Nightshade

Beautiful and lethal as the belladonna flower, these mistresses of the Thenian courts serve as ladies-in-waiting to the Matriarchs, though their role reaches far beyond mere ceremonial presence. When not directly attending their liege or representing her in diplomatic missions, they hone their skills in the shadows—practicing the arts of courtcraft, subterfuge, and precise violence.

Trained in a wide array of delicate disciplines, the Court Belladonnas specialize in assassination, guerrilla warfare, poisoncraft, and the subtler arts of persuasion and diversion. They are keepers of the Matriarch’s will, securing her supremacy through quiet elimination of threats, manipulation of rivals, and the strategic application of fear.

While their elegance is admired in public, it is their unseen hand that maintains the delicate balance of power within the Thenian Hollows—and beyond. It is whispered that most Matriarchs once came from this elite order, elevated from among the finest to sit upon the stone thrones of power.

“They say their daggers’re so fine, y’don’t even feel the stabbin’... Shame no one’s lived long enough to prove it.”
—ramblings of a drunken man