Lyhnn (Penny) Holzhausen

## Lyhnn Holzhausen

Art of Penny, created by erza8123

**Penny Holzhausen**, born as **Lyhnn Holzhausen**, also commonly known as **Mantle of a Legend**, is a Human Fighter who founded the Crimston Estate. Penny was made for the sole purpose of becoming a perfect replica of Saralyn Holzhausen, by one of the Raven Queen’s Disciples. She is known for her past involvement in criminal endeavors in Agriosa, her leadership of a band of local mercenaries, and her role in opposing the Raven Queen.

In 1495 DR, Penny was found guilty of a mulitide of charges, causing her to face permanent exile from the country of Iythos, along with a temporary ban of 30 days from other countries in Dacemia.

## Description

### Appearance

Penny is forty two years old standing at five feet and six inches tall. She is mostly recognized for her jet black hair and her crimson eyes. She bears a long horizontal scar above her nose and under her red eyes. Throughout most of her life, Penny has worn clothes in shades of black and red. Her clothing consists of a custom-tailored dark red dress, which was modified to be combat-appropriate, a sturdy chest-plate armor, a special belt which supports a travel bag which is usually hidden under a black cape and two cauldrons. In her back also rests a cheap sword used in case of emergency, whereas her real sword is in its sheath, always on her left side. Her sheath and sword are both unique in their appearance. Her sheath and sword both made directly by Penny herself and perfectly made to accommodate her abilities. The sheath looks like a medium-sized thin box which holds her blade. The sheath has some perfectly placed holes and mechanisms, including a trigger used to shoot out the sword. Her newer blade is a cutlass-like sword affectionately nicknamed Glayre, which usually glows a shade of bright red.

### Personality

Penny is known to be a rather interesting person. She acts mainly out of whatever benefits her current task or the survival of her close ones the most with unrelenting determination. Before her emancipation however, she was a brutal and murderous individual, crushing anything stepping in the path of her task or the general area near her at any given time. After her emancipation, and after the first defeat of the Raven Queen, she grew more compassionate as she started risking her life more and more for strangers and people in need which led to the creation of the Crimson Estate.

## Biography

### Background

#### Before Creation

Lyhnn, before being any material being, was first a soul within a soul. Designed as a 'failsafe' which managed to keep Saralyn alive despite life-threatening injuries, Lyhnn was the personification of Saralyn's inner violent tendencies, ambition and wrath. Alongside Sara and Eulogy, Lyhnn formed an ensemble.

As a part of Saralyn, Lyhnn was able to manipulate her host with ease, sending her on rampages and various violent tendencies. Most notably, she convinced her to adopt Lexi and follow through the 'Immortality Plan', a plan designed to bring true immortality to Saralyn which culminated in her 'dying' and giving complete control to Eulogy while Lyhnn and Sara were left almost powerless. The plan did succeed, however, as Saralyn soon took back control and was left as a now immortal shell of what she used to be, resulting in her death.

#### Creation

Not long after the death of Saralyn, Lexi, Saralyn's adopted daughter, began what was known as 'The Contingency'. A secret plan between Saralyn and Lexi in case her immortality failed or she was slain. However, an Overseer of the Raven Queen operating in Agriosa caught wind of this and through manipulation learned of the plan.

Not long after, Lyhnn was given a proper form but was kept on a tight leash. Despite being a simple enforcer of the Overseer, she was quite obviously the Overseer's most valuable asset. After conditioning her to ruthlessness and violence, he released Lyhnn, now known under the name 'Penny' in the wild of Agriosa.

For the time being, she was the true successor of Saralyn. This lasted until an expedition prepared by Lexi Holzhausen and led by Zori brought back to life the other living half of Saralyn. Once Sara, also known as Clemence, rose back to life, Penny was violently separated from a good part of her power, causing her much harm but loosening the grip the Overseer had on Penny.

#### Under the Raven Queen

While working under the Raven Queen's Overseer, Penny was only tasked with very elementary missions, mostly assassination or creating chaos in small towns. Most of her time was however spent orchestrating one specific task for her Overseer : 'Establishing Calamity'. She was to perpetually kill, destroy, steal and desecrate from the world in hopes to one day establish a new world order, one where the Overseer would lead Agriosa.

Her time in the Raven Queen's operations has proven very valuable to Penny, but not without drawbacks. After a while, she slowly felt like the leash was getting tighter and tighter, so she plotted her move in the back of her head. At the same time, she met Queen Ailish Ocethion in a bar and started to break into the castle of the capital to taunt her, which only ironically made the two of them friends.

Not long after, she learned about Clemence's existence. She was already suspecting something ever since Clemence's creation but never had the proof to back up her theories. However, the newfound knowledge sent her in a very different mission. She slowly disregarded or lied about her work with the Raven Queen to track Clemence with little success and her Overseer was getting upset.

#### Emancipation

Penny's ambitions were being actively limited by her boundaries and by the metaphorical leash around her neck hence she had to act to safeguard her interests. In what she calls 'Emancipation', she used the knowledge from her time fighting under the Overseer to travel back to the cave where he was residing and duel him to the death. After a tough fight which almost killed her, Penny was victorious and free.

#### Association with Agriosa

As a free woman, Penny was still wanted for her series of crimes across Agriosa. Without the guidance and generous help of Overseer she had to make do with the little resources she had at her disposal. One day, hearing about an important figure in the local bar, she dared herself to break into the bar. Breaking from the upper windows, she encountered Ailish Ocethion, who pitied Penny and stopped the guards from engaging her.

Befriending the Queen, Penny was able to land a spot in Agriosa, at first as a freelancer and as someone who could do the more dirty jobs which Agriosan nobility did not wish to be associated with, she rose in importance as her skill was indispensable.

Once her allegiance won over, Penny was offered a spot on the Agriosan War Council as Master of Defense.

#### Fusion with Clemence

On her downtime, she was scheming the death of her other half, Clemence. Returning from a mission, she learned where she hid through Clemence's caretaker. After a small fight she lowered her guard, opting to hear what her foe had to say. Betrayed and literally back-stabbed, she was slain and brought to Clemence for the 'Fusion' . Clemence disapproved of the action, saying that she needed Penny alive.

The ritual took place, Clemence offering Penny a second chance at life, giving her own physical form away while achieving her primary purpose : Bringing Saralyn back.

Once Penny reawakened, she was different. Forever grateful to Clemence, she swore to protect Saralyn.

#### Battle of the Raven Queen

Once she learned about a conflict brewing between an Agriosa-led team and the Raven Queen, Penny immediately joined along, hoping to cut the head off all her troubles. The battle was fierce and Penny got out not unscathed but now aware of what the source of her own existence could do. However, this placed Penny in the cross-hair of the Raven Queen once again, and this time, she wouldn't be on her good side.

#### The Crimston Estate

Upon Saralyn's re-creation she always was moved around while Penny was on mission. Going from whichever castle she could convince to house her to the quiet houses of friends and acquaintances. Penny had saved up enough wealth to purchase her own camp, which she turned into the 'Crimson Estate', Penny's mercenary company and the place where Saralyn would be shielded permanently.

Now needing members, Penny started the process of tracking potential members. Her first move was to employ Maykc, her friend, to guard Saralyn during her absence. The nature of her mission was simple : Track the ex-adoptive daughter of Saralyn, in which she was successful after stopping an assassin from killing her, recruiting the assassin as well.

The last member the Estate recruited was acquired by a woman, one of Penny's old co-worker, who was under the manipulation of the Raven Queen. After freeing her from her curse, the young woman joined along and caused a shock into the Estate. Slowly, through her rhetoric and actions, convinced the other mercenaries to start acting more and more selflessly to the dismay of Penny.

The Crimson Estate had slowly shifted from an organization solely created to fight necromancers and alike to a group which protected the people against all sorts of threats. Penny had tolerated it due to the insane revenue it generated and because she knew that, one day, the Estate's members would have a reality check.

#### Defeat of the Raven Queen

The 'Final Struggle', the supposed end of the Raven Queen by the hand of Penny, was an operation led by Penny where the entire Crimson Estate were forced to take part. It started with a month long of finishing all the contracts left to dissipate any suspicions and ended in a raid to the Raven Queen's hideout. The battle resulted in Clemence's death, Saralyn gaining her memories and abilities, Penny shutting down on herself and the official dissolution of the Crimson Estate.

## Character Information

### Proficiencies and Abilities

Penny was created in the image of Saralyn, not a perfect image but designed as an improvement in purpose. A weapon in her very existence she was therefore given superb endurance to endure the battles she would be subjected through. As her main form of magic, *Lament* is seen as a jet-black ink-like substance. At first liquid, it can however change into a solid at will with impressive speed. Turning into leathery matter once solidified, it is extremely resistant and flexible. Used mostly as a shield it can be repurposed as an attack as its tough nature can make it a strong projectile.

*'Quickdraw'* is Penny's ability to quickly and accurately shoot out her sword from her sheath with a trigger attached to the sheath. Albeit more of a mechanical ability, she still is extremely well-trained in her aim and precision. After first fighting against the Raven Queen her connection to her magic increased, allowing her to use new powerful abilities.

Penny's eyes shine a brighter crimson temporarily. When *Absolution* is triggered, red glowing lines will form around Penny. After a small amount of time, the areas designated by the glows gets suddenly slashed. After the Battle of the Raven Queen, Penny could bind herself to her weapons, increasing her swordsmanship abilities with it until she unbinds the weapon.

## Quotations

### Spoken about Penny

> **━ Federico**"I must congratulate you on a job well done Mr. Forbin, we've successfully ousted a member of the council. I was worried her antics would lead to further investigation into the council, hopefully with her disappearance from the public eye the council is safe."**━ Killian**"How generous. Really, I don't see how she wasn't ousted earlier. She was just a ticking time bomb waiting for the right trigger."