Vinnevra

Vinnevra was a female human who lived on Installation 07 around 100,000 BCE. She was a member of the Tudejsa, a group transplanted from their homeworld of Erde-Tyrene. Vinnevra was actually her mother's name, used as a "borrowing name" to be disclosed to the public, while only her closest relatives were allowed to know her true name as per her people's custom.

Biography

Vinnevra was born on the Halo ring to Gamelpar's daughter while they still lived in the old city. After the Forerunners began to abduct humans more frequently, taking them to the "Palace of Pain", the Tudejsa abandoned the city and became disorganized. Both of Vinnevra's parents were also taken to the Palace of Pain, leaving her grandfather Gamelpar to raise and watch over her while they lived in a small village. Growing up to be a young woman, she became a worker like her mother had been. During her life in the village, she was constantly the target of aggressive sexual advances by male Tudejsa; however, Gamelpar did not give any of them permission to mate with her, and protected her to his best ability, although she was capable of defending herself as well, being forced to do so frequently. Eventually, the men of the village banished Gamelpar for protecting Vinnevra, although, out of superstition, they also feared to kill the old man, as he knew the ancient way of daowa-maadthu.

When Chakas's escape pod crash-landed near the village during the Battle of the capital, Gamelpar told Vinnevra to go examine the crash site. Finding an injured Chakas, she tended to him and nursed him back to health. When Chakas had recovered somewhat, he requested that they set out in search of his companion Riser, as well as to find a way off the ring. Vinnevra first took Chakas to see Gamelpar, and the next morning, they proceeded to move away from the village, following the guidance of Vinnevra's recently-awakened geas. Closing on their destination, however, they discovered that Vinnevra's geas had led them to a Palace of Pain. From a distance, they watched in horror as numerous humans were being herded inside by the Primordial. Vinnevra decided to try and ignore her geas and the group moved in the opposite direction, soon coming across a large lake.

Upon crossing the lake, the group encountered a Lifeworker named Genemender Folder of Fortune, several Denisovans, and a large ape known as Mara and were taken to a village populated by numerous humans, where they were fed and sent to sleep. During the following night, Vinnevra and the others awakened to the startling realization that the whole village, the Lifeworker and the humans had been a holographic illusion, which had disappeared as the area experienced a brief power outage. Meanwhile, Gamelpar had become very ill and was dying, with the Lifeworker refusing to treat him, stating they should scan him for his imprint, but Gamelpar adamantly refused. Gamelpar then said his farewells to Vinnevra while having Chakas promise to take care of her and telling him her true name.

Leaving the now-inert compound, Vinnevra, Chakas and Mara were soon joined by Riser, who had observed them for some time. Soon after, Vinnevra's geas was roused again. Exhausted and having nowhere else to go, the group apprehensively decided to follow her lead. They eventually came across a rail transport and boarded it. They were fed during the journey, which took them to the central Lifeworker station. There, a monitor instructed them to board a boat-like vehicle. At this point, Vinnevra felt the influence of her geas as clearer than before, hearing the "voice of a child" telling her that they were going to Earth. However, they were instead taken to Mendicant Bias' core facility, deep beneath Installation 07's surface, alongside many other humans. The humans were provided with a dreamlike illusion that they were feasting around a table on Earth and they were filled with an euphoric sensation of safety and the feeling of being "home". As she did not carry an ancestral personality imprint, Vinnevra was not deemed useful for Mendicant Bias' plan, but her life was spared nonetheless. She survived the Halo's passage over the failsafe planet and after the IsoDidact's forces reclaimed the ring, she was safely relocated to the greater Ark, becoming part of the Librarian's core population of humans.

When the Flood attacked the greater Ark, she was evacuated along with Riser by 343 Guilty Spark in a Gargantua-class transport and transported to the lesser Ark. Vinnevra was relocated into a village close to Riser's, and the two reunited soon after their arrival on the Ark, embracing as they first met. Vinnevra asked Riser about Chakas, but he chose not to reveal her the truth about his fate. She later joined the festivities the humans held in remembrance of the dead and in celebration of the new galaxy yet to arise. She and Riser reminisced their journey on Installation 07; with slight encouragement by an alcoholic beverage fermented from the juice of berries, Vinnevra energetically recounted an embellished version of the story to the crowd. She, Riser and the other humans held on the Ark were eventually reintroduced to Earth under the leadership of the new Lifeshaper, Chant-to-Green.

Personality and traits

Vinnevra is described as a tough young woman who had to face many hardships in life. She was known to have fought off would-be rapists, as well as to endure frequent abductions of her fellow humans by the Forerunners. During the journey across Installation 07, she was forced to struggle with her geas, which made it near impossible for her to think clearly on her own; she told Chakas that in the event that her geas overcame her own will, he should tie her up and keep her with them, even kill her if he had to, as long as she would not be forced to take herself to the Palace of Pain. She had a remarkable ability to adapt to changing circumstances, maintaining an energetic and carefree attitude even after constant misfortunes and setbacks, even though her cheerfulness began to fade toward the end of their journey on the Halo.

Due to her primitive world view, she failed to grasp large-scale concepts such as the fact that different-colored suns were the result of the Halo she was living on was being moved to different star systems, instead insisting that it was the same sun that simply changed color. She was also disconcerted by the "old spirits" possessed by Gamelpar and Chakas, expressing disbelief at them and asserting that they were not real. Later, she acknowledged that they did indeed have "spirits" inside of them, and was disappointed about not having one herself.

Physical features

Of ethnic groups known to modern humans, the physical features of Vinnevra and her people were most closely analogous to those of Australian Aborigines. She was very lean and slender, had a black skin, a broad, flat nose and wide, rounded cheeks; large, reddish-brown eyes and orange-brown, tangled and curly hair. Her voice was described as "husky but musical".

Trivia

During an interrogation by an ONI science team, 343 Guilty Spark stated that one of the modern, 26th-century humans "almost certainly" carries Vinnevra's and Riser's essences within them, and that with the help of the Lifeshaper, he might be able to bring them to life. How this would be possible is unknown, as both Vinnevra and Riser were resettled on Earth after the firing of the Halo Array; however, Guilty Spark's belief may simply have been a delusion induced by his highly unstable and deteriorated state.

List of appearances

• Halo: Primordium (First appearance)
• Halo: Silentium
• Halo: Rebirth