Malora Hightower

Malora Hightower is a Septa of the Most Devout, the first and only daughter of Denyse and Bryndon Hightower. She has traveled across the Seven Kingdoms, and is knowledgeable about foreign lands, despite being a devout follower of the Southern Disciplines.

Appearance and Character
A fair woman of twenty-eight years, Septa Malora, born Malora Hightower, is a tall woman, pretty if not beautiful, tall of stature with scarlet-brown hair, somewhere between auburn and chestnut. Her complexion is pale, a permanent flush about her pronounced cheeks. Her narrow jawline also pronounces her red lips, and blue eyes that shimmer like the sea.

Malora often dresses herself in beige and white linens, preferring neither luxury or poverty. She has a soft, delicate frame, and has defined curves.

Malora is a devout follower of the Starry Rites, and never felt that her destiny was to be noble. In her youth, she found the Southern Disciplines to her liking, and took to practicing them.

She is forgiving, graceful, charming, and knowledgeable. She carries about her an air of mystery that can only be described as ethereal, as she often wears loose-fitting robes and speaks in soft, melodic tones.

History
Born in the year 379 AC, Malora Hightower is the daughter of Ser Bryndon Hightower, and his wife, Denyse, too of a Hightower descent. She was the youngest and last child of the pair, a quiet and soft-spoken child in her youth. Not once did she earn her father’s ire, though curiosity and a longing for knowledge oft got the best of her.

Malora had a disinterest for nobility from the day she learned to read. It was said, and noted by the Hightower’s maesters that Malora would spend her time with the daughters of serving girls, or with her own handmaids, and though her father sought to part her from these pursuits, Malora proved herself to be stubborn indeed.

When her nose was not buried in books, some borrowed from the Citadel itself, she was out performing charity, or helping to benefit the lives of those beneath her. She dressed herself without thought of importance, and demanded that she attend to herself, rather than that of her ladies.

By the time she was ten, Malora had come to friendship with another woman of noble birth: Leona Tyrell. A scion of that most important house from Highgarden, Malora found that they shared similar views, and when the time had come for Leona to leave Oldtown, they had become great friends, and Leona had even suggested that Malora become a Septa.

And so it was that in the year 396 AC, Malora discarded her mortal name under the consent of her father, and became Septa Malora. All ties to her and the Hightower were severed, though connections yet remained for her in the service of nobility.

Malora lived a simple life as a Septa, proving herself to be one of those most devout to the cause of the Starry Rites. She fasted frequently, praying day and night, and eventually caught the eye of the Most Devout themselves. Already known to them as Malora Hightower, a humbled child now presented to them, they promised her a vote in the Most Devout if they but upheld a mission for them.

It was an impossible task. Anyone with a brain would know it.

Recent Events
Just before the beginning of the Scarlet Winter in the year 401 AC, just as the War of the Three Thieves was ending, Malora traveled to Lys,  and came into the company of Selenya Targaryen, the daughter of Aevaline Targaryen. It was through her that her first connections in Lys were established.

The Baelorian Obedience had sent Septons and Septas in previous years to the lands of Essos, and in emulating them did the Southern Disciplines aim to gain a foothold in the lands of heresy and sacrilege.

Though her aims were, at large, peaceful, many disagreed. Were it not for the shelter of her Targaryen friend, Malora would’ve been fed to the rats at the first opportunity. In truth, it was in Lys that Malora was enlightened to other worldly pursuits, and though Malora found Selenya’s medium to be horrible and terrifying, it was the Targaryen that opened her eyes to the harsh reality: most of the people in Lys did not choose their profession, but did so out of need and fear.

Malora spent five years in Lys, and grew to be great friends with Selenya. Great friends though they might have been, an investigation into Evaeline’s death quickly turned sour, as though innocent, fingers were pointed to Malora as she was accused in having taken part in her death.

What followed was swift and brutal. Within a day, Malora was chased from Lys, and she suffered greatly for it. A wound on her leg would leave her with a limp for two years, as the wound consistently reopened, threatening to fester with each treatment. Luckily, it was staved off.

As the winter snows faded, and Malora made her return to Oldtown, she was welcomed to an exaltant crowd. From here, she continued her work as a Septa… and soon found herself high again amongst their ranks. When the passing of Septon Abelar came, and an appointment was to take place, it was the choice of the majority of the Most Devout, and the High Septon himself, that Malora take his seat.

There was much and more to be done in the work of a Septa - one of the Most Devout, no less - and for her, it was to reach out to Maekar Targaryen and his lady wife, Leona, a friend of hers from years before.

407 AC
So it was that Malora departed for Summerhall early in the year 407 AC, to advise the Prince of Summerhall both spiritually and faithfully.