Blood Over Bright Haven

Sciona is the protagonist and point-of-view of the novel. She is a competitive, intelligent, and intensely logical mage, an expert in the field of magical mapping, and the first and only woman to become highmage in Tiran. Sciona’s primary characteristic is ambition; she yearns to be remembered by history, although her methods change as she learns about the truth behind magic and grows as a person.

As the only woman among the highmages, Sciona sees herself as leading the vanguard for all Tiranish women. Despite being brilliant and skilled, she has to do much more than her male peers to prove her academic excellence in a misogynistic, religiously oppressive society. However, she often fails to acknowledge the important achievements, goals, and personhood of women who are not in academia. Part of her character development is learning to acknowledge the menial labor of her family and of the Kwen servants who make her comfortable life possible.

Sciona ends the novel channeling her ambition into rebellion, mass murdering her fellow mages for their knowing abuse of the Kwen world. Her decision to destroy them and herself using the very magic they devoted their life to is an act of revenge.