Queen Amnestra the Second
Her Majesty Amnestra II Maya Corella (a.k.a. The Healer, The Healing Queen)
The Healing Queen
Her Majesty Amnestra the Second, the Seated Queen of Lyria, is a half-elven woman in her middle age though her appearance is not commensurate with that fact. Like all Seated Monarchs, those who sit upon thrones recognized by the Divine King, she is granted boons and protections including good health and unnaturally long life. The Queen rules in both her capital, Cedres Lyria, and at her Winter Palace inland -- moving from place to place as a part of her religious observances. The Queen is deeply interested in using the power of proactive good to prevent her neighbours from falling into darkness. She is a proponent of the Embassy and Consulate system of foreign relations and foreign intelligence, very often focusing her efforts on establishing, strengthening and corresponding with those responsible for managing the host of fellowships operating with Lyrian support throughout the Free Realms and beyond.
Early Life: Journeys as a Princess
Before her time as Monarch, Princess Amnestra Maya Corella trained in the far-off, gnomish martial monastic school located on the pirate island of Fairport called the House of Storms. Because the Queen's Realm operates Temple Ships that often help the free-booting sailors of Fairport, folk and nobles from Lyria are welcomed with open arms by both the halfling majority and the large population of gnomish refugees. Since it takes weeks to get there by a faster sailing ship, Princess Amnestra elected to serve upon one of the Temple Ships and slowly made her way to Fairport. Over the three months aboard the ship, she was tutored in a broad array of subjects, but her heart was always in healing the body, the mind and the spirit. She stopped in the Port of Adia to further relations with the embattled city-state, the Garden to visit her elder sister, and even Conquered Illoria and Thessidia before the long, open ocean journey to Fairport.
At Fairport, her time spent at the House of Storms was difficult. The first thing they did was to take away her identity, giving her a simple monastic name: Maya, a gnomish word for iron ore. Her masters were unyielding in their training. They pushed, pulled and dragged the Princess to her physical, mental and spiritual limits. Though her body gave out, her mind clouded and lost its perceptions, her spirit never wavered. By the end of her fourth year of training, she was a different person. By that time, however, news had come that her mother had died in the grand city of Bluffside in the Dwarven Commonwealth and that the rest of the family were on their way back for the coronation of her elder sister, Nemarra, who was studying druidic magic in the Garden.
By the time she arrived back in her homeland, the royal pennants on the escort ships of the Royal Navy were covered with black ribbons. Something was terribly amiss. When she arrived, Amnestra was greeted by her friend and confidant, Siria Hellenthil, who informed her that her elder sister and younger brother had both been killed en route back to the capital. Nemarra died in a storm in the waters of the south Adian Sea; and Baeleon had been killed in Mercadia by assassins from Greyvale attempting to frame the Holy Kingdom of Aramon. Of all her family, there was only her ailing father, whose mind and memory was slowly wasting away in the Winter Palace.
She was no longer a Princess, nor a healer aboard a Temple Ship, nor a martial artist named Maya, she was now Queen of Lyria.
As the New Queen: Shadow War with Greyvale
There was no irrefutable proof that Greyvale was responsible for the death of her brother, but there was enough to convince the new Queen and her inner circle of the culpability of the Steward of Greyvale and his operatives. In those first few months, the new Queen relied very heavily on her inner circle of friends and confidants. They enabled the Judiciars to ensure that the Realm was free of spies, saboteurs, and other interlopers -- in this time, the Judiciars established several "special" Inspectors throughout the lands to ensure that the agents of foreign powers were kept in check. One of which still operates in the capital and each other city to this day. The great shadow war between the Lyrians and Greyvale was fought in the shadows of the city-states of Mercadia: the streets, the alleys, the various establishments and salons of power. By the end of the second year, the Lyrian agents and the fellowships in their employ had largely cleansed the Lakelands, the Port of Orliac and the Republic of Westervale of Greyvale influence. The Steward of Greyvale essentially capitulated when he sent a simple missive stating "You and yours will see no more trouble from Greyvale." The message was accompanied by Church-approved evidence that the Throne of Lyria was recognized by the Divine King over several of his mortal lives.
The Queen Today: Reigning for Stability, Reigning for Prosperity
In the decade following her successful campaign against the Steward of Greyvale, Amnestra the Second began to delegate much of her decision-making authority to her chosen Cabinet and Prime Minister. She focused primarily on foreign relations and maintaining peace and order in the western lands. She adopted an annual routine of governing under domestic religious observance, foreign travel and pragmatic optimism. The reality of her close, romantic relationship with her longtime friend and prime minister became an open secret amongst the court, and this fact has become the most salient challenge in her rule. Despite religious tolerance and social acceptance for same-sex relationships in Lyria and the Old Faith, it is still expected that the monarch see to her succession with a pragmatic eye. It has been whispered that the Queen is exploring solutions to the challenge of succession, and that it has become the center of much speculation in and out of the court of Cedres Lyria.
Mental characteristics
Gender Identity
Amnestra has expressed herself as a feminine woman, though as an adolescent, she was fond of wearing more pragmatic clothes when getting into her own adventures.
Sexuality
Though she presents as mostly feminine, she has been largely asexual and aromantic outwardly in public. Though in safer, more intimate environs, she is clearly attracted to other women.
Education
She has been tutored by the best individuals available, though her time aboard a Temple Ship and her training at the House of Storms have grounded her in the realities of the world outside the insular and safe culture of the Court.
Mental Trauma
She was deeply affected by the mental deterioration of her beloved father, and further made to feel alone by the death of the rest of her family: her mother, and her two siblings. That her brother was assassinated by Greyvale spies enraged her to a point of complete psychological departure from her normal personality, and it took intervention by her friend and lover to avoid a full-scale declaration of war and alliance with the Garden that might have reignited the fires that Riga the Magnificent first lit.
Morality & Philosophy
Amnestra believes that she is an instrument of healing and stability, and she acts to ensure that the bad behaviours inherent to mortal life are individually and collectively prevented. She believes in proactive defense, opting to take the initiative to act against bad actors -- to rise and strike first using agents and fellowships is preferable to military intervention where innocents are affected on all sides. She lives her life in such a way that honours her personal triad of Yhera, Geniche and Moya. Before her time at the House of Storms, she would have been much more reliant on the initiative of retainers and supporters, but now she expects to be actively included in problem-solving and decision-making when it comes to the items deemed important. That being said, she does not hesitate to delegate when the opportunity legitimately arises.
Alignment
Neutral Good
Current Location
Ethnicity
Age
170
Birthplace
Cedres Lyria
Children
Pronouns
She/Her
Sex
Female
Gender
Woman
Presentation
Feminine
Eyes
Dark Blue
Hair
Dark Brown and Light Brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Light
Height
5'5"
Weight
120
Owned Vehicles
Belief/Deity
The Old Faith
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Ruled Locations
Comments