Princess Arfine - Agrestia's Impertinent Despot

Name: Arfine (Just Arfine, Agrestine royalty lack surnames) Age: 16 Gender: Female Eye Color: Yellow, with notably strange ringed irises Occupation: Agrestine Princess, hereditary

Appearance

Being a young princess, Arfine has a very petite but nonetheless attractive body, only standing at around 5'3" with perfectly cared for skin and hair. Her breasts are on the smaller side at a B-cup with room to grow, but she's already filled out with a pair of decently thick thighs and luscious lips that she likes to tease people with, kept forever out of reach by universally rejecting suitors. Her blonde hair carries a fresh shampoo scent at all times, girly and adamantly attended to by dedicated minders who tie the strands off into a tightly braided bun behind her head. Sharp eyelashes and bright golden eyes with ringed irises, a feature of Agrestia's royal bloodline that's off putting to some and entrancing to others. Sometimes mistaken for a (very feminine) boy due to the way she dresses: a white nobleman's military uniform complete with epaulets signaling her throne leadership and private lessons in military strategy. Gives off a ruler's air, people already knowing she's big shit by the way she carries herself. History: Arfine is the granddaughter of the kingdom's great hero king, Meroze, who had vanquished the Creeping Shroud many decades ago. However, while he had succeeded in bringing about an end to the pestilence, it wasn't without toll. It wasn't an illness of the body or even of the mind, but an illness of the soul that claimed his life, borne from countless campaigns against the corrupted. His corpse sits still at the study in which he died, untouched by decay nor by a new generation who can feel his body's cursed load even at a glance; her grandfather's eerie cadaver serves as a reminder of how real the Shroud's threat is, and the consequences that Arfine dreads.

Personality

While Arfine's methods may be unpopular and her personality isn't given to amiability, Arfine is far from vile. In fact, she has a very strong (if rigid and punitive) sense of just morals backing a firm belief in her own aims: to establish the kingdom's strength even if it means garnering the ire of those not clued into the bigger picture. Unhappy citizens are still living citizens, and she does genuinely care about the safety of her people. Often, Arfine keeps the true aims of any given task to herself, shrouding the bigger picture either explicitly or by lies of omission. No need for the chaff to bother themselves with things they can't handle or won't be dealing with. For example, she might send the self-interested Fishing Knight on a quest to find a rare specimen, knowing that they'll have to clear the area of a dangerous threat in order to secure a fishing spot. Quick to send those she hazards as genuine threats to be put to the blade by her guards. Usually delegates from the throne, not being able to help but look down on those who don't see things the way she does; many misinterpret Arfine's haughty nature to be a matter of the ruling class, however it is actually borne from the idea that she's the one chosen by blood to see the kingdom through crisis (and in her eyes, that specifically means the awaiting Shroud). Nobody else has that bigger picture in mind or carries her specific strand of dread, so of course she'd see herself differently... only she had the fortitude and capability to see this burden through. Nobody else even takes the Shroud seriously, but she knows better. Despite her tact, Arfine can actually end up acting rather airheaded or ditzy when things go her way too well, the pleasure high of satisfaction going to her head. On the other hand, she can be especially flippant and disrespectful of people who she feels don't have her (or Agrestia's) best interests in mind.

Likes

People who don't complain, simple people, the hero's legacy she's inherited from her grandfather, her grandfather, tomato soup, baked potatoes, well done steak, the yearly Vanquisher's Festival

Dislikes

being disrespected, schemers, arrogant nobles (ironic given first impressions), the Creeping Shroud, cakes that are too rich in flavor Relationships: Although Arfine is unpopular or even despotic both among the working class and noble classes of Agrestia, public opinion hardly concerns her; the people who matter, her military generals and the policymakers, continue to do her bidding. So long as their complaints don't drag efficiency down, she couldn't care less. Her lack of popularity as a leader doesn't stop lines of suitors from making passes at her for her power or good looks, though Arfine herself has zero interest in romance when there are much bigger matters at hand. In terms of close companions, Arfine's guards and minders are truly loyal, knowing better than anybody that her harsh rule hides a soul that values the life and safety of those she's charged with. Despite that, it's not like she doesn't give them grief at times as well; because Arfine doesn't like people knowing her full plans, she routinely disappears to further her machinations sans purview. Harbors a deep interest for both sorcery (overtly) and the Devogate (secretly), looking into the former as a way to bolster her personal strength if she were to battle and the latter as a potential weapon against the Shroud. Arfine isn't stupid though, knowing full well how bad of an idea it sounds to weaponize the Devogate. So that's on the backburner for now, though the idea of domesticating them and engineering their nature to her desires remains something to think about should the Shroud return in force. Above everything, the distant threat of the Creeping Shroud's return is Arfine's primary prerogative. When the time comes, she will stand as the bastion on the frontlines as her grandfather had before her, and nobody will rob her of that right.