Koneko: Age: 15 Race: nyamal Place of Origin: settlement outside Pao Amulet Color: violet Sphere of Influence: holistic (nature), empathy First Appearance: chapter two Koneko is a young girl from the Nyamal settlement halfway between Pao and Ryn. She's worked as a leison between Sage and her community for several years and frequently visits the healer to help out and learn more about the trade. When she finds Taya, her first instinct is to bring her to Sage and stick with her until she feels better both physically and emotionally. Given Taya, this may be a while. Koneko has a big heart. She has to, really, because it's second nature for her to feel what everyone around her is feeling. Her behavior is frequently modelled around prying down someone's barriers and getting them to feel better, whether or not they're willing to. Not all of her ways make sense. Her speech is strange, her behavior is occassionally very cat-like, and her responsiveness to other people's emotions is unnerving. Despite growing up out in the country, she spends a great deal of time in Ryn and her fluency in city-life is also odd. Semi-Spoiler: Koneko is of the ruling class. Her family are descended from one of the original Amulet Bearers and, though she's the youngest sibling and unlikely to ascend to some kind of power, she has a lot of authority in her local community. When the Nyamals in Ryn are all too happy to help Taya out, it's because they are obligated to take good care of Koneko.