Ylsyndra is the current matriarch of the ancient and formidable Vier family, and de-facto operator of The Mint. Notoriously secretive and strange, her whole lineage is rumoured to be mad from tantalum poisoning. Although the Vier lineage has been responsible for the Mint for decades, only Ylsyndra has earned the dayname ‘Black’.

Ylsyndra is not known to have any natural children, but the Vier family sponsors Vier House, a lavish commonhouse in High Commons. The children here are involved in the family business as though they were legitimate heirs. It is expected that Ylsyndra will anoint one of the commonhouse children as an honorary Vier to take her place.

Although the Vier family are meticulous at making sure that they need never get too close to hard work, rumours have it that, in the early years of their control of the Mint, Ylsyndra’s forebears had no choice but to forge the coins themselves, perhaps tainting their blood and bequeathing a lineage of madness to their descendants. The veracity of this has not been proved, although those who know Ylsyndra personally can confirm both that she looks unnaturally young for her age of 50, and is, in fact, ‘super fucking weird’.