Chenelo Drazharan

Chenelo Drazharan was the second legitimate daughter of Maru Sevraseched, the fourth wife of Varenechibel IV, and mother of Maia Drazhar.

Appearance
Chenelo had dark hair and dark gray skin. She grew incredibly thin after many years of illness.

Her name is pronounced with the accent on the first syllable, in the goblin fashion.

Personality
Chenelo was raised in the Barizhan way of seeing servants as family, and caring about their feelings as such. She was compassionate. She could be playful, and deeply loved her son. She thought that, "Cursing was for commoners . . . the recourse of those with neither breeding nor education." She was also trained to care for her children, rather than assigning a maid to take care of them, though part of this was that she was alone at Isvaroë when she cared for Maia.

She "was a woman of deep spirituality". She was anxious not to disturb others in their prayer.

In the final months of her life, she was sad, homesick, and "desperately afraid for her son."

Life
Chenelo was one of Maru's six daughters. Maru wanted to see Chenelo as an Empress, and the Elflands needed good trade with Barizhan (as well as less more marriage options for the Drazhada), so the Corazhas pressured Varenechibel IV, and Chenelo was engaged to him when she was barely 16 years old. The court dubbed her "Hobgoblin". She would pray with candle lighting, and her piety was part of what made her unpopular, as it was unfashionable. She resided at the Untheileneise Court for less than a year.

She had a signet made resembling a cross between the Drazhadeise cats and a sea serpent (the device of Maru): "a delicate picture of a creature half cat and half twining serpent." Varenechibel IV found it unsuitable and insisted she used the Drazhadeise cats instead.

Her sole union with her husband led to Maia's birth. After Maia's birth, both Chenelo and Maia were relegated to Isvaroë by Varenechibel IV, as he accused her of trying to replace his second dead wife, Pazhiro Drazharan. Chenelo spent nearly nine years there in misery, but loved and taught her son all she could, including information on court etiquette and some religion, as well as compassion for servants. She sent letters to her father, for which she received no reply. She kept a shrine at Isvaroë for prayer.

She had a long and difficult illness. She only spoke to Maia of the details of her marriage days before her death. She also told him at this time "that she did not regret her marriage to Varenechibel because it had brought her" Maia.

She died around the age of 26, in the spring, when Maia was 8. She was buried at the Othasmeire in the Untheileneise Court, along with the rest of the Drazhada. Her belongings were burned after her death, seemingly at Varenechibel IV's command.

Maia took her unused signet as his own when he became emperor.

Skills
She embroidered.

She was incredibly frail at the end of her life.

Maia Drazhar
Maia deeply loved his mother, and missed her greatly. The way she was treated is the principal part of his ire for Varenechibel IV and the Untheileneise Court.

Maru Sevraseched
Maru was bitter that his wife had given him no sons, hadn't cared for Chenelo, and only saw her as a way to shore up his borders against a bigger enemy. As women become the property of their husbands after marriage, Maru did not respond to Chenelo's letters after marriage, believing there was nothing he could do. Her death possibly made him change his heart about his supporting his daughters.

Nadaro Gormened
Chenelo's mother was Nadaro's paternal aunt. Nadaro and Chenelo sometimes saw each other as girls, so long as their fathers were allies. Nadaro seemed to think fondly of her, and was bitter about how she was treated.

Teru Tethimar
The Archprelate met her while he was a canon and she still lived at the Untheileneise Court, and respected her spirituality.

Varenechibel IV
“Varenechibel found her ugly, boring, unappealing", but his lack of feeling turned to hatred when she became pregnant and bore a healthy child, and survived the experience, unlike his deceased and beloved wife, Pazhiro. Furious and hateful, he relegated both Chenelo and Maia to Isvaroë, for potentially daring to try to replace Pazhiro and her dead son. In private, Varenechibel IV told people in private that Chenelo was mad, and Maia had inherited her illness. Chenelo did not love her husband.

Trivia

 * All three of Varenechibel IV's deceased wives - the Empress Leshan, the Empress Pazhiro, and the Empress Chenelo - died before age 30.
 * During Chenelo's residence there, Isvaroë had at least a housekeeper and a cook.
 * She loved chamomile tea.
 * In Chenelo's memory, Maia did his best to make Arbelan Drazharan more comfortable in her life.
 * Nadeian Vizhenka noted that it was unlikely that Chenelo knew of her half-sisters, as Maru refused to acknowledge them until after her death.
 * Chenelo gave Maia a set of pearl Ilinverieise earrings suitable for a boy on his 8th birthday. It was the last present he received until his 19th birthday.