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horngeek · 04-27-2012, 05:51 PM

Triumphant Rose Guardian
Appearance

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Backstory

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Once, there was a young girl named Iliya, who lived in a village in the Northeast. An energetic child growing up, her childhood was shattered at the age of ten, when her village was attacked and destroyed by bandits. Iliya only survived through the intervention of a wandering Dragon-Blooded Even Blade stylist, Matsui, who arrived too late to save any others, but did manage to rescue the young girl before the bandits killed her. Although, at first, she intended to leave the girl at a nearby village, Iliya refused, wanting to come with Matsui and learn the blade as well.

"So I can help stop what happened to me."

Matsui didn't have the heart to refuse. The pair left the next day, and Iliya's training began.

It was hard. It took a long time to turn the girl with little more than determination into an able swordswoman, and the simple fact of the matter was the Matsui didn't have the ability to enlighten Iliya's Essence, so teaching her Even Blade Style was out of the question. But still... she worked. And as the years went by, the girl became a young woman. Matsui started to grow into a mother figure as well, as well as Iliya's teacher.

Finally, one day, when Iliya was eighteen, she and Matsui went into a town in the East. While there, they heard a rumor of a gang of swordsmen who were extorting the villagers around the area, and they went to investigate.

They found more than they expected. The gang consisted of five God-Blooded, who were more than a match for a mortal and a Terrestrial Exalted. Matsui was ganged up on by four of the gang members, while the fifth decided to chase the mortal off, or have some fun with her.

Iliya stood her ground, and prepared to fight a battle she had no chance of winning. A single moment of decision... then determination. The God-Blooded attacked.

And Iliya drew her sword, breaking her opponent's weapon in the same movement, then cutting him down, the symbol of the Dawn Caste shining on her forehead. One of the other four had already fallen to Matsui's blade, but it took Iliya's help for the remaining three to be defeated. In the aftermath, Matsui decided to help Iliya as she came into this new world. In her own words... "I know the legends of the Anathema... but the lack of change in your eyes puts the lie to them all, Iliya."

The pair's new dynamic was... different in some ways, and not so different in others. Matsui's still a mother figure to the young Dawn Caste, but in terms of outright combat ability, there's little Matsui can teach her. While the pair have now separated, both can still call on each other if they need to. Meanwhile, Iliya's taken on the name of her past incarnation. Triumphant Rose Guardian- or simply Rose.

Her plan's simple. As Rose wanders the East, she occasionally finds villages in trouble, or people who need help. As she helps them, her legend starts to grow. Not yet known as a Solar Exalted, but still known as a hero, her name's starting to filter outwards. As one who never strikes first, but always stands up for those who need help.

For when she is revealed as a Solar Exalted... then how could you call one such as that Anathema?

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