(no subject)
Player Info:
Nickname: Kai
Age: 27
Personal LJ: therealkaichan
Method of Contact: Email: therealkaichan(at]gmail.com | Plurk: therealkaichan
Characters Played: None.
Character Info:
Name: Princess Rei
Age: Most likely over 700 years old, looks around 11.
Canon: SaGa Frontier
Pull Point: Before being recruited by Asellus
Background Info:
History:
Pretty much irrelevant links:
SaGa Frontier
Let’s play of Asellus’ quest (the only adventure in which rei can be recruited)
Data from the best sourcebook for the game check for data on Mystic culture and Orlouge being a greedy bastard.
Rei’s story starts a long time back, though it is left unclear enough so that we will only know a few things. It is most likely that she was taken by Mystic Lord Orlouge as his first Princess a long time ago. This can be inferred from the huge number of princesses Orlouge has amassed since then (a number that reaches one hundred) and because of her knowledge of Mirage magic, a type of magic that was lost a long time ago.
As she was under the effect of Orlouge’s charm, she did most likely gladly live as a Mystic by his side for a long time, but as Orlouge brought in more and more Princesses, she grew disenchanted with his methods and started thinking up her own plan to be freed of him.
It is known that before leaving, she drank Orlouge’s blood, this had two big consequences for her, the first one was most likely freeing her of his charm (it is stated on the story that those possessing Orlouge’s blood are immune to that ability) and the second one was to give her a power equivalent to his.
In order to escape, Rei commited suicide, and with the help of Kylin, the Space Lord, she was reincarnated into a human form. There isn’t an exact timeline for this, but we do know that she has been hiding ever since, and Orlouge has been on her pursuit for a while, this means she is most likely changing locations whenever she is found (as it is shown by the fact that if you reject her offering to join she disappears to avoid being found and is not seen again in her usual spot for the remainder of the game).
It was when he was pursuing her, that Orlouge ran over a human girl with his carriage, which started the chain of events that appear in Asellus’ story in the game.
Currently Rei has the appearance of a ten or twelve year old girl. Though the plot states several times that she was reincarnated as a human, by the time she joins the party her stats and gameplay are those of a mystic. This means she can absorb the essence of living beings and turn it into her strength (by changing her stats).
When she is found in game, Rei is acting as a shrine maiden in Devin, a city of fortunetellers. She can be consulted regarding Space and Time magic, the two more powerful types of magic in the game, however only Asellus will be able to recruit her.
When this happens, she mentions that she regrets not being able to stop Orlouge from creating a half-mystic and and offers her help to stop him. If the offering is taken she joins the party, and she aids in the defeat of Orlouge. In two of the possible endings (including the “canonical” one), she continues being in contact with the group even years after.
Personality:
(As there is little shown of her, there is a lot of speculation here. Because of that, I will add the reasons for my thoughts on the different aspects of her personality.)
Though she may look quite adorable as an eleven year old miko, Rei can be surprisingly blunt and even impolite. She will complain about the smell of a Mystic to their faces, offer to draw sacred lots that are sold out and use a nice exclamation point when turning people down (“Sold out!” was pretty much all we heard her say unless you were Asellus or you were asking about magic), and she will consider a conversation finished and ignore someone when she believes they are not worthy of her information.
Rei seems to know much about magic, being the only character capable of using Mirage magic, an ancient art that eventually was absorbed into Mystic magic. She can also give out information regarding space and time magic, so it appears that up to a certain point she doesn’t mind sharing a little knowledge if she thinks someone is worth the time.
It also wouldn’t be strange to learn that she is not completely used to the most modern technology, being that she was taken from her human life when she was young and she lived in Facinaturu, where technology is not welcome, for hundreds of years.
She values her freedom, and probably freedom in general. Even when she never took any action against Orlouge before she met Asellus, it doesn’t mean she is fine with him doing as he likes, as she mentions she feels responsible for Asellus’ fate, but as much as she dislikes that man, it is logical that she would assess her situation and find that it was pointless to fight on her own.
Having hid during most of her free life, it’s easy to think that Rei is quick to adapt to new surroundings. She probably knows much about things like court life and fashion because of her time living in the palace, but she appears to be enjoying her new lifestyle far more than her life in the castle, which is obvious by her absolute refusal to go back.
She is most likely interested in seeing new places. Also, since most of the possible social relationships on the castle were very strained, as Orlouge was very possessive of all his princesses, it makes sense that she would be interested in meeting new people and sharing some “normal” relationships that do not involve charm spells.
According to Essence, from the mystic values represented by Orlouge’s three Princesses, Rei represents the “pride that bows to none”. This means she is aware of her power and talents, and proud of them, however it doesn’t mean she will brag about that, just that she has truly big standards to measure people with. This can be seen in action when she refuses to give out information about Space magic to those who have not mastered at least two other types of magic before.
Because of her past as a glorified mistress, Rei must know how to please a man both with her company and sexually. While this was not stated outright in the games regarding her, it was stated regarding White Rose, another one of the princesses.
This doesn’t mean much, as it is not likely that Rei will apply those knowledges, both because of the significance of those skills (things that were learnt while she was kept under Orlouge’s thrall) and because of her current body, which is that of a child. This does mean, however that she knows about topics that are not very likely for a child to know, and considering her way of acting during the game, is very likely that she won’t avoid speaking out in case of those topics ever appearing in a conversation.
Because of her bluntness she may appear a little uncaring, but she can and will cultivate friendships. It is known that Rei was friends with Kylin, and when he is killed she even expresses regret about his death in the most blunt and pretend-uncaring way possible. She also grows closer to the group during their adventure to stop Orlouge, continuing to visit them even after their time together is over.
Game Specific:
Arcana: Moon
Justification:
The Moon is a reflection of the sun and as such is naturally associated with illusion. Rei’s life is mostly dictated by illusion, both because of her magic style (both Mirage and Mystic magic are all about illusion and deception) and her life before the end of the game, which was spent always hiding.
It is also associated with intuition and with a road that is taken even though it is uncertain, all of these are also closely related to Rei’s past and present, both as a miko and a spellcaster, and because of how uncertain her life is now that she does not have someone to choose her path and she has to choose herself.
Samples:
First Person Sample:
[The audio feed begins with a very, very, VERY annoyed girl voice, whose tone some may recognize as Rei’s.]
Today I was told that I shouldn’t be skipping classes. I don’t actually need any classes, but for those who have been here for longer, is there anything of real use to be learned in that place, or is it as pointless as it looks?
[She wasn’t really sure of the promise of free lodging in the dorms was actually worth the time she would lose being “taught” useless things, after all.
The next, comes while she’s fumbling a bit with the phone, trying to cut the transmission, there is a lot of noise (probably from her hands and the movement), and it seems to be intended for someone who is by her side.]
This is stupid, why would I--?
[And the transmission ends.]
Third Person Sample:
Rei had been a little reluctant to actually use the phone before making sure that she hadn’t been followed all the way here. That silly little device, as useful as it looked, was also a sure way of getting her discovered. For that reason she had settled with the voice and text options for the first days, and even now she preferred face-to-face meetings, those were much more useful to know if someone else was dangerous, even if her powers were pretty much gone.
Maybe she was a little old-fashioned too, but of that part she was in denial.
In the end, Rei had to admit that she was a little thankful to whatever thing or person had brought her to this place. For someone who was living on the run from people who could teleport and mind-control other people into giving information, landing in a place that stripped them of all their abilities had been quite convenient.
Also, having arrived to this place first, she was more aware of her capabilities and new limitations, so she could manage well enough to get rid of any nuisances.
So it was fine. For the time being at least, she would play by this place’s rules.