for: @indu1ge, miharu usami.
location: the gardens behind celembron castle
She had often wondered what sort of flowers grew in a land of pine and thistle. Braxigar had a beauty in its own way, the scent of death and Jasmine cloying and clinging to the air. The way the stars twinkled high above surreptitious and distant as if they held some secret she could never ascertain. She had spent so little time outside of Perrelor Keep that each new discovery seemed monumental to her, every petal and leaf foreign to her hands.
She took a couple trepidatious steps across the cobbelstone and then leaned heavily against her cane. She could feel her attendant's hands hovering, wavering over the edge of helpfulness and oppression and she dismissed them with a flick of her palm. She would be granted no boons for suffering but she did it all the same, if only out of a deep and reverent sense of pride that imbued her body at every moment.
"Lady Usami." She says not looking up from the thatch of Red Asters billowing gently in the wind. Their petals ruffled, shaking their fat lion-maned heads in the breeze as the day continued to move around them. Rongfei wanted to kneel to touch one, to know the feather-soft texture of them but she knew she would not be able to rise again on her own. Finally, she looked up a slight pallor blanching the color from her face and sat meaningfully on a stone bench.
"I was pleased to hear you were well after the events of the grand ceremony." Her hands rap against the head of her cane, the sharp-toothed dragon upon staring lifelessly from between her finger. "So much tragedy in one night. Tell me, do you think the sycophants consider it a loss or an achievement?"
for: @decthless. sheng nuwa.
location: rongfei's personal quarters
Butter yellow Yarrow petals floated in the basin before her, small pear shaped vestiges of a larger bush that hovered restlessly just against the surface of the water. As Rongfei dipped her hand into the water still temperate from where her maid had heated the large copper pot over the fire and dropped essence of goat's milk and osmanthus perfume into the water. The water had gone opaque, a creamy white color that disappeared it's hand entirely beneath the rippling surface. She twisted the rag in her hands and began to draw it, slow and steadfast over the pockmarked skin of her left arm.
She preferred not to look at it if she could, always hidden beneath the billowing length of her sleeves. She swathed herself in silk and gossamer, an armor of the softest kind but her mother had long insisted. She would have thought anyone else a fool, having faith in so little a flower to promote any healing in her body which had long since abandoned the pursuit. But at her mother's heeding the fool's errand seemed slightly less so, at least if only so she could be truthful in her replies when the time came to write letters.
Recent memories atrocities lingered with all the surety of the sky above her. It was only two nights since she'd managed to quell the tremor in her hands at the thought of the flames creeping high over the Great White Oak. Tears pricked the corner of her eye as she dropped the rag back into the basin water sloshing over the edges and onto her nightclothes. She could not court this weakness, it had been long since flames had consumed their stable, since she remembered Sheng's hands cradling her body. His voice was smooth as the winter wind as he spoke to her, Just hold on Rong'er, we're almost there, hold on. Fire was fire, it had no sentience nor malicious intent. It was born to consume and she could not fault it for burning.
The door of her quarters shifted and she looked up unsurprised by what she found there. His face was more familiar to her than her own. Sometimes it felt there were no secrets left between them though she knew that to be untrue.
"Have you finally deigned to visit me?" Rongfei said rising from where she sat to approach a steaming pot of ginger tea, serpentine wisps of smoke still wafting from the spout. "I had thought you were much too busy with your personal engagements." The note of venom in her voice would have gone unnoticed to anyone else but Sheng, she knew, would recognize it instantly.
name meaning: róng/荣 (glory, honor, flourish, prosper), fēi/緋 (scarlet)
age: twenty-nine
title: lady of perrelor keep
gender: cis female
pronouns: she & her
sexual orientation: heterosexual
PERSONALITY
upon first meeting rongfei is disarming, perfectly well-mannered and thoroughly charming but stay in conversation with her longer than five minutes and the truth will begin to reveal itself. she is a woman who lurks beneath the surface of herself, constantly downplaying her own intelligence to further the goals of her house. she's materialistic, spoiled and vain and accustomed to the finest things in life but she is not a fool. she knows very well that people see her as the youngest, treasured daughter of the nuwa house and uses it to her advantage. despite this her pride and stubbornness is unmeasured. she cannot accept being beaten, that others might be more clever or better equipped than she. everything about her is rehearsed for the express purposes of achieving her goals. a deep resentment and insecurity lingers underneath the surface of her psyche, anger at herself for not being stronger and never quite at peace with the hand she's been dealt in life.
BIOGRAPHY
an oleander born in the dead of winter, that was what they called her. the youngest treasure of nuwa house was brought into the world screeching and red-faced during the coldest winter on record. braxigar had frozen over, inaccessible to all except those who knew its intricacies. from the moment of her birth she was to be lavished with all the wealth and love in the world. she was a playful child who enjoyed sitting at her father's feet while he worked on the accounts or accompanying her mother in the gardens. there was nothing she could want for, not even the love of a sibling which she received in kind.
her bright disposition only faltered when she was twelve. during a balmy summer evening she was caught in a fire in the stables and trampled. she spent a week clinging onto life before she miraculously recovered but the doctors were certain, her health would never return to the strong constitution it had been and she would never be able to bear children. she was left with burn scars all down the left side of her chest as a final, parting gift from the tragedy. rongfei became bitter and sullen for many months, shutting herself up inside of her room unable to accept this chronic diagnosis or the cane she now required to walk.
eventually she grew tired of her own self-pitying and forced herself to accustom to the new constraints of her life, the constant need for attendants around her or a chair for her to rest in should she stand for longer than a few moments. perhaps it was her stubborn pride. she educated herself in the histories and classics of the land, she became wary of war tactics, if she could never be the pinnacle of physical strength her house had long been she could certainly be the cleverest. though she maintained the facade of a spoiled youngest daughter made weak by chronic illness beneath it her mind churned and worked to protect her house.
HEADCANONS
though there is no exact diagnosis for what her chronic illness is she's often lethargic, unable to stand for more than a little bit without needing to rest. she walks with a cane and will almost always have a servant or a family member attending to her.
she makes up for her weak constitution by constantly dressing herself in heavy makeup and finery. she will never be caught underdressed or show any signs of weakness.
she's a fantastic conversationalist and can talk with almost anyone for an extended period of time, just be careful she doesn't trick you into revealing your secrets!
generally considered the most approachable member of her scary ass family so many deals are begun through her to get to them
you can always hear her coming because of her mountains of jewelry she's like clinkclinkclinkclinkclink
