Heralia il Gardlanda (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
awryprincess) wrote2020-05-28 04:55 pm
awryprincess) wrote2020-05-28 04:55 pm
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Heralia il Gardlanda
Prodigal Daughter
QUICK FACTS
APPEARANCE
PERSONALITY
HISTORY
BONDS
ET CETERA
Prodigal Daughter
QUICK FACTS
APPEARANCE
PERSONALITY
HISTORY
BONDS
ET CETERA
QUICK FACTS.
NAME: Hearlia il Gardlanda
AGE: 29
HEIGHT: 5'2" (157cm)
WEIGHT: ~115lbs
HAIR: Auburn-y red-brown
EYES: Red; The color and internal luminescence of a garnet.
MARITAL STATUS: Widowed
SEXUALITY: Pansexual
OCCUPATION: Retainer (Home), TBD (Game)
HOMETOWN: Blackmill, Gardland
PARENTS: King Arond il Gardlanda III, Queen Mathilde
SIBLINGS: Youngest of 12 trueborn children
TRAITS: Extroverted, friendly, matronly, bright, bubbly / manipulative, deceptive, schemer, enjoys watching the world burn
LIKES: Children, flowers (especially roses), forests, parties, non-human entities, ominous positivity, political machinations, leading people and things to their own downfall, exposing the darker nature of man
DISLIKES: Bad liars, most humans in general, her dead ex-husband, people who earnestly believe in the good in everything
AGE: 29
HEIGHT: 5'2" (157cm)
WEIGHT: ~115lbs
HAIR: Auburn-y red-brown
EYES: Red; The color and internal luminescence of a garnet.
MARITAL STATUS: Widowed
SEXUALITY: Pansexual
OCCUPATION: Retainer (Home), TBD (Game)
HOMETOWN: Blackmill, Gardland
PARENTS: King Arond il Gardlanda III, Queen Mathilde
SIBLINGS: Youngest of 12 trueborn children
TRAITS: Extroverted, friendly, matronly, bright, bubbly / manipulative, deceptive, schemer, enjoys watching the world burn
LIKES: Children, flowers (especially roses), forests, parties, non-human entities, ominous positivity, political machinations, leading people and things to their own downfall, exposing the darker nature of man
DISLIKES: Bad liars, most humans in general, her dead ex-husband, people who earnestly believe in the good in everything
APPEARANCE.
Build: Small, lithe, flexible. Gymnast-like in nature.
Clothing: Generally, skirts, flowy clothes, sheer tops over or under other things to cover the basics, or otherwise thin and breathable fabrics. Pinks to emphasize other earthy colors like brown and green. In combat, she'll eschew a skirt for trousers and thicker boots, leather/light mail armor, gloves. A tabard bearing her lord's emblem, all in the black/red/silver coloration of her lord's house colors whenever possible. Otherwise, darker blues, blacks, and browns in general.
Scent: Floral and clean. Most strongly of rose and jasmine, with some other mixed flower-y scents, moss, thick morning fog. Combat outfits will smell more leathery, only a small amount floral, and with a hint of steel and blood. However, her combat outfits will all be very understated in order to provide maximum stealth efficacy.
Voice: High pitched, but clear and audible. Usually comes with a friendly, upticking lilt that lends to a lot of exclamation points. Sing-song usually means she's subtly mocking someone. In her home world, she speaks with a distinct Gardlandan accent, but otherwise has good enunciation and a strong, educated vocabulary. She is fluent in all the common dialects of the humans on her home continent, as well as her world's version of Elvish.
Aefenglom Monster Appearance
Type: Turnskin
Species: Amur Leopard
Changes: July: Full Moon: Pack Instincts start kicking in, immediately start "gathering" people into her social sphere.
Low-light vision improves steadily over course of the month
She already has an affinity for trees/high-up places, but it becomes a bit more pronounced with the increase of arboreal cat instincts.
Hair on her legs and arms starts to grow in a bit thicker over the month, pale gold and with the starts of black spots.
August: Full Moon: Partial Transformation, night is hazy, but partially remembered Ears remain cat-shaped and with fur on them after transformation
Nails remain thicker and claw-like, especially on her feet. Awkward month for shoes.
Sense of smell and hearing begins to amplify; becomes sensitive to the scents of hemlock and other plants turnskins are weak against
Silver starts to have an allergic reaction; hives and skin irritation
Fur grows in even thicker, and adds patches across shoulders, chest, and back
Increased prey drive - may chase objects that flit across her field of view
September: Full Moon: Full transformation tocrinos full wereleopard form for first time. Definitely wakes up in a ditch somewhere.
Retains fangs after transformation, and clearly leopard-like fur across her arms, back, and legs. Starts walking fully on her toes, but feet not totally transformed yet.
Starts being able to flex and retract her feet-claws. This probably looks very weird considering they're furry human-looking feet.
Hunting instinct is fully kicked in, and she has a habit of storing food in trees
Silver now very dangerous to her, as are all the other turnskin plant weaknesses
October: After full moon: Walks digitigrade with pawpads and fully leopard-like feet. Because cat, she can stand plantigrade if she's just idling, but it's uncomfortable to walk that way now
Retains her tail after her transformation, and never gets rid of it again
Can purr, growl, and roar, even in "human" form, though not as effectively as in leopard; the roaring especially makes her throat raw
November: Transformation is completed. Possibly her human hair never goes back to its original color and stays pale leopard gold? Will decide later. Winter coat starts to grow in, so fur gets even thicker and flomfier, but changes with the seasons, rather than the moons. Can turn into full leopard form.
January/February: Mating season. Transformations will be complete. Purring and rubbing on everything it is.
Build: Small, lithe, flexible. Gymnast-like in nature.Clothing: Generally, skirts, flowy clothes, sheer tops over or under other things to cover the basics, or otherwise thin and breathable fabrics. Pinks to emphasize other earthy colors like brown and green. In combat, she'll eschew a skirt for trousers and thicker boots, leather/light mail armor, gloves. A tabard bearing her lord's emblem, all in the black/red/silver coloration of her lord's house colors whenever possible. Otherwise, darker blues, blacks, and browns in general.
Scent: Floral and clean. Most strongly of rose and jasmine, with some other mixed flower-y scents, moss, thick morning fog. Combat outfits will smell more leathery, only a small amount floral, and with a hint of steel and blood. However, her combat outfits will all be very understated in order to provide maximum stealth efficacy.
Voice: High pitched, but clear and audible. Usually comes with a friendly, upticking lilt that lends to a lot of exclamation points. Sing-song usually means she's subtly mocking someone. In her home world, she speaks with a distinct Gardlandan accent, but otherwise has good enunciation and a strong, educated vocabulary. She is fluent in all the common dialects of the humans on her home continent, as well as her world's version of Elvish.
Aefenglom Monster Appearance
Type: Turnskin
Species: Amur Leopard
Changes: July: Full Moon: Pack Instincts start kicking in, immediately start "gathering" people into her social sphere.
Low-light vision improves steadily over course of the month
She already has an affinity for trees/high-up places, but it becomes a bit more pronounced with the increase of arboreal cat instincts.
Hair on her legs and arms starts to grow in a bit thicker over the month, pale gold and with the starts of black spots.
August: Full Moon: Partial Transformation, night is hazy, but partially remembered Ears remain cat-shaped and with fur on them after transformation
Nails remain thicker and claw-like, especially on her feet. Awkward month for shoes.
Sense of smell and hearing begins to amplify; becomes sensitive to the scents of hemlock and other plants turnskins are weak against
Silver starts to have an allergic reaction; hives and skin irritation
Fur grows in even thicker, and adds patches across shoulders, chest, and back
Increased prey drive - may chase objects that flit across her field of view
September: Full Moon: Full transformation to
Retains fangs after transformation, and clearly leopard-like fur across her arms, back, and legs. Starts walking fully on her toes, but feet not totally transformed yet.
Starts being able to flex and retract her feet-claws. This probably looks very weird considering they're furry human-looking feet.
Hunting instinct is fully kicked in, and she has a habit of storing food in trees
Silver now very dangerous to her, as are all the other turnskin plant weaknesses
October: After full moon: Walks digitigrade with pawpads and fully leopard-like feet. Because cat, she can stand plantigrade if she's just idling, but it's uncomfortable to walk that way now
Retains her tail after her transformation, and never gets rid of it again
Can purr, growl, and roar, even in "human" form, though not as effectively as in leopard; the roaring especially makes her throat raw
November: Transformation is completed. Possibly her human hair never goes back to its original color and stays pale leopard gold? Will decide later. Winter coat starts to grow in, so fur gets even thicker and flomfier, but changes with the seasons, rather than the moons. Can turn into full leopard form.
January/February: Mating season. Transformations will be complete. Purring and rubbing on everything it is.
PERSONALITY.
Heralia was originally not quite so duplicitous. Or at least, not as dangerously so. What originally was a selfish desire to get what she wanted - using her knowledge of court politics and noble maneuvering to land her what she thought was the man of her dreams - eventually turned into using that same knowledge to help orchestrate the downfall of entire kingdoms, and destroy the lives of thousands of people. She enjoys playing the game of angling herself into the best possible position, manipulating circumstances as much as possible for the most favorable outcome for herself, and people as well. She does as such while never being outwardly broody or overly dark. In fact, she does so with a bright and cheery smile on her face. She's a master of ominous positivity - "You'll be alright. You don't have another choice." "It has to go well for us. Or it's all coming down."
When the chips are down, Heralia is looking out for herself, her own interests and, if her Lord is anywhere in the picture, Laurel's wellbeing and interests. Heralia does have a soft spot for children, however, even if they are not hers. Children are much more honest with their emotions and intentions; their selfishness is easy to read and accommodate, and they're teachable - they can be shown how to be genuine... or they can be made to be master manipulators as she is. The fact she is occasionally struck by yearnings for the child she lost, and the life that was robbed from her, contributes to her generally soft nature toward children. It tends to be in circumstances where kids will be directly harmed that Heralia will try to rein Laurel in the hardest, or at least try to divert the half-elf's more destructive tendencies and keep her on task in targeting the people that could do the most immediate damage.
In fact "keeping Laurel on task" is what she ends up doing most of the time. She is most knowledgeable about political maneuverings, but she also has enough foresight to see there's advantage in keeping some people around and not totally purging the whole world with fire and assuming it will rebuild itself naturally. It won't, of course, if the earth is too scorched and salted to regrow anything. She's questionable, as a moral compass, but tries to be one all the same; destroying the world for its corruption doesn't have to be mutually exclusive with rebuilding it with better people and better circumstances.
On a normal day, and to most normal people, they will never really see the negative, manipulative side of her; at least not obviously. After all, most people don't have something she wants, and don't really have the authority to help her or the lord she serves. Occasionally, one might run afoul of her if they possess something she individually desires, but that's a fairly rare circumstance. To most people, Heralia will be a nice young woman; kind, very outgoing, willing to share stories and laugh at jokes, with a strong matronly side. She looks on the brighter side of things, and frequently sees the most positive outcomes possible. She lends a sympathetic ear, and can be quite insightful into problems in people's lives. She always seems willing to take time out to help. If a person seems like a "good" person - to her own judgement, and doesn't show what Heralia would consider their true nature - they will even be able to continue seeing this side of her.
If they're not... well, it's fine. All that listening, all that lending an ear, sharing stories; it's all been to learn about the other person, to find out what makes them tick. Where she can hit them the hardest, or lord over them to get the "positive outcome" she foresaw - whatever works out the best for her. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, the saying goes, and she's not entirely shy about using what she knows against people. Even if they are "good" people, and they turn on her, she is more than willing to return the favor.
Her temper is slow to come to bear; she's only really lost it once by her own recollection, but she doesn't need to be angry to kill someone. Her daggers have slipped between ribs on more than one occasion, and she's not afraid of doing some dirty work to see her goals come to fruition, though she does tend to prefer a more quiet method of dispatching people, or forcing themselves into orchestrating their own downfall. The last one is especially a favorite of hers - letting people just bring their own doom, and gently pushing them down that path is one of her favorite games to play. Encouraging things that will get people killed, if she doesn't like them (or doesn't know them well enough to care).
Anyone who reminds her of Lunas might just find themselves unwittingly put on her "unkind" list, regardless of how deeply she knows their personality. It's a more hot-button issue than her usual careful, measured observations and manipulations, occasionally a way to get her to jump to conclusions and make mistakes or become reckless. She also has a bad habit of assuming most people are as duplicitous and manipulative as she is, and they're simply putting on a good face until they get what they want. If they never show that other side, then she might even be able to be convinced they're a genuinely good person, and not just one that's acting good to save their own face. But so long as they put on a good act, she's not frequently interested in trying to uncover how awful they can actually be.
And if they find out about the sorts of things she can, and has, and probably is still doing? Well, either she set it up that way, which is most likely, or it slipped in some way, which is less likely but still possible. Either way, she's not really ashamed. After all, she does assume everyone has that side to them - her ex-husband, her father, her mother, all her siblings. It comes out of everyone eventually.
It has no choice.
People are just like that!
When the chips are down, Heralia is looking out for herself, her own interests and, if her Lord is anywhere in the picture, Laurel's wellbeing and interests. Heralia does have a soft spot for children, however, even if they are not hers. Children are much more honest with their emotions and intentions; their selfishness is easy to read and accommodate, and they're teachable - they can be shown how to be genuine... or they can be made to be master manipulators as she is. The fact she is occasionally struck by yearnings for the child she lost, and the life that was robbed from her, contributes to her generally soft nature toward children. It tends to be in circumstances where kids will be directly harmed that Heralia will try to rein Laurel in the hardest, or at least try to divert the half-elf's more destructive tendencies and keep her on task in targeting the people that could do the most immediate damage.
In fact "keeping Laurel on task" is what she ends up doing most of the time. She is most knowledgeable about political maneuverings, but she also has enough foresight to see there's advantage in keeping some people around and not totally purging the whole world with fire and assuming it will rebuild itself naturally. It won't, of course, if the earth is too scorched and salted to regrow anything. She's questionable, as a moral compass, but tries to be one all the same; destroying the world for its corruption doesn't have to be mutually exclusive with rebuilding it with better people and better circumstances.
On a normal day, and to most normal people, they will never really see the negative, manipulative side of her; at least not obviously. After all, most people don't have something she wants, and don't really have the authority to help her or the lord she serves. Occasionally, one might run afoul of her if they possess something she individually desires, but that's a fairly rare circumstance. To most people, Heralia will be a nice young woman; kind, very outgoing, willing to share stories and laugh at jokes, with a strong matronly side. She looks on the brighter side of things, and frequently sees the most positive outcomes possible. She lends a sympathetic ear, and can be quite insightful into problems in people's lives. She always seems willing to take time out to help. If a person seems like a "good" person - to her own judgement, and doesn't show what Heralia would consider their true nature - they will even be able to continue seeing this side of her.
If they're not... well, it's fine. All that listening, all that lending an ear, sharing stories; it's all been to learn about the other person, to find out what makes them tick. Where she can hit them the hardest, or lord over them to get the "positive outcome" she foresaw - whatever works out the best for her. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, the saying goes, and she's not entirely shy about using what she knows against people. Even if they are "good" people, and they turn on her, she is more than willing to return the favor.
Her temper is slow to come to bear; she's only really lost it once by her own recollection, but she doesn't need to be angry to kill someone. Her daggers have slipped between ribs on more than one occasion, and she's not afraid of doing some dirty work to see her goals come to fruition, though she does tend to prefer a more quiet method of dispatching people, or forcing themselves into orchestrating their own downfall. The last one is especially a favorite of hers - letting people just bring their own doom, and gently pushing them down that path is one of her favorite games to play. Encouraging things that will get people killed, if she doesn't like them (or doesn't know them well enough to care).
Anyone who reminds her of Lunas might just find themselves unwittingly put on her "unkind" list, regardless of how deeply she knows their personality. It's a more hot-button issue than her usual careful, measured observations and manipulations, occasionally a way to get her to jump to conclusions and make mistakes or become reckless. She also has a bad habit of assuming most people are as duplicitous and manipulative as she is, and they're simply putting on a good face until they get what they want. If they never show that other side, then she might even be able to be convinced they're a genuinely good person, and not just one that's acting good to save their own face. But so long as they put on a good act, she's not frequently interested in trying to uncover how awful they can actually be.
And if they find out about the sorts of things she can, and has, and probably is still doing? Well, either she set it up that way, which is most likely, or it slipped in some way, which is less likely but still possible. Either way, she's not really ashamed. After all, she does assume everyone has that side to them - her ex-husband, her father, her mother, all her siblings. It comes out of everyone eventually.
It has no choice.
People are just like that!
HISTORY.
Heralia was born the youngest of 12 children to King Arond Il Gardlanda III, King of a country known as Gardland; there are 6 boys and 6 girls among the sum of her siblings, though her father was going into his golden years when she was born. Heralia's mother, his fourth wife, would thus be his last. Being the youngest, and a daughter, Heralia was mostly ignored by her parents for her older male siblings, as they were groomed to become heirs and powerful dukes and lords over vast swathes of the kingdom. The general lack of supervision meant that as soon as she was old enough to be mobile and curious, she often would slip from the castle and explore around the capital of Gardland, Blackmill. She quickly learned the hard way that a comfortable life in a castle did not prepare her for how life on the streets of a large city looming in the over-taxing shadow of a King's castle would be, and after some bad scrapes and tumbles with the street urchins and city folk, she started to teach herself some basic combat skills. Being that she was relatively small, she preferred short blades, daggers, and throwing knives. Occasionally, she could get the Master-At-Arms of the castle to teach her some techniques, which she took to with a veracity that was probably quite unbecoming of a young princess. After some years, she could navigate even the seediest back alleys, either through her wit, or her daggers, and she relished in it.
Around the time she was 17, the castle received a visitor from the neighboring country of Solmark. It was a land of elves; those who had been cast out of the greater lands constituting the Empire of the Sun for not being "pure" enough of blood. The Solmark elves were beginning another crusade to retake what they thought was their own birthright from what called themselves High Elves. Due to how poorly the last few wars had gone, they sent an ambassador to the human kingdom to see if they could use old connections to curry favor enough for an army. It was not an attempt without merit: long ago, Solmark and Gardland had forged an alliance for another Crusade, where troops were exchanged for trade deals and many other favors. Once Heralia laid eyes upon the deacon who visited as ambassador, she was absolutely smitten, and determined to make him her husband. She pulled every string she could think of, set up every situation she could, and tried to talk him into the marriage with her. After all, a deacon was not a very high ranking official in the elves' church, and she was nobility - she could get him connections that he needed. It took two years, but eventually her father relented, and Lunas, the elf, agreed. The two were wed, and immediately, Lunas wanted to set about visiting the other human kingdoms to continue his work at trying to build the army the Solmark elves needed to retake their holy homeland. It was a struggle - the diplomatic relationships between the three major human kingdoms of the continent were tense at best, and a royal of Gardland was not always seen as a good thing.
During their travels, the two ran into a caravan traveling toward Moira, the largest (in general land and population) of the kingdoms, which contained a mysterious hooded stranger. After a bit of a comedy of errors, Heralia learned that the individual was a half High Elf, from the heart of the Empire of the Sun. While Heralia initially had mixed feelings - after all, the High Elves were enemies of Solmark, and her beloved husband, she was also quite curious. Half-breeds were considered heresy in the high church of the Elves; a contamination of their pure blood. So how one had survived to the age she had, and how she had escaped the Empire was interesting to Heralia. She decided to keep the Half-Elf's identity a secret from her husband, after the Halfbreed, Laurel, promised that she was just trying to escape the tyranny of the empire and find a peaceful, quiet life. Eventually they even opened up to each other, and became friends. After several months, their paths took them separate ways. On parting, Laurel gave Heralia an enchanted necklace that was connected to another; for Heralia's kindness, the half-elf repaid it by promising to come if Heralia ever found herself in dire circumstances.
They did not see each other again for nearly two years. Heralia became pregnant, and the diplomatic connections began to run dry in the human kingdoms, with frustratingly little to show for it to aid Solmark. Once she was too far along to travel much, Heralia and Lunas settled down in a cabin deep in the mountains of Tyfor, the third of the great human kingdoms. Winter came along, and it was a harsh one, with food stores quickly running thin. Lunas left one day on a hunt, promising he would return with some food to restore their larder.
He never returned.
Days, weeks passed, and Heralia's belly swelled, even as her stomach growled in hunger. She began to starve, late in her pregnancy, trapped alone in a cabin in unfamiliar, hostile lands. The stress of it led to a miscarriage - a bloody, messy one that found Heralia on the ground of the cabin, dying. She doesn't remember much of what happened that night, aside from the intense, shooting pain. She remembers the necklace she wore throbbing with magic. She remembers, briefly, huge, imposing shadows against the snow. She was pretty sure one of them was a dragon.
When she woke again, she was in an unfamiliar castle. In pain, tired, but alive. She made her way through the castle, learning very quickly that the entire servant staff were dead; ghosts or reanimated corpses. The lord of the castle was out, they mentioned, but would be back. In time, Heralia discovered where she was - the place called Castle Timatus in a dreaded swamp called the Sanguinaquia. An old elven castle, from when their empire stretched across much of the continent, before the humans pushed them back. It was supposed to be a cursed place, completely unaccessible by mortal and immortal alike, and yet here she was.
She explored the castle, and learned that the castle itself was still in great repair, warded magically against rot and ruin. The lands around it were rich with greenery and fertile farmland, as though the haunted, cursed swampland of the Sanguinaquia was merely an illusion. Eventually, the lord of the castle returned, and Heralia was more than surprised to learn that it was... Laurel. Laurel, who had somehow trekked deep into cursed land and claimed a forbidden castle. Laurel, who had bonded with one of the dragon keepers of said castle, and now was allowed to use him as her personal steed. Laurel, who was now calling herself an almost laughably cheesy title of "Lord Darkstorm".
Heralia and Laurel held some discussions as Heralia recovered. Laurel was not quite the timid, demure woman that Heralia remembered from their travels before, so shy to show her face and reveal her half-blooded nature. In fact, she'd grown in confidence significantly, and power, as well. Furthermore, Laurel had come to start to have a sort of deep-seated rage and hatred toward the world they lived in at large. For the violent, greedy, stupid nature of all who inhabited it - whether they be humans, elves, or whatever else.
Heralia wondered if Laurel would keep her as a political prisoner. Laurel told her she was free to go at any time, but Heralia decided to stay anyway. She was curious; she wanted to know what had changed Laurel, and what she planned to do.
Weeks, months passed. Little by little, Laurel began to trust Heralia more. Little by little, Laurel let Heralia see her plans, her rage at the world and what she was going to do with it. Little by little, Heralia sort of began to see Laurel's point. The real turning point, however, was after she was feeling well enough to travel again. It happened by chance, as they visited Gardland in secret to learn about a council of nobles that had been called with some urgency regarding the threat of the castle within the Sanguinaquia.
Lunas was there. As fine, or better than the day he left the cabin. The rumor around Gardland was that Heralia was dead, and that as her husband, it was his right to claim any inheritance of hers. Though she did not reveal herself at the meeting of nobles, she did, hurt and angry, go to confront him about what had happened afterward. The plot was laid bare with a bit of gentle persuasion (a very sound beating) from Laurel: He knew about Heralia's manipulations to get him to wed her, though he did not want to. However, he saw the opportunity to use her to get his political gains. It was when she became pregnant, though, that he realized he could no longer keep up the act, nor bear the thought of ever siring a disgusting half-breed (an ironic thing to say, in front of a half-breed), and in his crisis of faith, and disgust at himself, he set it up so that, with some luck, she would die along with the child, and he could claim her rights as her husband.
Enraged, Heralia killed him, with a bit of prompting from Laurel. It was then she really began to see the disgusting parts of the world. Everything that seemed so normal to her - the lies, the manipulations, the overtaxation of the poor by the wealthy (her own family, things she had benefitted from), the murder and worship of violence and death. The elves of Solmark weren't just looking to take over the holy land they thought they were denied, they were going to kill every last high elf in that realm after they took it over so only their blood would be considered pure. And there were other plots afoot: conspiracies, plans for war and domination. The world was a much darker place after that day, and she started to understand why Laurel's plans sounded like she was going to completely unmake it.
So Heralia dedicated herself to Laurel's cause. She named herself a retainer, and dove into work. She used her political know-how and training as a noble to set up and manipulate diplomatic relations, to bribe lesser lords into mutiny, and eventually spark a war that pitted all the human kingdoms against each other. She helped negotiate with the sellswords and mercenary companies to build the army, and after winning a brutal fight with a mercenary company leader twice her size, she became one of their commanders, as well.
But Heralia never completely lost her optimism. She never completely lost her empathy, either, and every time she met a person she could consider "good" - someone kind, or charitable, or even just simply trying to live their lives without harming anyone else, she did what she could to also bring them to the Sanguinaquia. To set them up as farmers and tailors and hands about the place, to support their army, but also let them live in relative peace and safety. Many did not complain - especially as there was no taxation from the regent lord; all she asked is that they do their part and contribute somehow to the whole war effort. Some even happily took up arms for the cause.
Over time, Laurel's plans started to fall into place, and Heralia was right there with her at every step. The human kingdoms fell, the elven kingdoms soon after, and the world was "engulfed in flames"... though in truth there was very little fire anywhere. And from the ashes, they began to work to rebuild it anew. Hopefully, it would be better this time.
Around the time she was 17, the castle received a visitor from the neighboring country of Solmark. It was a land of elves; those who had been cast out of the greater lands constituting the Empire of the Sun for not being "pure" enough of blood. The Solmark elves were beginning another crusade to retake what they thought was their own birthright from what called themselves High Elves. Due to how poorly the last few wars had gone, they sent an ambassador to the human kingdom to see if they could use old connections to curry favor enough for an army. It was not an attempt without merit: long ago, Solmark and Gardland had forged an alliance for another Crusade, where troops were exchanged for trade deals and many other favors. Once Heralia laid eyes upon the deacon who visited as ambassador, she was absolutely smitten, and determined to make him her husband. She pulled every string she could think of, set up every situation she could, and tried to talk him into the marriage with her. After all, a deacon was not a very high ranking official in the elves' church, and she was nobility - she could get him connections that he needed. It took two years, but eventually her father relented, and Lunas, the elf, agreed. The two were wed, and immediately, Lunas wanted to set about visiting the other human kingdoms to continue his work at trying to build the army the Solmark elves needed to retake their holy homeland. It was a struggle - the diplomatic relationships between the three major human kingdoms of the continent were tense at best, and a royal of Gardland was not always seen as a good thing.
During their travels, the two ran into a caravan traveling toward Moira, the largest (in general land and population) of the kingdoms, which contained a mysterious hooded stranger. After a bit of a comedy of errors, Heralia learned that the individual was a half High Elf, from the heart of the Empire of the Sun. While Heralia initially had mixed feelings - after all, the High Elves were enemies of Solmark, and her beloved husband, she was also quite curious. Half-breeds were considered heresy in the high church of the Elves; a contamination of their pure blood. So how one had survived to the age she had, and how she had escaped the Empire was interesting to Heralia. She decided to keep the Half-Elf's identity a secret from her husband, after the Halfbreed, Laurel, promised that she was just trying to escape the tyranny of the empire and find a peaceful, quiet life. Eventually they even opened up to each other, and became friends. After several months, their paths took them separate ways. On parting, Laurel gave Heralia an enchanted necklace that was connected to another; for Heralia's kindness, the half-elf repaid it by promising to come if Heralia ever found herself in dire circumstances.
They did not see each other again for nearly two years. Heralia became pregnant, and the diplomatic connections began to run dry in the human kingdoms, with frustratingly little to show for it to aid Solmark. Once she was too far along to travel much, Heralia and Lunas settled down in a cabin deep in the mountains of Tyfor, the third of the great human kingdoms. Winter came along, and it was a harsh one, with food stores quickly running thin. Lunas left one day on a hunt, promising he would return with some food to restore their larder.
He never returned.
Days, weeks passed, and Heralia's belly swelled, even as her stomach growled in hunger. She began to starve, late in her pregnancy, trapped alone in a cabin in unfamiliar, hostile lands. The stress of it led to a miscarriage - a bloody, messy one that found Heralia on the ground of the cabin, dying. She doesn't remember much of what happened that night, aside from the intense, shooting pain. She remembers the necklace she wore throbbing with magic. She remembers, briefly, huge, imposing shadows against the snow. She was pretty sure one of them was a dragon.
When she woke again, she was in an unfamiliar castle. In pain, tired, but alive. She made her way through the castle, learning very quickly that the entire servant staff were dead; ghosts or reanimated corpses. The lord of the castle was out, they mentioned, but would be back. In time, Heralia discovered where she was - the place called Castle Timatus in a dreaded swamp called the Sanguinaquia. An old elven castle, from when their empire stretched across much of the continent, before the humans pushed them back. It was supposed to be a cursed place, completely unaccessible by mortal and immortal alike, and yet here she was.
She explored the castle, and learned that the castle itself was still in great repair, warded magically against rot and ruin. The lands around it were rich with greenery and fertile farmland, as though the haunted, cursed swampland of the Sanguinaquia was merely an illusion. Eventually, the lord of the castle returned, and Heralia was more than surprised to learn that it was... Laurel. Laurel, who had somehow trekked deep into cursed land and claimed a forbidden castle. Laurel, who had bonded with one of the dragon keepers of said castle, and now was allowed to use him as her personal steed. Laurel, who was now calling herself an almost laughably cheesy title of "Lord Darkstorm".
Heralia and Laurel held some discussions as Heralia recovered. Laurel was not quite the timid, demure woman that Heralia remembered from their travels before, so shy to show her face and reveal her half-blooded nature. In fact, she'd grown in confidence significantly, and power, as well. Furthermore, Laurel had come to start to have a sort of deep-seated rage and hatred toward the world they lived in at large. For the violent, greedy, stupid nature of all who inhabited it - whether they be humans, elves, or whatever else.
Heralia wondered if Laurel would keep her as a political prisoner. Laurel told her she was free to go at any time, but Heralia decided to stay anyway. She was curious; she wanted to know what had changed Laurel, and what she planned to do.
Weeks, months passed. Little by little, Laurel began to trust Heralia more. Little by little, Laurel let Heralia see her plans, her rage at the world and what she was going to do with it. Little by little, Heralia sort of began to see Laurel's point. The real turning point, however, was after she was feeling well enough to travel again. It happened by chance, as they visited Gardland in secret to learn about a council of nobles that had been called with some urgency regarding the threat of the castle within the Sanguinaquia.
Lunas was there. As fine, or better than the day he left the cabin. The rumor around Gardland was that Heralia was dead, and that as her husband, it was his right to claim any inheritance of hers. Though she did not reveal herself at the meeting of nobles, she did, hurt and angry, go to confront him about what had happened afterward. The plot was laid bare with a bit of gentle persuasion (a very sound beating) from Laurel: He knew about Heralia's manipulations to get him to wed her, though he did not want to. However, he saw the opportunity to use her to get his political gains. It was when she became pregnant, though, that he realized he could no longer keep up the act, nor bear the thought of ever siring a disgusting half-breed (an ironic thing to say, in front of a half-breed), and in his crisis of faith, and disgust at himself, he set it up so that, with some luck, she would die along with the child, and he could claim her rights as her husband.
Enraged, Heralia killed him, with a bit of prompting from Laurel. It was then she really began to see the disgusting parts of the world. Everything that seemed so normal to her - the lies, the manipulations, the overtaxation of the poor by the wealthy (her own family, things she had benefitted from), the murder and worship of violence and death. The elves of Solmark weren't just looking to take over the holy land they thought they were denied, they were going to kill every last high elf in that realm after they took it over so only their blood would be considered pure. And there were other plots afoot: conspiracies, plans for war and domination. The world was a much darker place after that day, and she started to understand why Laurel's plans sounded like she was going to completely unmake it.
So Heralia dedicated herself to Laurel's cause. She named herself a retainer, and dove into work. She used her political know-how and training as a noble to set up and manipulate diplomatic relations, to bribe lesser lords into mutiny, and eventually spark a war that pitted all the human kingdoms against each other. She helped negotiate with the sellswords and mercenary companies to build the army, and after winning a brutal fight with a mercenary company leader twice her size, she became one of their commanders, as well.
But Heralia never completely lost her optimism. She never completely lost her empathy, either, and every time she met a person she could consider "good" - someone kind, or charitable, or even just simply trying to live their lives without harming anyone else, she did what she could to also bring them to the Sanguinaquia. To set them up as farmers and tailors and hands about the place, to support their army, but also let them live in relative peace and safety. Many did not complain - especially as there was no taxation from the regent lord; all she asked is that they do their part and contribute somehow to the whole war effort. Some even happily took up arms for the cause.
Over time, Laurel's plans started to fall into place, and Heralia was right there with her at every step. The human kingdoms fell, the elven kingdoms soon after, and the world was "engulfed in flames"... though in truth there was very little fire anywhere. And from the ashes, they began to work to rebuild it anew. Hopefully, it would be better this time.
BONDS.
ET CETERA.
Inventory:
- Her horse, a palomino mare
- Her two daggers
- A couple throwing knives
- The clothes on her back
Other:
- She acquired a blink cat;a cat that has minor teleportation magic. She named him "Sagittus" after the arrow-shaped smudge on his nose.
- Her horse, a palomino mare
- Her two daggers
- A couple throwing knives
- The clothes on her back
Other:
- She acquired a blink cat;a cat that has minor teleportation magic. She named him "Sagittus" after the arrow-shaped smudge on his nose.
