Iniara remained in mental institutions under various stages of care until she was old enough to attend regular school. Once she had learned some degree of control over her telepathy her life progressed normally enough. Being a privileged member of Betazoid society she lived a comfortable life, and was a fairly above average student. Early on she took a great interest in sport and physical competition, becoming adept at several sports and forms of martial arts over the years.

However, in 2353, her father returned to his native Bajor after receiving information that his own elderly parents had been killed in the Occupation. He contacted his family on Betazed as often as he could, but less than a year later they lost touch with him. Iniara was especially affected by this as she had been very close to her father, and soon after she had graduated from school she defied her mother's wishes and left for Bajor herself.

Iniara was still young and naïve and had very little concept of the conditions on Cardassian-occupied Bajor. In her mind, she planned to quickly find her father and return home with him, but the reality of the situation was completely opposite. She soon found herself in a refugee camp, forced to work in the mines but eventually coming to help the Resistance as much as she could. After more than a year she managed to find her father, who was overworked and slowly withering away from exhaustion.

Unbeknownst to Iniara, her younger sister Kaeylia had run away from home, also coming to Bajor to try and find her family. Ironically enough, Iniara and Kaeylia were reunited just one day after their father finally died of exhaustion. Iniara knew that Bajor was no place for her much more delicate sister and so she called in several favors and had Kaeylia smuggled off-world, not really caring where she would end up as long as she was safe.

For the next five years Iniara moved around a lot, spending time in various camps and working in the mines when she had no choice. In 2361 she was sent to Terok Nor as part of a group of fresh laborers for the ore processing facilities. Soon after, she was selected to become a comfort woman for the Cardassian officers aboard the station. She quickly became the favored companion of Gul Marcin, a semi-underling who seemed to spend a lot of time traveling between Bajor and Terok Nor. Iniara accompanied him on many of his trips, and for the next three years she used this to her advantage, doting on Marcin while at the same time relaying information and messages between Resistance supporters.

Her luck could not last forever though, and in 2365 Gul Marcin discovered just what Iniara had been doing in her spare time. Furious, he ordered her executed, but with the help of a nearby Resistance cell (and perhaps a little divine providence) Iniara managed to escape, fleeing into the mountains. And for the next four years, until Bajor gained independence, Iniara remained a full-time Resistance fighter, doing her best to destroy the Cardassian presence on Bajor one bit at a time.

Not really having anywhere else to go once Bajor had gained independence, Iniara joined the Bajoran Militia and was assigned the rank of Lieutenant JG. From 2369 to 2373 she did her best to help Bajor rebuild, even if it meant clearing rubble and laying brick with her own two hands. In 2373 she was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and requested a transfer to Deep Space Nine, partially because she wanted a change of pace and partially because Bajor held one too many bad memories for her. While aboard DS9, Iniara served primarily as a security officer, becoming known as a competent and reliable officer if not the friendliest or most talented person on the station.

Over a year later, Iniara was unexpectedly reunited with her younger sister Kaeylia, who had been transferred to DS9. Iniara was very pleased to see her sister had made a good life for herself in Starfleet, and the two sisters eventually got caught up after not having seen each other for nearly 20 years.

Shortly after, Kaeylia was transferred off the station, but the seeds of change had been sown in Iniara's mind. Deciding to follow more or less in her sister's footsteps Iniara decided to join Starfleet. In 2375 she attended Officer Integration School on Earth, and in 2376 she was commissioned as a Lieutenant and assigned to the USS Musashi, where she performed admirably.

In 2379 the Musashi picked up a distress call from a Cardassian transport ship which was having problems with propulsion and life support, among other things. While the Musashi's engineers worked to get the Cardassian ship back on its feet several of its senior officers came aboard the Musashi. Iniara was part of the team assigned to escort the Cardassians around, only to discover that the captain of the ship was none other than Gul Marcin himself.

Iniara did her best to remain professional, hoping that perhaps Marcin wouldn't recognize her. Unfortunately for both of them he did and he just couldn't stop himself from taunting her, making several very inappropriate comments regarding the years she had spent with him during the Occupation. Iniara wouldn't let him get the best of her and she attacked him, spitting curses in multiple languages as she took out years of repressed anger on him. By the time the other Cardassians and security officers had pried the two apart, Marcin had sustained a broken nose, two broken fingers and several fractured ribs, while Iniara had suffered a black eye and fractured wrist.

Iniara was relieved of duty on the spot and thrown in the brig. And when the dust had settled from the event, Iniara found herself demoted to the rank of Ensign and transferred off the ship, headed for starbase duty. She was assigned to Starbase 23 as part of the Operations staff, which her superiors hoped would prevent the situation on the Musashi from happening again. Iniara settled in pretty well, quickly learning the ropes in Ops, although she found the Federation starbase to be considerably more boring than her last starbase assignment.

In 2381, Iniara gladly accepted a transfer to the USS Galaxy, relieved to be off the starbase and back onto a real ship.

Serious, distant, even cold. Approachable, but still a bit intimidating. Years of military life have made Iniara very efficient at her job, but don't expect her to be very friendly. Iniara prefers to work alone and is quite detail-oriented, always having to know exactly what is going on at any time that might affect her.

Though Iniara is a very dedicated officer she has trouble getting close to people. She's willing to die on the battlefield protecting her fellow soldiers, but she doesn't like it when people try to get too close to her. This is all part of a "barrier" she has set up between herself and the outside world thinking it will protect herself and others from getting hurt. In reality though she is almost paralyzingly lonely, and wishes that she could someday open up to people, but she's too much of a control freak when it comes to her own emotions to ever let that happen.

She views sex as a tool and thinks romance is pointless. She gets uncomfortable around happy couples, often leaving the room if it irritates her enough. She's never been in love or even dated more than a couple times, although she is quite adept at various sexual techniques learned during her tenure as a comfort woman.

Iniara has zero empathic ability but is a very strong telepath. She views the gift as more of a curse than anything, as she has had to struggle to maintain mental shields all her life. She will not deliberately read anyone's mind or speak to them telepathically unless absolutely necessary or she is under orders to do so. However, since she isn't that great at shielding her mind, she will occasionally pick up strong/focused thoughts from those around her. Believing that most people would treat her differently if they knew she was a strong telepath, Iniara has chosen to hide the fact that she is half-Betazoid from the general public. It's listed in her permanent record and other Betazoids can sense what she is, but she won't admit she's anything but a full Bajoran unless she has to.

Unlike most Bajorans or Betazoids, Iniara is not very spiritual or religious at all. Through her time spent on both planets she learned a good deal about both cultures' religious beliefs, but she never thought of them as anything more than mildly entertaining. Believing in mystical, unseen forces just never seemed to make much sense to her.

In her spare time Iniara enjoys working out, lifting weights, and practicing various forms of martial arts or improving her proficiency in a number of sports. She's never one to shy away from a challenge by one of her crewmates even if she knows she'll be defeated; to her the enjoyment of physical exertion and competition outweighs whatever negative stigma a defeat may carry. She also enjoys target shooting with any weapon she can get her hands on and practices somewhat frequently to keep her skills sharp even though she doesn't need them much nowadays.

Within the past couple years she has also begun to experiment with clay sculpting, which she claims relaxes her mind and allows her to focus. She never keeps anything she sculpts though, preferring instead to re-mold blocks of clay over and over, putting them in a matter reclamation unit when she's through with them.

Physical Details:

Well-muscled body with minimal body fat developed over years of physical exertion. Flame auburn hair, dull bluish-grey eyes. Iniara's hair was one of her most prized possessions, and she frequently grew it out to waist length or longer. However, it was also one of Marcin's favorite things about her, so she has kept it cut very short since she escaped from him. She has also never worn a Bajoran ear cuff, and does not even possess one.

Family:

Father: Tarin Barel, ambassador/diplomat, died 2356. He and Iniara were very close.
Mother: Ryxaeria Sola, diplomat and daughter of the Seventh House. The two have not spoken since Iniara left Betazed in 2353.
Younger sister: Cmdr. Tarin Kaeylia, currently head of the Federation Infectious Disease Research Facility on Betazed. Has telepathic abilities similar to Iniara, though she learned to control hers better. She and Iniara correspond on a regular basis.
Younger brother: Glydias Kasai, diplomat. Married with a family of his own. Iniara has not seen him since he was ten years old.

Etc:

--Birth name was Iniara Sola, but she began using the name Tarin Iniara after her father's death to honor him and to help hide the fact she is part Betazoid. Apparently her sister had the same idea.
--The only personal item she has in her quarters is a photograph of her family taken in 2352, the last time all five members of her family were together in one place.