Name: Lady Marrah Zelt (real name--Hope Ariana Zeal)
Age: 24
Occupation: Wanderer, Knightress (lady knight), Sorceress
Hair Color: Black with navy blue streaks
Eye Color: Navy Blue, so dark it looks black
Race: Half-Zealian, one-quarter human, one-quarter Esper (just call it Elvish; simpler that way.)
Description: Marrah is normally rather quiet and reserved (though when with people she feels she knows well she's often bright, talkative, and (overly) trusting), and though she has a sense of humor, it rarely shows. She respects honor and modesty, and is annoyed by people who boast. She enjoys competition, and a good fight--when there's a reason to have one. As a Knightress, she follows a strict code of honor...though she sees herself as having committed the ultimate dishonor, she continues to abide by this moral code. For whatever reason, she is extremely susceptible to depression, though it does not seem to be of a clinical nature.
History: Marrah is the future daughter of Magus (as she recently discovered). After losing her memory eight years ago, she wandered her way through Baron, Doma, and then Wendor. She settled in the Guild City, and also its descendants Final Fantasy Eternal, the Kingdom of Windor, Windor K.I.T., and the new Kingdom. After spending some time there and very nearly getting married to Trunks (she was ready to walk up to the church pulpit), she had a change of heart--the seeds of doubt Ranagan had sowed about her fiance, coupled with her prior experience with Shadow, came to a head and led her to decide to forego any serious relationships with men. Profoundly ashamed at backing out on Trunks so suddenly, she left the Kingdom to save both of them some pain.
Skills: Extensive knowledge of magic (Final Fantasy-style), extensive swordsmanship skills, some woodsmanship and martial art skills (Gui Long discipline), able to hear the Black Wind.
Special Items: Golden Sword-- A mysterious, beautiful golden rapier, said to be magical. The sword was given to her by the Great Sorceress Blank long ago.
Sapphire Staff-- A large staff, looking to be made out of solid sapphire, it can open Time Gates and augment Marrah's spells, among other things. The Staff was given to Marrah by her father when she was a child.
Journal-- Marrah has had and kept her journal since she was about 13, when she was living with the Dwarves, and she has written in it almost every day. It is a pretty accurate timeline of the Guild City Wendor and its successors up to the time when she left.
Likes: Solitude, writing in her journal, Blank, the old leaders of Wendor (Guildmaster Golbez, Commander Silverlining and Captain Deric), the old leaders of Windor (Westwinds and Silverlining), the new leaders of Windor (Razynne and Magi), Trunks of Windor (she's uncertain on this), cats, the outdoors, iced tea
Dislikes: Crowded or overly noisy places, Kyme, Arian Skysword (don't ask), those who do not keep their word, those who treat her as unimportant or stupid, chocobo steaks
Quotes/Sayings:
"May all your adventures end in triumph."
"...Better to be annoying and alive than peaceful and dead."
"The Black Wind howls..."
(to Shadow) "If you intend to simply take what comes, I suggest you stop trying to force it."
(to Shadow) "Honor is trust..."
Favorite Quote of Someone Else's:
"I get weirder everytime I see me... and I look at the mirror every morning." ~Ranagan LaBardine

Current Events (as of 8/11/99):
(And here I was so sure I was going to retire her...)

One of the principal rules of honor in the Doman Code, which Marrah follows, is this: Never run away from your fears and doubts. Disobeying that rule in so many ways, Marrah feels she has committed ultimate dishonor. Stripping herself of the title she is no longer worthy to hold, she has journeyed to the vicinity of the Green Dragon Inn, and now lives there, hoping that someday she will be able to forget. She would very likely kill herself at this point, if the Doman Code did not dictate that to escape from one's dishonor into death would be high cowardice. Hope has descended into a deep depression, rivaling that of the days between the old Kingdom of Windor and the new. The journal entries are about to get morbid again.

Past Events:
On July 24 Marrah and Trunks were married, or would have been, if the Lady had not had last-minute doubts and left the country while her beloved waited for her at the altar....

***********

On July 14th, Marrah gave Trunks three Elfstones as a token of her love, explaining that they had the power to find what was hidden and to protect that which the bearer held dear. She then followed him to Meridian Castle in the Kingdom of Avatar, to meet his vampiric sire. But before she (the sire) arrived, Marrah had to leave.

***********

What a night... On July 8, Trunks beseeched Marrah to let him turn her into a Clan Marek vampire like himself, so they could be together forever. Marrah accepted. Yep, she is, as Ranagan LaBardine so eloquently put it, going to be a "blood junkie". But she's also having second thoughts, as her talk with Ranagan has turned up some new suspicions about her beloved... Ranagan, a very wise person himself, has advised her to at least wait a while before the transformation. What will Marrah do?

As it turns out, what Marrah did was to ask Trunks to put off the transformation until after the wedding. He accepted. Marrah's doubts are growing by the minute...

***********

Not much happened tonight (7/7/99), except that Marrah got some wedding gifts (a water elemental dove from Kitra, and a piece of chewing gum (^_^) from Squall Leonhart), and Trunks decided to take the name of Zelt since he has no last name of his own.

***********

Well...the night of June 26, 1999 has been very special for Marrah. Her boyfriend Trunks proposed to her, and she accepted! =0) Now they just have to plan the wedding... ^_^ Magus also revealed to his daughter tonight that he's planning on proposing to Terra Branford. He inquired if this woman was Marrah's future mother, and the Lady admitted it was so. Hopefully she didn't screw up the time stream... :P

***********

It's been an eventful few months for Marrah. Shortly after regaining her memory (in January '99 RL) she was accidentally pulled into the Void between dimensions while casting a spell with that darn annoying Sapphire Staff. :P She spent a month waiting for another opening to appear, and when she finally got out found herself in the Dwarf Kingdom of the Blue Planet (from FFII/IVj). She got caught up in a war going on down there, and in April sent the following message to her boyfriend Trunks:

"Dearest Trunks,

Greetings. It is my greatest hope and fondest wish at the moment that this message should get to you. I miss you, my father, and Windor a great deal, but I can't come home yet...I'm not sure when I'll be able to, if at all. I suppose you're wondering what exactly is going on, correct? Well, let me tell you.

One night months ago, in late January, I was casting wards around my home using the Sapphire Staff, when a huge burst of magic suddenly exploded from it. This resulted in a time/space rip, which flung me into the Void between dimensions. I was stuck there for about a month until I found a way out; that way led to the Kingdom Baron on the Blue Planet. I could not get the Staff's Gate-making abilities to work, so, while I tried to figure out a way back home, I went to visit some old friends of mine: The Dwarves.

To my dismay, when I came to the Dwarf Kingdom in the Underground, the Dwarves were engaged in large-scale warfare with a huge army of...things. Skeletal creatures commanded by a mysterious sorcerer called Rex Askath. The Dwarves were quite outmatched; I was, of course, honor-bound to stay and help them fight. In the ensuing series of battles, with my help and some clever strategies, we managed to force the army into retreat. I hope that does not sound conceited...

But in any case, in the last of those battles, just a week ago, I was badly wounded. Even as I write this I am bed-ridden. The worst among many smaller injuries is my left leg; it hurts like Ifrit's fire, and though the Dwarven healers refuse to tell me what exactly is wrong with it, I suspect it has practically been severed. They are certainly giving me enough "medicine" for it; I am lightheaded and sleepy all the time as a result of their evil brews. I quite believe I've developed an eternal loathing for Dwarvish clerical practices.

And that is about all I have to say on the situation. Rex Askath's hordes have retreated, but they could return; my health seems stable enough at the moment, but I hold that somewhat in doubt. If I do not see you again, my love, know that our hearts are joined forever. Please send my love to Magus as well, and my regards to all our mutual friends.

Remember, love...after every bleak Winter, there is a new Spring..."

Marrah did return to Windor in early May, but with a debilitating injury to her leg that left her barely able to walk, let alone fight. Trunks moved in with her to help her around the house.

Then, a few weeks later, Zanial provided the Lady with one of the most precious gifts she'd ever recieved: that of healing. Using a special power of his, he returned her leg to normal. Shortly afterwards she recieved another special gift, this one from Trunks--a diamond ring. He had no proposal to go along with it, but she wishes he had gone ahead and popped the question... Marrah is sure at this point that Trunks is the man she wants to spend her life with.

**************

Marrah helped Magus save his sister Schala, and in return he provided her with a device called the Memory Lapsis to cure her amnesia. And, well...it worked. =0) Marrah knows her real name (Hope) and has all of her old memories. And it has made her quite happy. ^-^

**************

Poor Marrah is no longer sure what to make of her old comrade, Shadow. The kind, honorable, somewhat quiet paladin she used to know has been replaced by an uncaring mercenary. On January 12 (1999 RL), she confronted him about this change. He claimed it was all an act, to get on the good side of an evil man in order that lives might be saved...then, after more conversation, he asked for a kiss. She nearly accepted but had to leave for other reasons. Then, on January 14, he resurfaced, acting as if the other night's events had never happened. Marrah decided it was no longer worth waiting to see what might happen between him and her, bitterly dismissing what she'd thought might be love for him as a childish crush on someone who'd once felt like helping her. That night, she accepted into her life the one and only man who'd ever shown her true love and affection...Trunks.