Talenia

## Appearance

Blessed as she is by peak human genes given to her by Silas, Talenia is an absolutely physically gorgeous. Her dark brown hair cascades down to her shoulders, thick yet soft and glossy. Her facial features are stern but gentle, with thin eyebrows and a slight nose. Her lips are perfectly shaped and slightly protruded. Her jaw is soft and elegant. She is tall for a human woman, just under 6 feet, and is strong, lithe, and athletic.

Perhaps her most notable feature is her eyes, deep round saucers of a mellow dark brown. She has a very intense stare, found to be both dispassionate and piercing. People who have met are frequently unbalanced both by her natural beauty and her gaze, her eyes seeming to shove past any outward defenses of pleasantry and conversation and directly into their soul.

Beautiful though she might be, Talenia's clothing exhibits a mindset leaning far more towards function than fashion. She wears dark leather armor as it affords her the most mobility, and bears a thin-bladed 2-handed sword of a slightly darker hue. Its grip is wrapped in black and simple looking. She forgoes wearing bright clothes or any symbols of status, preferring her simple but effective armor and weaponry.

## Personality

Talenia is notoriously cold and uncharismatic. She has a brutal "survival of the fittest" mentality and does not stoop to sentimentality, softness, or emotional expression. Unlike Hector, who ruthlessly drilled his people to the point of physical and mental exhaustion or complete collapse, Talenia does not bluster or seek to make examples. Her leadership is a calm, quiet competence. If she approves of an action, she will simply give a nod of approval; if she disapproves, she will stare at the individual and either walk away or briefly reprimand them with the expectation they will do better next time.

She does not deliver speeches and is extremely unskilled in interpersonal skills, suggesting that her emotional growth as a child was stunted due to isolation and loneliness. Regardless of her flaws though, she is somehow still an exceptional leader owing purely to her ability to instill discipline and loyalty through hard work and dedication. If she sees promise in an individual, she works tirelessly with them, hammering out their flaws and instilling rigor and discipline. Otherwise extremely stoic Ezra have been known to shed tears of relief, joy, and pride at finally earning her approval, sometimes even an extremely rare smile.

While once she believed that true strength was the only measure of value in a person, her time in the Ezra taught her the value of strength not as merely physical might, but the strength of character and of personal codes. Where once her survival instincts used to cause her to act closer to an animal than a human, she has considerably mellowed out ever since meeting Cedric, and become significantly less harsh. She is pragmatic to a fault, and always delivered sensible, informed, and rational advice when Cedric asked for it.

She is neither witty nor particularly commanding in conversation, being extremely direct with her words and only ever seeking out conversation with some sort of goal to achieve. Many think her far more boring than the fiery Cedric, the dim-witted but endlessly charming Twelve-Talon Tara, the affable and wise Daniel Pentwood, or the grim, rigid, and acrid Hector. That is mostly due to the fact that she lets very few in close to her. Those that manage to get inside her circle though have found her to be perceptive, astute, and possessing of an astoundingly vast amount of compassion for those seeking rehabilitation. She went out on a limb to protect former Primogeniture members from the Citadel and others who sought retribution, sincerely offering a home to anyone who sought to better themselves and make up for their past. Perhaps she saw herself in them, knowing her own past and how Cedric similarly offered her a place in his family.

## Abilities

In the golden days of the Ezra Reborn, Talenia was either their third or fourth best fighter after Cedric, Hector, and possibly Twelve-Talon Tara, an extremely impressive feat considering the sheer amount of talent on display. As leader of the House of Air, she perfectly embodied its principles of speed, dexterity, resilience, and dogged determination. Interestingly, many Ezra surpassed her in strength, speed, and vigor, and while she was not lacking in any of these departments, she was not at their peak either. In truth, Talenia had a secret weapon. While she was outdone by many of the best Ezra in terms of their raw physical capabilities, she made up for it with her exclusive method of martial arts.

Talenia possesses one of the most unique fighting styles in the known world, that being her skill at engaging multiple opponents at once. Her momentum-based dueling ability requires a state of a rhythmic sort of peace, almost an out of body state of mind. The more opponents facing her, the better she is able to maintain that flow, going faster, striking harder, and becoming more difficult to hit. Peers and onlookers have been almost baffled by this complete rejection of the logical, as she regularly performs far better against groups of four than against a single opponent, even when that same opponent is later part of a group. Dubbing this style the Way of the Clear Sky, named for embracing the entirety of the sky and facing its enormity all at once, Talenia is so far the only master of this fighting technique.

In addition to her fighting prowess, Talenia is an excellent scout, tracker, and survivalist. During the Siege of Magnus Arx, she led an extremely successful guerilla campaign against Rogath, disrupting communications, supply lines, and cohesion in Primogeniture's ranks. Her fighters would emerge from the wilderness out of nowhere, cause immeasurable damage and chaos, and then melt back into the background before any serious defense or counterattack could be arranged. She executed this once again against a much larger host in Talenia's Guerilla Campaign against Thanatos, stalling for much needed time as Ruil's coalition prepared its defenses. She has a knack for identifying weak points in an enemy, as well as strategic positions necessary for an ultimate victory. Much like her personal fighting style, Talenia is very much focused on the big picture; while her actions may seem enigmatic or inexplicable to some, she always has the whole board in mind.

## Appearances

Talenia is a major character in the fourth season. She later appears as a supporting character in the fifth season.

### Season 4

Session 33

Session 34

Session 35

Session 36

Session 37

Session 38

Session 39

Session 40

### Season 5

Session 41

Session 42

### Season 10

Session 97

Session 98

Session 99

Session 100

Session 101

### Season 11

Session 102

Session 103

Session 104

Session 106

Session 107

Session 110

Session 111

Session 112

### Season 12

Session 113

Session 114

Session 116

Session 118

Session 119

Session 120

Session 121

Session 122

Session 123

### Season 13

Session 124

Session 127

Session 128

Session 129

Session 130

Session 132

Session 133

Session 134

Session 135

Session 136

Session 138