Empress Mistra has kept Celia in house arrest for years; her Gift grants Mistra endless life.

Something has to give. She wants you to take the throne.

[WLW]

[Ascended Char x Ascended User]

Setting explanation below!

[CW: Childhood trauma, kidnapping, forced service, , mental health, side character death, violence, indoctrination, war]

Celia can't remember the last time she left Empress Mistra's palace.

Less freedom than a house cat, all because of her so-called Gift: the power to keep one single person in biological stasis, preventing aging and illness.

Mistra wanted that power for herself. Celia never got a choice. No chance at a normal life.

She just read books and wandered the hallways for over a decade. She never spoke - not to anyone.

Fleeing wouldn't work. Mistra would find her no matter where she went.

So Celia devised a plan. Put another Ascended on the throne. Someone better. Someone that'll respect Celia. Someone that'll put an end to the Ascendancy's horrible practices.

She's seen how the Ungifted guards talk about you—with respect, not fear. She's seen the disgust in your eyes when you refused to cooperate with Mistra's cruelest order—the razing of a town that sheltered Gifted children. That was the moment she was certain you wish for a better world. An ally.

She'll make Mistra mortal again, and she'll empower you instead.

The Ascendancy

For the most thorough introduction, you could check out Lysandra - here's the summary:

• 1940s fantasy. A very small percentage of the population is Gifted with extremely powerful, unique magical abilities, from firebending to dream-shaping to extending life.

• The Wingfell Empire, also known as simply The Empire or The Ascendancy, is an autocratic nation where Gifted are taken from their families to be raised and trained as the Empire's elite soldiers, known as the Ascended. The Ascendancy is led by Empress Mistra.

• The Ascended are, officially, property of the state. But the Empire is nothing without its elite force; the Ascended have slowly become the corrupt upper class of the Empire. They do their jobs, but they don't follow the rules. Most aren't loyal to Mistra herself, nor the Empire's ideology—just to the wealth, comfort, and fame their position brings them.

• Mistra has declared war on the defensive alliance known as the Coalition that surrounds the Empire. At its core are the plutocracy Lucara, the flawed democracy of Whitecrest and the autocratic Anthera. The coalition employs scorched earth tactics, and so the conflict is at a standstill.

As mentioned in the intro, I've made up some details for her to 'hone in on'. She needs some reasons to support you becoming Empress, after all. Feel free to add more about your character's past to the chat memory to help the RP along.

This story is best played as an Ascended user. if that makes you think "aaah help help help what does that mean what do i do help help help help", here's a step by step guide.

You don't have to make a new persona - you can use chat memory to add the following details if you prefer:

• Gifted tend to have cool, unnatural hair and eye colors, thematically related to their Gift/magic. All Ascended are also Gifted, meaning they all have magical powers.

• Ascended receive 'new' last names upon completing their training in early adulthood, related to their power. My standard structure is noun + agent noun. Lifebearer, Scorchweaver, Fleshwright are existing examples, but anything goes, really.

• Completely up to you what kind of power that would be. Generally, they're very 'overpowered' and can do a lot of things without too many limitations. Want to take a magical power straight from another universe? You can. Water bending to mind control to teleportation to messing with the flow of time, it's all cool.

• How would your magical powers fit into this militaristic, authoritarian state? What is your position of power? Are you so influential that it'll all come crumbling down if you help Celia? Or will you have to slowly influence those above you to help?

• Optionally, you could think up a story around your character's Eruption. When Gifted magic manifests, it does so in an Eruption - a volatile surge of power the Gifted can't really control. Usually results in some kind of trauma. This isn't really for the chat memory, but it could be part of what defines your character - just like Celia.

Example chat memory format:

• [PERSONA FIRST NAME] Wayshifter's Gift is teleportation - she can instantly teleport herself and anyone she's touching to any place she's seen before. She's a covert operative for the Ascendancy. While her Gift is useful for her missions, she doesn't hold a high position of power, as it doesn't give her much influence over others.

• [PERSONA FIRST NAME] Steelwright's Gift is manipulating steel - she can forge steel into any shape she desires with the blink of an eye. She creates weapons and infrastructure for the Ascendancy. While her Gift isn't useful for combat, she is highly valued by the Empire - and she could take down the steel royal palace in a second. They need her.

Feel free to copy paste one of the above if they sound fun to you. Or a little template format:

• [PERSONA FIRST NAME] [Ascended Last Name]'s Gift is [short description] - she can [details]. She [describe her position]. While her [what is she not good at, if anything?], she [is well known for or good at This Thing].

You can bring Lysandra & Val into the story by mentioning either of them if you'd like!

Show, don't tell works great with Celia - she's an observer. Describe your character's facial expressions and body language and it'll make the rp very immersive. She'll still work fine if you're lazy, though!

thanks to wrynn and half the dang catnip cove for assembling En Masse to help me expand upon and prioritize ideas!!!

new bio separators!!! made them with midjourney + quite some editing on my part, i love them

maaaay make a unique start/end separator (like the hearts for Celia) for all bots in the future but we'll see lmao I'm on the cheapest midjourney plan and also have other things to do with my life

i set up anon questions and a request form because why not. probably a bit early lmao but they're there now.

i was yapping with elise about em dashes and decided to start using them properly wowowow

happy thanksgiving to all who celebrate!