Ethmer Alenda

The late soldier and orator is one of Ossifrey's most beloved legends, and her name can be heard all across the front lines of the Duumvirate War.

Nine years to become an Armiger

Alenda's rise to the armed nobility was directed by her parents since before she was born. She studied the languages beyond Agrophon and the dialects within each nation, trained in the natural and formal sciences, mastered the visual, musical, and martial arts, and was generally rushed through the patrician syllabus. She was proud of her abilities, but she always looked pale and crooked, as she had been tempered nearly to breaking. Today, some ambitious families in Ossifrey run their children through the same torturous path, hoping to win a descendant of Alenda's make.
When a Mican magistrate wrote that "a speaker like Alenda comes once in a century," Alenda famously responded: "They took a hundred years to find me, and they had me overcooked. Imagine how fantastic I could have been!"

Ossifreyan Soldier

She entered the public discourse in the heat of the Dorsulgard Skirmishes, a punishing start for her career. She was handed one hopeless situation after another, her negotiations were ignored and her battles caused more harm than good. After pleading for Ossifrey to rethink their strategy, her superiors told her that she may work better as a soldier than an orator.
With that, Alenda declared her resignation. Keeping one eye on the Skirmishes, she disappeared to the Shadowfell, where her remaining prestige got her a few jobs as a soldier. Most of that plane was harsh and undeveloped, and she acquired many stories from the odd characters she encountered. On this frontier she could finally demonstrate who she was, and through her adventures she became a local hero, then a national one. She returned to the heart of Ossifrey when her reputation made her impossible to ignore, which only took four eventful years.

Frontline Orator

Grandiose as she was, Alenda spoke with reserve and humility, at least in the beginning. With the same tempo she learned in combat, Alenda would begin debates by handing her opponent the spotlight, testing them and allowing them plenty of openings. The audience would excitedly wait for one of her traps to find purchase, and for Alenda to seize on her opponent's overconfident jab. She had an organic, conversational way of speaking, coupled with a meter like poetry which struck hard through sheer density of information.
During talks, Alenda could always produce a solution when needed, though not always the best one. She was sometimes criticized for the tone she set with opponents, goading them into conflict so that she could turn around and reveal her full hand. Though she usually won these battles, some of them could have been avoided.

Death and legacy

Even after decades off the battlefield, Alenda was a notorious fighter who stayed active through vicious sparring bouts. Because of this, her death was sudden and unexpected. While visiting the small Vacillian city of Fendensire, an elaborate game of subterfuge separated Alenda from her bodyguards. Then a young Pernio Brewot encountered her along the main street, killed her, and fled north. How she did it remains a mystery; they clearly battled, and Alenda was clearly armed, yet the inexperienced Pernio (only 20 at the time) stole the life of a national hero. A pit formed in the country's stomach, which only deepened as the upcoming war became certain.
Alenda's stories are still being told, especially in the east and even in Ornity. They focus on her steady-handed work in the Shadowfell, and are told as an optimistic display of people's higher values. Her children Caecil and Mattock continue her work in their own ways.
When Ornity conquered Fendensire, they renamed it Alendai in an effort to save face; they had lost quite a bit of moral standing when the murderer Pernio Brewot reemerged as the wife of an Ornit governor. While Alendai contains several memorials and effigies in honor of its namesake, some people believe that Alenda is more than a household god, and instead lives on as the city itself.

Life

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