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May 29, 2018 10:44:00 GMT
Post by imogen on May 29, 2018 10:44:00 GMT
basics
full name. Khan, Malia
known as. Her Imperial Highness Malia Khan, Imperial Crown Princess of House Khan, Sun-in-Shadow, The Summer Queen, Mon Ange du Palais
age. 15
face claim. amandla stenberg.
race. Human
gender. Female
sexuality. Pansexual
occupation. Imperial Crown Princess, Heir Presumptive to House Khan
abilities. none. But has a natural resistance to magic due to her human heritage.
known as. Her Imperial Highness Malia Khan, Imperial Crown Princess of House Khan, Sun-in-Shadow, The Summer Queen, Mon Ange du Palais
age. 15
face claim. amandla stenberg.
race. Human
gender. Female
sexuality. Pansexual
occupation. Imperial Crown Princess, Heir Presumptive to House Khan
abilities. none. But has a natural resistance to magic due to her human heritage.
looks
She is a proud, fey thing, with wild eyes as dark as a cloudless night, and a healthy, albeit willowy, form. The heritage of the humans is obvious in those slender lines, in that otherworldly loveliness that touches her features, high cheekbones made for a life among the aristocracy, soft lips, a delicate jaw framed by flowing waves of sable. Her golden skin is clearly pampered, soft and flawless with warm undertones that mark the heritage of House Khan. There is a strange quality to her beauty, an often distant and unpredictable aspect to those lovely dark eyes that can be off-putting, even when her her curves manage to entice. Yet she carries herself with the effortless poise of her Royal blood, every movement marked with a youthful sort of arrogance, a presence somewhere between commanding and gently compelling.
A gown of warm ivory brocade covers her slender form, the contrast of the pale fabric highlighting nicely the golden undertones of her skin. It has upon it a simple pattern of leaves and flowers, one woven so finely into the fabric that it takes a close look to even know it is there as anything other than a slight golden gleam, a play of bright and shadow. The cut of the garment is simple enough, with long sleeves to protect against winters chill that fit to the elbow before flaring lightly, a neckline that plunges in a 'v' shape just dramatic enough to give a tempting glimpse of cleavage, and a fitted waist enhanced with a belt of burnished golden discs that rests on the gentle swell of her hips. Skirts fall in a gentle drape towards the floor, full enough to be luxurious but not to distract.
Shining sable hair is worn mostly loose, a few pins of burnished silver holding choice pieces back from her face before the rest falls down her back in softly brushed curls. On her right ring finger a band of rose gold gleams, set with sapphire and jet between simple, open circles that resemble the links to a chain.
A gown of warm ivory brocade covers her slender form, the contrast of the pale fabric highlighting nicely the golden undertones of her skin. It has upon it a simple pattern of leaves and flowers, one woven so finely into the fabric that it takes a close look to even know it is there as anything other than a slight golden gleam, a play of bright and shadow. The cut of the garment is simple enough, with long sleeves to protect against winters chill that fit to the elbow before flaring lightly, a neckline that plunges in a 'v' shape just dramatic enough to give a tempting glimpse of cleavage, and a fitted waist enhanced with a belt of burnished golden discs that rests on the gentle swell of her hips. Skirts fall in a gentle drape towards the floor, full enough to be luxurious but not to distract.
Shining sable hair is worn mostly loose, a few pins of burnished silver holding choice pieces back from her face before the rest falls down her back in softly brushed curls. On her right ring finger a band of rose gold gleams, set with sapphire and jet between simple, open circles that resemble the links to a chain.
charms
Malia Khan is a young woman whom extraordinary circumstance has forged into a formidable princess who seems wise and capable well beyond her years. She is intensely charismatic, with a real knack for reading those around her and adjusting her approach to them as needed to accomplish the desired results. In private she is often warm, considerate of those around her, and possesses an earthy, even ribald sense of humor that often shocks those that don't expect it of a Imperial (or who have built her up as a paragon of purity and virtue in their minds), much to her own amusement. In public she maintains every bit of the dignity and regality that is expected of her position, though she is well aware that a strategically calculated "slip" into a seemingly more-unguarded persona can have benefits. In both cases, she is strong-willed, utterly confident, and decisive when it is called for.
Malia can be stubborn to the point of intractability, but such incidents are more rare now that the realities of adulthood have settled upon her. There are still times will she will vehemently hold her ground against all challenges to her chosen course of action, but generally they are only in matters that are particularly near or dear to her heart. Instead, she tends to win others over with compromise and the proverbial "soft touch" though she's also well aware that sometimes you have to "crack the whip" to get people in line. She also has a mischievous streak, though the crown has tempered much of that and relegated it to stealing occasional moments of amusement at others' expense, usually by demonstrating her talent for vulgar language, or otherwise sharing her coarse humor for shock value. Snide remarks and passive-aggressive jabs are also weapons in her arsenal (particularly when she's in "Queenly mode") though generally only directed against those that have displeased her or otherwise gotten on her bad side.
Malia is deeply aware of just how dirty politics can get, and understands that sometimes idealism must be sacrificed for pragmatism if a Empire is to survive, much less thrive. That is not to say that she will always choose the expedient path over the morally or ethically superior one. Quite the contrary: If something can be accomplished the "right" way she will see it through with determination. It's just that if it can't reasonably be accomplished without dirtying ones' hands…she will still see it through with equal determination. The welfare of her country, Vassals, and common subjects is foremost in her mind, and she is willing to sacrifice of herself to see them thrive. This should not, however, be taken to mean that Malia is completely selfless or magnanimous. While capable of great mercy (and seeing the value in it), she will order harsh punishments to those that betray her or the Empire without losing a wink of sleep over it. While she strongly desires peace, she would not hesitate to absolutely crush any threat. She values life…even that of the commoners…quite highly, but understands that sacrifices must be made, and that even she can't force Creation to always be orderly and peaceful. While it may be at times painful to make those sacrifices, she has the strength to bear that pain. She can do no less, for otherwise she would dishonor the memories of the many that perished to bring the empire together.
Malia can be stubborn to the point of intractability, but such incidents are more rare now that the realities of adulthood have settled upon her. There are still times will she will vehemently hold her ground against all challenges to her chosen course of action, but generally they are only in matters that are particularly near or dear to her heart. Instead, she tends to win others over with compromise and the proverbial "soft touch" though she's also well aware that sometimes you have to "crack the whip" to get people in line. She also has a mischievous streak, though the crown has tempered much of that and relegated it to stealing occasional moments of amusement at others' expense, usually by demonstrating her talent for vulgar language, or otherwise sharing her coarse humor for shock value. Snide remarks and passive-aggressive jabs are also weapons in her arsenal (particularly when she's in "Queenly mode") though generally only directed against those that have displeased her or otherwise gotten on her bad side.
Malia is deeply aware of just how dirty politics can get, and understands that sometimes idealism must be sacrificed for pragmatism if a Empire is to survive, much less thrive. That is not to say that she will always choose the expedient path over the morally or ethically superior one. Quite the contrary: If something can be accomplished the "right" way she will see it through with determination. It's just that if it can't reasonably be accomplished without dirtying ones' hands…she will still see it through with equal determination. The welfare of her country, Vassals, and common subjects is foremost in her mind, and she is willing to sacrifice of herself to see them thrive. This should not, however, be taken to mean that Malia is completely selfless or magnanimous. While capable of great mercy (and seeing the value in it), she will order harsh punishments to those that betray her or the Empire without losing a wink of sleep over it. While she strongly desires peace, she would not hesitate to absolutely crush any threat. She values life…even that of the commoners…quite highly, but understands that sacrifices must be made, and that even she can't force Creation to always be orderly and peaceful. While it may be at times painful to make those sacrifices, she has the strength to bear that pain. She can do no less, for otherwise she would dishonor the memories of the many that perished to bring the empire together.
past
The second child of House Khan is the one that very nearly wasn't. She was born almost a month early, on the first day of spring, amid winter's last reluctant gasp to free the land from its teeth. It was a difficult birth, and she was a small, sickly babe, but by the grace of the Gods both mother and child survived.
Pushing her way forth, to be the first. To cling to her chance at breath, at life, at everything. The midwife said they had to pry her little fist from her brother’s arm to bring her forth into the world. Malia and Amir. She preceeded her brother by a mere two minutes all in all, though no one was counting joyfully amid all the blood and fear and whispers. And since that moment she and he have been attached more oft than not. One is light where the other is shadow. One is joy where the other is pain. They are mirrors or opposites, but either way blood is the same. No one knows one like the other. No one ever will.
The rough birth left a mark on the girl, Malia, and for the remainder of her life she would always be frailer and weaker even than others of her sex. Fortunately, for the women of Hanami, the shortcomings of her flesh were not so much a curse as they may have been viewed in a more progressive culture. The value of her life would be measured in ways other than an ability to run and jump and carry on.
As a very young child, she was kept largely indoors, for fear that her health would deteriorate again. It was a valid fear, for her constitution never really recovered from the trauma of those earliest days, but it did not keep her from the education befitting an Imperial daughter. Despite her frailty, or perhaps because of it, she was a particularly pretty girl, one that would flower in time into an extraordinarily beautiful young woman. As expected, she was instructed in all of the many things that are calculated to make a young woman appealing, an attractive helpmate to a future husband: to dance, to play the harp, to do needlework, and so on. But Malia proved that what the coin of her fragile body paid for was not its doll's face, but the mind that came with.
She was a very clever girl with a keen mind, and often sat in on her sister Alyah's, lessons while practicing her stitches. When the tutors or guards tried to have her shooed for education 'more befitting her position', she begged for some of those lessons to continue, though it was rapidly made evident that her gifts were more intuitive than genuinely academic. She had a knack for dealing with people, part of which was facilitated by her ability to disarm them with her smile. More than that, however, she displayed a gift for strategy, for piecing together disparate parts into a calculated whole, one that often surprised people.
As a small child, she was often sent to visit friends and family, who were quick to overlook a sweet, frail child sitting in the corner. Often she'd collect useful bits of information to bring home to her Grandmother, things let carelessly slip in front of her under the assumption that she, just a child, wasn't paying attention. As the battle lines changed and the years rolled, so too did her position and role as she left childhood and approached her preteens. Time and again she journeyed with Father to help negotiate trade agreements; time and again she stayed home to fill in for her Mother while she was away. Betimes, the war threatened to re-emerge, and she assisted her father with planning the defense of the province.
The year Malia turned nine, grandmother died, and Papa moved to the Palais year-round. It was a good time to be alivethen. To be Malia. Ripening into Games of Love as the Emperors own daughter, a rising star at the court. Even if yet too young to indulge in everything, there was so much. So much to make the darkness fade away. She was too busy dancing to worry when the sicknesses came. She barely listened when Papa warned that it would be a hard winter. Everyone was numb that season, when Yesun died. A whirlwind. A coronation. Malia's own sister standing before the Priest. Humbly saying the vows. The entire nation looks to her now, to them.
Out of the darkness, and into the light.
Pushing her way forth, to be the first. To cling to her chance at breath, at life, at everything. The midwife said they had to pry her little fist from her brother’s arm to bring her forth into the world. Malia and Amir. She preceeded her brother by a mere two minutes all in all, though no one was counting joyfully amid all the blood and fear and whispers. And since that moment she and he have been attached more oft than not. One is light where the other is shadow. One is joy where the other is pain. They are mirrors or opposites, but either way blood is the same. No one knows one like the other. No one ever will.
The rough birth left a mark on the girl, Malia, and for the remainder of her life she would always be frailer and weaker even than others of her sex. Fortunately, for the women of Hanami, the shortcomings of her flesh were not so much a curse as they may have been viewed in a more progressive culture. The value of her life would be measured in ways other than an ability to run and jump and carry on.
As a very young child, she was kept largely indoors, for fear that her health would deteriorate again. It was a valid fear, for her constitution never really recovered from the trauma of those earliest days, but it did not keep her from the education befitting an Imperial daughter. Despite her frailty, or perhaps because of it, she was a particularly pretty girl, one that would flower in time into an extraordinarily beautiful young woman. As expected, she was instructed in all of the many things that are calculated to make a young woman appealing, an attractive helpmate to a future husband: to dance, to play the harp, to do needlework, and so on. But Malia proved that what the coin of her fragile body paid for was not its doll's face, but the mind that came with.
She was a very clever girl with a keen mind, and often sat in on her sister Alyah's, lessons while practicing her stitches. When the tutors or guards tried to have her shooed for education 'more befitting her position', she begged for some of those lessons to continue, though it was rapidly made evident that her gifts were more intuitive than genuinely academic. She had a knack for dealing with people, part of which was facilitated by her ability to disarm them with her smile. More than that, however, she displayed a gift for strategy, for piecing together disparate parts into a calculated whole, one that often surprised people.
As a small child, she was often sent to visit friends and family, who were quick to overlook a sweet, frail child sitting in the corner. Often she'd collect useful bits of information to bring home to her Grandmother, things let carelessly slip in front of her under the assumption that she, just a child, wasn't paying attention. As the battle lines changed and the years rolled, so too did her position and role as she left childhood and approached her preteens. Time and again she journeyed with Father to help negotiate trade agreements; time and again she stayed home to fill in for her Mother while she was away. Betimes, the war threatened to re-emerge, and she assisted her father with planning the defense of the province.
The year Malia turned nine, grandmother died, and Papa moved to the Palais year-round. It was a good time to be alivethen. To be Malia. Ripening into Games of Love as the Emperors own daughter, a rising star at the court. Even if yet too young to indulge in everything, there was so much. So much to make the darkness fade away. She was too busy dancing to worry when the sicknesses came. She barely listened when Papa warned that it would be a hard winter. Everyone was numb that season, when Yesun died. A whirlwind. A coronation. Malia's own sister standing before the Priest. Humbly saying the vows. The entire nation looks to her now, to them.
Out of the darkness, and into the light.
family
01. Aliyah Khan || 18 || Sister || Empress of Hanami
02. Amir Khan || 15 || Brother || Younger twin by two minutes
02. Amir Khan || 15 || Brother || Younger twin by two minutes
Imogen || Eastern || none