Niliana, a lovely but strange young woman, was not native to Tasur'ke where she eventually settled. She arrived in the village travel-worn and pregnant, having been driven away from her own village in the north. She became the object of the young sculptor Darius' affections. After Darius built a monument to the Gods at the Garden of Whispers, Sarapis favoured Darius by influencing Niliana's temperment and making her fall in love with the young artist and marry him. Niliana had already given birth to a daughter, Apollonia, by this time, and Darius' family happily took in the girl and her mother. Niliana worshipped her husband's creations with such zeal that the Gods Themselves became jealous, so They whispered contradictory messages to the girl and caused her to go insane. In a fit of madness, she threw herself from atop the cliff to her death.