Eir Melone Swanvild, later known as Melone of Ciosa during her public career, was born circa 1550 a.S. During her relatively short life, the tragic mage would not only assist her compatriot, Raeis Boldsnout in establishing the "Children of the Mind", but also win the hearts of the Manthrian people though her limitless compassion and extreme talents. In addition to being both a member of the infamous Triad and close friend of the High Inquisitor, before her early death the enchantress mastered the Children’s ability of disguise, know as Glamouring. While with the Children, she acted both as a kindhearted teacher and served as Mistress of Secrets, organizing all the covert operations of the magi under Raeis.

Miss Swanvild is also the only member of the Children of the Mind to ever have been able to walk freely throughout the Santharian Kingdom without fear of Ximax, though she is said to have preferred incognito locomotion, as a result of the popular sympathy she received through the spread of the tragic tale of her romantic endeavors, most notably her notorious affair with the masochistic Phillip.

Her fame was only amplified by her unexpected death. Despite the elongated life provided to her through the Tome of Time, it is said that Melode of Ciosa lost the will to live after the execution of her lover and thus, at the young age of thirty five, was reported to have jumped to her death from the Zirkumire Mountains. Following her death, her body was recovered from the Cyon Sola Bay and returned to her family in Ciosa.

Appearance. A connoisseur of magical disguise, Melone's vanity and talent enabled the sinewy Avennorian to morph slowly into a feline elf as she aged. Translucent ashen hair framed her doll-like features, seemingly wrought of a blend of dark chocolate and immaculate porcelain. Her countenance displayed an array of delicate features; a gentle nose; protracted eyebrows; delicious lips unfastened seductively, eyes like crystal pools frozen in an cold anger that chills the air about her.

Sleek and ghastly, Melone’s sparse apparel famously lured the casual male eye, demanding an unwavering attention. Strongly akin to the gothic garments of Queprur’s Voidwalkers, the enchantress’s attire appears analogous to the lisdra, its elegant form constricting the delicate figure before disappearing into the substantial mass of a leather choker set with brilliant sapphires. Knee-high boots of brown leather envelop lissome legs, punctuating sculpted form.

Biography. Birth (1547). Born the daughter of the poor fisherman, Garolv Swanvild and his wife, Mevinna, Melone’s childhood was shaped by her family’s poverty. From the age of four until the time her “gifted’ status manifested itself around puberty, the young girl was expected to contribute to the family economy, either working on her father’s boat or in their exhausted shack with her mother, crushing and reshaping whale bone into products able to be sold at the market.

Recruitment to Ximax (1559). Tragedy struck the Swanvild family when an unexpected storm suddenly appeared around the family’s small boat. In the fifteen minutes the squall lasted, the ship was reduced to a pile of driftwood by fierce winds. After not surfacing for three days, Garolv was deemed ‘lost at sea’. Mysteriously, his teenage daughter was found unharmed, apparently thrown from the boat and carried back to shore.

Though exactly what triggered such a violent and sudden burst of magic, Mevinna blamed the girl for her husband’s death and, using the meager savings she had accumulated, sent her daughter away to the province of Xaramon.

An Ill-fated Assignment (1572). Having progressed through the first two Spheres of Ximaxian magic at an astounding rate, Melone’s successes caught the attentions of her superiors within the Sky Tower. Thus, when it was decided to form a team to investigate an artifact recently returned from the ruins of the fortress of Tak’dinal, the young woman secured a spot with ease.

Over the course of the year, the three researchers, unlocked the secrets to the book’s powers of longevity and slowly were corrupted by its ancient knowledge. Deciding to keep their extensive knowledge within their group, the trio fed false information to the Sky Tower, using their true discoveries to strengthen their own power and convert followers under the alias of the Triad.

Flight from the Magical City and Establishment of a Resistance (1573). A year later, having converted a sizeable number of followers, all within the Sky Tower, rumours of the Triad reached the Archmagi of the Yellow who proceeded to ferret out the three traitors. The self-anointed Triad, fearing for their lives planned to flee the tower. Gathering their followers, the three powerful telekinetics stole the Tome of Time from its hidden vault using their new found magical discoveries to outsmart the guardians and fled from the peninsula, across the Steppes of Kruswik, finding shelter in the cradle between the Upper and Lower Fores. It was here, nestled between the two Fores, that the Triad shaped their rag-tag band of followers into a structured order, and disbanding them into small groups that would disperse across the continent.

Suicide (1582). Determining it she would rather die then live without her beloved, following his capture during his failed attempt to subjugate the Archmage of the Sky Tower, the desperate woman planned to take her own life. Traveling back to the province of Xaramon, Melone is said to have climbed to the highest peak of the Zirkumire Mountains and at the hour of Phillips execution, jumped to her death.

It is rumored that the mage Raeis Boldsnout attempted to recover both the bodies of Melone and Phillip and enshrine the two in his cave dwelling, however, before he could secure either body, both met alternate fates. The Avennorian town of Ciosa fought for the right to house their celebrity’s body and were eventually granted it.

Importance. The second member of the council known as the Triad, Melone’s fame derived from both her power as a mage and her popularized romantic escapades. Already destined to be a mage of great power during her time in the Sky Tower of Ximax because of her rapid progression in her studies, the sorceress’ fame expanded enormously with her assistance in the theft of the Tome of Time and her flight from Ximax. While with the Children, Melone discovered, mastered and taught the illusionary art of the Order known as Glamouring, a semi-permanent form of illusion of a magnitude and depth previously unknown to the magical community.

During her time with the Children, Melone served on the Order’s ruling council, known as the Triad, from its inception to the time of her death as Mistress of Secrets, second in command to Raeis. Charged with the responsibility of maintaining the secrecy of the magi, she coordinated the school’s roving classrooms, yearly Order meetings, the recruitment of new Gifted and the movements of full members.

Equally as noteworthy is Melone’s popular fame resulting from rumours circulated about the mage’s love affairs with various men of power in Southern Sarvonia. Thus far, no proof has surfaced to verify any of these incidents save for her renowned relationship with Phillip. Despite the lack of factual evidence, the alluring woman still managed to captivate the Kingdom of Santharia with her wild fantasies both before and following her death.

6th Rising Sun 1669 a.S. Information provided by Drasil Razorfang