Asura

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Adelaide von Hresvelg

_{Interacting with: @McMolly @Scribe of Thoth @Hero | Location: Garreg Mach Monastery - Courtyard}

---

Adelaide offered only the slightest quirking of a brow in response to her betrothed's rebuttal. It was surely a bizarre way of voicing his belief, but perhaps conversation was not the man's strong suit. Or perhaps he was simply adept at shifting attention from his family's reputation for masterminding situations. Whether his presence was the result of politicking behind the scenes or honest-to-goodness chance, it mattered little. Fate was fate, and fate had dictated that he would be amongst her housemates for the remainder of the year. And as with most matters of fate, it would work to her advantage, one way or another. The princess withdrew her hand as he continued to mention the potential for 'networking'.

"It is a rare opportunity, indeed. Part of the advantage of Garreg Mach is the chance to mingle amidst nobility from both near and far. I am sure we will learn much from our foreign contemporaries."

The smile she flashed was one of agreement and reassurance. She certainly meant every word she said, of course, but the matters she desired to learn were perhaps a tad less than innocuous. If she were to rule over her subjects, they needed to know her, yes, but she also needed to know them. Who they were. How they felt. What they believed. The more she could discover about the men and women who would someday pay her fealty, the better she could function as their rightful sovereign. It went without saying that, as the head of the Black Eagles, she would dutifully acquaint herself with every one of them. But the Church's efforts to bring all the Houses closer together—to bring Fódlan closer together—allowed her to extend that reach all the farther. She could get to know the future rulers of Faerghus and Leicester. Their hopes. Their strengths.

And how best to best them, should the need arise. When the need arose.

"I do hope the disputes that afflict our neighbors do not bleed over into the school year too badly. It would be a shame to find themselves so fractured over matters of their sires. We should be grateful that Adrestia remains so unified, in comparison. No such strife is liable to trouble us."

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Adelaide von Hresvelg

_{Interacting with: @McMolly @Scribe of Thoth @Hero | Location: Garreg Mach Monastery - Courtyard}

---

Adelaide could not help but offer a soft chuckle at the mention of her uncle's disposition toward the romantic. She had not made herself a guest of his all that often, but it did not surprise her in the least that Ulrich von Vestra was one to discard the notion of romance as an unnecessary triviality. Her own father—his brother by blood—had a similar sternness regarding such distractions. Yet all the same, he found himself caught up in the whirlwind of courtship after years by her mother's side. Even the shadowy underhand that stalked the halls of the Imperial palace and silenced all opposition to the Hresvelg family had their more human moments. With any luck, a parting from the oppressive atmosphere of her father's estate would give Widolaic a chance to indulge in those, before duty recalled them both to the capital and plans needed to be made for the future to come.

If nothing else, she seemed willing to indulge in the moment.

"Interesting things? I do hope you do not mean forbidden things, Viddle. I do not wish to——"

It was unfair to say that Adelaide never let her guard down. Such a thing would prove more detrimental to her success than beneficial: occasional moments of rest and recreation were required to replenish one's vitality. But it was not something she allowed herself to engage in often. At the very least, not in public. It was a testament to her trust in her dear cousin that she had slackened enough for someone to get the drop on them, and perhaps a testament to that very cousin's dedication to her family's purpose that she was so swift to address the source of the disturbance. Regardless, the heiress of Hresvelg straightened up all the same, squaring her shoulders and assuming a most refined posture.

"Rudolf von Bergliez," Adelaide mouthed the name softly as she turned to face the boy, glancing across his features with cold blue eyes as if to place them in her memory, "I believe we have been acquainted."

It took a few moments for her to remember when. Which, itself, was quite impressive. Adelaide had, as a matter of principle, committed to memory the names and faces of the vassals with whom she had spoken. Unless they were truly so lowly as to never again pose a risk of meeting with her a second time, she cataloged them away in her mind, potential assets for the future to come. Rudolf von Bergliez, despite representing an asset of incredible value, cut a surprisingly unassuming presence, even in her mind's eye. His father, Otto von Bergliez, had always been a man of conviction and gravitas. There was little doubt in her mind that, under his command, the Imperial armies would have been a formidable foe to face. But like much of the Empire's old guard, he was no more. Instead, his son would be the one to strategize on behalf of her armies. Perhaps some would be disappointed by the comparison. Trading a grizzled old lion for his smaller, meeker cub.

Not Adelaide. There was little to fear from Rudolf von Bergliez. Whatever failings he may have had as a man, he would surely make up for them as a strategist and councilor. The Goddess had shown her that much. She offered the dark mage a warm, but politely composed smile, and raised her hand toward him such that he might do her the courtesy of kissing it in greeting, as befit a vassal to their sovereign.

"It puts me at ease to see you among our number, Rudolf. I do regret that we had precious little time to speak with one another during my investiture as crown princess. It is my sincerest hope that we might remedy that this year."

With any luck, she might even manage to instill some boldness in his otherwise timid spirit. What good was a ruler, in the end, who could not stoke the fires of valor in her followers? Not all of her vassals would need such tender care, however. That much was proven as her icy eyes followed the path of one such young man, toward her, then briefly towards a nearby assignment board, and then back towards her company. She could certainly put a name to that face.

"Fate can often put into motion fortuitous circumstances, Johann von Aegir, but I find myself somewhat skeptical that it is by chance alone that we find ourselves here," A rebuke that was just a tad harsh, but it would not do for her to simply accept their proximity as circumstance, and she offered him a disarming smile all the same, accompanied by a dainty hand, "Your presence is a comfort all the same."

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Adelaide von Hresvelg

_{Interacting with: @McMolly | Location: Garreg Mach Monastery - Courtyard}

---

Adelaide glanced thoughtfully across the courtyard, which grew all the busier as others began to filter their way from their classrooms out to whatever leisure awaited between education and prayer. An interesting little taste of what was to come. But it was not of potential recreation that her thoughts lingered. It seemed as though Widolaic had heard about as much about Johann von Aegir as she herself had. Not a surprising thing, considering her cousin's relative isolation from the greater Empire. All things considered, there were worse fates for a young maiden of noble blood. Some were married to tyrants and villains only interested in their dowries and the promise of a Crest-bearing lineage. Others found themselves engaged to men many years her senior. Even Adelaide herself had nearly faced such a fate, albeit a kinder one than the typical affair. Engel himself would be nearer to thirty than twenty-five by the time she came of age to properly wed him.

A man with a 'knight's heart' was an easier weight to bear, no matter how politely dressed a term it was. She could do worse than a consort who fancied himself a chivalrous sort. Even if he turned out to be a particularly pompous man, as those of his line tended to be, as long as he made up for his pride with valor and loyalty, all could be forgiven.

"I suppose I should consider myself lucky, then. I've always preferred honor to duplicity, and ego to cunning. It's far easier to keep a handle on an honest, arrogant man than it is the alternative," It all sounded a little cruel when stated out loud, but she was sure the pragmatism of her statement was not lost on someone of Vestra stock, "As long as he doesn't allow his pride to get in the way of my ambitions, I'm sure our match will at least be a tolerable affair."

That was a matter that would need to be handled as it came up, and not a moment sooner. Tilting her head so she could glimpse instead at her dark-eyed kinswoman, Adelaide offered the mage the smallest hint of a playful grin. It wouldn't do to just speak of her marital woes, of course. Others present had yet to set their romantic affairs in stone.

"What of you? You are to be a Marquise now, once my dear uncle has stepped down as head of the Vestra. Has he mentioned setting you up with any enterprising young gentlemen? Or should I expect to see you prowling the monastery's halls between classes like some sort of huntress?"

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Adelaide von Hresvelg

_{Interacting with: @McMolly | Location: Garreg Mach Monastery - Courtyard}

---

With such heavy expectations ahead of her, Adelaide took a moment to relish the hug she shared with her dear cousin. It was not as though she would have many such moments in the coming months, after all. When they parted, she couldn't help but flash a smile at the way Widolaic curtsied to her as if they were still in the halls of the Imperial Palace. How many more curtsies would she be subjected to before even the first day was over? More than she wanted, perhaps, but with any luck, just as many as were expected. Widolaic was family, and she could be given a pass for their familiarity, but not all those who would wear Adrestia's colors were so lucky. There was a line to be had, as a ruler, between how much one was loved and how much one was respected. Adelaide had every intention of being both in the heart of her subjects, but respect was the far quicker—and perhaps far more important—feeling to cultivate.

"We begin by making peace with the fact there is precious little time for all we wish to accomplish," That much was as true for the scant year spent at Garreg Mach as it was for life itself, "But acknowledging that we need to accomplish as much as possible all the same."

Her cousin was not wrong. The heiress certainly had come up with a plan of action on how she would approach the coming months. What great leader would not? But another terrible truth on the matter of planning was that no matter how diligently one planned, the future always had a way of shifting inscrutably this way and that. No plan survived first contact with the enemy.

Fortunately, her enemies were a matter of the future. In the present, her plans focused more on those who were all but assured to be called allies.

"I will need to make the rounds once we have been given some free time. Meet with those who will swear me fealty one day. I have it on good authority that this year's batch of Eagles has no shortage of future ministers, and the one who is not destined to lead a ministry is destined for my hand."

Adelaide had not put much consideration toward her own marriage. Not even when Engel was still among the living. It had not skipped her mind entirely, of course. Indeed, the diligence she had known toward her studies as a girl was in honor of the man who would one day call her his bride. But by the time she had a notion of what exactly a husband was, the matter had already been set in stone for her. There was no greater value, in her mind, in ruminating over it.

But then Engel von Hresvelg joined his brothers and sisters, and Adelaide was without an intended for the first time since she could toddle. There was talk here or there about who would step up and seize her hand, especially once the Emperor had officially adopted her as his lawful heir. The amount of scheming and hand-wringing behind the scenes must have been a terrible thing to behold. Something more the purview of her dear cousin than herself. But Widolaic had been... indisposed at the time, and a predictable candidate was put forward not so long before her seventeenth birthday.

"I do not suppose you are familiar with Johann von Aegir? I must confess, I know precious little of the man who would someday sire my children. I suppose that might explain his convenient presence at the monastery this year: his father has surely insisted he win my favor before the year is concluded."

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Adelaide von Hresvelg

_{Interacting with: @McMolly | Location: Garreg Mach Monastery - Courtyard}

---

What an exceedingly unpleasant man.

Such thoughts were not ones that Adelaide considered herself proud to have: after all, Tomai Malathice would be perhaps the singular most important member of Garreg Mach's faculty regarding her education for her stay with the Church. It was through him she would receive the dispatches from the powers that be, and the directives to hand down to her fellow students, who would inevitably look to her for leadership above all else. While the pleasantries of the court were not intrinsically linked to one's competency—and truly, his competency was all she was particularly concerned with—his dismissive nature was certain to eat away at the young heiress' patience sooner or later. Compared to the trials she had already faced, however, perhaps it was a small blessing that her only complaint thus far was the personability of a single educator.

The good professor's dismissal was sure to bring attention to her from those in attendance, and when she rose from her seat, the Empress-to-be offered a short bow of introduction toward her fellow Eagles before excusing herself to the courtyard, following what seemed to be the intended flow of things. Most of them would certainly find her on their own time, to greet their esteemed leader, and perhaps to curry some favor. Of that much, she could confidently say she looked forward. It was always a delight to see the ways different people would approach her, especially in the years after her declaration of inheritance. But it was not her eagerness for introductions to come that directed her stride as the crisp spring air welcomed her outside. It was a desire to reacquaint herself with an individual whom she already knew well enough.

Or, better said, knew as well as one could know.

"It has been far too long since we last met, dear cousin," Adelaide offered a genuine smile as she approached her older kinswoman, although they were not so far apart in age to engender too much formality, "I had heard you would be attending this year—a most fortuitous happening, and one I hope will set a trend for us. Especially given recent... setbacks."

The Vestra family were a secretive sort of folk. Their duties ensured that much. But even through the veils set up by that most shadowy underhand of the Adrestian Empire, enough information slipped through to a humble heiress. There was a time when she once had two young scions of the Vestra to call cousins. And now, for the machinations of her lordly uncle, she had but a single one. Her opinions on the matter were... mixed. Vex her though the nebulous matter did, there was one thing she was not unsure about.

"I am glad those setbacks have, all the same, seen you to me safely, Viddle."

Many students were beginning to mill about the courtyard, and yet despite their prying eyes, the future ruler of all Adrestia opened her arms all the same and beckoned inwards with delicate fingers such that she could share the smallest moment of warmth with her blood before others came to join their conversation.

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Adelaide von Hresvelg

_{"Heaven cannot brook two suns, nor Fódlan three masters."}

Name

Adelaide von Hresvelg

Age

Seventeen _{Born the 14th of Guardian Moon}

Country of Origin

The Adrestrian Empire

Social Standing

Crown Princess

Crest

Crest of Seiros
_{Adelaide's crest bestows her allies with supernatural prowess and vigor, significantly increasing their combative abilities, while weighing down those who oppose her in equal measure.}

Starting Class

Lord

Weapon of Choice

Sword

Strengths

Swords, Authority

Weaknesses

Bow, Flying

Personality

Adelaide is, first and foremost, a very bold young woman. She fearlessly embraces challenge and risk with an unmatched confidence in her abilities. This self-assurance follows her into all endeavors she commits herself to, a self-assurance that roots itself deeply in her faith in the Goddess. Victory, to her, is a simple matter of faith and perseverance. If she is to fail at a task, then she needs to merely learn from her mistakes and correct course. The confidence she radiates lends her a certain magnetism, and that magnetism is compounded by the wit inherent to her speech. To say she is outgoing would be an understatement: Adelaide makes it a point to leave those with whom she speaks feeling better about themselves than when she first found them. At least, those she wishes to endear with her charms. Woe be to those who would earn her ire, for the venom on her tongue is sure to be as potent as her honeyed words.

The concept of excellence is something inherently important to Adelaide. She strives for excellence in all that she does and expects the same of those around her. Her belief is that conflict—though so often seen as negative and brutish—is the crucible through which greatness is forged. As such, she is a great fan of competition and games, understanding that only by facing challenges levied by one's peers can a person grow to be the greater of those very peers. Fittingly, her work ethic borders on the overzealous, and it is a rare sight to see her indulging in things that do not bring her even a half-step closer to the grandiose destiny she has formed the core of her life around.

History

The firstborn daughter of a lesser branch of the esteemed Hresvelg family, for much of young Adelaide's life, she found herself caught in a strange cross-section of Imperial life. Her lineage separated from the main branch nearly one hundred years ago, when the eldest son of Emperor Ludolf II, Adelbert von Hresvelg, was passed over for the crown in favor of his younger brother, the future Emperor Henrik I. Both brothers had been blessed by the Goddess to bear the Crest of Seiros, as all Emperors before them had done. Despite his ambition and valor, Adelbert's crest proved weaker than that of his younger brother and was thus rewarded not with dominion over all of Adrestia, but instead with a suitable bride of the Bergliez family, with which to carry on his lineage. It was often said that Adelbert seethed over the loss of his birthright, and his dark moods were known to haunt the halls of the Imperial Palace throughout the reign of his brother. However heavy the weight of the loss was, however, it did not stop Adelbert from being fruitful. He fathered seven children with his wife over the years, of whom the youngest of which happened to be Adelaide's mother, Matilda.

Perhaps to punish him for his hubris, of the seven children that bore his name, only Matilda had inherited the Crest which marked the Hresvelg family as the rightful rulers of Adrestia. And like Adelbert, her Crest was marred by its potency, a minor blessing unfit to contest the main line. It was enough to secure her continued use of the Imperial name, however, and in the waning years of her uncle's reign, Matilda married a young officer of the Imperial Guard to whom she had grown close. Adelaide, named for her grandfather, was born shortly thereafter. An auspicious birth indeed, as would later be discovered when the Bishopric of Enbarr put their Hanneman machine to use on the newborn girl. For the first time since their divergence from the main Imperial line, her family had produced a full-blooded Crest of Seiros.

Such news might have been even more welcome in the earlier days of their existence. However, the reigning Emperor, Anselm VI, had few issues of succession. His own eldest had been blessed much the same as Adelaide, and the succession was unlikely to be challenged. Her grandfather, himself nearing the end of his life, used what favor he still held in the Imperial court to arrange a match between the prize of his lineage and the main line: when she came of age, Adelaide would be wed to Engel von Hresvelg, her second cousin and the future Emperor of Adrestia, such that the future of both branches would be all the brighter for their union.

Such a legacy loomed heavy over Adelaide as she grew. It was all but assured that she would one day sit at the head of the mightiest Empire Fódlan had ever known, albeit at the side of her husband as a consort to the throne. It would not do for a consort of the Hresvelg line to be anything less than perfect, however, and so from her earliest days, Adelaide was drilled in all matters of noble endeavor. She trained in the yard with her knightly father in the mornings, practicing sword and lance and horse, reading history and philosophy in the afternoons, and learning courtesy and kindness at her mother's knee in the nights. It was a difficult regime, one that some might have been forgiven for coming to despise. Not Adelaide, however. Even as a child, she met the challenges with eagerness and vigor. One day, she would wed an Emperor, after all. It would not do for her to be a simple page in her husband's history book. She would be just as exalted as he.

But the fates had something else in mind for dear Adelaide. She was just a girl of six when whispers of plague in the far-flung provinces of the Empire began circulating the court. By the time she was ten, it had managed to reach as far as the capital, and once it made its way into the palace itself, not even the Emperor's children were spared. One, then two, then three and four. The disease had taken four of the seven scions of Emperor Anselm, and not long after the youngest took their final breath, Adelaide's intended could handle no more grief and took his own life before their match could be officiated. She had been a girl of thirteen at the time, and with much of her future seeming to fade away with the dying embers of the Empire she had sought to one day preside over, for the first time in her life, the incessant drive to do more seemed to fade.

It was shortly after falling into such doldrums that her fate took another turn. She had been fortunate enough to avoid the plague until that point, in part due to the diligence of her father and his kinsmen. But shortly after her fourteenth birthday, despair turned to delirium, as fever and chills brought her low and confined her to a sickbed that had become the deathbed for so many of her relatives. It was in the throes of this terrible suffering that perhaps the single most pivotal moment of her life took place. It was during this time that she was graced by the warmth of the Goddess.

Though she could scarcely awaken long enough to see the face of her mother, the face of Sothis was as clear to her as the summer skies. The Goddess spoke to her and showed her things she could only have imagined in her wildest dreams: a proud and unified Fódlan. A prosperous continent, free from the nightmares of plague and infighting and treachery all. A Fódlan that thrived under the banner of Adrestia, as it had been in the time of Lycaon I. And it was no great Emperor of the future that brought such a glorious thing to life, but instead Adelaide herself. It was not some sweet dream, but a vision of what was to come. A destiny that needed to be fulfilled. The plague which had ravaged her would not take her life, Adelaide understood. It could not. For the Goddess had chosen her to bring Adrestia—and by extension, all of Fódlan—into a new golden age.

Some days after such reverent visions, Adelaide's fever suddenly broke, and she rose from her bed to the desperate relief of her mother and father. A relief that swiftly turned to exasperation, as the young girl immediately requested she be brought to her remaining tutors. A grand destiny awaited her, after all, and she only had so many years to prepare for it to unfold.

Any doubts about the validity of her visions were put to rest in the days following her recovery. When it was made clear that she suffered no lasting consequences from her foray with death itself, an order from the Imperial throne itself came down. With the death of Crown Prince Engel, his betrothed would assume his place as heir to the Empire, officially adopted into the mainline as the true born daughter of the House Hresvelg. Since she was old enough to want anything at all, she had thrown herself selflessly into the pursuit of greatness in the name of the throne. A throne that would be hers by the end of the decade. The years that followed were much as the ones that preceded them, with Adelaide throwing herself into her studies with a renewed zeal that few could hope to match.

In acknowledgment of her inheritance, an invitation to the officer's academy at Garreg Mach arrived in the wake of Adelaide's seventeenth birthday. A focal point for many of the future leaders of Fódlan, Adelaide was eager to accept. Where better could a woman who meant to rule the continent spend the waning years of her youth? There, she could learn from the very best minds the Church could offer, win the favor of her future vassals, and perhaps most importantly, determine who would be the greatest threats to the divinely ordained fate that lay ahead of her. In the name of the Goddess, she embarked just in time for the beginning of the school year.

Trivia

• Standing at just over five feet eight inches tall, Adelaide is rather tall for a woman of Adrestian stock. Her height has a tendency to be exaggerated by the regal bearing with which she carries herself.
• Adelaide's favorite food is Hasenpfeffer, or Pickled Rabbit Stew, to the less cultured members of Fódlan's nobility. She has a soft spot for most all foods steeped in vinegar, however.
• Despite being trained in most weapons, Adelaide has always favored the sword for its heroic connotations, believing it to be the weapon of Heroes and Kings alike. She is intensely interested in swordplay, and has been schooled in multiple Adrestian fencing styles.
• Contrary to her hawkish tendencies, Adelaide is a lover of the arts. Song and dance, in particular, have always been passions of hers, and she believes that any noble worth their title should be well-versed in classic ballroom dancing.

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Adelaide von Hresvelg

_{"Heaven cannot brook two suns, nor Fódlan three masters."}

Name

Adelaide von Hresvelg

Age

Seventeen _{Born the 14th of Guardian Moon}

Country of Origin

The Adrestrian Empire

Social Standing

Crown Princess

Crest

Crest of Seiros
_{Adelaide's crest bestows her allies with supernatural prowess and vigor, significantly increasing their combative abilities, while weighing down those who oppose her in equal measure.}

Starting Class

Lord

Weapon of Choice

Sword

Strengths

Swords, Authority

Weaknesses

Bow, Flying

Personality

Adelaide is, first and foremost, a very bold young woman. She fearlessly embraces challenge and risk with an unmatched confidence in her abilities. This self-assurance follows her into all endeavors she commits herself to, a self-assurance that roots itself deeply in her faith in the Goddess. Victory, to her, is a simple matter of faith and perseverance. If she is to fail at a task, then she needs to merely learn from her mistakes and correct course. The confidence she radiates lends her a certain magnetism, and that magnetism is compounded by the wit inherent to her speech. To say she is outgoing would be an understatement: Adelaide makes it a point to leave those with whom she speaks feeling better about themselves than when she first found them. At least, those she wishes to endear with her charms. Woe be to those who would earn her ire, for the venom on her tongue is sure to be as potent as her honeyed words.

The concept of excellence is something inherently important to Adelaide. She strives for excellence in all that she does and expects the same of those around her. Her belief is that conflict—though so often seen as negative and brutish—is the crucible through which greatness is forged. As such, she is a great fan of competition and games, understanding that only by facing challenges levied by one's peers can a person grow to be the greater of those very peers. Fittingly, her work ethic borders on the overzealous, and it is a rare sight to see her indulging in things that do not bring her even a half-step closer to the grandiose destiny she has formed the core of her life around.

History

The firstborn daughter of a lesser branch of the esteemed Hresvelg family, for much of young Adelaide's life, she found herself caught in a strange cross-section of Imperial life. Her lineage separated from the main branch nearly one hundred years ago, when the eldest son of Emperor Ludolf II, Adelbert von Hresvelg, was passed over for the crown in favor of his younger brother, the future Emperor Henrik I. Both brothers had been blessed by the Goddess to bear the Crest of Seiros, as all Emperors before them had done. Despite his ambition and valor, Adelbert's crest proved weaker than that of his younger brother and was thus rewarded not with dominion over all of Adrestia, but instead with a suitable bride of the Bergliez family, with which to carry on his lineage. It was often said that Adelbert seethed over the loss of his birthright, and his dark moods were known to haunt the halls of the Imperial Palace throughout the reign of his brother. However heavy the weight of the loss was, however, it did not stop Adelbert from being fruitful. He fathered seven children with his wife over the years, of whom the youngest of which happened to be Adelaide's mother, Matilda.

Perhaps to punish him for his hubris, of the seven children that bore his name, only Matilda had inherited the Crest which marked the Hresvelg family as the rightful rulers of Adrestia. And like Adelbert, her Crest was marred by its potency, a minor blessing unfit to contest the main line. It was enough to secure her continued use of the Imperial name, however, and in the waning years of her uncle's reign, Matilda married a young officer of the Imperial Guard to whom she had grown close. Adelaide, named for her grandfather, was born shortly thereafter. An auspicious birth indeed, as would later be discovered when the Bishopric of Enbarr put their Hanneman machine to use on the newborn girl. For the first time since their divergence from the main Imperial line, her family had produced a full-blooded Crest of Seiros.

Such news might have been even more welcome in the earlier days of their existence. However, the reigning Emperor, Anselm VI, had few issues of succession. His own eldest had been blessed much the same as Adelaide, and the succession was unlikely to be challenged. Her grandfather, himself nearing the end of his life, used what favor he still held in the Imperial court to arrange a match between the prize of his lineage and the main line: when she came of age, Adelaide would be wed to Engel von Hresvelg, her second cousin and the future Emperor of Adrestia, such that the future of both branches would be all the brighter for their union.

Such a legacy loomed heavy over Adelaide as she grew. It was all but assured that she would one day sit at the head of the mightiest Empire Fódlan had ever known, albeit at the side of her husband as a consort to the throne. It would not do for a consort of the Hresvelg line to be anything less than perfect, however, and so from her earliest days, Adelaide was drilled in all matters of noble endeavor. She trained in the yard with her knightly father in the mornings, practicing sword and lance and horse, reading history and philosophy in the afternoons, and learning courtesy and kindness at her mother's knee in the nights. It was a difficult regime, one that some might have been forgiven for coming to despise. Not Adelaide, however. Even as a child, she met the challenges with eagerness and vigor. One day, she would wed an Emperor, after all. It would not do for her to be a simple page in her husband's history book. She would be just as exalted as he.

But the fates had something else in mind for dear Adelaide. She was just a girl of six when whispers of plague in the far-flung provinces of the Empire began circulating the court. By the time she was ten, it had managed to reach as far as the capital, and once it made its way into the palace itself, not even the Emperor's children were spared. One, then two, then three and four. The disease had taken four of the seven scions of Emperor Anselm, and not long after the youngest took their final breath, Adelaide's intended could handle no more grief and took his own life before their match could be officiated. She had been a girl of thirteen at the time, and with much of her future seeming to fade away with the dying embers of the Empire she had sought to one day preside over, for the first time in her life, the incessant drive to do more seemed to fade.

It was shortly after falling into such doldrums that her fate took another turn. She had been fortunate enough to avoid the plague until that point, in part due to the diligence of her father and his kinsmen. But shortly after her fourteenth birthday, despair turned to delirium, as fever and chills brought her low and confined her to a sickbed that had become the deathbed for so many of her relatives. It was in the throes of this terrible suffering that perhaps the single most pivotal moment of her life took place. It was during this time that she was graced by the warmth of the Goddess.

Though she could scarcely awaken long enough to see the face of her mother, the face of Sothis was as clear to her as the summer skies. The Goddess spoke to her and showed her things she could only have imagined in her wildest dreams: a proud and unified Fódlan. A prosperous continent, free from the nightmares of plague and infighting and treachery all. A Fódlan that thrived under the banner of Adrestia, as it had been in the time of Lycaon I. And it was no great Emperor of the future that brought such a glorious thing to life, but instead Adelaide herself. It was not some sweet dream, but a vision of what was to come. A destiny that needed to be fulfilled. The plague which had ravaged her would not take her life, Adelaide understood. It could not. For the Goddess had chosen her to bring Adrestia—and by extension, all of Fódlan—into a new golden age.

Some days after such reverent visions, Adelaide's fever suddenly broke, and she rose from her bed to the desperate relief of her mother and father. A relief that swiftly turned to exasperation, as the young girl immediately requested she be brought to her remaining tutors. A grand destiny awaited her, after all, and she only had so many years to prepare for it to unfold.

Any doubts about the validity of her visions were put to rest in the days following her recovery. When it was made clear that she suffered no lasting consequences from her foray with death itself, an order from the Imperial throne itself came down. With the death of Crown Prince Engel, his betrothed would assume his place as heir to the Empire, officially adopted into the mainline as the true born daughter of the House Hresvelg. Since she was old enough to want anything at all, she had thrown herself selflessly into the pursuit of greatness in the name of the throne. A throne that would be hers by the end of the decade. The years that followed were much as the ones that preceded them, with Adelaide throwing herself into her studies with a renewed zeal that few could hope to match.

In acknowledgment of her inheritance, an invitation to the officer's academy at Garreg Mach arrived in the wake of Adelaide's seventeenth birthday. A focal point for many of the future leaders of Fódlan, Adelaide was eager to accept. Where better could a woman who meant to rule the continent spend the waning years of her youth? There, she could learn from the very best minds the Church could offer, win the favor of her future vassals, and perhaps most importantly, determine who would be the greatest threats to the divinely ordained fate that lay ahead of her. In the name of the Goddess, she embarked just in time for the beginning of the school year.

Trivia

• Standing at just over five feet eight inches tall, Adelaide is rather tall for a woman of Adrestian stock. Her height has a tendency to be exaggerated by the regal bearing with which she carries herself.
• Adelaide's favorite food is Hasenpfeffer, or Pickled Rabbit Stew, to the less cultured members of Fódlan's nobility. She has a soft spot for most all foods steeped in vinegar, however.
• Despite being trained in most weapons, Adelaide has always favored the sword for its heroic connotations, believing it to be the weapon of Heroes and Kings alike. She is intensely interested in swordplay, and has been schooled in multiple Adrestian fencing styles.
• Contrary to her hawkish tendencies, Adelaide is a lover of the arts. Song and dance, in particular, have always been passions of hers, and she believes that any noble worth their title should be well-versed in classic ballroom dancing.

Fading Memory's System Interests

I'd love to try Household. :)

Fading Memory's System Interests

C'mon, dude, it's so frickin' cool, dude, you can be an orc or an elf with robot arms and a motorcycle and...

Avatar: The White Jade Gambit

There were times when Tianshi wished that he was a more patient man. Perhaps it was for the best that he was not. A more patient man would have never left the temples behind, believing change could come from within the withering Earth Kingdom.

For what patience he lacked, it was clear enough that many of those present found themselves in ever greater scarcity of the precious virtue. Were it so simple that he could explain to the young woman the folly of her ways—that he could explain to them all the folly of their ways—then the war itself might have been halted before it started. But the people of the Earth Kingdom were the stalwart type. Their views were as difficult to uproot as the very ground itself.

Not that there was any lack of trying on that front. The sudden arrival of a gust of air surprised him, for such a feat was only truly possible for one of his kin. Yet all the same, when his dark hues cut across the impromptu battlefield, all he saw was a strangely dressed young man with a fiery hostility in his eyes. That sort of look was as foreign to a nomad as the action that followed, and the towering monk's eyes as he thrust his staff forward to loose a swift blast of air which connected with the intervening bender's strike with an explosive 'crack'.

For one of his people to throw an attack of such force against an unsuspecting opponent was already ridiculous enough. The tirade that followed only baffled Tianshi the more. His mien shifted from severe to incredulous for a time, and a thousand words played at his lips. Who was this young man? Who was he to speak with such disdain for the nomads whilst considering himself a contemporary? The boy could airbend, that much was not in question, and yet how could somebody who so readily spoke with pride at the notion of 'sides' in a conflict consider himself an airbender?

A more damning question to ask, perhaps, was how much good would refuting his points do?

The young woman who had kicked oil into the metaphorical fire certainly cared little for his preaching, and already she was off in search of her fellow 'rebels' in what was looking to become quite a skirmish. Shortsighted as he was prideful, the Earth Kingdom commander seemed to have locked his horns with the notion that both he and the newcomer had no right to oppose their authority. The earth itself seemed to quake beneath Tianshi's feet, as the ground grew into a tomb to encase those who remained. At the same time, it seemed the waterbender whom he had earlier dispatched returned to take up arms with the other airbender; a vexing state of affairs.

"I share allegiance with no aggressor. My 'side' is my own."

A quick puff of air saw the hulking monk take to the air with uncanny grace, his toes just barely gracing the lip of the growing barricade before another carried him further into the air and backward beside. The roof of a nearby shop facing the waterfront made for a convenient perch in the heartbeat it took him to decide his next plan of action: he had intervened in this conflict to try and divert attention away from the fishery. It was inevitable that the Earth Kingdom soldiers would circle back around to pillage through it in search of more 'convicts'.

What is past is left behind.
The future is as yet unreached.

The wisdom of the sutras carried him forward. There was no point in lamenting what was, or agonizing over what will be. Only in doing what could be. If the remaining soldiers were to capture an airbender, then he would see that their duty carried them away from the wharves as a whole. Thick arms braced along the length of his staff, and as the soldiers pivoted to face him, Tianshi leaped once more into the sky, this time cutting through the air in a wide, sweeping stroke. The wind that collected along his precious glider took flight in the way of a long, blunt wave of wind that served to knock all four of the soldiers from the root of their stances and onto their backs. In the moments they found their footing again, so too did Tianshi, landing along the footpaths leading off in the direction of the others.

He stared them down only for a moment, as if challenging them to come after him, and then with an unnaturally quickness, turned heel and began a hurried retreat farther into town.