Byskoh Losoh

Byskoh Losoh is known as Somaala, a symbol of beauty in northern Tarnaria

Byskoh Losoh /'biːskə 'lʌsə/ was the wife of Opol Dolysoh who made several assassination attempts on her husband and then tried to stage a coup with her lover Ormyn Gos. Her bid for power was animated by her popularity among the people of Ydoh Rol, who considered her to be a beauty ideal. Her fame was reflected in the Great Lore, where she was mentioned under the name of Somaala /sʌ'maɪlə/. In northern Tarnaria it is customary to say "Are you Somaala?" if you want to compliment someone's good looks.

In life Byskoh was known for both her fiery temper and a commendable ability to control it in front of people. In spite of this, a lot of her long-term decisions were fueled by fury.

When Opol's rule was challenged by Dōrsoh Maadoh, whose father was in love with Byskoh, Byskoh found out about it and informed Opol, but had him promise that the boy's life would be spared. In a fit of rage Opol killed Dōrsoh, which made Byskoh equally mad. She decided to kill Opol for breaking his promise, but the assassination attempt failed when the archer missed and killed a guard instead. He was then swiftly mauled down, thereby concealing Byskoh's plot.

She then made several more attempts at killing Opol, after which she began to plot a coup with her lover, Ormyn Gos, an influential Jeen of Opol's army. After a campaign against the Oaleed in 1797, Ormyn Gos was made Jeenor, head of the army. Through his influence, Byskoh began building up support for her claim to power. In 1801 she and Ormyn were able to receive the support of almost half of Opol's army. Deciding that this is enough and that most others would follow, they attacked the palace, but at the last minute several Jeens reneged on their support and stayed out. The attack failed and Ormyn Gos fled Gaskal with his troops, while Byskoh was captured.

In spite of both having a bad temper, Opol and Byskoh miraculously managed to rebuild their relationship and Byskoh returned to the gole's side. She then helped Opol plan and execute the hunt for Ormyn's forces. He was defeated and killed in 1805 during the encounter at Gaajmas. Since then Byskoh always accompanied Opol on all the campaigns and their partnership and close friendship lasted until Opol's death in 1815.

Byskoh died in 1816 FR, while returning from the battle at Uzar which saw the decisive victory over Negy. Byskoh's death hit her son Meerō especially hard, who was Toor's gole at the time, and led to a nervous breakdown from which he never fully recovered.