Isidonia had many suitors, as any respectable duke's daughter would; only one was genuinely kind and stunningly attractive. His duchy was held by an infernal pretender, but he could maintain an appropriate lifestyle. Nerosyan was not as much a pit of vipers as Taldor, but court life was sharp enough to keep her engaged while her husband played general with his fanatically loyal soldiers. More of his companions were female than she liked, but he was too much of a loyal hound to stray once they were married.

She poured her energy into their children, as soon as they appeared. Not all inherited the bloodline--their eldest daughter hasn't shown any magical power, but both their eldest son and next daughter have. She was in the middle of evaluating Mendevian bachelors when they got the news from Cheliax.

Apparently she would be a real duchess, after all. And she had trained for this in Taldor, whereas her husband had not. Let him make friends and slay monsters; she would make schemes and slay vipers.

Melina grew up in a small Mendevian village, and her father trained her to follow in his footsteps, and was the village's most able huntress when the Foxes of Fraga rode through on a contract to clear out the local wyverns. They needed a guide, and she was happy to help them, and then was not too difficult to convince to follow them.

She has served Felip for thirteen years, felling her share of demons, and rapidly rose through the ranks, soon serving as his most trusted lieutenant. She followed him to Cheliax because of a deep and abiding loyalty, as little as she likes the country compared to her home. Fraga is mostly farmland, without the forests and demons she is most expert in, but cities have their fair share of dangers, and she is here with him in Westcrown.

Lady Maria is, roughly speaking, Isidonia's third cousin, in that Taldan way where you can trace their relatedness four or five different ways and end up with roughly the same result. Too poor and distant to a real title to marry when young, and now too old, she has been Isidonia's companion since she left Taldor, following her to Nerosyan, then Fraga, and now Westcrown. A minor member of the household, she can go where the duchess cannot, see what others might miss, and do what others might hope would be done, but not want to have ordered themselves.