Age: 35

Gender: Female

Position: Commander of the Free Companies

Personality:
Rhaetia is called many things behind her back and none other than Lady Grim to her face. She brokers no nonsense from anyone and speaks her mind bluntly and clearly. There exists within her a rage that wold conquer the world if she could but discover a way to weaponize it.

Despite being a hard person to get along with, she is a leader unmatched in most of the world. She will never ask her men to do something she will not, and puts their own well being and happiness before her own. She never boasts, preferring to allow her actions to speak for themselves. She is a hard leader, demanding much from her soldiers and driving them to lengths many did not think possible, but she drives a good bargain and the suffering is more often than not worth the reward.

Appearance:
Rhaetia is the very image of female perfection, if you can get past her eyes which never seem to smile, instead transfixing you and studying you as if you were prey. She stands, at six feet tall, over age height for a woman and would hardly be called "slim". She is of good farming lineage and looks the part with corded muscles, strong hips and a certain broadness to her shoulders that you do not find in noble women. Her long redhair is perpetually loose around her face unless going into battle when she braids it into a long warrior que that she hides beneath her cloak.

Her eyes, as mentioned, as her most unique feature. They are completely smokey grey, devoid of any hint of pupil, almost seeming to shift as if the smokey look were drifting across them. The best she can tell is it is a birth defect, the cause is unknown. To be studied by them is an unsettling business and more than a few captured prisoners have begun talking just to get Rhaetia to stop staring at them.

Rhaetia dresses in leather and cloth armour, the better to assist in her use of Magic. While her clothing is often brown or dark colours, she always wears some sort of brightly coloured cloak that swirls about her as she walks. Good boots crafted for her to spend long hours walking or riding and a simple blackwood staff complete her assemble.

Background:
Rhaetia never knew her family. She was the child of slaves kept by the Elven Imperium, used for various Magical experiments, and she spent her formative years working as a household servant to one of the Elven Mage. This Mage, whose name she has never spoken, was fascinated by the girls strange eyes and began to subject her to further magical testing and certain carnal desires when she was no more than seven or eight. She was kept beneath his home, concealed by spells and hidden doors.

Rhaetia does not believe the Elf intended to trigger her own Magical abilities. It happened abruptly during one of the sessions where he was secretly practising his healing arts by nearly killing her and then bringing her back from the brink of death. Something deep inside of her, it felt almost like a living creature, suddenly awakened. Rhaetia found herself calling forth a creature that was shaped like a lion that hurled itself on the Elven Mage, the two crashing into the wall with such force the Mage was stunned. Naked, bleeding, and furious, the now fourteen year old Rhaetia draw a dagger from a nearby table and stabbed the Elf until she was coated in his blood. The Elf, skilled as previously mentioned in Restorations Magics, tried to save himself so Rhaetia severed his manhood and stuffed them into his mouth before stabbing him through the eye.

It was only after she stood up from the butchered Mage at her feet did she realize she had no idea how to get out of her prison. It would take her two weeks to figure out how to escape, and when she did it was with many of the Mages books and magical items.

Hurting and furious at the world, Rhaetia escaped the Elven Kingdom by using simple illusion spells she learnt from the Mages books and made her way to Seikastsu. Here she found some measure of peace in the temples that dotted the landscape. One of the Priests, perhaps sensing the great pain of the young woman, taught her meditation, how to fight unarmed or with a stave, and helped connect her with other magic users.

In time she began to heal both physically and mentally. She calmed her anger with meditation which gave her time to think and plan. With little else to do she worked and studied in Seikastsu for ten years, travelling the country, learning its language, customs, and embracing its warrior spirit. On more than one occasion she hired out her services as a Mage to various warlords vying for control in the region.

As time past she showed considerable talent for tactical and strategic thinking, combat ability, and martial leadership. She wasn't even aware it was happening at first but she began to collect a following. It grew from several young women to include landless Samurai, refugee slaves fleeing from the Elven Imperium, and then soldiers of fortune from Farmaroth. The numbers grew, victories mounted, and the gold came thick and fast. Tales of the Lady Grim spread far and wide and folk seeking their fortune flocked to her standard.

The Grim Company, as it became known, soon began to become to large for a single leader and she broke it into various Companys. All remained loyal to her and, perhaps in a childish throwback to the only book she read as a child, she labeled them the Free Companies. Each Company was given its own name, elected its own officers, but all reported to her through a Military Council made up of each company leader.

Now, at the ripe old age of 35, Rhaetia commands nearly 8,000 soldiers. With Seikastsu slowly becoming more and more a struggle between five major powers, Rhaetia is looking towards Farmaroth for employment.

Skills and traits:
Rhaetia is a skilled if unorthodox Mage, brilliant battlefield commander, legendary leader of fighting men, and an expert in an hand to hand combat. She is an ideal war commander and would frankly be unsure of what to do with herself if peace came. Some think she wages a constant war within herself because of her youth, a war she translates into violence and efficiency on the battlefield. She is not given to pointless violence though she has been known to torture the odd male Elven mage every now and then despite having several, female only, within her own ranks. She strongly condemns rape or violence against a conquered populace and will execute soldiers who disobey her orders against such behaviour. This certainly part of her own personal experience but also because the code of honour held by Seikastsu Samurai, many of whom serve in her forces and a code which she also observes.

Flaws:
There is a deep seated rage inside of Rhaetia as a result of the trauma she suffered in her youth. It is a cold and calculated rage but it can make her rather focused, creating a sort of tunnel vision that makes her blind to all else around her. She has sought to correct this by surrounding herself with skilled commanders who can help prevent disaster.

While a skilled, she is not trained Mage. Rhaetia is often tampering with powers she does not fully understand or know how to control and it can get people killed. She has learned bits and pieces here and there of virtually all branches of magic but since her power was born of fear and terror, it now feeds on her anger and hatred. Some would call her a black magic user but whatever event they point to usually happened by accident.

Rhaetia has isolated herself from relationships with most people, particularly men. Being an attractive, wealthy and powerful woman certainly allows her a long list of suitors but she will have none of them. It is said that she has never taken a lover and will not even be seen naked even by the servants who pour her bath. This lack of inter-personal relationships can make her seem awkward and unfriendly.