Full Name:
Frederika Arethusa Thorebourne
Nickname(s):
Freya, The Dragon Princess/Empress, Morgandr's Avatar
Gender:
Female
Age:
43
Appearance (Human):
Standing at 153cm (5'0") from head to toe, the two most obvious unusual traits of the princess are her red-tipped black draconic horns and reptilian-esque slit pupils. Her silver hair and red eyes may not be as striking, but these were made especially strange if one knew that her father and mother - the emperor and empress - had black and blonde hair along with brown and blue eyes respectively. However, this isn't always the case. When she was but a toddler, Freya used to possess her father's black hair and her mother's blue eyes, but after Morgandr bestowed his essence upon her, her raven hair was bleached silver, her sapphire turned to rubies, and a pair of grisly horns sprouted from the sides of her head.
Chronologically, she's four decades old but it seems that the God of Darkness has rendered her ageless.
Appearance (Dragon):
Measuring at roughly 30m (98'5") in length with a huge wingspan composed of ethereal flaming black wings, one gaze at the creature and one will find out the origin of the princess' moniker. The sight of this terrible armor-scaled beast has struck primal terror upon the Empire of Regheim's enemies, she has vaporized countless battalions with her starry black flames. It was only by the combined efforts of the Alliance led by the Chosen of Light - also known as "Lumina's Avatar" - that she was finally taken down.
Personality:
Proud, confident, and ambitious, Princess Frederika takes after Emperor Magnus' traits well. She's a firm believer of Regheim Empire's philosophy that Regheim is the beacon of civilization in a savage world. Raised in the honor-bound culture of the empire where personal prowess is greatly valued, Freya focuses on the combat arts - both martial and magical - ever since she was little. Her burning ambition to join her father's campaign in subjugating their barbaric neighbors may seem unnerving, but it's clear that she has a personal stake in the war, avenging the tragic death of her mother. Even without her dragon form, Freya is a formidable fighter and field general in her own right, she possesses fine techniques to match her brute strength, honed by meticulous practice and tutorings by the empire's best military instructors. When she does unleash the legendary beast within, however, her foes better pray to whatever deity they worship for mercy because it certainly won't come from her.
Outside the matters of war, Freya carries herself with an air of royal elegance, an aura that non-verbally tells others to slight her at their own peril. She doesn't shy away from conflict and due to her strong sense of honor, appreciates people who confront her directly if they have something to say instead of spreading rumors or playing the 'long game'. She has no patience for court intrigue and the internal power struggles between the noble houses disgust her. An honest woman, rather brutally so, she will say what's on her mind without much sugar coating, giving credit and/or criticism when she thinks someone deserves it.
Perhaps due to her unusual condition, she has a huge appetite and can consume food equal to the portions of five able-bodied soldiers in one sitting, something that Regheim's currently crippled economy can barely sustain, forcing her to ration her own food.
Biography:
The first and only daughter of Emperor Magnus Steiner of House Thorebourne and Empress Amaryllis Stella of House Konig. Being the first fruit of love between the emperor and empress, she was treated with all the royal privileges her birth circumstances entail plus more. Safe to say, she led quite the happy childhood... at least for the first few years of her life.
One day, Freya and her mother was travelling via carriage to a neighboring country, the latter for diplomatic purposes and the former because she wanted to tag along. That was when the royal convoy was ambushed by bandits when passing through a narrow strait. Now, one would be justified to think that those bandits were incredibly foolish to attack a royal contingent, but as the guards found out, they were strangely very well-equipped and trained, not to mention having a specific battle plan. The soldiers put up a good fight but due to those aforementioned factors, they were ultimately overwhelmed. During the scuffle, Empress Amaryllis and Freya tried to slip away, but the assailants spotted them. The empress was slain via arrows piercing her back, causing her to drop her daughter from her limp arms. Freya was both screaming and crying as she tumbled off her mother's arms and off the edge of a cliff, embraced by gravity as she fell into the dark depths...
Due to deep trauma and distress, Freya couldn't remember much what happened next. She only remembered being hurt, lost, afraid, and cold as she wandered aimlessly through the forest of the valley she fell into. Then... she saw something... fire... with black flames. Something, someone, spoke to her... asked her why she was crying... asked her what she wanted the most. Mother, she wanted her mother back, but... it couldn't be so, those who had passed were gone forever, then... then she wanted... revenge.
She couldn't remember what immediately transpired after that. She only knew from witness reports that a black dragon with flaming ethereal wings landed on Regheim's courtyard before it transformed to Princess Freya... except with red-tipped white hair, red slitted eyes, and red-tipped black horns. Due to the dragon's traits, the empire's court sage deduced that Freya was chosen by Morgandr, God of Darkness, as his avatar for a reason. No one ever found out the actual reason was, not even Freya herself, but among the various theories proposed by scholars and others alike, the one she believed the most was that Morgandr saw the injustice done to her and bestowed her the power to make things right.
As the royal family later found out via espionage, those 'bandits' were no mere highwaymen, they were professional mercenaries hired by the neighboring kingdom specifically to assassinate the empress. This revelation lit the flames of vengeance in Emperor Magnus' eyes and from that day onward, he took an oath to civilize those savage barbarians, the time for diplomacy was over. Thus, the empress's death sparked a war that span decades as Regheim conquered neighbor after neighbor under their banner. This was greatly accelerated when Freya joined the war effort as both frontline fighter and field commander. With her skills, talents, and the divine power of Morgandr, Regheim's territory expanded like it was never before.
However, perhaps the cosmos had decided that Morgandr had meddled in the affairs of mortals for far too long and intervened in the form of a chosen of Lumina, Goddess of Light, to drive back the draconic menace. The Chosen managed to unite the smaller kingdoms, duchies, and countries into one banner, dubbed "The Alliance", and led the charge against Regheim. Furthermore, the Chosen's own divine power was able to match Freya's, enough to finally tip the balance of the war. What was once a one-sided curb-stomp battle became a series of long grueling battles that finally ended with a large scale victory in which the Chosen defeated Dragon Freya as the Alliance's forces toppled the Empire's legions.
After the utter defeat, Emperor Magnus was emotionally shattered as the fires of ambition in his eyes became nothing more than smoldering embers. Then, instead of stubbornly clinging to his office, he realized that he couldn't lead the empire properly anymore and decided to abdicate his throne to Freya then retreated into seclusion, leaving the crippled empire into the hands of the dragon princess-... empress. The following few years after that was spent in stagnation as despite Freya trying her best to keep the empire together, the loss of territory, crippled economy, famine, and ruined infrastructure left much to be desired, made worse by most of the noble houses adopting a "each man for themself" policy as they squabbled amongst each other.
What was in next in store for Freya and Regheim as a whole? Well... this page of history hasn't been written yet.