Alakai

明智后

Tolui, Prince of Yuan

**The Mingzhi Empress** (born 18 August 2004) is the current Khagan-Empress of the New Yuan Dynasty and Great Lord of East Asia. Born **Khereid Dorjigiin Alakai**, second child to the Mengyan Emperor, she began her reign on 13 February 2015, roughly three days after the assassination of her father.

## Appearance

Alakai is a diminutive girl whose very aura radiates that of absolute authority, with sky blue eyes and flowing jet black hair trailing down her back. Her face seems almost permanently frozen in a listless, apathetic gaze, as if in a perpetual state of falling asleep. Though she often dons vibrant clothes and fine jewelry on ceremonial occasions, she otherwise dresses modestly in more private settings, preferring traditional Mongolian garb with warm furs in the colder months.

## Personality

Oddly enough, before her ascension to the throne, Alakai was energetic, talkative, and by all accounts a talented girl with much promise. However, the sudden physical and mental changes she underwent after both the death of her father, and subsequent inheriting of his immense power, has left the young Empress seeming like a different person entirely. Now, in stark contrast to the zealous, charismatic and often hotheaded nature of her late father, Alakai is aloof, arbitrary, and apathetic to a fault. To those in her care, she seems almost detached from the world as a whole, going ominously silent and becoming lost in her own thoughts for hours at a time. And even when she is active, she cares little for rules or etiquette, often speaking her mind regardless of company and making many decisions on a whim with little consideration for the consequences or what others think.

Though this sudden shift in personality has sparked much worry among her caretakers and immediate family, much of this childish and introverted attitude also stems from her pampered and often lonely upbringing, as well as the sudden thrusting of rulership upon the shoulders of one sorely unprepared for it. And while her recent ascension to the throne has led to the Regency Council attempting to reign the young Empress in and prepare her for the responsibilities of governing the state, she is still known at times to be the same carefree and mischievous spirit she was as a child.

This is all not to say she is a useless pawn, however. In fact, much of her early life has been spent in the company of tutors and servants, who quickly found the young Empress to have much academic potential. But only time will tell if their attempts to instill discipline and etiquette in her will prove fruitful.

## Biography

In contrast to her elder brother, Prince Tolui, the then Princess Alakai was born into a life of luxury and privilege.

Brought into the world after her father had already taken total control over their ancestral homeland of Mongolia, the young Alakai often wanted for nothing, and was used to getting whatever she wanted whenever she demanded it. Like many daughters and younger siblings of royalty, she spent much of her early childhood being tutored and groomed with the intention of being married off as a political bargaining tool, as the Mengyan Emperor and much of the regime were prepared for the eventual succession of Prince Tolui to the throne. It was a life that Alakai had few complaints about, as her responsibilities were minimal and her schedule was rife with free time to fool around and life a carefree life of fancy, free and whimsy. For a time, she seemed little more than a simple spoiled princess.

But following the untimely assassination of her father, coupled with her subsequent elevation to the throne, the previously free-spirited girl's life was suddenly turned upside down. With no warning, the responsibilities of governing and the phenomenal power of the elements were all thrust upon her, and the effects it had upon the young Alakai were clear from the beginning. It took little time for the new Empress to begin secluding herself into an introverted shell, shunning her responsibilities and attempting to find some solace from all the activity with her own studies and wanton whims. Even as the years pass--as her position as the rightful ruler of the Great Yuan has all but become secured, the young Empress still seems yet to fully embrace her duty as the supposed incarnation of Tengri and the great successor to Genghis Khan himself.

Five years later, the Empress could easily be considered one of the loneliest, most sheltered people on the planet. Still technically a minor, and barred by the millennia-old traditions of Chinese Imperial culture, Alakai is practically a slave to the incessant politicking and tutelage of the Imperial Regency Council. To some, the court is a mess of hidden corruption - a den of vipers, silently scheming to accumulate the most influence. And for Alakai, every waking moment of her life is spent under constant supervision by guards, ministers, tutors, and servants tending to her every need--ceaselessly grooming the young Empress for her eventual rulership. Free time outside of the Imperial Palace is practically nonexistent, save for the clandestine undercover adventures into the outside world occasionally provided by Prince Tolui.

Now, all in the court know that the time will soon come that the Mingzhi Empress will assume her personal rule, shaking off the cumbersome yoke of both Regent and Council, and stepping into the light as the head of what could easily be a superpower on the world stage...

## Powers & Skills

### ***Supernatural Abilities***

**Levitation:** Her Metahuman power that she's possessed since birth; Alakai is capable of hovering in mid-air indefinitely with no loss of energy nor maneuverability to herself. In practice, it looks as if she has total control over her own gravity. She can stand or walk on walls and ceilings, suspend herself upside-down, or slow her own fall. She is not as quick in this state as most other flight-capable Metahumans, but nonetheless can use this ability as a means of locomotion.

In addition to those she possessed at birth, Alakai miraculously inherited the arcane abilities of her late father after his death.

Alakai is blessed with the tremendous power to bend unto her will not only the wrath of nature, but the very lifeblood of the Earth itself. This manifests itself in two ways:

1. ***Tenger Etseg, Father Sky*** - Alakai is capable of manipulating the weather as she sees fit. On a whim, she can conjure and disperse clouds, rain, strong winds, thunderstorms, hail, snow, and thick fog seemingly out of thin air. By extension, this allows her to manipulate the very climate of an area for miles. And with enough concentration, she can wield destructive tornadoes, devastating hurricanes, and even harness the raw elemental power of lightning--either by calling it down from the heavens or propelling it from her fingertips.
2. ***Gazar Eej, Mother Earth*** - By her mere presence, Alakai can alter the fertility of the land around her. At her will, she can make the soil, crops, and flora for miles thrive and prosper, or starve them into desolation until naught remains but a barren wasteland. Though this can be done on its own, her powers over the weather are capable of exacerbating these effects, typically via blessing the land with the rains it needs to survive, or choking it out with droughts and bitter cold.

## Trivia

* The name 'Khereid' is in reference to her ancestral heritage. Alakai and her family can loosely trace their ancestry through a cadet branch back to the Keraites (often spelled as Khereid in modern Mongolian), one of the five dominant Turco-Mongol "clans" that inhabited the central Asian steppes during the 12th century. Its last leader, Toghrul (also known as Ong Khan), was the blood brother of not only Genghis Khan himself, but even his father before him. He lived for many years until his clan too was subjugated and absorbed into the Mongol domain. After the fact, much of the late Ong Khan's family would marry into that of the Borjigins. One of his nieces, Sorghaghtani Beki, wedded to Genghis' son Tolui, would later become the mother of Möngke, Kublai, Hulegu, and Ariq Böke - all of whom would go on to lead the Mongol Empire or one of its successor states.