Ed is a bright-eyed young woman with an infectious, cat-like smile, she practically oozes enthusiasm and youthful vigour. Ed's head of thick, loosely curled, bright auburn hair is practically a symbol of her determined spirit. Cut short just above her round jaw, it is an ideal contrast to her large, deep blue eyes and pale complexion, with a handful of faint freckles on her high cheekbones and delicate nose thrown in for good measure. Standing at 5'7", Ed is a lithe young woman with a near athletic physique from her formative years as a farmhand, and later on, a Rider of Plent.
Ed's typical Vigil attire consists of a dark blue hooded cloak, falling to her hips, with a large golden image of an Arven emblazoned on the back, the symbol of the Riders of her home holding of Plent. Obviously a cloak alone is not sufficient armour to protect oneself, her armour consists of a dark, short sleeved, fitted leather jerkin, held in place with several buckles and cinched in at the waist with a belt that is home to a number of small satchels. Hanging off her hips is also a weapon holster and sword scabbard, for her revolver and blade respectively.
Beneath her jerkin Ed wears a red, long sleeved doublet, finishing her ensemble she wears a pair of fingerless gloves, light leather trousers, and a pair of black riding boots.
The youngest of five children, Edwina Swift was born into a loving and caring family in the Holding of Plent, on a large farmland estate which the Swift family had owned and tended to for several generations. The girl came to dislike the name Edwina, however, referred to as Ed by her family and friends, the usage of 'Edwina' was reserved for moments of chastisement, and being the troublesome scamp she was, those moments were many. In fact, Ed established herself very early on as a problem child. Unlike her brothers and sisters, Ed threw herself into conflict, whether it was with her teachers, family, friends, a random person on the street, it didn't matter, if Ed felt like she or someone she cared about had been wronged in some way, the person responsible was going to know about it. Often resulting in the flying of fists, and many, many harsh words. Of course, it's normal for a young child's moral compass to be very black and white. There are things that are right, and things that are wrong, and young Ed especially failed to notice the spectrum of grey in between.
As Ed matured, her spirit also tempered, which isn't to say she still didn't get into fights, but there was at least a modicum of consideration and calm(ish) words before she broke someone's nose. With conflict being such a frequent event in her life, you wouldn't be faulted for thinking Ed was an aggressive and angry person, however it was exactly because she was such a happy, and caring child that she acted out in such ways, the sheer refusal to allow anyone to make her, or anyone she cared for a victim. Leaping to the aid of a stranger or two in her time was not unknown of her, such is her sense of justice.
Ed's righteousness has not always been well placed however, being as quick to react as she is, there have been a number of times where if she had just stayed her hand, a confrontation would have concluded in a less... punchy manner.
When Ed isn't fighting someone, she's actually a funny, friendly, and charming young lady, with a dry wit that typically catches those not familiar with her off guard. A girl with a kind heart, who's enthusiasm is perhaps only matched by her naivety. Having spent the vast majority of her life in Plent, Ed's worldview is somewhat skewed by the safety of the Holding, the rest of the world is a much crueller place than she could ever prepare for.
Ed's life in Plent was as peaceful as anyone could really hope for. Even during the coupe of King Robb, the Holding remained stable for the most part, Queen Selphie's coming to power was really the biggest upheaval the Holding had experienced in decades, and it was a lot gentler than what other parts of the world had gone through. Ed spent her childhood helping her family tend to the farms of Plent. The sun drenched fields, the rainy seasons spent huddled in warm tents with her siblings and friends as they watched the storm clouds crest the tall canyon walls, telling stories of what they had heard about the world beyond the bridges. Most of these stories were told by a Cellva called Calador, a very old friend of the Swift family since... well, since anyone could remember. Calador would visit Plent every few years and regale Ed and her siblings with the adventures he had with their great, great, great, great grandfather, and others from their ancestry. Throughout the years, as Ed's brothers and sisters grew older, they became less interested in the stories Calador had to tell, but not Ed, she always listened with awe, and on each occasion, when the time came for the Cellva to leave, Ed would always ask the same question.
"When will you take me on an adventure?"
Those were the most innocent years of her life.
At the age of fifteen, Ed signed up to join the Riders, the flying guardians of Plent. After an intense six months of training, Ed got her wings, and was inducted into a squad. Members of the Riders didn't really 'own' a specific Arven, the large bird-like creatures that serve as the steeds for the Riders (the most senior officers being the exception), but each Rider certainly had their favourite, who they'd take as their steed as often as they could. Ed's favourite Arven was a young male called Florian. There was an occasional raiding party, or predatory beast that encroached too close to either the farms or the city proper, easily dealt with from the back of an Arven with a laser rifle, but life as a Rider was generally uneventful, mostly just scouting the surrounding areas for signs of trouble. Except for that one time...
At the age of eighteen, Ed was on solo patrol on the outskirts of the Holding. Standard routine, fly high and scan the area for suspicious movement, however, Ed was not flying as high as she should have been. Being at a much lower altitude made her and Florian a substantially larger target, and by the time Ed had spotted the small group of raiders, a lucky potshot had already knocked them from the sky.
An Arven's instinct is to protect it's Rider during a fall, with it's one uninjured wing, the beast held Ed close to it's chest, and minimised the impact best it could by maintaining it's forward momentum. Hitting the earth hard, the pair continued to travel for a few dozen feet until eventually coming to a stop against a natural incline in the land. Dazed, Ed managed to crawl her way from under her companion's wing. Florian was in bad shape, but still breathing. The girl wasn't in a much better state herself, her left arm was broken, as well as what felt like a few ribs. Before she had even realised the graveness of her situation, she was surrounded by four bandits. Instinctively she reached for her laser pistol, but felt nothing, lost during the fall. The raiders had already noticed this, forgoing their ranged weapons in favour of blades.
An Arven, even an injured one, was worth a lot to the right people, all they had to do was kill it's young Rider. Maybe they would have a little fun with her first. Things looked pretty grim for young Ed and she was quick to realise this. Maybe she could run away? But that meant leaving Florian behind, not an option. Reason with them? The hungry looks on their faces suggested that was unlikely to succeed. The girl was left with only one option, fight, the odds of her winning decreasing every moment. Before dread could set in, however, she reached for the small charm hanging from her necklace. It was a gift from Calador, to congratulate her on joining the Riders, a small silver stone, with inscriptions similar to the others he always showed her. The old Cellva's warning on Ed's receipt of the gift was a serious one, however. The stone contained powerful magic, it would make her faster, stronger, but it could only be used for a short amount of time, five seconds at most, any longer and she would die (Calador was sure to nail this point home) as the stone drew it's power from the bearer, a lot of power. It was only ever intended for use during a life or death situation.
Ed remembers very little of what happened next, she could recall activating the stone, an almost unbearable rush of energy followed, she remembers unsheathing her sword as she rushed towards one of the raiders, and beginning to count to five. Then nothing.
Ed awoke in an infirmary bed one week later, wrapped in bandages and feeling like she'd been hit by a carriage. According to the Riders who had found her, she was unconscious, sword in hand, surrounded by the remains of four raiders. All of them cleaved into pieces in varying ways. One in particular was cut clean in half through the rib cage, which would require a great deal of strength, more so than Ed could ever possess, although her sword was bloodied, so she must have gotten in a good hit or two before collapsing. The general consensus was that a wild beast happened across the incident, Ed was either knocked out, or lost consciousness from her injuries, and the raiders were killed by the beast. Strangely enough, it didn't look like any of the remains had been fed upon, a territorial kill perhaps?
A ridiculously lucky outcome for Ed, by all accounts.
After several weeks of recuperation, and plenty of visits to Florian, the Arven was expected to make a full recovery, much to Ed's relief. The young women had a lot of time to think and reevaluate what she wanted to do with her life. The 'fight' with the raiders had awoken something inside her, for most people it would have been fear, but for the brave girl it was something else, she got worked up just thinking about it. The Riders were an honourable entity, but they were merely reactive, they did not seek out trouble, Ed felt like she could be doing so much more.
Several months later, much to her surprise, her family and friends took Ed's decision to join The Vigil a lot better than she expected.
Filled with determination, the young woman set out to make a name for herself.
At the start of our tale, young Ed has just finished her induction training, this will be her first assignment.
Marksmanship: Ed's talent for marksmanship was refined from a young age, having spent her early years taking potshots from the back of a flying Arven, having to compensate for trajectory and the movement of the flying steed, as well as the movement of her target, was a steep learning curve that paid dividends. It made using said weapons on the ground relatively effortless in comparison.
Swordsmanship: With her natural affinity for marksmanship, Ed gravitates towards her revolver in combat, she does however have vigorous training from her time as a Rider, therefore Ed's swordarm is kept in good practice, and while her skill and theory are admirable, she's only ever used her sword once in battle, and remembers very little of that incident, time will tell if the training will translate into real life or death situations.
Brawler: While not an expert in hand to hand combat by any means, Ed has had more than enough punch ups and training in her lifetime to stand her ground in fight. While there is some elegance to her technique, she relies predominantly on sheer aggression, overwhelming an opponent before they have an opportunity to gather their defences. However, anyone thoroughly versed in hand to hand combat could easily see her attack orientated style and counter her appropriately without much risk of Ed adapting to the situation.
Rider of Plent: Much to her disappointment, Ed was unable to take an Arven (specifically Florian) when she left Plent, however should the opportunity arise, the girl would happily take to the skies again and put her years of aerial riding experience to use.
Determination: While not a 'skill' in the conventional sense, determination is not something that can be learned or taught, most people possess it on some level. Ed has courage and resolve, a pure indomitable spirit and strength of character, and a complete refusal on a fundamental level to be defeated. Determination is the defining factor of who she is as a person, however this manifests in ways that others would perceive as stubbornness, or recklessness, and has landed her in trouble more often than not.
