Creation

Sashenka was created by Kelly Thompson and Meredith McClaren in Black Cloak 3.

Major Story Arcs

Renna is an Elf exotic dancer at a club called the Crux in the Heights section of the city of Kiros.

She is a friend of the Elves Dace and Freyal III, the latter of whom is heir to the throne but spends much of his time slumming in the lower parts of the city.

Renna knows about Freyal’s connection to the Black Cloak Phaedra Essex from when he was a child.

After Dace and Freyal die under suspicious circumstances, people from the palace visit her to see what she knows, interrogating her aggressively. They look like Dracona royals, but she knows that with magic, anyone can look like anyone.

Phaedra and her partner Pax come to talk with Renna soon after. It’s unclear where they learned about her; it’s possible that the Kiros Three gave Phaedra Renna’s name. She is not a fan of Black Cloaks. She tells Phaedra that she’s wasting her time because the royals have enough power to do anything to anyone, that there’s no one they can’t buy or control. This gives Phaedra the idea that the one group that no one controls is the Maids, or mermaids, because they are seen as too feral and mesmeric. Phaedra leaves Renna abruptly.

Phaedra and Pax eventually solve the murders and destroy a machine the queen was using to suck the magic out of cute animals called Taka, the destruction of which leads to fires and floods that wreck part of the city.

Years later, there is another series of murders. Pax and Phaedra believe Renna may know what one of the victims, a journalist named Ellyse Locke, may have been working on, and ask her to help. Renna has, by this point, become known as a leader of the underground. She still has a frosty relationship with the two Black Cloaks.

They all go into hiding to avoid the reach of the powerful people they believe are behind the murders. The murders are being committed by someone who is controlling creatures called Dragyern. One of the people who has been forced to control them, Dagmar, arrives to help them stop the murders. However, she has lost her memory.

While they help her get her memory back, Renna is entertained by Dagmar’s spicy sense of humor. Dagmar mentions “Delphi” while regaining her memories. Renna recognizes that Ellyse also spoke of Delphi. They go to see Delphi at the Crux, Renna’s old place of work.

It turns out that Delphi isn’t a person, it’s a machine game. It matches up you up with your “love destiny.” But actually, it figures out if you have the right kind of magic profile to help control the Dragyern.

Renna plugs into the machine so they can see how it works. It accesses her identity. Realizing that they have now put her in danger, they send her back to the safe house.

Phaedra and Pax find Elea Veris and Lysanthir, who are behind the Dragyern murders. They fight. Valorie, Devaki, Dagmar, and Renna show up to help. They defeat the killers, free the Dragyern, and gain access to the synthetic magic that Elea and Lysanthir were working on. They give it to Phinneas, who uses it to help the city.

Later, when the friends are all hanging out at the park, Dagmar asks Renna out, and she agrees, as long as it’s not a double-date with the overly-happy Devaki and Valorie.