Princess Selvara Aurex
Where her elder brother Dainric embodies the empire's military might, Princess Selvara represents its diplomatic cunning and political acumen. The second-born child and eldest daughter, Selvara moves through the imperial court like a predator in tall grass—graceful, patient, and lethal when she strikes. Her beauty is renowned throughout the empire and beyond, but those who mistake her for merely decorative quickly learn the error of their judgment, often too late to save themselves.
Selvara serves as the empire's chief diplomat, negotiating treaties that invariably favor Valtareth while appearing reasonably balanced to their signatories. Her greatest weapon is her encyclopedic knowledge of foreign customs, personalities, and secret weaknesses. Before meeting with any foreign dignitary, she studies their history, family connections, personal vices, and religious beliefs, crafting approaches uniquely designed to manipulate each individual. She speaks seven languages fluently and can conduct basic diplomacy in a dozen more.
The Princess maintains an extensive network of informants that rivals even her mother's famed intelligence apparatus. Her agents include merchants, courtesans, scholars, and even religious figures who have been compromised through bribery, blackmail, or ideological conversion. Through this network, she often knows the decisions of foreign councils before their own rulers have been informed. Her quarters in the imperial palace contain thousands of detailed dossiers on influential figures throughout the continent.
Wars are expensive and messy affairs. Why sacrifice thousands of our soldiers when a carefully worded treaty, a strategic marriage, or if necessary, a single drop of poison can achieve the same result? The pieces surrender to the player who sees three moves ahead, not the one who simply sweeps the board clear.
"Wars are expensive and messy affairs. Why sacrifice thousands of our soldiers when a carefully worded treaty, a strategic marriage, or if necessary, a single drop of poison can achieve the same result? The pieces surrender to the player who sees three moves ahead, not the one who simply sweeps the board clear."
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