Imajane Rittevon

Imajane Rittevon †
Titles
Primary Title	Princess, Her Royal Highness
Positions
Primary Position	Princess regent, then Queen, of the Copper Isles
Biographical Information
Died	463 HE (suicide)
Race	luarin
Nationality	Copper Islander
Physical Description
Gender	Female
Height	Tall, stately
Hair	Blonde
Eyes	Icy blue
Family Information
Ancestors	Rittevon of Lenman, the Rittevon family
Parents	Oron Rittevon † (deceased), Unnamed mother † (deceased)
Siblings	Hanoren Rittevon † (deceased), Valmar Rittevon † (deceased), Deniau † (deceased), King Hazarin † (deceased), Dunevon Rittevon † (deceased), three other sisters (all deceased)
Husband	Rubinyan Jimajen † (deceased)
Children	None
Descendants	None
Other Family	Bronau Jimajen † (brother-in-law, deceased), the Balitang family (2nd cousins)
Affilliation
Rank	Royal
Affiliation	The luarin royalty
Bibliographical Information
Universe	Tortallan Universe character

Imajane Rittevon Jimajen was a luarin princess of the Copper Isles. She was the daughter of King Oron Rittevon and the half-sister of two other Rittevon kings, King Hazarin and King Dunevon. She briefly became the co-ruler of the Copper Isles with her husband, Rubinyan Jimajen, upon the death of King Dunevon and his heir presumptive, Elsren Balitang.

Biography

Early life

Princess Imajane had three other sisters who did not survive to adulthood as she did. She was raised in luxury, but also to hate her other siblings. Her father encouraged sibling rivalry, as he was sure that if his children liked each other, they would band together and have him dethroned. She was not raised in a happy manner. She detested her half-brother Hazarin and the feeling was mutual, but it was unknown if she felt anything for her other siblings besides indifference. At some point she married into the Jimajen family, a house as old, powerful, and corrupt, as the Rittevons. It is unknown when she married Prince Rubinyan.

Rise to Princess Regent

The luarin had strict inheritance laws, and they operated based on male-preference primogeniture, which meant that Imajane would only inherit the throne after all male-line relatives of the Rittevon family had died. She was bitter about this, and Alianne of Pirate's Swoop could see it when Kyprioth took her on spirit visits to the Grey Palace. When King Oron died and named his next eldest son, Hazarin, his heir, Hazarin knew he would live in fear of Imajane. He knew he signed his death warrant when he named his younger half-brother, Prince Dunevon, as his heir, with Imajane and Rubinyan as his regents if he succeeded before coming of age. Imajane had no hand in her half-brother's death, since he died naturally, of an apoplexy. Hazarin was still happy because he knew that folk would suspect his sister anyway, due to their known dislike of one another. Thus, Imajane became princess regent upon her half-brother's coronation in 462 HE.

When her brother-in-law, Bronau Jimajen, tried to kidnap King Dunevon in a try for power, Imajane and Rubinyan tried to find him. Knowing that he would probably go to the protection of the Balitang family, they did not invite them back from exile, as they were hoping Bronau would come out of the woodwork. In a fateful fight, both Mequen Balitang, the man who would be King Dunevon's heir, died by Bronau's sword, and Prince Bronau died after being shot by Dovasary Balitang with a griffin fletched arrow. After this, Imajane and Rubinyan invited the Balitangs back to the court in Rajmuat and ended their exile.

The Return of the Balitangs

The Balitang family returned in the spring of 463 HE. Already, there was unrest. The prince and princess regent had started to make Examples of people, two of whom were part of the Ibadun family, a powerful luarin clan. Princess Imajane had declared mourning to be an insult to the Black God and had ordered that wearing full mourning was unlawful. Dove assumed that she only did it because Imajane looks terrible in black and also didn't want to mourn for King Hazarin. Imajane also ordered that the Balitangs present themselves to the King and the regents the day after they arrived, in order to make them look silly before the court and humiliate their fashions. Nuritin Balitang, the female head of the Balitang family, saw through this, and had new gowns made for the returning Balitang ladies.

Imajane, knowing of the power that the Balitang family held now that they were so close to the throne, tried to make it so Saraiyu Balitang and Elsren Balitang would stay at the royal court, Sarai as lady in waiting, and Elsren as a friend of King Dunevon. Duchess Winnamine, still grieving over the death of her husband, Mequen, declined the offer, upsetting the princess regent. Even so, Winnamine had the backing of some of the most powerful luarin families and people in the realm, including Duke Nomru, Countess Tomang and Ferdy Tomang and others. Princess Imajane was forced to let it go or risk offending some very wealthy and powerful people. She did decree that Elsren would still be a part of Dunevon's inner circle and ride each day with a guard to the Grey Palace. Aly, now a full-fledged spymaster, was happy about this as it would allow for the exchanging of intelligence from other rebels at the palace.

Times of Trouble for the Rittevons

Imajane and Rubinyan had a tough time during their Dunevon's rule, as a boy-king made their claim unsteady. It was made worse because of the many raka uprisings that occurred because of the unknown rebellion. The Rittevon's spymaster, Topabaw started to descend from the favor of the prince and princess regent due to the many rumors that Alianne of Pirate's Swoop and her pack were spreading about him and the regents. Because she and her husband wished to have full power, they orchestrated the death of King Dunevon on his birthday, along with Elsren Balitang, the king's heir presumptive. Imajane was indifferent to her brother, and her indifference could be seen in her and her husband's facial expressions after Taybur Sibigat brought Elsren's body from the wrecked ship. Imajane made an enemy in Taybur that day, because he realized that Dunevon's death was rigged. Because Taybur cared for the boy king, he turned coat and joined Aly's cause, which was the raka rebellion. Imajane and Rubinyan probably meant for Taybur to die with Dunevon and Elsren, knowing that he would make a powerful enemy if he survived. Imajane got the idea to commit fratricide from the god Kyprioth, who whispered it in her ear while she was asleep. This was to get rid of both heirs to the throne and make the raka closer to a successful rebellion.

Imajane and Rubinyan became co-rulers after the deaths of King Dunevon and Elsren. Their hold was even shakier as rulers, however. Imajane committed several faux pas as rule, including throwing one of the most powerful and wealthy luarin, Duke Nomru into Kanodang, the prison. This alienated a lot of Imajane and Rubinyan's luarin supporters, who realized that if the princess would be so mad as to arrest one of the most powerful men in the country, anyone could be arrested and no one was safe. Due to little snippets picked up by means of Aly, Imajane and Rubinyan lost faith in their spymaster, Lohearn Mantawu, also known as Topabaw, and had him executed and made an Example. Imajane was also under the impression that Rubinyan took a lover, also because of Aly and her setup in order to separate the regents and create enmity between them.

During the raka attack on the palace, Imajane ended her life by jumping from her balcony, in order to escape trial and execution as a Rittevon ruler. Her husband also died in the fighting.

Physical description

Princess Imajane is described to have a formidable and stately appearance. She was tall, with white blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She also wore a lot of very expensive fabrics and jewels in order to show of her wealth. Rings were on every finger, and she wore only the most expensive clothing.

When Aly first laid eyes on the princess in person, rather than in a dream setting, Aly noted that Imajane did not wear even the modest gold circlet that she was allowed as a princess, but that she did hold herself as if she was crowned Queen.

Personality and traits

She was very ambitious, which went against the Rittevon laws of inheritance for females. She was unkind to the raka and a cruel mistress. She was portrayed to be slightly insane for placing one of the most powerful and important men of the Isles, Duke Nomru, into Kanodang.

She was a very proud woman, and not afraid to use underhanded tactics to get what she desired. She had her younger brother Dunevon assassinated simply because she wanted to wrest power away from him. She believed the gods were involved with her accession, or chose to believe so, because of the story she twisted with the Great Mother Goddess and Mithros.

Appearances

She appears in both Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen. In the former she was sighted by ghost-Aly and Kyprioth.