[b]Name:[/b] Helga “Yanhua” Tristis 
[b]Age:[/b] 26 
[b]Appearance:[/b]
A woman who stands at only a meagre 5’3 but demands as much respect as her taller comrades, she is not one easily lost in the crowd. Once chocolate hair has been bleached beyond recognition, a startling white now in its place that runs down her small frame to her waist and frames her face with sharp bangs. Hazel eyes sit in her delicate face, seeming small in contrast to their oval setting but inside they are hard with determination. At her lithe neck sits a necklace of six beads, seemingly innocent against the black fabric but closer inspection reveals these red beads are nearly alive, humming with energy and warm to the touch. These six large beads are used as a power reserve, holding six “charges” as Yanhua enjoys calling them, when filled they hum and their orange-red color seems freshly painted; when depleted they appear to be ancient & dull, with small cracks running along them seeming to dare to break at the smallest breath drawn upon them. Over her small frame she wears an ebony dress, high collar wrapping around her ivory neck with the crimson red as her backdrop. Ruby embroidery shines against the black of her silken dress, flowers dance upon themselves into a twisting array turning into a blaze of flames at the hem. Though her dress gives little decency, her arms exposed when her beloved shawl is not draped upon them, the fabric barely reaching her mid-thigh she has enough mind to wear ivory tights underneath. Her appearance is not complete without her signature shawl, thick black fabric layering upon her skin; its purpose to hide her visible shame, remnants of burns marry her flesh twisting like her flowers up her arms and flow across her body, hidden by fabric at any turn. 

[b]Biography:[/b]
Helga, as she was called upon her birth was born to the house of Tristis; the eldest child and only daughter of her parents. Though called a house they held no power outside their city, only within the walls of this flourishing port town their name meant anything. Still though the family held little real power, their endeavors only making their pockets deep. Helga’s childhood was not “normal”, her magical abilities presented themselves early and have shaped her life forever since. Her mother, terrified of her own daughter left Helga to her power hungry father – having a mage in the family seemed too good an opportunity to pass up, no matter how startling the flames that Helga seemed so in tuned with danced about. Her father planned everything from the moment her power presented itself and at the age of six was sent abroad, to board and study and to tame her power; her father hoping that when she returned she could land them straight into the king’s court, as the royal mage. 
Arriving in a strange country, where she knew nothing, had no one else and did not speak the language left a scar of hatred for the abandonment but shaped her into an independent creature. Finding the only familiar thing in her wake to be her own gift, she accepted her lessons whole heartedly even if she could not completely understand. Her first several years at the school showed progress but she did not seem as gifted as her peers, this jealously continued to fuel her problem; spells of destruction where what she seemed to flourish, jealous & rage becoming her strongest emotions and in the end her allies. Helga was held back for several years, a private tutor arranged for her every day after formal classes, though this left her feeling inadequate her tutor, Master Bian as she calls him, showed her the beauty of her own talents and began to call her “Yanhua”. Still though, she struggled with magic. 

In her sixteenth year, Yanhua became a star pupil, though in general her magic was average that year her classes featured battle magic as well as tournaments. These tournaments would lead to teaching an important lesson: Carelessness will be the end of you. The scars that litter her body, hidden mostly by her clothing, are of her own doing. 
In her early twenties, Yanhua was congratulated on becoming a full-fledged mage however she did not board the first ship home to announce to her family her prowess in her unearthly arts. Her blood family had barely crossed her mind, holding no ties in Alcea and seeing no reason to stoop down to kissing a king’s shoes, she stayed put and continued to excel in her school going from pupil to scholar. However this lasted not, as though Master Bian loved her dearly, he did not hold the power to keep an incident from kicking her out of the institution. At the age of 24, Yanhua found herself upon a boat to Alcea, fleeing humiliation and coming to embrace what her father had waited over a decade for. Upon her arrival she discovered her family’s city in disarray, her family stripped of its little power and its wallets dry. The opportunity to gain power, for her family and herself had slipped through her fingers as now the sorcerer Janoff sat upon the throne. 

Somehow, without even fully comprehending it, Yanhua ended her first week back in Alcea with the blackened bodies of guards and blood on her hands. Named a criminal, her head was wanted for the murder of men of the king. Her family ran, fleeing to Illene while Yanhua found herself in the hands of the resistance.
Two years later, she still stands among them, wanting to bring back the Alcea of her young childhood. Though in truth, she has nothing else to do and nothing to lose – her life is to the queen and future king now. 

[b]Skills: [/b]
Obviously Yanhua prides herself upon her magic and it is really her only skill. Pyromancy is her gift but other magics of non-destructive powers are in her arsenal however there are not as easily used as her pyromancy and require more time. No matter what magic she uses it requires time to “charge”, to gather the spell within her, the power of the spell co-relates to how much it must charge. Though Yanhua can store spells for a period of time within her, her small frame does not take well to it and therefor she is often left having to hang back between them. To complicate matters, she has a natural small supply of essence considering her powers. She has overcome this by storing essence in her necklace, enough for six minor spells or one or two more powerful ones. Should be noted that these “charges” of essence still need time to form into an actual spell, it simply allows her to fire off more within a given time without causing her exhaustion or worse unconsciousness. 

[b]Something else?: [/b]
Her greatest fear is losing her magic, whether completely or even control of it, the thoughts terrify her. Magic is the only thing she has had in her life that has never left her, no matter what she can rely on it. The incidents of her magic going out of uncontrolled are the stuff of nightmares for her, and deep shame. 
She hasn’t ever been one with many, if any, friends and within the resistance there has been individuals who have shamed her for her otherworldly gifts, believing her to be a demon or even in alliance with Janoff. 
Lastly, she hates her name of Helga to the point few know that it is her birth name – most know her simply as Yanhua. 
She has three younger brothers, who she has had near no contact with in her life.