Princess Clarity

Biography
Background:

Throughout the series, Princess Clarity's claim to the crown and position of power seems tied to her blood line. However, it has never been revealed if this means Clarity was fully related to the previous old ruler. What is known, is that Clarity has no ties to the official King and Queen of Artésque (Sheyda & Aeróbeth), it is also implied that Clarity's position as Princess was more of a gesture of good faith rather than anything truly longer term, at least in reference to ruling. Despite these facts, Clarity became Princess of the Únoff during the Crystoreeñ collapse and has since remained in power for ten years before the story takes place.

Personality:

Clarity has never fully embraced her title of Princess; being of royal blood, Clarity never took too fondly of her spot on the side lines of Artésque's politics. A very traditional Únoff herself, Clarity often found herself at odds with King Sheyda's policies, though never actively sought to overthrown him (officially). Clarity herself carries the identify of an Únoff quite well; very educated, beautiful, and skilled in the arts of both seduction and shady practices, Clarity often influenced the land from the bedroom as eloquently as she did at the dealing table. While very impatient, Clarity never rushed into decisions based on her emotions, always finding a way to compromise, with Únoff goals at the center of her plan. Yet, despite Clarity's skills, the Princess of the Únoff holds two crippling weaknesses. The first weakness, a lifetime of complements and a lack of rejection, breeding a very vain sense of appearance and ability. Her second weakness, a rather ambitious nature that fuels Clarity's one goal, to become Queen of Artésque and lead the Únoff tribe into another Golden Age worthy of the old land.

Clarity In Detail
Clarity, in her original form only appears in book one. Within book one, Clarity is shown to be a very secretive and cunning individual, nearly starting a war between the Únoff and the Flóff with the devún on her side. However, with her plan disrupted and her own inability to accept defeat in pay, Clarity chooses to ally with Clamor. The corrupted Guardian transforms the once beautiful Princess into a horrifying sell of herself known as Queen Imago.

Queen Imago
From the end of book one to the end of book two, Princess Clarity is effectively, no more. The corrupted magic of Clamor, while boosting Clarity's own magical abilities ruined her outward appearance. Unable to deal with her mangled body, Clarity's mind snapped, thus breeding the idea of Queen Imago. During her time as Queen Imago, Clarity comes to control the Atémor, a small army of shape-shifting beings created by Clamor's influence. With Clamor gone at the end of book one, Queen Imago leads her wicked army to the remote Márjx Gréftor (Márjx) in the hopes of finding a way to restore her former self. However, upon reaching her destination and being rejected by the mages due to her corruption, she slaughters the guild and aims to use the lost magic of the old land to take over Artésque.

Though powerful, Imago is eventually defeated in her physical form, though through the use of the Márjx Gréftor's magic, Imago finds a way to extender her life beyond her own body. Effectively, becoming a hive mind of sorts for the Atémor, where she continues her plan to overtake the land of Artésque though assassinations and infiltration. Books three to ten.

Silence
Background:

While Clarity's fragmented and somewhat insane consciousnesses exists beyond her body within the minds of all Atémor, her psychical form does resurface within the physical plain. In the series, this new incarnation of Clarity however only retains Clarity's old body, not her personality nor her mind. Additionally, Silence, the self selected name of Clarity's new body, is also strikingly younger and much more cunning than her former self.

Personality:

The Atémor who took on Clarity's form retained their own set of beliefs and feelings. While their memory of their lives before becoming an Atémor seem lost, Silence does seem to be much kinder and more worried about the well-being of the reaming Atémor. Though, her actions in book nine and the continued influence of the hive mind (Imago) have brought about many instances of struggle for both Silence and the Atémor.

Relationships With Other Characters: (Clarity/Imago)
Svle Nyota & Clover: 

While Nyota is both Clarity's Archmage and personal teacher, their relationship is a strained friendship at best. While Clarity values Nyota's input, she typically ignores it as "simple ramblings of an old mage" whenever their ideas do not align. It is unknown the extent of Nyota's teachings, though it would be assumed that Clarity has an extensive knowledge of magic, as evident by her own skill and her age.

As Imago, Clarity views Nyota as an obstacle. Though she never directly confronts him, she does actively seek to defeat him and derail his current task. Much like Nyota, Clover too is viewed as an enemy. Though the exact nature of their relationship before remains unknown.

Sóltina & Wúna:

The devún and Princess Clarity have an interesting relationship. While Clarity was the first ruler to publicly invite the devún in, and the first crown holder to sanction the devún as authentic, much of Clarity's undoing was at the hands of Sóltina. As it was Sóltina who first questioned Clarity's connections with the spreading of the Atémor disease. Even still, for the better part of ten years both Clarity and the devún sisters worked closely to improve on the current political climate of the land after the fall of the Crystoreeñ. While part of Clarity's motivations were to build up trust with the devún in the event of a war starting, their close ties did lead to many of the open conversations that allowed for the current, albeit, reluctant peace. And, in most cases, Clarity's plan to both bring the devún to her side and bring about a stronger Únoff crown ended up being successful. Two notable areas of success came with Wúna's support of her plan and the Únoff crown owning the Fragment of the Stoná. Nevertheless, Clarity's attitude towards the devún changed with her own corruption and turning. As Queen Imago, the devún actively hunted her, as Clarity herself, actively sought to undermine their power through the use of the Atémor. Her actions as Imago carried over into that of Silence, as the devún still continue to hunt down and kill many of the Atémor still loyal to Clarity.

Clamor Vón Dorñ Morybe-Serbellá The Third:

While Clarity's interactions with many characters is quite limited, one character in particular has been directly linked to the downfall of Clarity, and the current state of Artésque. Clarity came into contact with Clamor during the days leading up to Crystoreeñ collapse, being the Guardian of the land, Clamor, at the time was well received and regarded as a hero worthy of praise. While the exact cause of King Sheyda's madness was never fully explained, there exists some who believed Clamor's influence was the cause. Clamor, the Guardian of the Márjx Gréftor was of course invited to meet with the rulers of Artésque, though Clamor himself never showed up for the gathering, expect to confront Clarity in secret. According to Clamor, it was he who influenced and guided Clarity to seek power, in return for his help, he desired a land free of prosecution for both him and his creations. Clamor, a being of unstable magic was extrinsic, and for most of their relationship, Clarity stood her ground against his influence, using his wisdom as suggestions rather than true guidance. Though, Clarity's decision to keep Clamor safe in exchange for his help was her undoing. With Sóltina foiling Clarity's plan for power and the increased suspicion of her own involvement in question, Clarity turned to Clamor in an attempt to make her powerful enough to stand up against Sóltina. Though, Clamor's magic increased Clarity's power, it nevertheless corrupted her mind (Imago).

Clarity's decision to keep Clamor safe, though her desire to avid dependence on his magic for so long says much about her character. Her own determination and her own skills, were to her, better suited for the task than that of the Guardian, Clamor. Her ability to manipulate Clamor into doing her bidding was also something impressive, as the series implies she held out on demanding power for ten years. Yet, she was still able to coordinate with Clamor in her plans, without total reliance.

Relationships (Silence)
While Clarity and Imago, for the most part, carried the same attitudes towards those around her, Silence does not. Sporting Clarity's body and her control over the Atémor allowed Silence to communicate with her former self (Imago), though did not afford the old Queen total control over her body or thoughts.

Clamor Vón Dorñ Morybe-Serbellá The Third:

While Clarity held no problems in working with Clamor, and Imago had no problem using the powers given to her for her own gain, Silence has been shown to actively regret her dealings with Clamor. While not actively pursing the eradication of Clamor, Silence nonetheless has made it her mission to force Clamor into upholding his promise to a land free of prosecution. In truth, Clarity promised Clamor that the Atémor would given their own land, yet, Silence believes with Imago gone it is Clamor's responsibility. As a result, Silence views Clamor as more of a trickster, and is more weary of his influence.

Queen Imago:

With Imago's passing, the self proclaimed Queen took on new life within the minds of all those affected by the Atémor sickness. This existence, as Silence describes it, is a constant whisper in the ear of all who hear her. This whisper, influences the Atémor, despite her death. While Silence took on the form of Clarity through the will of Imago, the failure to fully merge together caused a split. While Imago still can be heard, only Silence can hear her, finally freeing the Atémor from the beckoning call of the Queen, or Mother as they call her. Of course, as Silence slowly diverged from the Mother's word, Imago began reeking havoc on Silence's mind, in an attempt to win over her physically form. Silence eventually wins out on this, though not without an intense fight.

Damien: Major  Spoilers :

Damien's connection to Clamor made him a prime target for Silence's plan to reconnect with the Creator (Clamor) and demand him to uphold his end of the bargain. However, after several attempts to make contact with Clamor through Damien failed, Silence was left with a decision to make. Allow Damien to leave and report them or keep Damien as her captive. Unable to simply kill Damien out of fear of loosing the possibility to reconnect with Clamor, Silence reluctantly keeps Damien as her captive. Taking on the personas of two previously killed Lord of Trade, Silence and her Atémor made due with Damien amongst their ranks. However, as their captor-captive relationship began to change the two steadily began to move closer towards one another. While both have actively attempted to kill one another, ultimately it is Damien who save Silence in her battle against Imago. Both freeing her from Imago's grasp and providing the chance for a peaceful life for the Atémor.

Clarity's Plan for Power: Book one:
While a step by step plan has never been given within the series, the extract details of Clarity's plan are hinted at and talked about throughout. From what is known, here is Clarity's plan.

Step one: Gain support of the devún. (The long con):

Clarity bore witness to the power of the devún during the fall of the Crystoreeñ, from this she decided two things. First, that she needed such power on her side or at least not against her, and second, that any plans going forward would have to be methodically thought out. This step, as stated by Clarity was both the hardest and most grueling to achieve, as many times Clarity found herself having to compromise with the other Three, something she saw as beneath the Únoff crown. Two factors that kept Clarity from acting during the ten year span from the fall of the Crystoreeñ to the end of book one were: Clamor's guidance and fear of the devún. Clarity came into with Clamor, whom, as he has stated, helped guide her goal of seeking power in exchange for safe haven once victorious.

Step two: Distraction/Redirection:

After the first few years it became clear to Clarity that the full support of the eldest devún, Sóltina would never be fully achieved. Thus, Clarity and Clamor opted to distract the devún with various problems around the land, many of which involved the use of Clamor's magic and or creations of magic (Atémor as of the year before book one). While not much is known about Clamor's earlier tricks, through dialogue within book one it is implied that Clamor's meddling throughout the land took on more importance each time. Clamor himself, a rough entity from the corrupted land of Oválll struck fear into many, especially as his fall from the title of Guardian was revealed. While not totally successful, the creation of the Atémor sickness did keep Sóltina and Wúna preoccupied enough to allow Clarity to continue her secret meetings with Clamor.

Step three: Consolidating fronts:

With the devún preoccupied around the land, and the commitment to the long con in place, Clarity's next issues was that of allies and enemies. The close ties to Dwoff have allowed for many years of coinciding beliefs and desires, as well as economic dependence in the Dwoff case. As a result, Clarity made great strides in improving the relationship between the two tribes, while often pitting the Dwoff needs or concerns against the Flóff. As shown in book one, Clarity often manipulated the Dwoff holds through economics, local Lords of Trade, or population. The original agreements of peace called for all Three to meet, in some regard, with the acting individual at the meeting being able to make decisions or at least represent the interests of the tribe. Along with this, the peace agreement laid out what would be expected of each tribe, with magical limitations on the Únoff, and fair weather control by the Flóff, as well as guaranteed protection for Dwoff holds by the Flóff. Originally, this was to stop the close dependence the Dwoff and Únoff had developed. However, as evident within many hold, Clarity used her influence economically of the crown to ensure Dwoff settlements grew rapidly, yet still maintained an Únoff hierarchy. While the Dwoff were officially in control based on population, the local Únoff Lord(s) of trade would truly be guiding the hold. Through this, Clarity was able to achieve almost total Únoff dependence for the Dwoff, while still forcing the Flóff to fork over the bills on protection. Beyond this, due to the Flóff lack of history with diplomatic options, only the emperor could officially declare things, often leading to a slow process which typically resulted in poor public outlook for the Flóff, in terms of honoring the peace agreements.

Beyond the local level, Clarity also had begun seeking the support of external powers, having secret deals with the Drágeff. Along with this, Clarity was actively seeking the support of another tribe, one of which Clarity though she found in Matt (see Matthew Arnold).

Step four: Activation:

Clarity's ultimate goal, as shown in book one, was to start a war in which it appears that the Flóff have refused to uphold the peace treaty and forced defensive action. At its boiling point, Clarity almost succeeding in this, with gaining the support of Wúna and by successfully having the Flóff acting commander declare war (see Commander Hercinia). Though, before she could get off a preemptive defensive strike, Clarity's plan was thwarted by a corrupted Clamor and her own master, Nyota.

Step Five: Outcome:

If Clarity had won, and the devún had remained natural or supported her cause two things would have happened for sure. First, the subjugation of the Flóff, and the implantation of an almost unfettered Únoff plan for the future of Artésque. While not inherently bad, with the known Flóff honor lifestyle, additional wars within the future would have started. Of course, Clarity never would live to see this outcome, as her own inability to accept defeat at her lengthy ten year plan crumbling around her forced her into accepting Clamor's gift. Which both gave her an extend form of life, though at the cost of all she worked for.