Deunan

Page updated 1^st May - Winter 1221

Played by Ryan Myint

Deunan appears to have disappeared, and is in trouble with the quaesitoris, so we're not likely to see her again for a while.
She also seems quite seriously embitterred about something Which hasn't go anything to do with me. {grin}
On the other hand, Ryan has gone to learn to be a law type person, in london - and isn't going to be turning up for gaming much.
Good luck to you Ryan, and we hope to see you or Deunan again sometime.

"I'm a happy little death machine"
- Deunan in the shower, every morning (1205 - present)

Deunan, daughter of Toren, of the house of Valentin of Kiev. Flambeau warrior. Coldly efficient killer. Loving wife and mother. Deunan is at once the most dangerous and the most vulnerable of Animus Silvae's Magi. She cares too much, and tries too hard. She takes life's vicissitudes too personally, and strives to protect those she loves from the known and the unknown alike.

"He is not going to hurt one of my Grogs."
- Deunan to the Council, speaking as Defensor, re the Devil's Advocate (1205).

Deunan partakes of life to the full, immersing herself in both the magical and mundane worlds. To her, magic is simply a tool, like a sword or a ploughshare, not a path to power. As Defensor of Animus Silvae, she believes in leading rather than commanding, and is especially vigilant in safeguarding the welfare of the Grogs. If she is to expect the Grogs to be willing to die for her, she herself must be willing to die for them.

"Run! I'll hold him off!"
- Deunan to the Grogs, while under attack from Lord Karaka's three-headed dragon (1207).

Deunan's stern pragmatism is tempered by compassion and tenderness, qualities which have earned her the contempt of her House (and the mocking nickname "Deunan the Nice"). Her childhood bereavements and hardships have left her especially sensitive to the sufferings of others. Grogs, servants and Magi in distress often seek her out for sympathy and comfort.

"Oh, you poor dear!"
- Deunan to Itrius ex Guernicus, after he was betrayed by his sodales at Ice Crag Covenant (1215).

Deunan is perhaps the most level-headed of Animus Silvae's Magi: calm in judgment, slow to anger and ruthless in taking vengeance. The Unseelie Lord Karaka died at her hands, garotted with razor-sharp steel wire she'd had custom-made for that purpose.

"I was planning to feed him goulash until he burst."
- Deunan to the Council, after winning her Wizard's War against Pfaulz ex Tremere (1213).

Now in her forties, Deunan retains both her youthful good looks and her passion for new adventures, new experiences, new horizons. She adapts easily to new milieux, new friends and new enemies. Whereas some Magi strive to conquer life, Deunan seeks only to explore it and to enjoy it, with all the exuberance and vivacity of her unrelinquished youth.

"Let us be off! We must reach the Lake of Milk and Cookies before sunset, otherwise the milk will be too cold to drink."
- Deunan to her companions, in Puppetland (1217).

Deunan is devoted to her husband, Shiro (the spirit of a Byzantine artist who died during the Fourth Crusade), and to their only son, Toren (who is also her Apprentice and, following a shared Twilight while she was seven-months-pregnant, her Familiar!). Their family life, although somewhat unconventional, helps Deunan to maintain her sense of perspective, her capacity for love and for laughter, her sense of childlike wonder.

"I am good at doing silly things. I shall leap into the cedar tree!"
- Deunan in Puppetland, to no-one in particular (1217).

Perhaps Deunan can best be understood through her own words, especially her keynote summa and tractatus in her speciality of Mentem, "A Theory of Human Motivation". Here she analyses the Art of Mentem in the context of the workings of the human mind and human emotions, arguing that only a Magus sensitive to the emotional needs of others can ever wield Mentem effectively, and that only a Magus deeply familiar with his own emotional needs can ever wield Mentem safely.

"You're not me. I'm not that gormless."
- Deunan in the spiritworld, addressing her vampiric doppelganger (1214).