Iola the first, or simply Iola, is a young, sensitive woman with reddish hair, freckles and blue eyes. She is a priestess in the Temple of Melitele in Ellander, and thus a protégé of Nenneke. As a sacrifice to the goddess, Iola has taken vows of silence, which remain unbroken. She features in "The Voice of Reason", the framing story in The Last Wish collection.