[Hider=Sue]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZQEzcgs.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/PNXP9wp.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/N5Mk4k8.png[/img][/center]


[color=#EBD805]Age:[/color]56
[color=#EBD805]Gender:[/color] Female
[color=#EBD805]Race:[/color] Human
[color=#EBD805]Motive[/color] Called in against her will, Sue is obligated to help the Emperor this one last time.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/mVww7u9.png[/img]
[color=#EBD805][h1]Personality[/h1][/color]
Sue is a self-made deplorable excuse for a human being. She has the social skills of a particularly sharp rock. Gruff and curt, she has very little to say about her company that tends to be positive and is all too quick to question, defy and argue with others. She does not like being told what to do. She does not work well with other people. She drinks herself into a state of tipsiness on the daily, smells bad, looks worse than she should and has absolutely no inclination to make any friends on this journey.

But as you come to observe this haggard woman for an extended period of time, this tough shell of poor manners and hard spirits seems to have its vulnerabilities. She often looks distant or morose, almost pensive in her expressions and muttering under her breath. She seems to curl in on herself when she is isolated from the rest of the party, looking fairly lost and upset over something as she regards the rest of the team apprehensively. Although she rarely has anything nice to say about her company, she always seems to come back and hover in the periphery of the group dynamic, attempting to add her mustard into the conversation without allowing people to become too comfortable around her.


[color=#EBD805][h1]Backstory[/h1][/color] 
Their names used to echo across the verdant fields and gloomy forests of the country. Lily, Arthur, Torakk, Elynn, and Lady Dia. 

[i][b]The Hounds of Eon[/b][/i]; a rag-tag group of adventurers, banded together under a common goal and given the Emperor’s blessing to rid the world of evil as they saw fit. Their reputation flowed through the rural trade routes and reverberated drunkenly through the taverns; it was whispered in titillation by the socialites in the cities, and mournfully wailed out in the slums. 

These adventurers were heroes in their purest form, for they gained enough wealth from their adventures into long-forgotten ruins and the dens of many monsters that they often shared their bounties with the townsfolk to rebuild their lives using the local craftsmen. They never sat still, for evil never rests; they let their actions speak for themselves and spent most of their time on the road singing, dancing, or performing parlour tricks. They inspired children and comforted the bereaved. 

Though their deeds did not spread across the entire continent, there's hardly a village near the capital that hasn't heard of the Hounds - even if it is just in passing. 

Nowadays, however, the mere mention of the Hounds is enough to bring some to tears, and others into stony-faced denial - for ten years ago, the Hounds of Eon mysteriously vanished. Nobody has heard of them since. This tale has little to do with the Hounds, and everything to do with their downfall; it is the story of Lady Susanne Diamenthia, the sole surviving member of the Hounds of Eon.

[hider=Full Backstory]Lady Diamenthia’s story is built on a lie. She is in no way a part of nobility, nor is her surname Diamenthia. In reality she was naught but a farrier’s daughter who inexplicably showed signs of magic from an early age, whereupon she was whisked away into the academy to undergo their rigorous training programme. She spent a fair portion of her life within those ivory halls, studying into the early hours of the morning and practicing until her nose bled from the exertion. Ever the perfectionist, her drive for constant self improvement gave her that well-needed edge in order to rise above her peers. The other benefit of joining the academy as a nobody was that she could completely re-write her life, taking on a new name of Miss Diamenthia in order to rub shoulders with the richer castes of magicians.

After around ten years of study, Miss Diamenthia decided to leave the academy before her skills surpassed that unknown threshold that brought a mage into the Templar Order of Arcanum. A socially awkward youth with a spell tome in hand was no easy mix with society and she found herself being belittled, teased and often reprimanded as she attempted to find work. At the time, she was still a bookish young girl, a fresh graduate from the academy with only a handful of coins to her name. Susanne was better received in the smaller towns, where her spells could be used for minor repairs and simple odd-jobs. She yearned for a change but was too afraid to initiate it.

It was around this time, during her early twenties, that Susanne met Arthur and Torakk en route to one of the villages near Cidanol. Though to call it a meeting would be a gross understatement, rather she felt Arthur’s body collide with the small of her back and send her sprawling onto her belly as they attempted to fend of a group of frenzied goblins. Impressed by the quick work Susanne made of them, Arthur offered her a position in their up-and-coming mercenary team. She tentatively accepted the offer.

Soon it became apparent that Arthur was by no means a mercenary (though Torakk could certainly pass off as one if he was not being held back by his close friend). He was, however, very selective on who was allowed to join this precious squad of fighters. It took them several years to find Lily, and the elusive ranger Elynn took a fair bit of persuading to convince to join them. Half of their time was spent repairing the damages to the villages that the monsters had caused, whilst the other half was fighting the beasts themselves. Susanne excelled in this combat-orientated lifestyle as it was what she was accustomed to from the academy, who often attempt to pressure their graduates into military service. What she was not expecting was the sudden rush of fame that came with their noble actions.

With it, Susanne could not help but weave her own story to match her reputation. She called herself a long lost noble, and though she initially pretended to be a disciple of Alidia, the goddess’ teachings started to rub off on her as she matured into a very skilled and incredibly deadly mage. Susanne thought herself the voice of reason within the group, who she found to be a little too idealistic in their plans. It had initially blossomed out of a growing concern for her friends’ safety. As time went on, these interventions began to become more and more self-centred; she wanted more fame and more glory for herself, as well as the wealth to continue upholding her lavish lies. She and Arthur often butted heads in conversations, only for Susanne to be placated by the level-headed Elynn. Lily, of course, actively attempted to spark the feud’s smouldering embers whenever she could manage. Torakk’s gentler soul always shone through when he stopped Arthur from doing things that he may come to regret.

As their fame and reputation grew, even the Empire itself started to take notice. They were sent personal missions from the Emperor and his family - top secret tasks that, whilst pressing, he did not wish to waste his templars on. Susanne finally got her chance to become a bit of a socialite herself, creating a network of nobility that she often conversed with. From time to time, she was even able to address the Emperor directly. Her greed began to level out at this point, where she was contented with how far she had gotten in life and worked hard to maintain her position instead of grabbing at the final dregs of power.

This is how it was for many years. Though they only officially took on the most formidable of tasks, they would stop at every village along the way - if time would accommodate for it - to help the locals. There was notably less camaraderie amongst the Hounds of Eon during those days as it was eclipsed by a grim determination to uphold their reputation. There were many people who depended on them now; people who were abandoned by the Empire’s forces and left at the mercy of all sorts of horrors. It was their job to keep those people safe. Years of constant battle chipped at their spirits. At long last, they began to become wary in their plans. Susanne was merely thinking ahead of her time - one by one, her friends joined her train of thought.

The Hounds accepted an odd request to travel westward, given to them by an unknown sender. As they had not approached the lands of the Fae in many months and Lily was becoming frail from her use of magic, they decided to take the route cautiously and help those along the way. Once they approached the Ebony Mountain, the Hounds were ambushed at its base. Susanne watched as her friends were picked off one by one. In those distraught and terrifying instants, she asked herself what was more important - her new family, or her own life.

She chose the latter.

As she limped piteously towards the western gate, Susanne felt the weight of her riches dragging at her heels. Her silk robes felt as scratchy and as distasteful as burlap; her makeup was cloying and thick on her features, mingling with the blood to make greasy red smudges across a face that was once renowned for its beauty. She felt her mind, so sharp and vivid, begin to turn on her. She tore off her garments, discarded her items in the ferns and leaves, sobbed and wailed in the cold until a trio of dumbstruck guards took her in and immediately notified the Emperor of what they had seen.

In the palace, Susanne made one final request - a deal with the Emperor himself, in person. She offered him everything - her fake title, her knowledge, all of her money and where it was kept, all of the favours she had once gathered from some very prominent figures in the estates of Dramon - all in return for her secrecy. She wished to be kept hidden from the world, made into a nobody once more. She was granted her wish - Susanne spent the past eight years near Southgate in a tiny fishing hamlet, living a largely self-sufficient life. Her biggest fear was not discovery, but her own mind - the self-same organ that brought her from humble beginnings into magical greatness - that had begun to collapse in on itself like a dying star, overladen with such vivid emotions and thoughts and patterns that it overlapped with the currents of arcane energy that coursed through her veins and swept through her body, through her senses like a white-water rapid. Were she still Lady Dia, she would have asked the finest alchemists to concoct a potion to cure her ailing mental state. She did not have the means anymore. She found that alcohol was a sufficient substitute, as it dulled her thoughts to a manageable degree.

Two weeks ago, Sue was betrayed. She had given the Emperor her knowledge, and he wanted to use it - he hired her as an advisor for a single mission. Trusting him, she made the trip to the palace - then regretted every moment afterwards.[/hider]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/mVww7u9.png[/img]

[color=#EBD805][h3][I]Magical abilities:[/I][/h3][/color] 
- Transmutation of organic material into inorganic material and vise versa with a great deal of precision
- Conjuration, from small inanimate objects to mid-sized mobile constructs, and with the right time and energy, living people from one place to her own position (though the latter would require reagents and a summoning circle)
- Evocation, from the smallest of arcane missiles to decently sized fissures of arcane energy that attack multiple targets

[color=#EBD805][h3][i]Combat abilities:[/i][/h3][/color]
Sword Mastery; she understands the technique but her age has made melee combat difficult.

[color=#EBD805][h3][i]”Artifact” of Dramoria:[/i][/h3][/color]
[u][b]Lady Diamenthia's Greatstaff:[/b][/u]
Made out of an unknown material and conjured up from arcane magic itself, this staff was once used by  Lady Diamenthia to spread her spells across a wider range. It is rumoured to have several other secrets locked away within it. The material has the appearance of a blue-grey metal but it is fluid, shifting and shattering and reconstructing itself depending on the wielder's mood. 

It possesses, to some extent, some sort of independent thought within and appears to be choosing to withhold its true power. It, too, may change its appearance depending on its own attitude.

Current Abilities:
- Range: Increases the range, but not the potency, of all spells casted by the owner.
- Fluidity: With a deft flick, this staff can be turned into a one-handed sword.
- Self-sufficiency: This staff can never be broken - it can be shattered, splashed onto various surfaces, crushed into slithers of metal and scattered across the winds but it invariably ends up back together again. The time it takes to fully repair depends on how far away the pieces are.

Future Abilities (In order of discovery):
- Loan: If asked politely, and with the owner's permission, the staff can perform the three above abilities when in the hands of selected players.
- Displacement: The staff can teleport itself to people it trusts.
- Communication: Short scenes can be documented by the staff (on command) and projected into the air when necessary.
TBC...[/Hider]