Dezra Majere (b. 374 AC) is the youngest child of Caramon Majere and Tika Majere (her elder siblings being Tanin Majere, Palin Majere, Sturm Majere, and Laura Majere). She was named after Tika’s friend and fellow Inn of the Last Home barmaid Dezra Sepadin.
Early Life
She has her mother’s green eyes, but Dezra was more like her deceased aunt Kitiara uth Matar than Tika – she prefers men’s clothes, has short brown hair, and she even has her aunt’s famous crooked grin. While her sister Laura was always hard working and conscientious, Dezra was wilder and indulged in many of the same pastimes as Kitiara, much to the despair of her parents. In one respect she was more like her mother than her aunt, however, as the young Dezra was a known thief.
Her First Quest
After being arrested for stealing at the Solace Spring Dawning Festival when she was 19, Caramon threw her out. This led to her meeting Trephas, a centaur and son of the Chief of the Soaring Mane Tribe, Nemeredes. Dezra agreed (for the starting price of 200 steel, though it ended at 1800!) to accompany Trephas to Darken Wood and aid him in his fight against some renegades. The renegades were centaurs who had turned from the Forestmaster and had become further corrupted by a remnant from the Chaos War, a Daemon Tree called Grimbough. The tree turned the traitor centaurs into ‘ Skorenoi’ - deformed versions of their former selves, with bodies foul and twisted. They formed a strong side against the remaining loyal centaurs in what was essentially a civil war. Grimbough’s intent was to kill the captured Forestmaster, thereby destroying Darken Wood.
Caramon, his friend Borlos the bard, and a young Solace guard with a crush on Dezra called Uwen, followed Dezra into Darken Wood. Uwen was killed in a fight with the Skorenoi, later revealing Dezra’s softer side as she mourned at his funeral. The centaurs requested that the Majeres and Borlos recover an enchanted war axe, Soulsplitter, in order to kill Grimbough. With the help of some Dryads, Dezra and the others traveled through the earth and the kingdom of the Fey Folk and retrieved the axe from an abandoned wizard’s tower, where it was being guarded by a Golem.
The axe was then stolen by a minion of Grimbough, as one of the only weapons capable of killing the Forestmaster. The centaurs again asked Dezra, Caramon, and Borlos to go after Soulsplitter to save the Forestmaster. They were successful and Caramon and Dezra chopped down the daemon tree, destroying Soulsplitter in the process. Afterwards, Caramon saw some redeeming qualities in his daughter and asked her to come home. Dezra didn’t return to Solace with her father, instead continuing on her travels to Haven and Ankatavaka, but they parted on good terms.
Haven
In her later years she grew to look even more like Kitiara, although Dezra’s hair faded from brown to gold. She made annual trips to Haven, partly for supplies for the Inn of the Last Home but, for five years, the main reason was to meet her lover there, the baker Dalan Forester. During one of these trips a force of Dark Knights overthrew and occupied Haven. Dezra found herself trapped in the city, along with her sister-in-law Usha Majere who she had persuaded to accompany her.
After Dalan was hanged for trying to leave the city, Dezra joined Qui’thonas, a secret organization with the original intent to evacuate elves out of occupied Qualinesti, now turned to get people out of occupied Haven. Usha also contributed to Qui’thonas by passing on information obtained from her adulterous relationship with a merchant in favor with the occupying force of Dark Knights. Dezra was furious with Usha for cheating on Palin, but tolerated the relationship so she could continue to receive vital inside information. After the Dark Knights became aware of Qui’thonas, and of Usha’s part in the organization, Dezra finally decided to escape Haven and returned to Solace with her sister-in-law. She said she would never tell Palin of Usha’s affair.
Kender tales
Tales of the Lance mentions that Palin, Sturm, and Tanin have other siblings: Leaf and Kalin are younger brothers of Palin, Melody and Kaitlin are younger sisters of Palin, and Dezerell is an older sister of Palin and a younger sister of Sturm and Tanin. Palin's actual younger sisters Dezra and Laura are not mentioned. No further detail is given and they do not appear elsewhere. However, Usha Majere and even Dezra herself have hinted that Dezra has more than one sister.
Behind the Scenes
The name Dezra came from Terry Philips' wife, Dezra Despain.
References
- Annotated Chronicles, p. 298
- Dezra’s Quest, p. 1, 14, 19, 31-38, 44-45, 74, 76, 127, 136, 149-172, 178-84, 198-219, 247-256, 311-312
- Prisoner of Haven, p. 21, 53-54, 76-77, 84, 218-219, 224-225, 286, 301, 309
- Dragons of a Fallen Sun (HC), p. 49, 102
- Dragons of a Vanished Moon (HC), p. 523
- Dragons of Summer Flame (HC), p. 137
- Amber and Ashes, p. 172
- City of the Lost, p. 158
- The Second Generation, "Kitiara's Son" p. 7
