Skip to content

Isabeau Soma

"I am not avenging my father. I am avenging my uncle. My father gets the next one."
— Isabeau, to a confessional Open Hand tarot-mage who promised her silence

Daughter of the assassinated Anon Soma, niece of Vanho and the late Aghovar. Senior in the Guild of Blades; diplomatic security at the Alahan embassy of Whitehaven; the active arm of the Soma vendetta against Sophet Drahas and the Guild of Usurers. Where her uncle Vanho carries the wound publicly and patiently, Isabeau carries it operationally. She is the one in the field.

What She Looks Like

A human in her early thirties, Soma-dark, athletic in the lean way of someone who fights for a living. Wears Blade colors in working contexts and Soma colors in court ones. Carries her weapons openly — a longsword and a parrying blade, both of Drakaër craft, both with Soma sigils etched at the guard. Speaks plainly and short.

What She Does

  • Diplomatic security at Whitehaven — coordinates with [[Brehnan of Alahan|Ambassador Brehnan]] on physical security of the Alahan embassy compound; the role gives her legitimate access to information flows across the upper city's diplomatic channels. It is also a perfect listening post for hunting Drahas's agents (who target embassies as easily as anywhere else).
  • Runs Soma vendetta operations — a small network of Blade operatives and ex-leaguers, funded quietly by Vanho. They map Drahas's movements, intercept Court of Shadows couriers, and have killed at least three Drahas lieutenants in the past two years.
  • Co-owns the Last Dance cabaret — technically (the Last Dance is in Heaven Heights, a Soma asset, and the property is in her name); operationally a meeting place where Soma operatives debrief without surfacing in any guild record

What She Is

  • Cold under pressure. The Blades vouch for this; Brehnan vouches for this; she vouches for it herself with a half-smile. Vanho's pride is a weapon she does not share. Isabeau is a planner.
  • The household's unofficial heir-presumptive. Vanho has no children. If he dies, the Peer-line passes to Isabeau or to a cousin selected by family vote. Most of the family would vote Isabeau. Drahas knows this.
  • In love with [[Sayuri Soma]]? The half-elf cousin who runs Cameon Mansion. Their relationship is widely guessed at and never confirmed in public. Both of them know exactly how it would be used as leverage if confirmed.

What She Knows

  • The Devil card is in Drahas's vault. (Vanho's magicians established this; Isabeau has the brief.)
  • The Talisman of Shadows stabilizes something about Drahas — Aghovar's notes hinted, the brief expands. Isabeau is the only living person outside Drahas's circle who suspects the curse-binding angle.
  • Someone in the Guild of Goldsmiths is asking the right questions. Ôdril's "what do the Usurers hold over Var-Nokkt" question reaches Isabeau within hours of being asked. She has decided to protect Ôdril if she can.

Relations

  • Vanho Soma — uncle, Peer, funder. The two are close but Isabeau hides operations from him that would force his hand.
  • [[Sayuri Soma]] — cousin, possible lover; Cameon Mansion
  • Sophet Drahas — the target
  • Guild of Usurers — adjacent target
  • [[Brehnan of Alahan]] — embassy diplomatic-security boss; treats Isabeau as the most competent Cadwë in his ambit
  • Master Ôdril Haarken — quietly protected
  • The Guild of Blades — her guild; not all of whom share her enthusiasm for the Soma vendetta

The third meeting

Isabeau has been to the Court of Ashes once. She did not kill Drahas. She and Drahas spoke for nineteen minutes, alone. What was said is not known to anyone else, including Vanho. She came back with one piece of intelligence — that the Talisman of Shadows stabilizes Drahas's binding — and one decision: not to tell Vanho about the meeting. She intends to go again. She intends to bring a free league with her next time.

The recruitment

Isabeau approaches the party at the Last Dance. The offer is open and the brief is specific: she needs a free league with no Soma loyalties to do a job she cannot do through her own network. The job is to deliver a message to Sophet Drahas — at the Court of Ashes, in person — and bring back his answer. The message is sealed. What it says, even Vanho does not know.

The protection contract

A senior Goldsmith — Master Ôdril Haarken — has gone missing. Isabeau is paying very well, very quietly, for him to be found alive. The party may not realize Isabeau is the principal. The contract is laundered through Whitehaven embassy channels.

See Also