Saint Orianna Orchtenbrück

**St. Orianna Orchtenbrück (Orianna Eidelweiss Terrorsbane Orchtenbrück)**, also known as the **Sovereign in Alabaster**, the **First Lightbringer**, and **Orianna the First** was the human founder of the Kovithian Empire as well as that empire's very religion. Kovithian religion believes that St. Orianna was the first of Kovar's avatars. She is remembered in history as a great hero for being the first mortal to take up arms against the demonic dreadlords. She is perhaps the most significant historical figure in Kovithian culture. According to Kovithian religious texts, her sword, Sun, was forged in the flames of Evarencia's sun.

After dying of natural causes, Orianna ascended and was made into a powerful angel by Kovar. As the Soverign in Alabaster, she leads the Order of the Planes Militant against Heaven's enemies while also trying to guide her people from beyond the material plane. The Sovereign herself has its own special faiths and practices devoted to her such as the Silver Sentinels or St. Clarion's Church. As the Sovereign in Alabaster and in the incarnation of Akira Uriel, St. Orianna is featured at length in the *SteamSpell* as both Grey's patron and the mother of Corvus Altera.

## Saint Orianna Orchtenbrück

A sketch of St. Orianna in life, by Alex.

### Type

* Celestial
* Angel
* Arch-existence
* Human (in life)

### Titles & names

* Akira Uriel (Incarnation)
* First Lightbringer
* Godfrieda Helltraeger (alleged Incarnation)
* Kovar's Chosen
* Orianna Eidelweiss Terrorsbane Orchtenbruck (Full name)
* Queen Orianna Orchtenbruck I
* Sovereign in Alabaster (Angelic title)

### Symbols

* the Kovithian zweihander known as Sun
* A lantern crossed with swords

### Home Plane

* Celestia
* Imperial Kovith (in life)

## Worship

### Major temples

* Cathedral of Revealing Light
* St. Clarion Chapel

### Associated domains

* Kovith
* Light
* Protection
* Sacrifice
* the Sun
* Swords

### Relics

* Sun

As an NPC, she is played by GM Alex.

## Description

### Appearance

In life, St. Orianna was described as a fiercely beautiful woman with raven hair and grey eyes. Although remembered as a mighty warrior, St. Orianna was noted for not appearing physically imposing or being especially large. Most depictions of her feature her dressed in traditional Gothic armor and a robe-like tunic and with a golden halo of light.

As the angelic Sovereign in Alabaster, St. Orianna resembles very much a divine version of herself in life, but her face is now impossibly bright to gaze at unless one is a celestial themselves or her children. She has six, large feathered wings that she often uses to hide her star bright face. When manifesting, it is usually to do battle with the enemies of Heaven, and, thus she is often adorned in armor forged in Vaargard. When not appearing in battle or in full glory for mortals, she often prefers to take the form of her a younger version of herself from her humbler days growing up in a monastery.

### Personality

Orianna is remembered for being devout in her faith to Kovar, the god of Light, likely due in party to her upbringing in an abbey. Although her personal writings revealed she dealt with her own self-doubts, Orianna is remembered for being a courageous, bold, determined, and fierce woman. She was filled with a great sense of faith and purpose by her god when she took up arms against the dreadlords. Writings from her time period reveal that Orianna was tough and despite her small stature, she was intimidating in her own right. Although she was kind, she is rarely ever depicted as smiling.

As the Sovereign in Alabaster, Orianna takes on a mother-like aspect toward her role as an archangel. She is well intentioned, trying her best to guide the Kovithian people to the point of her own expense. Orianna's personality and identity is not built solely around her life as St. Orianna, but from all of the memories collected from her various incarnations, such as Akira Uriel. Interestingly, these incarnations often are similar in personality to Orianna in their own lifetimes, but they are unaware of who their soul belongs to though Lady Sophia Gedraan's membership in the Silver Sentinels suggests the soul knows on a deeper level than pure memory. Only after dying does the soul learn who it truly is. As a patron to Grey, Sovereign was motherly, eventually admitting to wishing to adopt the tiefling as her own son.

## Biography

*‘Orianna, my lantern,*

*If you would take up arms in Our name, restore light to this realm, and break the shackles of the dread lords’ cursed darkness,*

*Then you are We, and We are you. You are Our Lightbringer. Tis not a burden We would ask of anyone. Daughter of Brytegoth. Only will We enter thine house if thee would have us.’*

-The 'Revelation' passage of the *Book of Orianna*, a Kovithian holy text.

### St. Orianna Orchtenbrück

An orphan was left at the Abbey of the Revealing Light and she was taken in by the kind Monks of Brytegoth who resided within the abbey of Kovar's faithful. The Prior gave her the name Orianna, Higher Gothic for 'dawn.' Church scholarship states that Orianna of Brytegoth grew up with an unidentified disability that caused her great pain at times and required her armor to incorporate a specialized leg-brace (greatly advancing medical science in the process), but this did not stop her from partaking in the gothic monastic tradition of practicing the Service of the Sword. Orianna excelled in this practice as she did as a devout resident of the abbey. At a young age, she had led a defense of the abbey from demonic marauders.

In her young adulthood, Kovithian scripture states that the god Kovar revealed themselves to her asking her to be his avatar, the Lightbringer. Orianna accepted her gods request, becoming his living avatar. It was after this alleged revelation that Orianna of Brytegoth solidified her name in all of Evarencia's history when she was the first mortal to take up arms against the demonic tyrants that were the dreadlords. According to legends, her god was able to take her to the sun where she forged an enchanted Gothic zweihander in the flames of the sun into the blade that bore the name of the star it was forged in. She was able to overcome what many deemed was impossible and unified the Gothic Kingdoms in her fight. Selusians and Higardi joined her cause, and soon, the Morning's Cabal grew into the mighty force that is recounted time and again in history for defeating the dreadlords and returning light to the realm.

It was during her crusade that Orianna of Brytegoth married Frederick Orchtenbrück I, and per Gothic tradition of succession, Orianna took his last name, but it was not mistaken that she was seen and remembered as the holy figure in her faith. At the Battle of New Dawn, Orianna was able to slay Blackheart herself, an incredible feat, and earned her the Kovithian honorific name 'Terrorsbane,' which she is the only one to do.

Her deeds solidified the belief that she was Kovar's avatar, and the church that formed around her came to believe that her descendants carried on Kovar's legacy as avatars themselves. The unified Gothic Kingdoms took on the name 'Kovith' to honor the god she devoted her life to, and the Gothic Kings recognized her as the Emperor of Kovith, Guardian of the Gothic People, making her the first Emperor and the founder of the Kovithian Empire. Her and her husband had one child, Orianna II. As an emperor, Orianna is remembered as being firm, yet kind. Some recorded anecdotes tell of how she often preferred wearing her abbey habit over the typical dress of Kovithian court. She established laws and practices that laid the framework for Kovith's reputation for prioritizing accessibility in its architectural design as well as social programs, especially for children. Orianna was remembered for being far more comfortable outside of the Holy Palace in the city that would come to share her name and quite often, dressed plainly. She was a legendary hero, but according to many personal accounts, she never forgot where she came from as a commoner. During her rule, wings of the Holy Palace were witnessed housing orphans Orianna found while traveling the city dressed in her old habit.

She is said to have died quietly while praying in 2S 33 and legend says when she died, that she ascended directly to Celestia, passing Aor's judgment, taking her sword with her to safeguard the heavens above.

### Godfrieda Helltraegor

*Caliban: False Prophet, Avenging Angel, or Unfortunate Soul?* puts forth a potential theory that the mother of Caliban the False Prophet, the mercenary knight Godfrieda Helltraegor, was potentially a mortal incarnation of St. Orianna which led to the Inquisition's ire towards the Darkeaters of Kyir.

### Akira Uriel Gedraan

The lady Akira Uriel, a Valkyrie Queen of the Knights of the Holy Storm was a Storm Knight who married the Higardi Duke Osyrus Gedraan and became the stepmother of Sophia and Roboute Gedraan. With the Duke, Akira had three children; Melain, Corvus, and Seranna. To her surprise, her children were born with divine features which caught the interest of her husband. Osyrus' lust for power through his supposed heritage to the first King, Arthur Yormoth, came to seek out the aid of the biomancers. Striking a deal with Dr. Branson, the Duke offered up their son, Corvus, to Dr. Branson. Fearing for the lives of her other children, Akira sought out the aid of her court sorcerer, Belphegor, in spiriting Melain away. As for Seranna, Lady Uriel employed the aid of the crime boss, Don Mazooka. For doing this, Akira met an unfortunate end when her husband killed her in a fit of rage, likely brought on by the strange medical experimentation he was undergoing.

### Sovereign in Alabaster

The Sovereign in Alabaster is the chosen archangel of Kovar and is the leader of the Knights of the Planes Militant. She is tasked with safeguarding the heavens from those who would seek to do them harm or unravel their order. From her position, she tries to guide the Kovithian people, who she sees as having gone astray. She tries to safeguard the children that she still has left in the realm. In the events of *SteamSpell*, the Sovereign had recognized Clarion Reiss as her son through adoption, gifting him some of her power, so that he may try and help redeem Corvus, thus saving those who share in her bloodline from Blackheart's corruption.

## History

For her brave actions of leading the charge against the dreadlords, St. Orianna is respected across many cultures as a hero, even if those cultures do not subscribe to the belief of her being a holy avatar of Kovar. Orianna Orchtenbrück was able to maintain the unification of the Gothic Kingdoms after the Sunless Era, forever altering the course of the Western Goths. She is considered both the founder of the Kovithian Empire and culture. Orianna's own experiences as a disabled orphan led her new culture, under her guidance, to adopt some of the most forward views on accessibility and social programs for children. To this day, Orianna serves as an inspiration for all manner of folk.

With her as the foundational figure of the Kovithian culture, it is without question that Orianna Orchtenbrück had a great influence on said culture. Despite if she intended for a church based around her to form or not, a faith did grow and became the Church of Kovith. Many historians and scholars credit her husband, Frederick 'the Great' Orchtenbrück I with the codification of large portion of some of the beliefs the Church adopted early, especially in regards to Kovar's avatar being a lineage and not just linked to an individual. It is important to note that early in its existence, the Church did not resemble the massive, theocratic power with its own army that the Church of Kovith is in the time period of *WovenRealm.*

As the Sovereign in Alabaster began to appear before mortals, the Silver Sentinels were formed. The order of warriors devoted to the Sovereign in Alabaster were featured in the *SteamSpell* web series with the NPC Lady Sophia Gedraan being a paladin of the order. These warriors specialize in a special two-handed swordfighting style they call 'meisterhau' supposedly passed down from the Sovereign herself.

Most recently, St. Clarion's Temple is a unique interpretation of the faith in St. Orianna, synthesizing it with the figure found in the quasi-religious Silver Sentinels, the Sovereign in Alabaster. Part of the Temple's mythos includes Corvus, the raven winged angel, a supposed son of the Sovereign.

## Relics

* Robes of Shadowbane
* St. Orianna's Armor
* Sun

## Trivia

* Cast member Sam had a large hand in crafting St. Orianna's life story, inspiring the idea of St. Orianna being disabled.
* As the Sovereign in Alabaster, St. Orianna appeared in the *SteamSpell* campaign as a major part of the narrative.
* St. Orianna's persona of the Sovereign in Alabaster received that title from cast member Simulacrae, who played as Grey/Clarion Reiss in *SteamSpell.*
* Puddins was unaware of the meaning of Orianna as 'Dawn' when he named her originally. It is purely coincidental that her name's meaning fits the role she played in Evarencia's history.
* Puddins has stated that Orianna in life and Ezara have very similar personalities.
* Orianna's well intentioned actions constantly being twisted by an intolerant, autocratic church (with an Inquisition to boot), was inspired by the Emperor of Mankind and the Imperial Cult in *Warhammer40K.*