Leaf Astaseul

Leaf Astaseul, born Kahmoi Phoenix, is a member of the Staslovic High Council, a director of the Blackthorn Arms Company, Guardian of the Astaseul Dynasty, and soldier within the Staslov Order. Born in Elkinir following the Rohelian exodus, she spent most of her father's life physically and mentally as a child, due to her reduced aging as a Half-Elf. Because of her tendency to climb trees, she was nicknamed "Little Leaf", and would adopt the name "Leaf" later in her life. She made a name for herself while assisting her father Komui Phoenix during the GCL Crisis, and would soon after inherit her father's estate upon his death. She would help to direct the evacuation of Ecclesia before the Doom of Ratham, and would become one of the lords of Vyrlorn upon the arrival of the Ecclesians in the Holy Kingdom of Staslov. 
== Early Life ==
Born in the year 131 TE to her parents Komui and Naomox Phoenix, Komui was distraught to find that his wife had given birth to a girl. Due to the gendered stigma of Sparwoodian traditions, Komui feared that his daughter would struggle to inherit his estate, knowing that his adoptive son Soul, who had disappeared to parts unknown, still had a legitimate claim. Thus Komui decided to name his daughter after himself, though in the elvish tongue, kept her hair short, and presented her to the world as a boy. Only Komui, his brother Tito, and Naomox new the truth of Kahmoi's gender.
Due to the clashing of Kahmoi's elvish and human genes, her aging was slowed dramatically, but so was her maturation, causing her to remain as a child for much longer than a human. It would not be until Kahmoi was 24 years old that she could finally walk and begin forming words. 
At the start of the Great Sparwood War in 137 TE, Kahmoi was taken east by her mother Naomox, along with the other Rohellians who fled Rathnir at the beginning of the war, to the far off lands of Vatkas. She would remain there up until the year 185 TE, when Naomox returned to Elkinir following the collapse of the Vatkas. By this point, Kahmoi had matured to that of a toddler.
Komui, now in his late 80s, did his best to began tutoring Kahmoi, but she had trouble listening, ignored her studies, and spent most of her time climbing trees, which lead to her mother nicknaming her "Little Leaf", as she would hang from branches like a leaf. Kahmoi had a deep fascination with nature, likely due to her wood elf background. However, due to her hyper-energetic nature and childish attitude, Komui gave up on her tutelage, hoping to continue it again once she had matured enough.
=== Sararis ===
Due to growing instability within Sparwood, in the year 188 TE, House Phoenix decided to move to the town of Sararis within the duchy of Anoshpey in Yimmu-Audal, under the supervision of Duchess Ahrin Aesperii. Komui and Tito Phoenix worked on building a new headquarters for the Blackthorn Arms Company as Naomox constructed their homes. Leaf would regularly escape the bounds of the town out into the rest of Yimmu-Audal, sometimes getting as far as Market55 before being caught and brought home by servants of House Phoenix. During this time, there were many stories of "the wandering red haired elf child", with some rumoring that she was a ghost, as she never seemed to age, no matter how many decades went by (full blooded elves are known to reach full maturation by the age of 30). While Leaf loved exploring the various ruins in the sand and wandering through the fields and the forests, she always steered clear of people, due to her father's warnings about the cruel nature of the Rathniri people.
By the age of 70, Leaf would finally properly begin her tutelage. He would teach her how to read and write, the art of blacksmithing, the histories of the Rohelian people, and the ways of politics and business. However, even at this age, Leaf would often neglect her studies. While she enjoyed reading, she often would read books other than those prescribed to her father, including the Audalad histories, the chronicles of Dalatra, and the Bardonian Defense. Leaf did come to embrace her Rohelian heritage upon learning of the Wilting War and the Rohelian genocide, though the stories brought her much sadness, and forced her to reflect on her own mortality. 
Leaf would spend much of her formative years in Sararis. She became fascinated with the many cycles of Yimmu-Audal, how it would rise and fall throughout the ages. She would study histories in the library of Urnu-Arrak (often without the permission of the librarian), and would traverse ancient ruins and archaeological sites. It is believed that these years in Yimmu-Audal, and the teachings of her father, greatly shaped Leaf's worldview.
== Early Career ==
=== Assistant to Komui ===
When Leaf turned 130, Komui decided that she had finally come of age, and that she could now act as his official assistant. She would sit at the table of Blackthorn Arms' board of directors' meetings, shadow her father during deals, and assist in cataloguing BTA's equipment and sales. Because she rarely left Komui's side, she began to be known as "Komui's Red Shadow", due to her red hair and tendency to literally walk in Komui's shadow. It was during this time that Leaf began to take her political studies more seriously, hoping to properly succeed her father, who had begun to succumb to the effects of old age.
=== GCL Crisis ===
It would be during the GCL Crisis that Leaf would make a name for herself (though still hiding her true gender). Among the many meetings and summits that took place during the crisis, Leaf would at times speak in place of her father, carry his messages, and even spy for him. Towards the end of the crisis, Komui would become bedridden due to his age, and Leaf for the first time took a role as a true politician, negotiating on behalf of Ecclesia in her father's stead at the GCL-Charm peace talks. She would also be the one to put out the bounty on Jormerion "Nate" Llozharo's head upon the discovery that he had been using shapeshifting magic to pose as multiple people within GCL and abroad for decades. She would lead Ecclesian troops into the cities of Alakand, Esaqu, Vostok, and Daphentesca, known as the "Campaign of Flowers", where they would be met with cheering crowds, glad to finally be liberated from Jormerion's tyranny. 
=== Death of Komui ===
In his final days, Leaf stayed by Komui's death bed, never leaving his side, having servants bring food and water. Reportedly, his final words were, "Bury me in Rohel". Leaf would hold a private funeral procession on the outskirts of the city of Lothric, once known as Moonburg. In attendance were the members of House of Phoenix. Upon his death, Leaf would inherit Komui's board seat in Blackthorn Arms, as well as his position on the Ecclesian council. Pontius Kasper, who himself had been ailing from old age, would name Leaf "Hand of the Pontius", and from then on she would serve as the nation's regent.
=== Annexation of Heimstadt ===
Leaf's first political success following her father's death would come after the Ex-Heimele of Heimstadt, Tuscan, came to the Pontius and offered his blessing for Ecclesia to annex the city-state. Leaf would then spend more than a year deciphering a web of political intrigue that revealed that the new Heimele, Raven, had won her election through scrupulous means, forcing out her much more competent predecessor, Technician. Leaf would seize the opportunity of this political instability to make a deal with the Ex-Heimele, where he would be installed as Duke of Heimstadt in exchange for allowing Ecclesia to invade and annex it. Leaf would then submit Ecclesia's declaration of war to the Heimele, who would surrender to Ecclesia nine minutes later. Heimstadt's democracy would be permanently dissolved, and the state was brought back into Ecclesia's fold after nearly 150 years of separation. It would be Leaf's first major political victory, winning her favor with the Pontius.
=== Vostok Crisis ===
Leaf would face her first serious trial during the Vostok Crisis. When Pontius Kasper decreed that Vostok would remain in Ecclesian hands due to the Vostok government's ties to Brugamere, a series of events would be set into motion. Simultaneously, the Pontius would demand that the nation of Yvres would cede back the Ecclesian territory it had illegally settled in over the last century and a half. Leaf would negotiate a deal where Yvres would purchase the territory officially, and in return, Ecclesia would help to attack a group of squatters held up on an ocean platform to Yvres's south. In a move still poorly understood, though likely due to a lack of leadership experience, Leaf decided to organize the war effort out of the city of Vostok. The move enraged the Vostoki citizen's and its government in exile, who vowed to help the squatters in anyway they could, in exchange for being allowed to recapture the city. It would later come to light that the squatters were actually a makeshift colony of a far away mid-level military power, Preyella. Due to the highly defensible nature of the ocean platform, and the vulnerable nature of Vostok, Ecclesia was forced into a highly disadvantageous position. This sent the Pontius into a rage, who harshly reprimanded Leaf for doing something so short sighted. Ecclesia would be forced to pay Preyella 2 million dollars to get them to leave the city of Vostok alone, foiling the plans of Vostok's government in exile, and putting a black mark on both Ecclesia and Leaf's political career.
== Doom of Ratham ==
=== Liberation of Vostok ===
When reports of the approaching comet of Iristor were confirmed, Leaf sent a delegation to the Vostoki government in exile, welcoming them back to the city and giving them back their independence, so that in the final days of Ratham, they could gather their valuables and evacuate with the other fleeing refugees. It was seen as bittersweet by the Vostoki, who were only allowed their freedom after the end of times had been declared, but none the less, they thanked Leaf for her magnanimity.
=== Evacuation of Ecclesia ===
As the Pontius had since slipped into a coma, from which he would never wake, it was up to Leaf and House Phoenix to organize the evacuation of the Ecclesian people. At first, the task seemed impossible, as what few Ecclesians remained in the country were gripped by fear and panic. However, Leaf used the opportunity to reveal to the nation that she had been actually woman, and challenged the courage and resolve of the Ecclesians. She told a crowd of onlookers "Look here. A young girl stands before you, with no shred of fear in her eyes, and you cannot match such bravery? If not, you bring shame to Ambros". As word spread, the traditionally conservative Eccelsians came to see Leaf as a beacon, a servant of Ambros, and rallied around her. Leaf had over a hundred ships built, and loaded on them all valuables, books, and useful materials that could fit. She would set sail west, along with the Sparwoodian migratory fleet.
=== Great Voyage ===
The ensuing voyage west would last nearly seven years. The Ecclesian fleet would make land fall a number of times, sometimes stopping for months at a time to collect food and supplies before continuing the voyage. Many ships were lost to storms, either capsized or blown off course, and many lost their lives to dehydration, disease, and scurvy. At times the fleet would encounter fellow Rathamite refugees, engaging in trade and diplomacy. It was during one of these encounters with the Oblivion fleet, lead by Technician, that Leaf and her uncle Tito attempted to negotiate joining their ranks, so long as upon landfall they would be given their own land to call their own, but due to reasons unknown, the deal fell through. The Ecclesians would continue their journey, unsure as to their future.
=== Arrival in Abexilas ===
Upon their arrival in Abexilas, the Ecclesians would make landfall in the Kingdom of Zeril. There the leader Tariri Sto Zerilin attempted to entice the Ecclesians to settle in their lands, as they were still sparsely populated and in need of more hands. While they initially agreed, the Ecclesians found the climate of Norvinia to be cold and harsh, and crops struggled to grow. After months of living, Leaf received a message from the Fjellis, who had united under the Staslov dynasty. They invited the Ecclesians to settle on their island of Mikk'oth, now known as the Holy Kingdom of Staslov. The Ecclesians packed their ships, this time for the last time, and set sail for Staslov.
=== Arrival in Staslov ===
Upon their arrival in Staslov, what had originally been a fleet of a hundred ships was now no more than a dozen. They would disembark on the northern tip of the island near the mouth of a ravine, and would call their new settlement "Vyrlorn". The three remaining leaders of the Ecclesians, Tito, Leaf, and Autumn Phoenix, would become the lords of Vyrlorn, and the King of Staslov would have them appointed to his High Council.
== High Councilor of Staslov ==
Upon her ascension to the High Council of Staslov, Leaf would take a direct role in diplomatic and political matters, serving as its defacto head diplomat. Due to her secretive nature, the residents of Vyrlorn revived her old nickname "the Red Shadow", and it has since become her unofficial epithet. Rarely does she enter the public eye, but she has been known to be involved in an official capacity in a number of political dealings within the Kingdom of Staslov, including the signing of alliances and treaties. 
=== Talasi Travels ===
Leaf spent most of her early years in Staslov exploring the at-the-time unmapped continent of Talasi upon her horse Comet. During her travels, she came across lands such as Bardonia, Kaline, Skulfur, and Drackar, stopping at the Worldspine mountain range before turning back west. During her travels, she accidentally rode her horse into a ravine, killing it instantly and nearly dying herself in the process. She would purchase another horse, naming this one "Meteor", before continuing once again. When she had returned to Vyrlorn, the Cathedral of Irithyll had begun construction. 
=== Altor Incident ===
During the Altor incident, Leaf would serve as a diplomat during the negotiations between Staslov and Levan, and would oversee the signing of the treaty that purchased Altor's independence from Levan. 
=== Battle of Bazeth ===
Leaf would participate in the skirmish on the outskirts of Bazeth, the subsequent raid on Astrapol in Sonderia, and in the Battle of Bazeth that followed. She slayed as many as four Sonderian fighters in the battle, and distinguished herself among her peers as a capable warrior.
=== Marriage into House Astaseul ===
Due to past connections between her father and the old patriarch of the Astaseul family, V01df1sh, Leaf was inducted as an official friend of family, and came to meet the Astaseuls, including the at-the-time family head, Max Astaseul, and the heir to the dynasty, Leoni Astaseul. After Max's disappearance and presumed death, Leoni would ascend as head of the Astaseul family. Upon Leaf's request, a marriage would be arranged between her and Danye Astaseul, Leoni's half-brother. The wedding was held within the halls of the Cathedral of Irithyll, still under construction at the time. It was held in the Ambrion tradition, with bride and groom lighting each other's ceremonial candle, signifying the flame of their love, and the flame of Ambros. Nearly every major political leader in Staslov, including the King, was in attendance. After the wedding, Leaf and Danye would have their brief honeymoon in his nation of Tandong. Shortly after Leaf's induction into House Astaseul, the family head Leoni would appoint her as Guardian of the family, its second in command position.