Post by Tsuru on May 3, 2016 2:08:49 GMT -8
Name: Uesugi Tsuruga, former Sixth Imperial Princess of Bariura
Race: Human
Appearance: Tsuru cuts a dashing figure, possessed of a flair for the dramatic and a fairly unique outfit that helps her stand out. It's not so much that she showboats as simply that she has a natural eye for style and does so unconsciously for the most part, though given her background there is certainly a conscious element to it as well - rather than separate explanations, the two have fused into one over time.
Her clothing certainly doesn't hurt the vibe, though; 'borrowed' from the prevailing religious sect in her now defunct homeland, it gives her a sort of priestly air, clearly not exactly normal adventurer's garb - a cut above the grungy but practical look. It almost bridges the gap to ostentatious, but for the most part she makes it work. The fabric is surprisingly tough as well - nothing close to even leather armor, but it holds up pretty well to the general adventuring life.
Her weapon is the only thing that really betrays her origins; a sacred blade passed down through her family for generations, it is clearly anything but a common sword. Ornate even by the standards of the religious attire she dons, the blade itself seems to shine with light from within. But she could not bring herself to hide it, and besides, she need not hide everything about herself from others - only the truth that lies beneath. Turns out adventurers bandying about fancy swords is pretty common as well, so in retrospect she was probably overthinking it.
Personality: Serene and composed, the wandering swordswoman betrays little of what lies beneath the surface, almost always bearing a smile on her face and a seemingly tireless, infectious desire to do good. She deflects questions about herself and her origins, ever
At times Tsuru can even come across as vaguely glib, or at least tone-deaf when interacting with others, and as much as she'd like to entirely refute those accusations, there is an awkward sort of sideways truth to them that she cannot deny. The fact is that while she understands how she SHOULD act in many situations, her behavior is as much of a lifeline for her as it is a mere act; what was once a mask has become the face in many ways, her method of coping with the tragedy that took everything from her. She acts as she does because she no longer knows anything else.
And make no mistake - for all her pleasant demeanor and seeming joy, Tsuruga is falling apart on the inside, desperately clinging to what she can make of herself to keep the darker thoughts at bay. More than once she has wondered she she keeps going, why she alone of her family and her world escaped judgement, and sometimes the dark voice at the back of her head is more persuasive than ever.
In the wake of her loss, though, she found something worth clinging to, something that keeps her going through even the worst times; the ideal that no one else should have to go through that, the idea that even if she can't protect all of Elibe, she can at least try to save a few people from experiencing that as well. Perhaps part of it is a selfish desire that someone could have saved her from that, perhaps it is simply an excuse to keep going until her willpower flags, but in the wake of her shattered dreams as a princess, it is all she has.
Of course, visiting Arcadia dispelled with the fiction that she could change the world all by herself. She was neither strong nor wise enough to do so, and even if she tried to play up the princess angle, there were countless displaced royalty in Arcadia already, many of them tied to their pasts. So - she simply does what she can. Helping people, not as a princess or a politician capable of launching armies with a wave of her hand, but as a simple adventurer - a wandering swordswoman with a sword that cleaves evil.
Fragments of the 'real' her still drift to the surface at inopportune times though, smiles that do not reach her eyes, humor that occasionally forays into the dark, and bits of awkwardness here and there that do not gel with her usual demeanor.
Despite her religious attire, Tsuru herself is merely spiritual, no longer religious - she recites the prayers of the Order by memory and certainly plays the part of the traveling priest, but seeing what happened to her homeland destroyed her faith in higher powers. Instead, she chooses to believe in humanity, perhaps more the concept than the race itself, recognizing the necessity for the strong to help the weak.
History: Even had her history not been consumed by Hell itself, the once-princess would have had little of interest to tell about it; all of the work and expectations that one might expect from her role were heaped upon her from dawn to dusk, with little else to hope for. She would be a princess, and perhaps one day, if she outperformed her siblings, she would be a queen. There was nothing else for her, not even an illusion of choice, and while outwardly she did what was expected of her, inwardly she despaired. She loved her country and its people, but never saw herself as being worthy of the throne, especially not over her siblings. As is perhaps the wont for a child, for a teenager, she dreamed of a world where she could be something else - anything - and roam the world freely.
She got her wish.
Cloistered within the imperial palace, Tsuru never heard more than ominous rumors and occasional glimpses of the aftermath of attacks until Hell itself washed over her world in a tide of tooth and claw and poison, Bariura consumed almost overnight by dark things that crawled from the shadows.
She escaped that night through the sacrifices of her retainers, bearing little but her blade and the clothes on her back, but Bariura did not - it became a cursed land, or perhaps it had always been and she simply had not known. There was nothing to save, and less reason to return to it, so she simply followed the example of refugees from all across Elibe, seeking refuge in the one place believed to be truly safe - Arcadia, the mythical city of legend, said to dwell among the clouds.
It was a place where no one cared who she was, where no one knew what Bariura had ever been or cared at all for its loss. Where all the problems that had consumed her life simply ceased to matter. Where she was just another sword-swinging idiot, same as all the rest, except even less important than them because at least they had more experience with real combat than her sparring matches of the past, and occasional dealings with certain of her siblings who had been... less concerned about her well being, or the occasional assassin to push her to her limits, doubtless courtesy of one of her 'loving' siblings.
And honestly? She liked it. It was jarring and overwhelming and huge and noisy and strange, but Arcadia was a place of opportunity, and adventuring was... well, it was a lot harder than she had expected, but otherwise everything she had hoped it would be. The freedom to finally - live, to go anywhere in Elibe she wanted as long as she had the strength and wit to survive it, was intoxicating.
But as she also quickly learned, her home had not been the first or only victim of tragedy. The causes of chaos varied wildly, from political upheaval to bandit attacks to would-be conquerors or monster attacks or sorcerous apocalypses, but stories like her own were as common as could be in Arcadia.
Combat: Tsuru could be termed a 'magic swordsman' of sorts, mixing technical swordsmanship that is well practiced, albeit not flawless, along with a combination of light magic from her blade and the ofuda she utilizes to enhance her offense, defense, and mobility. While the small strips of paper take time to prepare and drain magic to create so she can only forge small quantities of them, her own lack of aptitude for magic means they are her primary gateway to some of her more esoteric abilities.
