Theophanie

Before she is named, the female venin is seen with silver-braided hair, an eerie red gaze, red veins at her temples, and a faded tattoo on her forehead.

When she appears openly at Newhall, Theophanie has pale skin, high cheekbones, a full mouth, scarlet veins beside her eyes like a mask, and flowing purple robes. Her silver hair and faded forehead tattoo remain distinctive parts of her appearance.

At Draithus, her venin deterioration is more visible: her temple veins pulse, her grip is gnarled, her lips are chapped, and her silver braid and forehead tattoo are still visible.

Theophanie uses traps that exploit what Violet values. At Newhall, she draws Violet beyond the wards through Maren's family and a civilian village, and she deliberately leaves Violet and Garrick alive after making her offer and threat.

Theophanie taunts Violet through a note signed only with T. In Anca, she leaves it beside the Amelian Citrine, addresses Violet as Lightning Wielder, says she wants Violet to come of her own free will, and claims she could take her whenever she wishes.

Before the party arrives at Basgiath, Theophanie sends Violet another letter signed T. She says Violet's riot looked haggard over Pavis, claims Violet has gone to great effort despite Theophanie having what she wants most, and promises a future rendezvous, reinforcing Violet's fear that Theophanie can anticipate or track the group's movements.

Theophanie is openly manipulative with promises. At Draithus, she points out that she promised only that the city would stand, not that Mira would live, and says venin are careful with words even as they lie.

Theophanie singles out Violet as a target and potential pupil. She says she knows everything about Violet, calls her a leash, asks about the order in which Violet's dragons chose her, and offers to teach her instead of Berwyn.

Theophanie recognizes Andarna as an irid and calls her a prize Violet does not understand. Her first attack against Violet also functions as an attempt to expose or pursue Andarna, though she leaves when Andarna is out of reach.

Theophanie uses Mira as leverage against Violet, taking her during a patrol near Draithus and sending Garrick back injured with a demand. The ultimatum forces Violet to choose between a family rescue and the wider defense.

Theophanie wants Jack Barlowe delivered to her side of the conflict, identifying him as the brother Berwyn wanted. When Jack becomes a liability, she throws a dagger at him during her escape, prompting Xaden to infer that Jack knows secrets her side wants suppressed.

Theophanie denies answering to Berwyn and calls him a fool. She speaks instead of proving herself to an unidentified male superior and says Violet's real journey can begin because he is waiting.

Theophanie's past is bound to Dunne and Unnbriel. She reacts to temple language, says Violet was touched but not dedicated, and describes being unable to return because it would sever what kept her untouchable; Violet identifies her as a high priestess who turned her back on Dunne.

At Newhall, Theophanie demonstrates lightning without lifting her hands and escapes the battlefield when a gray wyvern plucks her from the ground and carries her away.

At Dunne's temple, Andarna's dragonfire does not touch or burn Theophanie. She then joins hands with two other red-robed venin and vanishes with them in a single step before the wards rise.

Violet realizes Theophanie is not truly a lightning wielder but a storm wielder. Her power controls the weather system that produces lightning, darkening the sky, raising heat and humidity, rotating clouds, intensifying wind, uprooting large trees, and pushing conditions toward a tornado.

Theophanie is physically dangerous at close range. She hears whispers from roughly twenty feet away, stops Violet's thrown dagger with a finger motion, moves with crushing strength, and can pin Violet while trying to force her to channel from the earth.

Theophanie can drain power through the ground in a lethal spread that grays grass, cracks and shrivels earth, and swallows rain. She explains that already-repurposed ground can block the method, which is why she tries to make Violet drain first.

Theophanie's storm wielding continues to threaten Draithus after she leaves direct melee range. From the northern field, she sends a precise tornado toward the city, and the storm's winds ground or endanger dragons across the battle.

During the aerial fight, Theophanie uses storm conditions with expert control, slowing the tornado as bait, using hail and wind during the chase, and clearing the eastern sky to make Violet's lightning harder to wield. She evades repeated strikes with extreme speed and uses or coordinates a weighted-net trap that brings down Tairn and apparently Sgaeyl.

An unnamed female venin first appears in the brig antechamber near Jack Barlowe's cell, where Violet sees her at the edge of the shadows before she disappears with a sudden breeze.

At Newhall, Theophanie reveals her name and uses the village as a trap for Violet beyond the wards. Wyvern wait in the smoke and storm while Theophanie positions herself at the drained center of the village.

At Dunne's temple, Theophanie threatens to kill everyone unless Violet comes with her. The confrontation exposes her link to Dunne's priesthood when the high priestess calls her a heretic and Violet recognizes the meaning of her faded forehead tattoo and silver hair.

Theophanie forces the crisis at Draithus by capturing Mira, injuring Garrick, and demanding that Bodhi and Violet be brought within five hours. Her forces concentrate on Draithus, and Violet's side understands that she is powerful enough to attack once she has what she wants.

Theophanie stages the Draithus hostage scene with Teine chained and Mira beaten at knifepoint. She opens the battle by cutting Mira's throat, then escapes by wyvern while Violet's side is forced to divide its effort between saving Mira, securing Jack, freeing Teine, and defending the city.

Violet kills Theophanie in the woods at the edge of the field with the marble temple dagger. The blade works because Theophanie is subject to Dunne's wrath as a fallen high priestess, and her body desiccates instantly.