Name: Erika Mecklinger-Straitz, of the Royal House of Gotha
Titles: Crown Princess, on the Writ of Heaven, of the Imperial Union of Teuta, Gant and Saxus, Arch-Hierophant of the Nine Mysteries and Margrave of the Capital Provinces
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Occupation: De Jure, head of the Church of the Nine Mysteries, Mayor of the city of Hohenstadt and Colonel of the 1st Royal Cuirassiers. De Facto , a student of magic in the Holy College of St. Lothar, Ostersalin.
Affiliation: The Imperial Union of Teuta, Gant and Saxus, most commonly referred to as simply ‘The Union’, and to her father, Emperor Ferdinand II.
Appearance: Erika is a slim woman, of modest constitution and impressive beauty. Long, flame-orange hair cascades down a slender body blossoming well into womanhood. Her skin is the purest alabaster white, unblemished by a life within palaces and fine antechambers. Her eyes are wide, inviting, trained to always seem interested in what is before her. Her smile gleams bright-white between ruby lips, set in its position of prominence beneath a button nose and a heart-shaped face. She is well suited for the corsets and silks that she squeezes her lithe form into. Her hands are soft, gentle, but blessed with long and clever fingers that follow the whims of the clever brain which directs them. She sits with excellent posture, speaks with the appropriate level of polite courtesy with a voice taught to sound like the ringing of churchbells and command similar attention. Her walk is fast, though never hurried, a trait shared by everything from her pen strokes to her recitation. She is the consummate princess, carved from marble over a decade and a half of constant, dedicated tutelage.
Personality: Erika is driven first and foremost by duty. She feels strongly the sense of obligation that royalty instills, her mind always reminds her of her noblesse oblige. Her whole life she has felt the responsibility of her position as Crown Princess, the only child of her father and his late wife, Erika’s mother. She is a hard worker, diligent and dedicated, and she hates to leave things unfinished. She wants to improve herself as best she can, fill the large shoes her world-famous father will one day leave her. She tries her best to treat everyone with respect, and end the petulant habits that she picked up during her earlier childhood. She has always been a follower of authority, never one to question the status quo. Her life has been one of strict rules and ancient guidelines, and she has never seen reason to question them. She obeys her father, directs her servants, listens to her teachers and delegates to the chosen individuals who perform the duties foisted upon the Princess by ancient law. She is possessed of a quick wit, a trait encouraged by the father whose wife was so famous for her own, and she is always the first to laugh. She has, fundamentally, lived a life of material ease and dedicated duty, and has never truly felt the stresses she has so often read about in her histories or heard from the mouths of her many, many tutors.
History: Twenty-one years ago, the young and martial Emperor Ferdinand II struck down his many opponents at the battle of Westerlich, bringing to a close what is now known as the forty years war. In need of a bride, having gained the throne due to the battle deaths of his two older brothers and aging father, he took a bride from an enemy land as a symbol of goodwill and a capstone to a very favorable treaty that pronounced the Union as the greatest power in the known world. Fertility proved decidedly difficult, with the greatest mages and scholars unable to cure whatever ill had befallen the royal family. Only after difficulty, incantation and prayer did one child manage to be born to them, the Princess Erika. Two years later, the Empress died, plunging the Emperor into deep mourning. Erika was raised with the expectation that she would take the throne, with no direct male relatives likely to be produced. She proved herself to be brilliant enough to manage the task, or so her tutors told both her and her father. She excelled at all matters academic, from natural philosophy to the Mysteries of the arcane. Traditionally, the duties of the Princes and Princesses are split between children, with the Heir Apparent not taking much of a role, to instead learn to govern the nation as a whole, and so Erika has delegated the powers that have all fallen into her lap, only now beginning to take them on as she masters the craft of rulership one field at a time. One day, having received a gift bearing an official seal but lacking a name, she took a break from studying scripture to open it. A beautiful diamond, the size of her eye, glittering within in the light of the Imperial gardens, and as she touched it her life was changed, perhaps forever.
Weapons and Equipment: When made to inspect ‘her’ troops, Erika wears a saber and the traditional blue-and-grey of the Union soldiery. She rarely does so. Erika has never had a talent for martial virtues, and so prefers to dress in the finery of the court, of the comfort of more private garbs. She carries the mark of her Holy office around her neck, as she has to by law, a great nonagon of gold and chalcedony, and wears an elaborate ring of inscribed platinum that serves as the focus for her magic, but otherwise changes her outfit and accoutrements to fit her situation.
Skills and Abilities: Erika has been trained to be everything an Imperial crown princess should be. She has a searing intellect, one of analysis and deep memory. She is a captivating speaker, able to sway minds and entertain when need be. Her beauty has become apparent as she has aged, and she is thought quite the impressive sight by the nobility within and without the Union. She reads quickly, writes faster, can play the harp and viola, and has always had a fondness for polite dances. She is physically unimpressive, slender and flexible but otherwise more than average for her age. Her greatest strength is her magical ability, the talent in which she finds the most joy, on which she spends the most time, and in which she has the most success.
Magical Spells: Magic is a ever-present force, changeable and bizarre, which flows invisibly through the world. With the help of the nine Gods, nine Mysteries have been given to humanity to let them open themselves to this force and harness it with willpower and understanding. Erika is a truly impressive talent with the ninth of nine, whose purview is forces and energy, the basic components of reality. She can lens space, move objects with her willpower, and direct galvanic currents with extreme precision or scope, but not both at once. She has considerable experience with the sixth of nine, which governs healing and life, and a passable capability with the third, which governs oracles, seeing and clairvoyance.
Titles: Crown Princess, on the Writ of Heaven, of the Imperial Union of Teuta, Gant and Saxus, Arch-Hierophant of the Nine Mysteries and Margrave of the Capital Provinces
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Occupation: De Jure, head of the Church of the Nine Mysteries, Mayor of the city of Hohenstadt and Colonel of the 1st Royal Cuirassiers. De Facto , a student of magic in the Holy College of St. Lothar, Ostersalin.
Affiliation: The Imperial Union of Teuta, Gant and Saxus, most commonly referred to as simply ‘The Union’, and to her father, Emperor Ferdinand II.
Appearance: Erika is a slim woman, of modest constitution and impressive beauty. Long, flame-orange hair cascades down a slender body blossoming well into womanhood. Her skin is the purest alabaster white, unblemished by a life within palaces and fine antechambers. Her eyes are wide, inviting, trained to always seem interested in what is before her. Her smile gleams bright-white between ruby lips, set in its position of prominence beneath a button nose and a heart-shaped face. She is well suited for the corsets and silks that she squeezes her lithe form into. Her hands are soft, gentle, but blessed with long and clever fingers that follow the whims of the clever brain which directs them. She sits with excellent posture, speaks with the appropriate level of polite courtesy with a voice taught to sound like the ringing of churchbells and command similar attention. Her walk is fast, though never hurried, a trait shared by everything from her pen strokes to her recitation. She is the consummate princess, carved from marble over a decade and a half of constant, dedicated tutelage.
Personality: Erika is driven first and foremost by duty. She feels strongly the sense of obligation that royalty instills, her mind always reminds her of her noblesse oblige. Her whole life she has felt the responsibility of her position as Crown Princess, the only child of her father and his late wife, Erika’s mother. She is a hard worker, diligent and dedicated, and she hates to leave things unfinished. She wants to improve herself as best she can, fill the large shoes her world-famous father will one day leave her. She tries her best to treat everyone with respect, and end the petulant habits that she picked up during her earlier childhood. She has always been a follower of authority, never one to question the status quo. Her life has been one of strict rules and ancient guidelines, and she has never seen reason to question them. She obeys her father, directs her servants, listens to her teachers and delegates to the chosen individuals who perform the duties foisted upon the Princess by ancient law. She is possessed of a quick wit, a trait encouraged by the father whose wife was so famous for her own, and she is always the first to laugh. She has, fundamentally, lived a life of material ease and dedicated duty, and has never truly felt the stresses she has so often read about in her histories or heard from the mouths of her many, many tutors.
History: Twenty-one years ago, the young and martial Emperor Ferdinand II struck down his many opponents at the battle of Westerlich, bringing to a close what is now known as the forty years war. In need of a bride, having gained the throne due to the battle deaths of his two older brothers and aging father, he took a bride from an enemy land as a symbol of goodwill and a capstone to a very favorable treaty that pronounced the Union as the greatest power in the known world. Fertility proved decidedly difficult, with the greatest mages and scholars unable to cure whatever ill had befallen the royal family. Only after difficulty, incantation and prayer did one child manage to be born to them, the Princess Erika. Two years later, the Empress died, plunging the Emperor into deep mourning. Erika was raised with the expectation that she would take the throne, with no direct male relatives likely to be produced. She proved herself to be brilliant enough to manage the task, or so her tutors told both her and her father. She excelled at all matters academic, from natural philosophy to the Mysteries of the arcane. Traditionally, the duties of the Princes and Princesses are split between children, with the Heir Apparent not taking much of a role, to instead learn to govern the nation as a whole, and so Erika has delegated the powers that have all fallen into her lap, only now beginning to take them on as she masters the craft of rulership one field at a time. One day, having received a gift bearing an official seal but lacking a name, she took a break from studying scripture to open it. A beautiful diamond, the size of her eye, glittering within in the light of the Imperial gardens, and as she touched it her life was changed, perhaps forever.
Weapons and Equipment: When made to inspect ‘her’ troops, Erika wears a saber and the traditional blue-and-grey of the Union soldiery. She rarely does so. Erika has never had a talent for martial virtues, and so prefers to dress in the finery of the court, of the comfort of more private garbs. She carries the mark of her Holy office around her neck, as she has to by law, a great nonagon of gold and chalcedony, and wears an elaborate ring of inscribed platinum that serves as the focus for her magic, but otherwise changes her outfit and accoutrements to fit her situation.
Skills and Abilities: Erika has been trained to be everything an Imperial crown princess should be. She has a searing intellect, one of analysis and deep memory. She is a captivating speaker, able to sway minds and entertain when need be. Her beauty has become apparent as she has aged, and she is thought quite the impressive sight by the nobility within and without the Union. She reads quickly, writes faster, can play the harp and viola, and has always had a fondness for polite dances. She is physically unimpressive, slender and flexible but otherwise more than average for her age. Her greatest strength is her magical ability, the talent in which she finds the most joy, on which she spends the most time, and in which she has the most success.
Magical Spells: Magic is a ever-present force, changeable and bizarre, which flows invisibly through the world. With the help of the nine Gods, nine Mysteries have been given to humanity to let them open themselves to this force and harness it with willpower and understanding. Erika is a truly impressive talent with the ninth of nine, whose purview is forces and energy, the basic components of reality. She can lens space, move objects with her willpower, and direct galvanic currents with extreme precision or scope, but not both at once. She has considerable experience with the sixth of nine, which governs healing and life, and a passable capability with the third, which governs oracles, seeing and clairvoyance.
