Inza is apparently so cursed that her true form is that of a shadow:
nza's beauty hides a heart of darkness, however. Although she prefers to maintain her human form whenever possible, her true form is a seething, formless wave of semi-liquid shadow. All that remains of Inza are her bright green eyes, glinting out from the darkness. lnza must focus to retain her humanity. She visibly darkens when angered, and her blood is inky black.
-- Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume IV, p156
History
Early Life
Magda gave birth to Inza in Gundarak in 736 BC on the night of Duke Gundar's assassination. The storm that hit that night caused Gundarak to tremble, almost as if to lash out for Gundar's death[7][8], and touched new-born Inza's soul.[7] In 738 BC[9] the Wanderers had unwittingly stumbled into Sithicus. Lord Soth trapped them in that domain[10], though Magda arranged a deal for his protection in return for the tribe swearing an oath never to tell the tale of his origins again.[11]
Inza's dark mindset manifested early on, perhaps even from birth. In childhood, her rampant stealing and standoffish ways made life difficult for Magda's patchwork tribe, the Wanderers. Yet her behavior went uncorrected. Gundar's thugs had killedInza's father before Magda gave birth, and Magda doted on her daughter, mostly blind to her sinister nature.[8]
In her younger years, Inza enlisted Piotr, only a year older than she, in her larceny and manipulation of giorgios. They both mocked another Vistani child, Nikolas, for his kindness towards the giorgios. Despite their shared activities, Inza's heart held a vile cruelty that Piotr's lacked.[12] Inza had an innate hatred that originated from fear, as beasts seemed to her quite capable of seeing through her veneer of innocence.[13] Inza acted out her hatred through the torture and killing of animals, even her family's own pets, always on the sly, without Piotr's knowledge. Although Inza was the corrupting influence on Piotr, Magda perceived their friendship to be the exact opposite.[12] Regardless, their friendship ended in 746 BC when she not only allowed a riled-up mob at the Veidrava Salt Mines to brutally beat Nikolas, but pinned the blame for her failure to save Nikolas on Piotr.[14]
As Inza grew, she achieved proficiency as both a rogue and a wizard. She obtained training for the former through manipulation and temptation of her fellow Vistani. How she came upon knowledge for the latter is unknown. By the age of 16, Inza's depredations had alienated all of the other Wanderers from her, save for her mother.[8]
In 752 BC, Inza hatched a conspiracy with Azrael Dak, and through him with Malocchio Aderre, the Vistani people's worst enemy. Their conspiracy would mean the death of both Lord Soth and Magda Kulchevich. Inza would replace her mother as raunie of her clan, Azrael would usurp control of Sithicus from Soth, and Malocchio would gain an ally sympathetic to his plans of genocide for the Vistani.[15]
Allying with a fellow Wanderer named Bratu under the auspices of profiting off of gorgios, Inza broke the oath that the tribe - through Magda - had made with Soth. She attempted to leak Soth's past to the Invidianspy named Gesmas Malaturno, although the latter was captured before he could give the information to Malocchio. Like earlier with Piotr, Inza manipulated events so that only Bratu received the blame. Magda marked him as an Oath Breaker. As an outed liar, Bratu began to fall victim to the maddening utterances of the Whispering Beast.[16] Although he was slowly driven mad, Inza nonetheless later sliced his tongue in two. However, Magda uncovered her transgression and got a glimpse of the darkness within Inza, perhaps for the first time.[17]
With the help of Azrael, Inza orchestrated the ambush of her tribe by salt shadows[15], with the specific intent of destroying Magda.[16] As part of the preparation, Using Norvgor, Inza sabotagedGard, the powerful magical cudgel carried in the ancient past by Kulchek the Wanderer and then present by Magda Kulchevich. In the ensuing conflict, several of the other Wanderers lost their lives[15]
Before Magda could render a punishment upon Inza for her actions against Bratu, Azrael's salt shadow made their move, throwing the Wanderers in disarray. Unaware of its previous sabotage, Magda attacked the shadows with Gard. However, it shattered during combat, thus ensuring that Magda became mortally wounded. Sabak was possessed by a shadow, but Inza put him down using Norvgor. Before Magda perished, she called upon Soth and exchanged an oath of protection for her daughter for the removal of Madame Girani's curse upon the death knight. With Magda's death, Inza claimed not only Soth's protection but also leadership of the tribe. However, Inza experienced one setback: Bratu had fled during the skirmish, hearing the clarion call of the Whispering Beast.[18]
Now in charge of the Wanderers, Inza commanded the pursuit of Bratu. On his trail, the Wanderers came upon and capturedGanelon. With the aid of Alexi, Inza interrogated Ganelon about what he knew about Bratu and the way to the Lair of the Whispering Beast. Although Inza resorted to deception and torture, Ganelon remained steadfast in an oath he made to the Bloody Cobbler to not reveal the lair's location. The Whispering Beast eventually liberated Ganelon from Inza's clutches. Before he could escape, Inza levied a powerful curse on Ganelon, to kill everything he loved by his own hand.[19]
Turning her attentions to larger issues, Inza bribed a contingent of the ogres working for Malocchio into attacking the Wanderers.[1] In the ensuing massacre, all the Wanderers but Inza and three others (Alexi, Piotr, and Nikolas) perished before Soth stepped in and killed the ogres. After the battle ended, Inza manipulated Soth into bringing her to Nedragaard Keep, where she would gain shelter[20] (as was her purpose for instigating the massacre[1]). The other Wanderers were left behind to make the trek on their own, albeit with an undead guard animated by Soth.[21]
The Night of Screaming Shadows
After Soth and Inza returned to the keep, Inza redirected his attention to Azrael Dak's rituals at the Lake of Sounds in the Veidrava Salt Mines..[22] Safely ensconced in Nedragaard Keep, Inza erected a ward around the fortress that protected her from the magic Azrael used to steal the shadow of every other being in Sithicus. In addition, Inza's magic hedged out Soth's banshees and skeletal warriors[23] as she opened the gates of the keep to the Invidian invaders.
Meanwhile at the Black Chapel, Inza revealed her duplicity to Azrael. She was the voice of darkness that had manipulated Azrael into service. His reward was to be death, as she would be the one to usurp Soth's power. [24]
Despite Inza's apparent success, a complex chain of events led to her downfall. Soth became alerted to Inza's betrayal. Consumed by rage, he returned to his keep and laid assault on the wards. Soth's rage enabled him to crush the wards of the keep, allowing his skeleton warriors and banshees to enter and massacre the Invidian invaders..[25] Ganelon poisoned Azrael Dak, disrupting his fell ritual. The now freed shadows proceeded to coalesce and descend upon Nordregaard Keep. The ball of shadows detonated on impact, the shadows ripping the keep apart before returning to their owners.[26]
Although Inza escaped the destruction physically unscathed, she was accosted by Nabon and the surviving Wanderers. To escape punishment, she leaped into the Great Chasm. Much to her surprise and chagrin, the darkness within the Chasm surrounded and embraced Inza[27], marking her as the new lord of Sithicus.[1]
Current Sketch
Inza exists as as a force of corruption within Sithicus, gleefully tempting the people to the path of evil. She dwells within the Great Chasm and other dark and lonely places within the realm. Inza uses her crystal ball to communicate, observe, and manipulate those near and far. Inza usually enforces her will indirectly, though minions or pawns.[1]
Inza has lived a live of betrayal, corruption, and treachery based on the presumption that everyone else held the same Evil and darkness in their hearts as she did. However, in the face of undeniably benevolent individuals, Inza's beliefs have been shaken to their very core.[28]
To ease the suffering of the above revelation, Inza seeks to stomp out or subvert all forces of so-called Good in her domain.[1][28] However, heros such as Ganelon and the Wanderers thwart and pursue her throughout the domain. They remain thorns in her side on a practical and a philosophical level. Heroes exist in painful defiance of her denial that benevolence and altruism.[1]
