Zuwena ag Sulyné
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Zuwena Maridhia ag Sulyné (22 Suns Smile, 1728 - c. 1750s) was a princess of The Medri Negasi of Seyam, and a noblewoman by marriage to Mordecai Hinseli. Throughout her life, Zuwena was noted as a prominent figure within the struggling kingdom of Seyam. Her cousin was the Suldaan, and thus she spent most of her time with him. Most of Zuwena’s life has been lost to history; as there were little to no records of her birth or her death. To further complicate matters, the Kingdom fell some time after her death in the 1750s, and many documents kept by Erasto I were lost in the following decades.
Biography
Early Life
Scholars of the Southeron people, as well as surviving Seyami, believed Zuwena was born on the 22nd of the Sun's smile, 1728, to Kiros ag Sulyné and an unnamed concubine. Thus, Zuwena never knew her mother and was primarily raised by other women in her household. She was raised as a devout Jyoist, and spoke Ghanwua for most of her childhood. Around 1738, Zuwena had traveled to the capital of Seyam, Thyra. Zuwena was made Grand Lady upon her arrival (which was more of an honorific than anything), and served as a diplomat to various small kingdoms in the south of Arcas. In addition she helped write down the Ghanwuan language, as it had no true writing system. Around 1754, she entered into an arranged marriage with Mordecai Hinseli, a nobleman descended from the Rutledge family.
Marriage
Documents surrounding the two’s marriage are murky. Multiple documents refer to Mordecai as Mardochi (which would’ve been his Ghanwuan name), whilst other documents refer to him as Mordecai.
The wedding was a closed ceremony, with only the two families attending. It was quick, happening in less than an hour, and as a symbol of their marriage, Mordecai had given her a bokolo feather. Zuwena, in a letter to an Orenian friend, recalled the marriage being very boring. Mordecai and Zuwena had never truly interacted and, according to Zuwena, the pair were very shy around each other. Nevertheless, the two consummated their marriage, and Zuwena was even pregnant with a daughter. The marriage, however, was short lived, as Zuwena died in childbirth.
Death
Zuwena died shortly after their marriage, likely around 1754 or 1755. The couple’s daughter, who went unnamed, died a few short hours after her mother. As tradition, the bokolo feather was returned to Mordecai. There are no surviving records of what happened to Mordecai, and it’s presumed he died shortly after the fall of Seyam.
After Death and Fall of Seyam
Zuwena was not given a funeral, as it was seen as weak that she died in childbirth. Instead, she was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in the Korvassa, and it was rumored that her spirit haunted the deserts in the winter. Several men disappeared in the Korvassan deserts, mostly Orenians coming to convert the Seyami to Canonism. However, it was more likely because of their inability to navigate the vast deserts. Many stories followed Zuwena in her death, including one that she would steal daughters left alone at night.
Seyam fell in the 1760s because of Erasto’s weak and inefficient rule, and the Southeron scattered Arcas, mainly settling in Haense or Oren. Al-Faiz, Seyam’s neighbor, had been abandoned by the 1820s, and any attempt to revive Al-Faiz or Seyam went awry in one way or another, or were ultimately ignored.
