Cecily, the Lady of Laus

[Lavi]

Name: Cecily of Laus
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Nation/Allegiance: Lycia

Appearance/Description:
Cecily  has long dark hair and fair skin, though she unusually has blue eyes; her eyes are said to have come from her mother, but her hair from her father. It is often said that Cecily's gaze had a piercing look to it, unsettling to those who recognize her despite the lighting of the room. This, alongside her upbringing as the niece of the marquess, made her an ideal candidate as an envoy between Laus and the marquessate's neighbors, balancing pleasantries and intimidation to improve Laus's political standing.

Her position as one of Laus's central diplomats meant that she frequently traveled between the various marches and attended numerous public events. Her sphere of influence is largely centered around Laus and the territory's immediate neighbors: Tuscana, Thria, Ostia (and the Caelin autonomous region), Badon, Ryerde, and Worde. However, that is not to say that she is unknown beyond her typical hunting grounds. On occasions, she would visit more distant marches like Pherae and Tania for major events.

Cecily took a several year respite from acting as a diplomat to pursue her own interests in Etruria. This time saw her study seid magic, also known as galdrar, due to it being a relatively rare magic in Elibe. Her expertise in seid magic is considerable, since she had the technique to create new galdrar. Her studies extended to the study of folklore and legends that were often associated with galdrar.

Following her imprisonment by her uncle and escape from Laus with the help of locals, Cecily no longer seemed to find happiness in the situation that she was given. Her retainers commented that she seemed more brooding and calculative than normal, especially after surviving an attempt on her life by Lausian assassins, at the cost of her bodyguard Theodore, during her refuge in Bern.

Bio/Backstory:
Cecily was born and raised in a privileged family as the niece of the current Marquess of Laus, placing third in the line of succession to the Laus marquessate after her father and cousin. She quickly proved herself to be abnormally brilliant in arcane studies in her youth. Matched with a bohemian personality (mistaken by her father as a stage of rebellious youth), Cecily quickly asserted herself as an insightful woman who was as charming as she was unnerving. Since she was not the heir apparent to the marquessate, Cecily delved into a hobby of studying the arcane magics. She went as far as traveling to Etruria to continue her studies.

Following the capitulation of the Etruscan monarchy, Cecily grew alarmed by the increasingly aggressive policies set by the Church of Sanctity. Although she did not approve of the witch hunts against mages, resulting from the so-called "Sanctity laws," Cecily kept to herself since she needed to collect information about the reasoning for outlawing anima and dark magics. In the meantime, Cecily avoided getting herself directly involved with mages or shamans. However, through proxies, she had been secretly assisting them in fleeing to Bern under the organization she founded: the Eight Republics.

Although the founder of the Eight Republics, the day-to-day leadership of the organization fell under her butler Charleton due to her disinterest in what she referred to as "menial tasks." Charleton's efforts enabled the Eight Republics to thoroughly infiltrate the hierarchy of Laus. Despite the efforts of Eight Republics, Cecily was frustrated that the many spies within the Lausian march were not able to come up with any useful information about the unexpected policies regarding magic. She ordered Charleton to expand the organization beyond Laus and create an intelligence network to better understand the creation of the Sanctity laws.

Publicly, Cecily acts as a dignitary of Laus in foreign relations with the other territories of the Lycian Empire. Her resulting travels enable Cecily to contact her informants outside of Laus with relative ease. Although she secretly supports mages, Cecily maintains a public image in support of the Sanctity laws to dissuade anti-magic inquisitors.

She came under attack by brigands, whom Cecily initially believed to be related to Etruscan rebels who were justifiably angered by her support of the Sanctity laws, while on a diplomatic mission to Badon. However, upon being defamed and thrown out of House Laus by her uncle on her return, Cecily was convinced that the brigands were hired by Marquess Laus to assassinate her. She was forced to flee from the Laus march to Bern for her own safety.

During her stay in Bern, Cecily petitioned the monarchy for an audience, with minimal results. Although she managed to see a Bernese official, her efforts ultimately did not result in a meeting with the Bern king. Her presence in Bern did not go unnoticed, since Cecily was nearly killed in an assassination attempt conducted by Lausian agents. She was rescued by Satsume Hinotama, who helped nurse her back to health.

Without the funding that she could attain by being a noble, the Eight Republics saw a decline in its effectiveness. However, rather than attempt to revive the organization, Cecily saw a need to combat the Church of Sanctity more directly.

Appearances:

• And A Toast to Our Victors: A celebration of Lycia's victory over Etruria. Cecily meets Urai Zann, the newly appointed Marquess of Aquleia.
  
• A Fall From Grace: The Escape from Castle Laus: Cecily's fall from nobility and her escape from the march. She meets Roland Summers, a sympathetic Ostian knight, Kethen Dorn, a wandering mercenary, and Renata Valenth, a local runaway from the Church of Sanctity.
  
• As Firm as a Mountain: Cecily seeks the attention of the King of Bern, but receives Lord Randolf, one of the king's advisors. After presenting her case to the lord and returns to her quarters, Cecily was poisoned by a Lausian assassin and ushered to a nearby refugee camp to hide and find medical treatment. She receives the help of Satsume Hinotama, a knight residing in Bern, and Ray, an Ilian mercenary.
  
• I Need an Army: After attaining Satsume's loyalty and learning of the fate of her bodyguard Theodore, Cecily and Satsume travel to Pherae to follow a clue indicating that a fire started at the Pheraean Royal Archives after a royal librarian requested access to its contents and is being, unusually, protected by the Church Guard as clean-up was done.
  
• The Reclamation of Tania: Cecily and Satsume's search in Pherae leads them north to neighboring Tania, where they are caught in a Bernese raid on the Lycian border territories.
  
• The Dead One Calls: Joining Paige Pierpont, the librarian they sought from the Pheraean Royal Archives, Shad Hyperion, an Etruscan noble, and Ambrose Locke, a mercenary from Bern, the group travels to Bern in hopes of finding a Bernese officer who is willing to grant them an audience in the aftermath of the raid.
  

Miscellaneous: