Ingrid

"A tyrant, a lord, a savior. She is the vision's vessel, consort to the gods themselves." - Thallen, The Cosmic Guillotine The Mosune Empire, a bastion of military might both feared and venerated across Tya, came to symbolize humans' first rise to power following the birth of civilization. Since its inception, the Mosune has been ruled by an unbroken line of monarchs who oversaw its unparalleled ascent. But standing out among the ranks of nobility was one figure who towered above all with her presence, ambition, and magnanimity. Regarded by many as a symbol of greatness, she is Ingrid, Regalis Excelsa. Born during the height of the Empire, Ingrid was daughter to Birgir, the visionary emperor and architect of some of the Mosune's greatest triumphs. Following the untimely death of her two brothers in the Bloodletting – the great war against the Yalnor – Ingrid was set to be groomed for the throne from a young age. She was arranged to seek audience with an eminent oracle in the vast expanse of the Mordeus Desert, escorted by a large military convoy. Though proud and ostentatious, the detachment was now pressing beyond the domain of the Mosune, deep into the wild expanse of Tya's hinterlands. This was Ingrid's first foray into Tya's foreign territories, and she would be humbled by the savage nature of the world outside the castle walls. Weeks passed and the convoy arrived, but the oracle would only meet with Ingrid in private. The vision she presented was exceedingly horrific: Engulfed in an impenetrable wall of flame, the Mosune was set ablaze in its entirety; An army of skeletal warriors, eyes sullied with flesh half-rotten, crawled out of the soil and marched on her home; Wraiths emanating pure darkness screeched and howled, sucking out the souls of the living; And then she saw her father, draped in robes, fully consumed by black flame. What Ingrid saw that day would alter her fate completely. Though it was never mentioned again, a change in character was palpable to the discerning eye. She became obsessed in her search for a power which transcended the stodgy limitations of the pike and shield; She became unrelenting in her demands for loyalty, seemingly intoxicated by a hungering ambition for militaristic might, regimentation, and prestige. Brilliant and charismatic, yet unscrupulous and despotic at her extremes, Ingrid grew uncompromising in her drive for greatness. Then came the fateful day when Ingrid was approached by Praetus, leader of the Supreme Arbiters. He implored that Tya was now faced with a grave danger, the likes of which humanity had never witnessed, and that in her capacity as Empress of the Mosune, she could play a highly influential role in upholding order across the land. For her commitment to the Arbiters, she would be annointed with a divine power, transcendant of her corporeal limits. As the oracle's vision keenly flashed through her mind once more, Ingrid realized her moment had come, and steadfastly abided. Offering up the royal blood of the Mosune to the heavens, Ingrid became fused with Helios, the celestial spirit, and together they set out to rule the sun and the stars, restoring order to Tya. No longer fully human, she adorns a suit of golden armor inlaid with the crest of the Mosune, a crowned mask, and her Staff of Helios, the beacon of her cosmic strength. With her outsized role and ambition that at times even eclipses Praetus, Ingrid envisions a Tya unified under the might of the Mosune, extolled by the gods themselves.