Maren Zina
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Overview
Maren is a Poromish flier from Draithus, Cat’s best friend, and the rider of the brown-and-white gryphon Dajalair. She is paired with Violet during the Medaro Pass climb and explains that the fliers have come to Tyrrendor because training in Aretia gives them their best chance of survival.
Her full name is Maren Zina. She is chosen for the secret wardstone test at Basgiath because her ability to wield lesser magic under the altered wards can prove whether fliers will be able to fight safely inside Navarre’s protections.
After the attack on Newhall, Maren is responsible for her two surviving seven-year-old twin brothers. They are taken in by Rhiannon’s family in Aretia because Basgiath is not a safe place for children.
Appearance
Maren is petite for a flier but still taller than Violet. She has a heart-shaped face, dark braided hair, bronzed ochre skin, and dark hooded eyes.
A long silver scar marks the back of Maren’s hand.
Personality and Behavior
Maren repeatedly acts as a moderating member of Cat’s drift. She blocks Cat and Trager from escalating conflicts, tries to talk Cat out of challenging Violet, and continues to reject the false claim that Violet caused Luella’s death.
Maren responds to the ward disclosure practically rather than turning on Violet. She says the fliers are no good to their people if they cannot channel.
Maren observes Poromish funerary obligations even when the mission is urgent. After Trager and Silaraine’s funeral, she insists no one leave until the pyre is fully out because an offering to Malek must not be left unattended.
In Battle Brief, Maren says she would settle for a stalemate and bitterly questions who the outposts inside Navarre’s wards are actually protecting.
Relationships
Cat is Maren’s best friend.
Dajalair is Maren’s brown-and-white gryphon. Maren identifies him as a lowland gryphon and explains that gryphons die with their fliers, making the bond lethal as well as tactical.
Maren is assigned as Violet’s study partner after riders and fliers are paired, and she sits beside Violet during the ward disclosure.
Maren later supports Violet by giving her a small crossbow and explosive maorsite arrows as a secondary weapon, making the gift with blunt but genuine kindness.
Maren’s family flees to Newhall after Zolya falls. Theophanie claims she killed Maren’s parents and left the boys alive; Maren returns from the extraction with her two surviving seven-year-old twin brothers, keeps them close, and tries to comfort them while they remain silent and grief-stricken.
Rhiannon’s family takes in Maren’s brothers in Aretia. Maren thanks them and hopes Amari will watch over the boys there, while acknowledging that Basgiath is not a friendly place to raise children.
After Trager and Silaraine die, Maren and Cat grieve together at the funeral fire, with Cat linking her arm through Maren’s as they face the flames.
Abilities and Skills
As a flier, Maren understands gryphon flight capabilities, drift preferences, and lesser magic. Early in the Aretian training period, her drift cannot yet use mindwork.
Maren successfully levitates a rock under Basgiath’s wards after Sawyer alters the wardstone, proving that fliers can wield lesser magic inside Navarre’s protections when the wards are changed correctly.
Maren is one of the stronger rune students in Violet’s assessment, close behind the strongest group in the rune circle.
During the attack at the pass, Maren uses her crossbow with a rune-fired shot powerful enough to ignite a wyvern’s wing.
Possessions
Maren gives Violet a mini crossbow and explosive maorsite arrows as a secondary weapon, bluntly noting that Violet is awful with a longbow.
Violet continues practicing with Maren’s mini crossbow during the week before the island-search expedition.
Maren carries a family portrait with her everywhere. Losing it was once her worst nightmare, before the attack on Newhall made the loss of her family real.
Important Events
During the battle at Basgiath, Maren helps ferry wounded by gryphon and transports Sawyer toward the Healer Quadrant after Tairn calls for aid. Violet later names Maren as the person she trusts to watch over Sawyer and Jesinia if the wounded are evacuated.
When the venin threat erupts in Sawyer’s infirmary bay, Rhiannon orders Maren to protect him. Maren stays behind with the injured Sawyer instead of joining the tunnel pursuit.
Maren takes part in the midnight wardstone operation at Basgiath with limited information to protect her and preserve plausible deniability. Her successful second attempt at wielding lesser magic under the altered wards proves the change works for fliers.
The attack on Newhall turns Maren’s private family danger into an emergency for the squad. Her fear for her parents and siblings drives the extraction attempt, and she returns with her two surviving little brothers after Theophanie claims Maren’s parents are dead.
Maren joins the island expedition so the group can split if necessary. After the deaths of Trager and Silaraine, she helps preserve the proper rites by saying they must bury Trager and burn Silaraine because gryphons prefer to be burned.