Talia
Talia Vivienne Mergenhoff is an adventurer, Dame under the
Vevian Crown and daughter of Christoph Mergenhoff, duke of Koronnik, Overseer of Trade and Steward of Hubert Czevoc, King of Vevia. She's known officially as the Dame of Ice, a title given to her by none other than the King as a mockery for her stoic, laconic and brooding character. Talia travels and adventures around Central Människar accompanying her closest friend - Athos Petrov, a former priest of Arialor.
Backstory
Talia is the oldest daughter of Christoph Mergenhoff, known as a very powerful and influential man amongst the Vevian nobility. Yet, also known for always wanting a male heir, who would inherit his legacy and take up the reins from him one day. When the Talia was born, her father was devasted, given that Vevian law follows a Cognatic Inheritance, primogeniture where heirs inherit on equal grounds despite of gender. As a consequence, the princess grew up neglected and ignored by her father. The shy blue-haired girl rarely appeared at court, either because of the strange colour of her hair, her own personality or due to her father's commands. It was a common gossip around court that Christoph was ashamed of his daughter, who had never shown any interest in her father's trade nor the embroidered realm of politics. Whispers would spread around court over her hair, some going as far as suggesting her mother was cursed or involved in witchcraft, a mystery that, at the present time, still hasn't been answered. As a child, Talia had her interest picked by one thing - the ideals of Knighthood and the Code of Chivalry. She'd ask her tutor for stories of fabled adventurers, spend countless hours memorizing blazons and coats of arms, dreaming of the day she'd stand up for her kingdom and its people against evil, a wish that got crushed far too soon for the naive girl.
When she turned 6, her mother gave birth to another child - a son, a beautiful boy of golden blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Immediately, Talia became a nobody in her own castle, forbidden of showing up in court and tasked with endless tasks of little to no value, a mere excuse to keep her busy. As she was pushed aside for good, Matheo took the spotlight of her family, the treasure boy of Lord Mergenhoff.
Yet, her tutor, Maester Bazyli Adamski, still saw hope in Talia's relation with her father, believing that, if she proved to be good enough in her studies, she'd win his love. But it was for naught, the princess never proved to be more than mediocre in mathematics, and was absolutely terrible with rethoric and discourse. Her only passion continued to be the study of history, of chilvary and warfare.
It was only a year later, as she sparred against a particularly fearsome tree that her life turned a corner. Spotted by the Castle's Master of Arms and Castellan, Ser Boleslaw Doliński, she caught his attention and, against her father's orders, started to train her himself. The praises her brother received no long bothered her, for she had found her place in the world, the path of chilvary. Over a decade later, life at Castle Mergenhoff looked completely different:
Any messenger or traveller arriving at the Castle would first and foremost look amazed at the architecture and opulence of the fortress, with two rows of talls walls that neared 10 meters, sturdy and carefully cut, a symbol of both the power and the wealth of House Mergenhoff. Before the gates would be two, immense banners that showed the deep blue and gold of their blazon, as well as a dutiful, well-trained garrison that patrolled the battlements and courtyard, dressed in brigandines and munitions.
Yet, upon entering the large keep, they'd come across quite a situation: It was pointless to request a meeting with Lord Mergenhoff, for he was never at home, being always extremely busy and filled with duties at the Capital, overseeing the King's finances and his own trading enterprise. "What about the heir?" they'd ask. A funny question, but which one? The rightful heir, a silent, uncaring woman nearly 24 winters old that spent her days locked in a basement sparring against countless tutors, or the younger, male heir, who'd be locked in his quarters, whoring, drinking and drowning in his wealth all day?
One day, having had enough of her day-to-day routine, Talia took a rash decision: After hearing rumors of the kidnapping of a boy by nefarious goblins, she left her home, against her father's orders, pursuing this band of Gröni, seeking to prove her worth, if not to her family, to herself.
By the end of the day, she had returned, badly wounded, but alive and victorious, having killed the creatures and saving the boy. As she strode through the gates of Lebetyn carrying the child and covered in her own blood, the people of the capital, fed up with their miserable life, saw in Talia a heroic figure, a savior who'd stand up for the poor and the weak. The King, Hubert Czevoc, saw in this an opportunity to win the graces of the commonfolk and knighted Talia himself before a large crowd of townspeople. Being a cunning man and familiar with the woman's identity, he named her "Ser" Talia, the Dame of Ice, for her cold and unmoving character, a mockery to her honor and ambition for heroism. Yet, ignorant of the actual meaning of such a title, the commonfolk cried and applauded the newly annointed Knight of the Kingdom.
As for her father, he was outraged by this occurence, indignant that his freak daughter had gained the graces of the poor, and for this he disinherited from his House. Such heinous act proved to be the final straw for Talia, and she left her home, heading east. In her journeys, she met Athos Petrov, a former priest from Arialor who had decided to follow the light of Arior without the intercession of the church. Expelled from his church, he was deemed a heretic by the clergy, and was sentenced to death by the inquisition of Arialor, the Order of the Larian Blade, but either by skill or luck, he managed to flee his country.
Judging himself to be blessed by Arior with the gift of visions of the future and commands from the higher beings, he envisioned himself as a prophet and missionary of Larianor. One day, he dreamed about a terrible winter that would have no end and would cover the entirety of world in a thick blanket of snow and ice. The reason behind this catasthrophe was unknown to him, yet it was revealed in his dreams that only a champion of the Heavens, the Knight of Winter, would be capable of stopping the cataclysm. Obsessed with this, Athos roamed the realm and searched ceaselessly for this champion, until he came across Talia, upon which he recognized her to be the one and only savior from his dreams.
Skeptical by nature, Talia did not stray from her path towards self-betterment and virtue, but accepted the company of the priest. As time passed, they became colleagues, and slowly, the priest swayed her to pursue his quest against the Eternal Winter.
Relationships
Year of Birth
996 EL
29 Years old
Circumstances of Birth
A difficult and lengthy process of childbirth that lasted over 13 hours, as her father's castle was filled with her mother's screams of pain and agony for hours an end.
Birthplace
Castle Mergenhoff, Vevia
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Eyes
Cobalt blue
Hair
Dark Blue
Height
177cm/5'8''
