Velyana Greenshank[1], otherwise simply known as Velya or V, was an ymbryne and the adoptive mother of Noor Pradesh. She was the last of the hollow-hunters as well as one of the last "pure" ymbrynes in America. H said that she lives in a place known as the "big wind" which is a loop that's constantly ravaged by tornados, making it nearly impossible for enemies to enter.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Velyana was once apart of the circus.[2] Abraham Portman would track her down and realized that she was an ymbryne. He would introduce her to Esmerelda Avocet[3] when she was a teenager and she would be trained in her abilities by the older ymbryne. After she was trained in her abilities, she joined the American hollow-hunters. She wouldn't go by her ymbryne's name and instead went by the codename "V".
Velyana would become a skilled archer and perfected her right-between-the-eyes technique after joining Abraham's American hollow-fighting cell.[4] She would live for many years as a hollow-hunter and would on occasion would visit Portal, Georgia.
Sometime during the 1990's, Esmerelda would reach out to Velyana and would ask her for a favor. Esmerelda had found Noor Pradesh in India and had given her an experimental serum to repress her peculiarity until her teen years. Velyana agreed to take in Noor and moved Noor to the United States where the pair would live. Instead of hiding Noor in a loop, the pair would constantly move around a lot. It is assumed at some point that she would be informed of the Prophecy of the Seven.
When Noor was around six years old, the pair would be attacked by wights. Realizing that she couldn't keep Noor safe anymore, Velyana had Noor's memories wiped and placed the girl in the US foster care.[5]
At some point V made a loop in Waynoka, Pennsylvania. The loop was set on a thirty minute loop when two tornados had hit the town. Because of how short the loop was, and the fact that two tornados constantly slammed through it, the loop was deadly and impenetrable unless specific instructions were followed. It is assumed that the loop was created before Noor was sent to foster care, or Velyana tracked her down later, since Noor knew how to get through the loop saftley. It unknown why Velyana didn't keep Noor after this loop was created.
A Map of Days[]
Upon realizing that Jacob Portman, Emma Bloom, Enoch O'Connor, Millard Nullings, and Bronwyn Bruntley knew Abraham Portman, the Portal loop residents talked about Abraham and his companions. Including Velyana and a picture of her younger self was shown to the five.
The Conference of the Birds[]
Miss Avocet would eventually crack and would explain Noor's backstory. Percival Murnau would trick Noor and Jacob Portman into going into the loop and revealing how to get into the loop safely. Velyana was caught off guard initially, but would spring into action when she spotted Murnau. She would use a Expulsatator to get everyone out of the loop. Though she is able to save Noor and Jacob, Murnau shoots Velyana and drags her outside to remove her heart, the final ingredient he needed to resurrect Caul.
The Desolations of Devil's Acre[]
Jacob and Noor find Velyana outside of Jacob's grandfather's house in the grass, by which time she was dead. While hiding from a hollow in the woods, they take her with them into the house's underground bunker. They leave her there in order to escape from the hollow, but Jacob promises Noor they would come back for Velyana's body.
Later on, it is decided to retrieve Velyana in order to ask her about the meeting place of the seven peculiars of Bob the Revelator's prophecy, however Alma Peregrine does not allow Noor or Jacob to go. Once Velyana's body had been recovered, Enoch O'Connor resurrects her from the dead with several animal hearts and a poet's. Velyana recognizes Noor and a scene plays out in V's memory. While thinking that she is tucking in a young Noor, Velyana tells everyone the beginning of The Tale of Pensevus from Tales of the Peculiar. Miss Peregrine and Miss Wren realize that the story was actually a cover up for Miss Tern's loop, a loop that had collapsed a century earlier.
Before heading out to find Miss Hawksbill in order to get to Miss Tern's loop, Noor decides to talk to Velyana again. Enoch is able to wake Velyana and she is able to talk because there is a bit of blood from the poet's heart still coursing in her, and she tells Noor to find Horatio. After Caul's death, Velyana is given an ymbryne funeral along with Esmerelda Avocet and Miss Babax.
Description[]
Appearance[]
Velyana has dark hair and has a defiant expression. Jacob described her as tough-looking and Joseph states that Velyana looked a lot like Emma.
Personality[]
Velyana is shown to always be on her guard but has a soft spot for those she cares about. Alene calls her strange, and Elmer calls her quiet. She was also nurturing, as she raised Noor with love for several years.
Peculiarity[]
As an ymbryne, Velyana can turn into a greenshank, and create and reset loops, however she is able to reset loops every half-hour. She can also erase and alter others' memories.
Trivia[]
- Velyana is the first character in the series to have the same photograph appear twice in books, not including Hollow City's Peculiar Personae section. Her photograph is first seen in A Map of Days and then seen in The Conference of the Birds. With the release of Museum of Wonders, Althea Grimmelwald, Angelica Minervis, Victor Bruntley, Abraham Portman, and Anna Wakely also had their photographs used a second time.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ The Desolations of Devil's Acre (Chapter 16)
- ↑ A Map of Days (Chapter 11)
- ↑ The Desolations of Devil's Acre (Chapter 4)
- ↑ Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (The Hollowgast)
- ↑ The Conference of the Birds (Chapter 4)