Edith

"May the prarie winds be at your back." - Centurian prayer Born not of nobility, Edith first stepped into this world as most Centaurs have for years: Thrust into the flames of strife that consume the fields of the Denso Prairie. For, long prior to Akkadia's dramatic collapse, a different kind of conflict was being waged across the Land of Tya, and it was the Mosune Empire who sought to rein in its neighbors. Loyal to their beliefs and fellow kindred, the Centaurs were considered backwards and weak by the Mosune, hindered by a system of rigid tribalism and outmoded thought. When a team of foreign missionaries came to visit the Prairie, promising enlightenment and spiritual guidance, what followed in their wake was instead a full-scale imperial invasion. Edith, still a young foal, could only look on as her father was captured and sold into slavery, and a puppet leader was installed in her village. The imminent threat of the Mosune Empire divided tribes along factional fault lines, and the Centaurs soon found themselves mired in deep internal conflict. Against her own convictions, Edith's mother instructed her to flee the Prairie and seek refuge in the capital, where she could find the Watchguard, perhaps Tya's greatest pillar of hope. As she grew older, she became increasingly distressed by the civil war which divided her people. However, a new force was creeping over the horizon, too, at first imperceptibly, but then violently thrown into focus. While unclear in origin, there was no question that corrupted beings began appearing around Tya at an unprecedented scale. Encouraged by mentors and allies, Edith resolved to fight alongside the Watchguard, who dreamed of a Tya free from all forms of tyranny, and stem the source of darkness. Years passed by, and under the guidance of the Watchguard, Edith blossomed into a fierce warrior who, cemented by her stout figure and four powerful legs, proved to be exceptionally hardy in battle. For this, she was granted a set of old Sentinel Armor and a massive Bronze Lance, armaments said to be imbued with the magic of giants, now lost to time. Yet, as darkness continued to spread abound, memories of her helpless plight as a foal and the final, despairing look in her mother's eyes began to haunt Edith, and would shake her to her very depths. What might become of her beloved homeland and its people, should they be consumed by darkness, was a thought that she was unable to come to grips with. Unwilling to reopen the scars of her past, Edith dons her Watchguard raiment and fights for the freedom of Tya. But as this plague grows, she can't help but dream of a Denso Prarie shrouded in tranquility, united by solidarity, and liberated from the transgressions of all. For after all, in the end, who is it that we fight for?