Rose

*“It’s said that the shuffling of the cards is the earth, and the patterning of the cards is the rain, and the beating of the cards is the wind, and the pointing of the cards is the fire. That’s of the four suits. But the Major Arcana, it’s said, are the meaning of all process and the measure of the everlasting dance.”*

-Rose

## History

Rose and Shaarabahn knew each other in Al Basazar as well, long before they became members of the Six Heroes or the X Most Dangerous. Rose had grown up in Al Basazar as a member of a circus troupe, before finding and mastering a Deck of Many Things. The stories she and her troupe acted often featured scenes from the war with Akkhe, an event still burned in the minds of Al Basazar’s citizens, who had been on the border between the warring kingdoms. These early plays were the first events that imprinted an ideology of nationalism and sovereignty that she would carry forth through the centuries to come. Shaarabahn had been born in Al Dijar, where he learned a hundred different trades, and stole books on all matters arcane to teach himself alchemy and the chronomantic arts. He travelled to Al Basazar when he had read all the books Al Dijar had to offer, intending to travel onwards to Akkhe. He ended up bogged down in Al Basazar, where he met Rose. The two became close friends, and drew from the Deck of Many Things. The two were present for the wedding between Sylviane and Sabahattin, and met briefly at that time. It was then that Shaarabahn’s infatuation for Sylviane began to take root.

The six heroes formed properly as a group when Diana, a warrior-woman from Naus Mau, came into civilized lands on the trail of Grayndeon the Dark, the last Black Dragon of Namerya. The dragon had made its lair in the swamps near the Great River, and preyed upon merchant caravans, making himself fantastically wealthy in the process. Diana needed allies in her hunt for the dragon, and found them in the five men and women currently in Al Basazar. Sabahattin wanted proof that he had a purpose in the Maker’s plan; that he would be guided through trial and tribulation but emerge unscathed. Both Angon and Shaarabahn wanted the arcane components that could be scavenged from a dragon’s corpse, Angon so that he could use them, Shaarabahn so that he could sell them. Rose wanted to protect Al Basazar from the nearby menace, and Sylviane’s fate was bound to Sabahattin’s - where he went, she would follow. Upon their triumph, their fame was cemented, as was their bonds - and their rivalries.

The great hero Faelan founded the X Most Dangerous, inviting Shaarabahn to take the second spot, and Rose to take the sixth.

Over the next several years, the six heroes began to drift apart. Shaarabahn returned to Varas to work at the Laboratory, through he would travel to Al Basazar as often as he could, ostensibly to visit Rose, but in reality to have an opportunity to see Sylviane. Rose did not interfere, instead focusing on her work for Faelan, and on her emerging troupe, the Black Rose.

Rose knew that if Laz Yap ever returned to power, Al Basazar’s freedom would be in grave danger, and possibly the front line for another pointless war. The six heroes fought Laz Yap and his followers in the shadow of the fountain, and emerged triumphant, killing the exiled dictator, though Rose took a mortal blow in the battle. An argument was had over whether to save her or not, with Angon and Shaarabahn arguing to give her water from the Fountain of Youth. The former did not think it was right to waste her life of Al Basazar’s protector, while the latter did not want to see his friend die. Nor did he want to leave without seeing the properties of the Fountain. Sabahattin and Sylviane argued to let her succumb to her wounds. Sabahattin maintained that immortality was against the natural order, a blasphemy against the Maker, and that he could not in good conscience inflict such a state upon a friend. For her part, Sylviane argued that Rose would not want the curse and burden of immortality, and that it would be better to let her die in peace, and that she would have been proud to perish in battle this way. Diana proved the tiebreaker vote, arguing to save Rose, and admonishing her friends for bickering over petty matters as she lay dying. In the aftermath, Angon would take the responsibility and the blame for her resuscitation, as it was he who administered the water from the Fountain, he who proposed the idea, and he who was its loudest proponent.

During the couple of years that followed, Shaarabahn finished the transmutation circle and returned to Varas. There, he assisted Vaajar with the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone, initiating a nationwide apocalypse that drained the life from Namerya, turning the land into a desert and annihilating the majority of the population. Sabahattin immediately swept into power, acclaimed as a prophet by his followers, who tore apart the last elected leader of Namerya in a violent lynch mob. Intending to cobble together an army, Sabahattin called the six heroes to join him, with mixed results. Rose refused his summons altogether, staying behind to rebuild the shattered ruins of Al Basazar.

During Sabahattin’s first two years of his reign, Rose and Shaarabahn stayed away from the new government. Rose did not leave Al Basazar, save to attend Sabahattin’s coronation, and for his part, Sabahattin was content to ignore her.

Shaarabahn fled the Laboratory of Varas, going to the only place he could think of: Al Basazar. Knowing he could not return, yet not daring to tell Rose anything, he begged her to trust him, and demanded to take several more draws from the Deck of Many Things. Putting her faith in him, Rose gave him three more draws - he had originally only dared to draw once - a wildly risky act that imparted him with total psychological liberation, Sylviane’s undying love, and a glimmer of absolute truth.

Upon hearing word of the chaos, Angon immediately returned to Varas. He sent summons to Rose as well, knowing he would need her help in containing the horrors of the Laboratory, and in restoring order to Aglazdere. She came, and along with Shaarabahn and members of the Army of the Whirlwind, they killed the chimera and Homunculi that had escaped, and sealed the Laboratory. Angon initially blamed Shaarabahn for the catastrophe, and his rage was only exacerbated when Shaarabahn refused to tell him what had happened. They would have come to blows of Rose did not place herself between them, a decision that was fortunate both for Angon and for all of Aglazdere. Had they fought, Shaarabahn would have almost certainly slain the Grand Vizier, leaving Aglazdere without a leader. Necessity forced them to turn their attention to other matters, namely, who was to rule Aglazdere. Angon was adamant about maintaining the monarchy, with some in the nobility suggesting that he crown himself Padishah. Rose suggested a one year interregnum, where Angon and Shaarabahn would serve as Consuls, during which time the matter could be decided with care. Both men refused, Shaarabahn on the grounds that he did not want to lead Aglazdere, and Angon on the grounds that haste was necessary. There was talk of reviving the office of Dictator and giving it to Angon, a proposal that all three heroes refused, remembering their battle against Laz Yap. In the end, Angon grew frustrated with the meddling of his friends, and agreed with the nobility to crown Sabahattin’s young son, Halim, with Angon serving as Grand Vizier and Regent. Both Shaarabahn and Rose disapproved of the decision, but Angon refused to compromise, and thus Halim was crowned Halim I, second Padishah of Aglazdere. Shaarabahn and Rose returned to Al Basazar, and Angon remained in Varas to rule the new nation.

Back in Al Basazar again, Shaarabahn demanded to draw three more times from the Deck of Many Things, saying only that he was responsible for many recent events, and felt it necessary to take the risk. Rose refused, citing what had happened the last time she had let him draw, and accusing him of being secretive and manipulative. Shaarabahn did not deny that, and admitted that it was more complicated then whether or not Sylviane was dead or not. He had the Philosopher’s Stone in mind, and knew that even if she was dead, he could use it to bring her back. Moreover, he needed to find Experiment #216, the only person that knew more about the events of the Laboratory then he did. Rose demanded the truth from him, and Shaarabahn conditionally agreed. He wrote down three things - the instructions for creating the Philosopher’s Stone, the genetic sequence of Experiment #216, and Sylviane’s final note to him, written in Elvish, a language Rose did not speak. He told her that if there came a time that she no longer trusted him, she could bring them to Angon. Rose did not understand the content of the messages, but she picked up on their importance, and aquessed to Shaarabahn’s request. Fate was yet unfinished with him, and imparted him with the Blade of Echoes and the Mirror of Generations - twin artifacts wielded by the Aspect of Time. Shaarabahn departed, disappearing into the wastes and the mists of time.

In Al Basazar, Rose led her troupe in dozens of guises over the years. Only her closest confidants knew the identity each new leader. Safe in her shroud of secrecy, she bedazzled the city with spectacles of circus and performance, earning her troupe a reputation as paragons of high art. She would remain committed to the protection of Al Basazar’s sovereignty, advising the Council of Guild Masters in private, and remaining alert to the possibility of any threat.

## Personality

Nobody could stay angry at Rose or around her for long, since she could defuse any amount of tension. She settled for nothing less than perfection, and liked seeing the smiles on people's faces when she performed. That was all that mattered to her. She would do anything for the other members of her troupe. She once satirized Santiago Highdark so mercilessly that he nearly shut down her troupe - the type of mistake she would repeat throughout the centuries.