Former Head of House Helgram
Current and Former Residences: The Summer Palace, Fortress Gantu, Gwynedd, Sawallways, Thelbane
Known Allies (past and present): Emperor Despil, Emperor Shaenan, Empress Sarah Chanicut, Katrina
History: After Patternfall, Dara returned to Chaos with the intention of setting Merlin on the throne of Chaos. To garner the support of the major Houses of Chaos, she made deals with the various Heads. Basically, she married off her sons to those houses, with the understanding that the firstborn child of any such union would be a part of that house. By giving the major houses access to the blood of Amber, she ensured their loyalty. Despil married Rowan of Jesby and their first child was Stead of Jesby. Jurt married a woman of House Chanicut, but died before they could produce an heir, so Stead married Elinore Chanicut and they had Nessarose Chanicut. (House Jesby had no objection to this, though Stead is technically 'theirs'.) Merlin desired to marry Gilva of House Hendrake, but Hendrake refused to support Merlin and wished to have nothing to do with Dara's deal. Merlin and Gilva ran off, and this dispute widened the gap between the Minobees and Hendrakes of House Hendrake, leading to the eventual split of the two families into two separate houses. Merlin's betrayal infuriated Dara, and so she consoled herself by attempting to place Despil on the throne.
With the support of Houses Sawall, Helgram, Chanicut, and Jesby, she succeeded.
She eventually captured Merlin and they fought. In that confrontation, Dara took Greyswandir from him and slew Gilva with it. She imprisoned Merlin, after she removed his tongue with Greyswandir. Merlin eventually escaped and obtained political asylum in Amber.
During the period following the Abyss War, Dara found herself trapped in Skeltland. Though the Shadows eventually linked somewhat, she was still barred from Sawallways and could not find her way inside (she still has no idea who or what prevented this, but correctly suspects Leviticus). She instead continued to live with Sarah Chanicut. When Shaenan returned, she was allowed access to Sawallways again.
Until recently, Dara Head of House Helgram, and resided alternately in Gwynedd and Gantu. She also spent a great deal of time in Sawallways with Shaenan, especially after he became Emperor, and in Skeltland with Sarah Chanicut. That all changed after an encounter with Merlin's old strangling cord, Frakir. Tainted by Abyss when the Logrus was corrupted, Frakir went quite mad and attempted to carry out revenge against Dara for what she had done to Merlin. When the dust settled, Dara's youngest son, Ryan, was dead, and Dara's tongue was gone. Unable to cast spells, she could not access her primary power source, and was rapidly overthrown. That she was not executed is largely due to the interference of Sarah Chanicut, now Empress of Chaos. Dara currently lives with Sarah in the Summer Palace in Gravenhage
Note: Dara is not an initiate of the Logrus. She never assayed it. For that matter, she did not allow her children to assay the Logrus, though Shaenan defied her and did so without her knowledge.
The Trump of Dara is the work of Philip Brenner, and is a combination of several images. The woman in the Trump is actress Anne Heche. If you have any questions about the image, feel free to contact Flip.
All text on this page is © 1997-2001 by Matthew Richardson and Kris Fazzari.
Last modified on July 6, 2001 by Kris Fazzari.