Estelle Sakura

The Figure in Purple

High Prince Omanu Sakura (Step-Son)

Unnamed Deceased First Husband

The Atherian Empire

The Southern Crusaders

Talos McGregor

Dread Orezethon the Undiminished

Roaring Dawn

The City of Brighthaven

**Estelle Sakura** best known under the alias of "The Painted Lady" was the queen of Auradon and a member of the Cult of Zeref. She falsely believed that the  Black Wizard had died many years ago and wished to resurect him by using the war in Cormyr to her advantage.

## **Description**

### **Appearance**

In her dress as queen Estelle Sakura is a tall and stern woman who has long blonde hair wearing a dark black dress with gold lining.

In her guise as the Lady in Purple she wore a large purple cloak with a white porcelain mask detailed with the painted designs of blooming flowers.

### **Personality**

Estelle Sakura is cold and calculating in her work as both queen and the Painted Lady. Deep down she has an underlining madness formed by the death of her husband which has turned into extremist fanaticism towards the Cult of Zeref.

## **Biography**

### **Backstory**

Estelle Sakura was once a woman of great wealth married to a kind and handsome merchant living in the Atherian Empire. But one day her husband caught a dangerous and fatal illness and passed away. In her grief she traveled the country, burning away her former wealth attempting to find a way to bring her husband back. In her grief she was found by the Cult of Zeref. Her grief became devotion to the cult, an order who had believed that the Dark Wizard had died after his disappearance from Khoivare.

She developed a religious theory that the cult had been founded by an entity known as the Herald who she believed to have been a powerful servant of Zeref. Her investigation led her to identifying an individual who seemed to have been the one to start the  revolution in  the Nine Hells. She eventually got into contact with a powerful figure in the revolution, a Pit Fiend named
Dread Orezethon the Undiminished who helped her acquire some of Zeref's old work and notes.

Based of one of Zeref's old designs she drafted up a device that she called the Tower of Heaven, a device that would convert the blood of humanoids into material components and power source for a powerful resurrection spell. She identified Auradon as the perfect site to construct the tower as it was a place deep in religious and political strife. Using the cult's resources, she managed to work her way into the king's court. The year prior the king had lost his wife and had begun a vulnerable target. With the use of enchantment magic she married the king, only for her to poison him a year later. From her new position she had the ear of the former Prince Omanu Sakura now king where she could easily control him. But her position didn't give her much political autonomy and as such she created the persona of the Painted Lady, a mysterious individual who served in the king's court. From here she continued to manipulate Aurodon for her own ends and continue her experiments with the Tower of Heaven.

#### **Attack on the Guildhall**

While she was working on the Tower of Heaven in Auradon, she was contacted once again by Dread Orezethon who ordered her to assist Talos McGregor in his attack on Roaring Dawn in return for his assistance in retrieving some of Zeref's old possession for her. Estelle Sakura eventually got into contact with Talos McGregor and they devised a plan to attack the guild on two fronts. Estelle would use her magic to get inside the guildhall along with a host of Werewolves while Talos and his Inquisition forces attacked from the outside. In the attack Estelle Sakura was joined by Dread Orezethon who used the chaos at the guildhall to open a temporary hellgate to leave the Nine Hells along with a host of Devils to attack the guild. After the attack was done Dread Orezethon returned to the Nine Hells while Estelle Sakura returned to Auradon with his host of devils at her side.

#### **The Tower of Heaven**

Using the blood of Lycanthropes and the bodies of fallen crusaders, Estelle Sakura managed to create a new bread of Undead known as Werewights. Estelle learned of a spy within the king's court by the name of Lord Ovana who was a member of a network of spies in service of the City of Brighthaven. She had her devils kidnapp and torture Lord Ovana who revealed the position of Brighthaven's forces around Cormyr and that he knew of the Paiinted Lady's true identity. Lord Ovana believed that only the king's advisor Merull Highhill could right Auradon's wrongs. In addition Estelle sent some of her devil's to assassinate another Brighthaven spy who Lord Ovana had contact with, a Lizardfolk Druid named Professor Diron.

Estelle Sakura under the guise of the Painted Lady first meets the party on the night of  Leonard Kingtober's party. It is that very night that she assassinates Merull Highhill and frames Leonard Kinggtober for the crime. She continues to manipulate the political scene, and using Commander Ridley Brack and House Winthrope as the kindling, get the Southern Crusaders and Auradon as a whole to turn on Brighthaven and declare war. She also manages to draw in the armies of Brighthaven using her magic and manages to convince  Katlyn and Rook Runewood that the armies of Auradon are an immediate and dangerous threat that needs to be dealt with immediately. She hopes to use the coming bloodshed to power the Tower of Heaven.

She is present at the execution for Leonard Kingtober where she officially introduces her Werewights. But she disappears after Gnorbort Kingtober manages to save Leonard's life. She goes to the castle's throne room to finish the preparations for the ritual while the party searches her house and discovers her plans. When the party manages to route the armies of Brighthaven, to save her ritual, Estelle Sakura releases her devil's of the people of Auradon and the crusaders as well have the Werewights turn on the people.

She conjures the Tower of Heaven, a large structure made of black glass that begins to siphon the blood of the people killed in the streets of Auradon. When the players confront her on top of the tower, she fights them alongside a Horned Devil. She used the tower to boost her defense, but the party managed to destroy the glass relic that provided her with her defenses. She knew that at this point the tower didnt have enough energy tp pull of the ritual, and instead used the tower to open a hellgate and hopefully summon Dread Orezethon to kill the players and hope to fight another day. But as the portal began to open the gate suddenly closed without reason. Appearing alongside everyone on the top of the tower was the black wizard himself, Zeref. He told Estelle that he admired her devotion but she made one grand folly, that she, the cult, and the world had believed that he had died upon his disappearance from Khoivare. He chastised her for making the tower of heaven from his old blueprints and explained to her that there was a reason he abandoned those designs.

The power of the tower had drawn the eye of the Grand Devourer Ashardalon who was now making his way too absorb the life energy from both the tower and the city. Before the dragon's arrival Zeref bound Estelle Sakura and took her away to be dealt with personally. The current whereabouts of Estelle Sakura are unknown.

## **Relationships**

### **The Black Wizard Zeref**

Estelle Sakura had a fanatical devotion to Zeref, but falsely belied just as did the rest of the world that he had perished long ago.

### **Commander Ridley Brack**

Commander Ridley Brack was an easily manipulated but influential crusader of house Winthrope. She took advantage of him to rile up the crusaders to go to war with Brighthaven.

### **Dread Orezethon the Undiminished**

Dread Orezethon is a powerful Pit Fiend who serves as a leader of the revolution in hell. He was contacted by Estelle Sakura who believed that he could help her get into possession of information regarding Zeref. When it was time to pprovide her side of the bargain, Dread Orezethon was harsh and demanding.