Alianne of Pirate's Swoop
From the Tamora Pierce Wiki
| Alianne of Pirate's Swoop | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tortallan character | |
| Biographical information | |
| Nickname | Aly |
| Aliases | Aly Homewood |
| Born | 445 HE[1] |
| Died | |
| Race | |
| Nationality | Tortallan (former), Copper Islander |
| Title | |
| Physical description | |
| Gender | Female |
| Height | 5'6" |
| Weight | |
| Hair | Reddish blond |
| Eyes | Hazel with green |
| Gift | |
| Magic | Sight |
| Family information | |
| Ancestors | Rebakah Cooper, Lionel of Trebond |
| Grandparents | Alan of Trebond, Marinie of Tasride, Myles of Olau, Eleni Cooper |
| Parents | George Cooper, Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau |
| Siblings | Thom and Alan of Pirate's Swoop |
| Husband | Nawat Crow |
| Wife | |
| Lover | |
| Children | Ochobai, Ulasu and Junim Crow |
| Descendants | |
| Other | |
| Affiliation | |
| Rank | Slave (462 HE) Spymaster (since 463 HE) |
| Position | |
| Occupation | Spymaster of the Copper Isles |
| Affiliation | Copper Isles |
| Bibliographical information | |
| First mentioned | Wild Magic |
| First appeared | Trickster's Choice |
| Last appeared | ' |
| Latest appearance | Trickster's Queen |
Alianne Crow, born Alianne "Aly" of Pirate's Swoop, was the only daughter of Alanna the Lioness and George of Pirate's Swoop. She was the twin sister of Alan of Pirate's Swoop, and younger sister of Thom of Pirate's Swoop. In her youth she often quarrelled with her mother because Aly seemed Alanna too unambitious. One day she sailed alone and was caught by pirates, who sold her into slavery in the Copper Isles. There the god Kyprioth enlisted her help and Aly became the head of the spies in the plot to put Saraiyu Balitang on the throne of the Copper Isles. In that time she went under the name of Aly Homewood as to avoid people realizing who her parents were and trying to use her against Tortall. After Sarai eloped with Zaimid Hetnim Aly convinced the conspirators that Dovasary Balitang would be just as fit to be a queen as her older sister. After Dove became Queen of the Copper Isles Aly was made the spymistress of the isles. She eventually married Nawat Crow and had triplets with him.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Aly was born in 445 HE as the twin sister of Alan and younger sister of Thom of Pirate's Swoop. Her parents were Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau, the famed King's Champion of Tortall, and George of Pirate's Swoop, the assistant spymaster. Because Alanna was often called away to fight for the Crown Aly and her brothers didn't see that much of her. Instead they developed a close relationship to their nurse, Maude Tanner. Aly in particular also had an aptitude for her father's work and he taught her all he knew. When she was younger he made it a game and he even gave her a book titled A Workbook for a Young Spy, which he wrote himself, for her sixth birthday. Aly was also quite good at learning foreign languages and George sometimes even took her with him when he went to meet his contacts.
However, this changed when Aly was about twelve years old. She had accompanied her father to meet with a spy when they were attacked. Although Aly "handled herself very well, [...] all he [George] could think of was that he had put her in harm's way." After that George started to keep Aly in the background, although Aly herself wasn't happy with this[2].
[edit] Slave and servant with the Baltiangs
When Aly returned from a month-long visit with Corus relatives to her father in spring of 462 HE, she tried to convince him to make her a spy, but was denied—she had already attempted to convince him to let her work as a spy several times before—because it would be too dangerous, and neither of her parents were willing to risk her life. Aly passed time by helping George with paperwork until he was called away. Aly's mother returned soon after for a break from the Scanran War and decided to make Aly her new "project". Aly decided to set sail, to "give her parents some alone time" but in reality, did not want to be bothered by her mother. This plan was foiled when she was captured by pirates, however, and made a slave. Aly made herself appear undesirable, notably by breaking her nose in a scuffle for food with fellow slaves, so as not to be sold to somebody who would only want her to warm his bed. As such, nobody purchased her, and in an attempt to get rid of her, the pirates gave her as a gift to the Balitangs.
Aly began as a door maid, and plotted her escape, using materials she had gathered to create lock picks. Her plan changed after a visit late at night by Prince Bronau Jimajen, who informed her masters, Duke Mequen and Duchess Winnamine, that they had fallen out of favor with King Oron. They had to give him a large gift of gold and escape in exile to Lombyn Island, where they owned Tanair Castle. They informed their slaves and servants that they would not be able to take all of them, and the ones they didn't take would be sent to good homes. When Aly was being examined by a magical examiner, the god Kyprioth took over his body to speak with Aly. He made a wager with her: keep the children of the Balitang family alive through the end of the summer, and she would be sent home. He also agreed to talk to Aly's father about her becoming a field agent. If Aly lost, then she would have to serve him for an entire year. Kyprioth (the notorious raka trickster god) had stolen his brother's (Mithros) and sister's (the Great Mother Goddess) seemings and told Mequen and Winnamine that he had chosen Aly as his messenger, and that they would come to no harm if they listened to her advice.
Aly spent the summer getting to know the family, especially the two oldest girls, Sarai and Dove. Towards the end, Bronau arrived to kill Mequen to get closer to the throne. He succeeded, but was stopped by Sarai and killed by Dove. Bronau's brother, and regent to the present king, arrived to let the Balitangs know they were pardoned and were able to return to Rajmuat. Winnamine requested they were allowed to stay through the winter, and it was agreed that they would return in the spring.
By now, George had found Aly and wanted to take her home. She stayed with the family, however, since she had gotten attached to them.
[edit] Head of the raka conspiracy
In the winter Aly trains the raka in spywork. Upon their return to Rajmuat she and her fellow conspirators work hard to put a half-raka queen on the throne of the isles. For this she infiltrates Tobabaw's network of spys and finally even manages to get him killed by the regents. After Sarai elopes with Zaimid Hetnim Aly convinces Kyprioth and her fellow conspirators that Dove would be just as good as their queen as Sarai. The conspiracy eventually manages to overthrow the luarin regents and put Dove on the throne. Afterwards Dove makes Aly her spymistress. Aly and Nawat eventually marry and have triplets.
[edit] Physical appearance
Her hazel eyes are said to resemble George's, though with more green than his. Like Alanna, she has a small and delicate nose, with reddish blond hair.[3] During her time at Tanair Castle, her hair is short, described to fit her head like a helmet, and she grows leaner. After Trickster's Choice, she has a scar over her eyebrow and her nose shows signs of a break due to not being healed properly. Aly isn't tall with only five feet six inches of height[4].
[edit] Personality and traits
Aly takes after her father in his trickster-like ways. She is very clever and enjoys using her mind. George said in the beginning of Trickster's Choice that Aly "...had an aptitude for codes and translations since she was small, regarding them as games she wanted to win." Aly's father taught her codes, lockpicking, investigating, how to pickpockets, lipread, track and wield a knife among other skills necessary for a spy.
[edit] Relationships
[edit] Family
Lionel of Trebond │ ? │ Marinine of Tasride ┬ Alan of Trebond │ Cooper ┌——————————————————┴————————————————┐ │ │ │ George Cooper ┬ Alanna of Trebond Thom of Trebond │ ┌———————————————————┴——————————┬——————————————————————————————————————————┐ │ │ │ Thom of Pirate's Swoop Alianne of Pirate's Swoop ┬ Nawat Crow Alan of Pirate's Swoop │ ┌———————————————————┴┬———————————————————————┐ │ │ │ Ochobai Crow Ulasu Crow Junim Crow
George Cooper: George Cooper is her da, and taught her all the things she needed to learn as a spy.
Alanna of Trebond: Alanna of Trebond is her ma, and though Ali and Alanna have a rather rocky relationship, they grow closer together by the end of the Trickster's books.
[edit] Nawat Crow
Nawat is a crow who turned himself into a man to get to know Aly better.
When a crow, Nawat has a splash of white on his wing that was given to him by Ochobu Dodeka due to the fact that he dragged her clean sheets through mud.
[edit] Notes and references
- ↑ Tortallan timeline
- ↑ Readergirlz; "December: In the shadow of fame"; December 5, 2009
- ↑ Trickster's Choice, Cp. 1 (p. 4/5; Random House paperback)
- ↑ Trickster's Choice, Cp. 16 (p. 395; Random House paperback)
[edit] See also
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