"I'm Manja, I like apples and not having my throat torn out by crazed cannibals!" - Manja introducing herself to Keerava and Cleingle
| Manja | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Race |
Nord |
|
Gender |
Female |
|
Class |
Thief |
|
Faction |
Thieves guild (formerly) |
|
Home Province |
Skyrim |
|
Home city |
Riften |
|
Relations |
Mother: Name unknown (deceased) Father: Name unknown (deceased) Nish: Kid brother (Deceased) Eilonwyn: Sister in law (Deceased) C'laro: Love interest |
Manja is a young, nord thief who lived in Riften between the years of 4E 188 and 4E 212.
Manja was first seen living the ratway in 4E 212, she later leaves the ratway and riften as a wanted woman, after she unknowingly aided the escape of a convicted killer, Cleingle. During the three year timeskip, she joined a bandit group led by an orc named Grem. She eventually turned on Grem and his group in 4E 215 and joined Nish's former group.
She returns, as a main character, in the second Legend of Nirn in 4E 228. She is the leader of a bandit group, that operates similarly to the Thieves' Guild of the 3rd Era. The nord is introduced as a sort of 'urban saint,' who acts as a sort of 'mother' to orphaned children, embracing her maternal instincts. She first encounters Nepht Delressi, not knowing about her past associations with Nish or her own group and teaches her how to fight.
Biography
Manja was born in 4E 188 and grew up on the streets of Riften, though her life was hard, she always tried to keep an up beat attitude. When she reached her late teens she had set her mind on joining the thieves guild, the way she saw it, the thieves guild paid well and gave her good connections. However, many of her friends dissagreed with her and eventually it came down to a choice, her friends or the thieves guild. As a result she lost a number of friends by joining but this didn't bother her, in her eyes they were stupid and would probably end up dead or in prison. Manja's upbeat, positive attitude was incompatible with the thieves guild as she quickly learned and over time she become colder and more bitter, just like her colleagues.
Manja eventually saw what her friends were talking about, she wanted to leave the Thieves guild.
But she quickly realised that no one leaves the thieves guild easily...
In 4E 215, she begins a new life and eventually winds up leading a clan of thieves in 4E 228, with her close friend and possibly lover, C'laro.
Personality
In her childhood, Manja had an upbeat attitude. She often responded with jokes or sarcasm but had a great amount of patience for others. Her many virtues were eventually crushed by poverty, despair and the Thieves guild and by the time she reached 19, she used her fast tongue to put others down and didn't appear to care for anyone but herself.
Though, some of Manja's personality lay beneath its hardened state. She willingly puts herself at risk to save Cleingle and Keerava who were both strangers to her, from being killed by cannibals. She later demonstrated a similar selfless attitude when Grem attempts to rob Eilonwyn and Tobias.
One thing that Manja has always kept, is her maternalistic nature. She constantly looks out for the hopeless and does her best to offer them advice (Such as Nish and later on C'laro). It is also demonstrated with her almost unlimited patience to Tobias' childish behaviour and her insistence on trading with the skooma adicts she encounters in bravil, (instead of beating him as C'laro suggests). Though her manner may not always be delicate, like Nish, she is always willing to help people who need her.
It is revealed through a flashback that her maternal instinct is actually a result of immense guilt after she witnessed the death of Nish's father. She blamed herself for the breton's death and took his son under her wing, it is unknown her exact reasons for doing so and whether or not Nish knew this before she confessed it to him in Chapter X.
In 4E 228, Manja moves on with her life and founds a clan of thieves. She embraces her maternalistic nature as she takes in several of Riften's orphaned children, like herself and Nish and teaches them how to survive. Her thieves aren't unlike the Thieves' Guild, as seen in the 3rd Era as they don't allow killing and hurting a target is only allowed if necessary.
Manja in The Legend of Nirn
When she encounters Nepht, by Lake Arrius, she seems a lot more mature and quite good natured. She informs the dunmer, that her current technique will lightly cause her to inflict injury on herself and then teaches the dunmer to use a sword and shield, efficiently. Manja's true intention was to visit Nish's grave and as soon as Nepht leaves, she shows that she misses him, dearly. It is said that she hates setting up camp in the area, surrounding the Blue Road and she constantly insists on moving on. Presumably to get away from the memories that Cheydinhal brings.
Appearances
The Legend of Nirn RP: Epilogue (Mentioned)
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin I
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin II
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin III
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin IV
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin V
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin VI
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin VII
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin VIII
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin IX
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin X
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin XI
The Legend of Nirn: World of Ruin XII
Age of Tamriel (Brief appearance)
Trivia
- Manja states that she likes apples, it is romantically described how she savoured them as a child, as she rarely got her hands on them. She keeps her craving for apples in the second Legend of Nirn as she is seen eating one of them, infront of Nepht.
- Isis Harin shares her love for apples in Aubeanic Reign.
- Manja ocasionally suffers from sleep paralysis.
- Manja mentions being a bard at some point in her life, Nish mentions that Manja plays the lute and she also sings to Nish and herself, several times.
- Manja seems to have a love for dirty books and music, she also has some sort of interest in class themed novels as she mentions boarding schools on occasion and likes to mimic posh imperial accents. She has also possibly read several books by the author of "the feed bag fairytale." Manja reveals herself to be a major fan of these books as she instantly recognises the well in the Elven Garden's district and recalls the intimacy that took place there in the book.
- In both chapters, the first member of the group she encounters is a female dark elf and she gets winded soon after by a blow to the ribs.
- Manja has the most appearances in The Legend of Nirn as she appears in every chapter and she is directly mentioned in Gabriel's epilogue.
- She and Bologra Blackbeard are the only two members of the original companionship (controlled by Psychomantis108) who return in World of Ruin as full characters.
- Corelas Adire doesn't count as he is an SNPC in World of Ruin and he is also controlled by a different author.
Author's notes
Manja wasn't originally going to be a main character and possibly wasn't going to physically appear at all. At one point during the writing of part 1 several fates were being tossed about, such as her ending up as a skooma adict, turning up as a corpse or as a cannibal and confirming Nish's suspicions of the ratway and thieves guild of Riften. She was eventually introduced with the intention of having a character controlled by a player to follow Cleingle but the three year time skip in Legend of Nirn II caused this plan to change.
It has always been planned for Manja to appear in the second chapter but her original introduction has changed, several times. The original introduction planned, was introducing her in a chain gang as they escaped from captivity. The idea was dropped as no stable ideas could be thought up for the two convicts and they would take up two character slots, considering that I couldn't think of any way to develop them, they were cut.