I should have said something. I should have done something. She would have, for me."

Character Type
Non-Player Character
Actor
I.W.
Date of Birth
Brist 4th, 126AT
Place of Birth
Argentum Bastian
Class
Wizard
Bladesinging

Family
Sivak Gol'rotta- (cousin)
Sivak Sutra'ber- (sister)
Sivak Praetor Kal'bortaash- (husband)
Lor'anna- (adopted niece)
Gol'thaga- (aunt- deceased)
Rotta'ghan- (uncle- deceased)
Gol'than- (father- deceased)
Sutra'lanna- (mother- deceased)
Gol'rosha- (ancestor- deceased)

Tlhogh Stone
Raw Diamond