Cello — Roleplayer Guild

Mages beware

Joan Quartz
♦ The First Blade ♦


"I am a tool to be used as others see fit. Nothing more, nothing less."


Character Theme |Aruarian Dance

Joan is a very unique individual to describe. Her physical appearance is often masqueraded or disguised to fit her line of work. What people do know of her based on appearances is that she appears rather small and frail looking compared to some of the other valiant Knights who serve in the Kingsguard. Looking at such a petite figure, one would never guess that she was their commander. Her long, golden hair is tied into a messy braid that falls down to her hips. No one truly knows what her face looks like, since it is always hidden behind a porcelain mask. The mask is believed to be attached to some form of headpiece, with fabric wrapped around it. She wears a unique leather armor, with dark blue fabric interwoven into it. Black leather gloves cover her hands, and a matching pair of boots sit on her feet. Overall, Joan's small stature makes her appear quite a weak foe, a fact she uses to her advantage to quickly dispatch those foolish enough to underestimate her.
Family Name | Quartz
Maiden Name | Quartz
Given Name(s) | Joan
Title/Alias | Commander of the Kingsguard, The First Blade, The Faceless
Gender | Female
Age | 43
Sexuality | Asexual

Alignment | Light
Race | Human Rogue
Likes | The scent of lavender, Feeling Useful, Music
Dislikes | Mages, Independence, Conversation

Personality | Joan's cold shoulder and silent gaze make her quite an intimidating and hard to approach person. She's not a rude person by any means, but she's just socially inept. Joan grew up as a child soldier of another country, so she was taught from a young age that she had no purpose in life outside of fulfilling the task that was given to her. She was never given the freedom to make her own choices in life and find her own purpose. As such she has developed a burning desire to be useful, and is constantly afraid that she isn't good enough. She knows no life outside of being used as a weapon, and the thought of deciding her own fate terrifies her. She hides all of this behind a facade, a mask similar to the one she wears to hide her identity. Joan knows that as commander of the Kingsguard she must remain resolute and strong.

Joan's way of fighting is often looked down upon by knights. She follows no code of honor or glory and uses every tool at her disposal to win. She's not fighting to be a hero to the people; she fights because she is told to win. In a way, this makes her the perfect person to lead the Kingsguard. For who better to protect the Royal Family than a person with no ambition or goals of their own. A person who lives as a tool to be used. A warrior who abandons all sense of morality to complete the assignment given to her. This is everything Joan is, a cold facade of power masking a girl so afraid of being abandoned that she would rather be a puppet than a person.

Primary Weapon | Golden Thanatos, a curved sword that shines with a brilliant golden blade. The blade is enchanted so that wounds inflicted by the blade cannot be healed with magic. The blade also has the power to cut through magic, allowing Joan to negate spells such as barriers, enchantments and wards. This also means that the Golden Thanatos is an effective weapon for dispatching undead warriors; as a few cuts is enough to relinquish the magical power inside of them that brought them back to life.
Secondary Weapon | Black Thanatos, A dagger with a serrated edge resembling a spine. The unique shape causes wounds inflicted by the blade to bleed heavily, even from scratches. Additionally, Black Thanatos is enchanted to leave behind a magical mark on the skin of anything it cuts. When Joan's opponent tries to cast a spell, these marks flare with intense bursts of pain to distract their concentration and further injure them. There isn't a limit to the number of marks Joan can inflict, and each mark significantly increases the pain felt when a spell is cast.
Additional Weapons | Joan carries around a set of 10 poison laced throwing daggers that are hidden across her body. She also keeps deadly sharp needles attached to her wrist for easy deployment.
Notable ArmorPorcelain Mask | A Porcelain mask depicting a large, third eye on the forehead. The mask is quite old, sporting several cracks and blood stains.


Abilities
Indomitable Will | Joan cannot use any form of magic, but she is quite well versed in dealing with magical opponents. While not completely immune to the effects, Joan is very adept at noticing when magic has been used and where it is coming from. This allows her to see through illusions and resist magical persuasions invading her mind a lot more effectively than most.
Stealth | While not a form of magic, Joan seems to possess the ability to completely hide her presence. This is very useful for her espionage work.


Talents
Dual Wielding Master | Joan is very skilled in fighting without a shield and using dual weapons for offense and defense when necessary.
Agility | Without heavy armor or shields to weigh her down, Joan is quite nimble and flexible when she fights. She is able to maneuver in ways that catch opponents off guard and strike in powerful flurries with her blades.
Tactical Espionage | Everything from extracting important information, to assassinating a high priority target. Joan is a competent spy able to fulfill her objective without anyone realising it's her.
Anti-Mage | Thanks to her weapons and natural affinity against magic, Joan is somewhat of a specialist for dealing with powerful mages whose effectiveness is significantly hindered when fighting her

Biography | In another Kingdom, ravaged by war and death, Joan's life was decided from the moment she was born. With the need for soldiers growing, the kingdom decided that any children born would be raised as warriors to serve the needs of their King. These children quickly became known as The Faceless; soldiers who fought with no other desire than to fulfill their task. Joan was conditioned to believe that she was nothing more than a bringer of death since she was a child. She never questioned this, since that was just how things were done in her Kingdom. She knew no better. When she was old enough, they put a sword in her hand and began her combat training. It was hard at first, being only a child. However with time, Joan and the other children were slowly starting to become adept fighters.

Joan always wanted to appease her masters, so she tirelessly worked on improving her skills as a warrior so that she would be recognised. Even though she knew she was nothing more than a weapon, she so desired for her efforts to be approved of. At the age of eight, Joan was strong enough to beat all the other Faceless Ones in sparring matches. Her triumph was rewarded, and she moved on to the next stage of her training. There was a lot more to learn about being a Faceless One than just how to use a sword. Under the wing of a master spy, Joan learnt about the ways of the assassin, espionage and gathering information. She studied poisons, the human body and the art of disguise. It wasn't until she was fourteen, that Joan was able to put everything she had been taught together. By no means an expert at such a young age, Joan's first assignment was a simple one. To assassinate a minor lord with unloyal men who only served him out of necessity. Joan posed as a fresh new assistant to the chef, easily fooling the guards as she eagerly brought the lord his supper. Joan had tampered with the meal, using a very bland and slow acting poison. The poison was rather simple and easy to detect by scent and texture, but the food taster was lazy and didn't particularly care for his job. That night Joan slipped away from the lords manor, and two days later he died from the poison.

This was the first of many assignments, and they quickly became more and more challenging as Joan's skills improved. Not every target would be as easy as the first, and some assignments were so tough that Joan had to bail on them before being found out; only to return months later with a new, more solid plan. The Faceless quickly became a force to be reckoned with, with Joan as their most renowned assassin.

When the war ended, the King emerged victorious. Joan thought that she would continue to act as the King's weapon, but instead she was locked away to be sold to the highest bidder. The King only wished to keep the male Faceless, selling Joan and her female companions to a slave trader. This man took Joan across the sea to the kingdom of Celakor where she was sold to another Lord. The foul man had no intention to use Joan as a weapon, but he tried to use her in other ways. He forced himself onto Joan. Scared and uncertain, Joan's body acted on instinct as she had always been taught to. Without much effort, Joan broke her masters neck without a second thought. Caught in the act, Joan was brought before the late King of Celakor for judgement. She was to be sentenced to death by combat against four skilled knights. The odds against her, Joan shocked the King with her fighting prowess when she made short work of all four men.

Even despite being a woman, the King could not deny that Joan was a skilled fighter. She was enlisted as part of the King's army, but was to be guarded by members of the Kingsguard at all times. The King didn't trust her, since she had killed her last master, but he desired her power on his side. Years passed, and Joan found herself quite content with her life in Celakor. The King made good use of her skills to achieve whatever he desired. Even if he sent her on questionable assignments, Joan was just happy that someone was making use of her. Eventually Joan managed to prove her loyalty, and she was admitted into the Kingsguard. This came to be a decision that the late King would never regret.

Joan's lack of ambition and desire to be useful made her the perfect tool to stand by the Kings side. In a few short years she proved herself to be the type of person who would do anything to fulfill her task, even if it cost her life to do so. She was the pinnacle of what the late King desired for his Kingsguard, and in time he decided to make her the commander of the Kingsguard. Not knowing how to handle such a prestigious position, Joan prefers to keep silent and not draw attention to her. Many of the Kingsguard find it difficult to follow her since she isn't exactly an inspiration leader; but they cannot deny her loyalty to the King and her exceptional skill.

Even with the new King, Joan's mission has not changed. For it does not matter who wears the crown; so long as she is needed to protect them she will do so.
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