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Mar. 14th, 2019 12:40 amSonya: Brute force just isn't my style. | |
| APP HMD DANCER CARMEN |
Character name: Sonya
Age: 25
Canon: Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Canon point: The final battle against Duma and Jedah
History: Wiki link; Due to Shadows of Valentia being a remake of Gaiden, the two essentially follow the same plot, but any differences between the two are listed here.
Three key adjectives: Vengeful, Teasing, Secretive
Influential Events:
- abandoned at the priory
The earliest memory of Sonya's that we are privy to is that fact that she was abandoned by her father, Jedah, at a unspecified priory along with her sisters. Sonya makes no secret of the fact that she found life at the priory stifling and restrictive, and it's this experience that has led her to present herself so flamboyantly in the present. Sonya loves to indulge in the finer things in life because luxuries were barred from her in her childhood.
Yet even so, it is made apparent that her life in the priory was essentially the happiest chapter in her life, thanks to the affection given to her by her sisters. Life with her sisters, though stifling in the priory, was filled with love and happiness because of their closeness to one another. Throughout the entirety of Sonya's sparse discussions about her past, her sisters are very literally the only thing she thinks back on fondly.
Yet even so, it is made apparent that her life in the priory was essentially the happiest chapter in her life, thanks to the affection given to her by her sisters. Life with her sisters, though stifling in the priory, was filled with love and happiness because of their closeness to one another. Throughout the entirety of Sonya's sparse discussions about her past, her sisters are very literally the only thing she thinks back on fondly.
- her sisters' sacrifices
Life at the priory was not meant to be for Sonya, and it all came crashing down in the worst possible way. Their father returned for them, but not out of any attempt to be a parent again. Instead, Sonya's sisters were offered up as sacrifices to the Rigelian god Duma in exchange for Jedah to win his favor. Their souls were taken, leaving only a husk with intense magical power but very little of their actual selves. They were nothing but soldiers for the Duma Faithful, ready and willing to turn their power on anyone pointed to them.
It is unclear exactly how Sonya escaped the same fate, but extra information implies that her sisters helped her flee before Jedah was able to harm her. In addition, Jedah tells her in a later confrontation that the souls of her sisters were offered willingly. Given that this is during the same time he is attempting to manipulate Celica into freely offering her soul to Duma, it is possible that her sisters agreed to be sacrificed in exchange for Sonya's safety, but this is just speculation.
What is obvious, however, is how deeply the loss of her sisters wounded Sonya. It isn't a stretch to say that they are the reason she works to survive by any means necessary, and though she works to hide her pain and compartmentalize her losses, any dialogue referencing her past is quick to show how often she thinks of them even now. Her love for her sisters is the chink in her armor, something that breaks through her normally cool-headed personality, and it is only matched by her hatred for Jedah.
It is unclear exactly how Sonya escaped the same fate, but extra information implies that her sisters helped her flee before Jedah was able to harm her. In addition, Jedah tells her in a later confrontation that the souls of her sisters were offered willingly. Given that this is during the same time he is attempting to manipulate Celica into freely offering her soul to Duma, it is possible that her sisters agreed to be sacrificed in exchange for Sonya's safety, but this is just speculation.
What is obvious, however, is how deeply the loss of her sisters wounded Sonya. It isn't a stretch to say that they are the reason she works to survive by any means necessary, and though she works to hide her pain and compartmentalize her losses, any dialogue referencing her past is quick to show how often she thinks of them even now. Her love for her sisters is the chink in her armor, something that breaks through her normally cool-headed personality, and it is only matched by her hatred for Jedah.
- working for Greith
After fleeing from Jedah, Sonya made her way from Rigel to Zofia, eventually ending up in the employ of Grieth. The how of this is never quite explained, but that matters less than how working under one of the most unsavory characters in Zofia shaped her.
There is absolutely nothing redeeming about Grieth. He is introduced to the player as the commander of every criminal in Zofia, and his appearances do nothing but confirm that he is exactly the type of person that would do this. Almost immediately, we learn that he bribed corrupt generals in the Zofian army to escape punishment for his crimes, and he plans to do the same by offering Celica - the lost Zofian princess - to the Rigelian army.
And in comes Sonya, ordered to assist in Celica's capture along with Deen.
It's clear from the get-go that Sonya holds nothing but disdain for him, as her words are terse and tones clipped through forced politeness. Nevertheless, Sonya follows his orders - but only to the letter. She is commanded to guard the southern half of the desert and so she does. And when Celica defeats Deen in the north and continues on to confront Grieth, Sonya does absolutely nothing to stop her.
(And likewise for Deen, should the player choose to battle Sonya, but this app is assuming Celica recruited her.)
As mentioned before, two things primarily drive Sonya: her love for her sisters, and her hatred for Jedah. She worked under Grieth for survival, compartmentalizing her own morals in order to make it through the day. Her sisters gave their lives for her, so she must survive. She has not yet enacted vengeance upon Jedah, so she must survive.
She must survive.
It's likely here that she developed her extremely thick skin. Sonya has learned to hide the most vulnerable parts of herself for her own protection; as a beautiful woman in the company of slavers and thieves, Sonya has to present herself as capable and superior in order to ensure her safety.
There is absolutely nothing redeeming about Grieth. He is introduced to the player as the commander of every criminal in Zofia, and his appearances do nothing but confirm that he is exactly the type of person that would do this. Almost immediately, we learn that he bribed corrupt generals in the Zofian army to escape punishment for his crimes, and he plans to do the same by offering Celica - the lost Zofian princess - to the Rigelian army.
And in comes Sonya, ordered to assist in Celica's capture along with Deen.
It's clear from the get-go that Sonya holds nothing but disdain for him, as her words are terse and tones clipped through forced politeness. Nevertheless, Sonya follows his orders - but only to the letter. She is commanded to guard the southern half of the desert and so she does. And when Celica defeats Deen in the north and continues on to confront Grieth, Sonya does absolutely nothing to stop her.
(And likewise for Deen, should the player choose to battle Sonya, but this app is assuming Celica recruited her.)
As mentioned before, two things primarily drive Sonya: her love for her sisters, and her hatred for Jedah. She worked under Grieth for survival, compartmentalizing her own morals in order to make it through the day. Her sisters gave their lives for her, so she must survive. She has not yet enacted vengeance upon Jedah, so she must survive.
She must survive.
It's likely here that she developed her extremely thick skin. Sonya has learned to hide the most vulnerable parts of herself for her own protection; as a beautiful woman in the company of slavers and thieves, Sonya has to present herself as capable and superior in order to ensure her safety.
- joining Celica
Celica stormed Greith's fortress and he met his defeat at the hands of the Zofian princess he sought to capture. Depending on who the player chose to confront, either Deen or Sonya will be waiting in the fortress interior, and for the sake of this app, we're assuming that the person waiting for Celica was Sonya.
As stated before, Sonya had no love for Grieth, and was not particularly broken up about his death. Once again, her primary goal is survival, and so she offered her services to Celica, who recruited Sonya in turn.
Sonya didn't join Celica out of any altruistic desire to help Zofian royalty in her mission. She is, in fact, very transparent about her desire to join because it looked like tagging along wouldn't be boring. And with her employer dead by their hands, wouldn't it make sense to offer her services to the victor?
As she learned to do in Grieth's employ, Sonya kept her distance from most people in the army. She is friendly and teasing to Celica, even eventually opening up to her about her sisters but giving her no specifics, but she does not necessarily bond with her. In fact, Genny is the only one Sonya forms any sort of relationship with, and that's because their shared backgrounds of being abandoned at a priory gave her a sense of kinship with the girl. Like always, Sonya kept her vulnerabilities close, and though she was likely more open among Celica's army than she was with Grieth's, she still remained difficult to approach.
As stated before, Sonya had no love for Grieth, and was not particularly broken up about his death. Once again, her primary goal is survival, and so she offered her services to Celica, who recruited Sonya in turn.
Sonya didn't join Celica out of any altruistic desire to help Zofian royalty in her mission. She is, in fact, very transparent about her desire to join because it looked like tagging along wouldn't be boring. And with her employer dead by their hands, wouldn't it make sense to offer her services to the victor?
As she learned to do in Grieth's employ, Sonya kept her distance from most people in the army. She is friendly and teasing to Celica, even eventually opening up to her about her sisters but giving her no specifics, but she does not necessarily bond with her. In fact, Genny is the only one Sonya forms any sort of relationship with, and that's because their shared backgrounds of being abandoned at a priory gave her a sense of kinship with the girl. Like always, Sonya kept her vulnerabilities close, and though she was likely more open among Celica's army than she was with Grieth's, she still remained difficult to approach.
- "reuniting" with Jedah
Celica's journey to Duma Tower unseal the goddess Mila took her army to the swamps of Duma. Unknown to her army, she is making the journey now not only to unseal Mila, but to consider offering her soul to Duma in exchange for Mila's freedom. Jedah met Celica in the swamps - not to negotiate, but to kill the rest of her army in order to ensure there would be no interruptions.
It was here that Sonya finally had the ability to speak with Jedah again, and it was the first time she visibly lost her cool. She swore revenge against Jedah, demanding that he pay for the lives of her sisters with his own blood. He remained unruffled, but this event shows that despite her presentation of a cool and capable woman, Sonya has a lot of intense anger and hatred under her skin. And under that, she is still grieving her sisters, even after all these years.
It was here that Sonya finally had the ability to speak with Jedah again, and it was the first time she visibly lost her cool. She swore revenge against Jedah, demanding that he pay for the lives of her sisters with his own blood. He remained unruffled, but this event shows that despite her presentation of a cool and capable woman, Sonya has a lot of intense anger and hatred under her skin. And under that, she is still grieving her sisters, even after all these years.
- the new witch on Fear Mountain
This is a bit after her canon point, but I felt it important to add in order to show just how far Sonya is willing to go.
After Duma is defeated, and Jedah along with him, Sonya had no reason to continue searching for vengeance. Instead, she turned her efforts to researching a cure for the women who lost their souls to Duma and became witches. It's said no one ever saw her again, but that was right alongside the fact that a new witch had begun living on Fear Mountain.
The witch is heavily implied to be Sonya, which means one of two things. Duma is dead, therefore it's unknown where exactly those who have offered their souls up would go, so Sonya may have kept her sense of self. This means that in order to make sure no more women will suffer as her sisters did, Sonya cut herself off from the comfortable life she desired in order to devote herself to a life of isolation and research. On the other hand, the creation of a witch may somehow mean the same thing, in which case Sonya gave up the very core of her being, all for the sake of her sisters.
After Duma is defeated, and Jedah along with him, Sonya had no reason to continue searching for vengeance. Instead, she turned her efforts to researching a cure for the women who lost their souls to Duma and became witches. It's said no one ever saw her again, but that was right alongside the fact that a new witch had begun living on Fear Mountain.
The witch is heavily implied to be Sonya, which means one of two things. Duma is dead, therefore it's unknown where exactly those who have offered their souls up would go, so Sonya may have kept her sense of self. This means that in order to make sure no more women will suffer as her sisters did, Sonya cut herself off from the comfortable life she desired in order to devote herself to a life of isolation and research. On the other hand, the creation of a witch may somehow mean the same thing, in which case Sonya gave up the very core of her being, all for the sake of her sisters.
Link to Samples: Sample 1; Sample 2
Chosen path: Dancer
5 Abilities: 4 path actions: Allure, Hidden Knife, Hex, Calm Emotions
1 canon power: Fire - what it says on the tin. Sonya's mage class is essentially an offensively-designed Wizard, and fire is a starting spell for all mages that functions the same as Fireball. If this is unacceptable, I would like to have Telekinesis in its place.
Why this path?: While Wizard would have been the obvious choice, I eventually came to the conclusion that I wanted to push Sonya a little more out of her comfort zone, but not so much that it would be difficult to play her effectively. I feel like the Dancer class could utilize both her looks and personality to an interesting effect in an RP setting, as well as giving her a small array of spells to choose from for a little familiarity.
Also, when leveling up, Sonya tends to have solid gains toward speed and skill - both of which I feel would translate well into the Dancer class in Balance.
blurb code by photosynthesis
