The Lady of Pearlcrest, Catherinne Aisla de Lyoncaster

Lord Type: Scholar Lord
Domain Type: Heartland (Central Territory)
Primary Residence: Manor
Domain Features: (-45)
Mystic Mine (-10)
Forge of Magitech (-15)
Academy City (-10)
Great Library (-10)

Magic Type: Item Creation Magic

Retinue (-15)
Head Maid (Rosina)
Astrologer (Robert Sterling)
Sage (Professor Ainsworth)

Boons: (-20)
Favor of the Learned (Free)
Title Upgrade
Autonomy Upgrade

Drawbacks: (+10)
End Times

Catherinne, or just Cathy is the lord of the nation's foremost magic academy which now acts as an independent city-state. The Academy, known as Pearlcrest Academy, offers classes for commons and nobles alike and covers every scholarly topic imaginable (although the nobles have have noble teachers and vice versa for the commoners, with the curriculum for both being markedly different). While not necessarily any better than the other academy cities, it's steeped in fame and history. That is to say it's the equivalent of an ivy-league school. She herself is a former royal princess who stepped down to the position of Duchess as a means of avoiding the struggle for the crown. Her current last name means "Lion's Fort" and is a reference to her original status (The castle housing the royal family is known as the Lion's Fortress). On the plus side, she's essentially the highest authority in her territory. On the down side, she's essentially on house arrest- an unspoken rule that she's not supposed to leave said territory on threat of having her autonomy revoked.

Pearlcrest Academy itself doesn't have a standing army in a traditional sense, but it's the beating heart of the empire's magitech industry. In place of soldiers and barracks, the city has golems instead, but can hardly be called a military powerhouse as said golems cannot operate more than a few miles from the city. Although with the number of noble sons and daughters in attendance, few are those crazy enough to cause trouble.

The sage, known by the name of Ainsworth, is the headmaster of the academy and the astrologer Robert Sterling is his vice-headmaster. Although Cathy outranks the headmaster by a wide margin, she respects him as a more experienced mage and tries not to get in his way. Or rather the brunt of her administrative work has been handed off to the two older men, leaving her free to tend her own affairs. Incidentally, her head maid Rosina is someone that followed her from home to continue watching over her.

Personality wise, she's an lively troublemaker who wanted to play with magic all day rather than deal with nobles and all of their backstabbing. She'd rather test out a new alchemical bomb than go to a fancy party and she'd rather attend a lecture than answer an invitation to some duke's wife's private tea time session. Consequently she has absolutely no interest in reclaiming her royal status and her #1 concern when considering allies is if they'll try to threaten her autonomy. (#2 is if they understand the beauty of explosions.) Jokes aside, she has the agile mind of a scholar and the social education expected of royalty. She does know how to properly negotiate and trade favors without letting her preferences get in the way.

Sometimes when with friends she'll say the darndest things, like "No sane person would ever try to conquer my city since I have it rigged to explode". Putting aside whether that's a very dark joke or an even darker reality, it's clear that whichever court mage taught her the art of magic was playing a very dangerous game. Needless to say, her relatives are quite happy she left. The commoners are wary of her eccentricity, but also content that she hasn't messed with the status quo. As for the students, noble attendance has only risen due to her presence. No doubt they were sent in hopes of building a connection with the royal family.

Outside of her own eccentricity, Cathy did have one other reason for breaking away from the royal family: the prevailing opinion at home was that the dark lord Abaddon wasn't a real threat. They believed it was an exaggeration and that the demonic incursion would end before it ever reached their doorsteps. Some even applauded and boasted of how it was their chance to gain some accomplishments. Cathy felt otherwise, and her time at the Pearlcrest Academy library only cemented that feeling. As such she plans to play her cards well and do what she can for the world.

As a premier place of education, she can seed the idea of Abaddon's return into the minds of the minds of the next generation of leaders. As a factory of artifice, she can produce war machines and ordinance. As a former royal, she can use what remains of her prestige to build connections... However... She can't do so and look too ambitious at the same time, otherwise she'll look like she's building up strength to compete against her siblings. Truly a troublesome affair! For that reason, her first major goal is to seek out conspirators to take all the fame in her place, be it merchants willing to sell and store her artifice in silence or warriors willing to buy them. Else she'll simply spend her time researching history books for an idea of where Abaddon might pop up or developing a new form of explosives. How lovely it would be if he could simply blow him sky high before he recovers...

Putting all else aside, if the royal family falls in the chaos, she hopes someone else stands out enough to replace them. The idea that she might struggle her hardest and live only to be foisted up onto the throne is enough to give her nightmares. What a convenient coincidence that her current circumstances demand she help others bolster their fame while she hides in the background, isn't it?