Appearance: Tai’en stands a head taller than most women, and taller than many men, which alone might draw eyes to her. There’s plenty else to attract attention, though, from the ragged two-toned hair--white shading down to black at the tips--down to the equipment she wears. Beads, feathers, and cords are braided into her hair, and the top of her hair is pulled back into two long cords that end mid-back in two feathers, lending her a faintly wild appearance; the black spiky tattoos that cover both cheeks and her forehead do more to emphasize the wildness. Her skin is dark by nature, emphasized by years spent under the sun, and contrasts vividly with her eyes--a strange, flat, metallic gold, without pupil, that glow faintly in the dark. Lean and fit, she moves with the unconscious collected grace of one who knows how to fight. Her face is quick to expression, though most of the time it holds an easy, confident smile.

She dresses in a practical mix of leather and cotton. Brown leather trousers hug her legs down to the brown leather boots with the tops turned down. A couple of belts festooned with pouches rest on her hips, and a simple crossed-over shirt in cream keeps her modesty, though it’s not particularly fashionable. Over it, she wears a dark, long-sleeved ankle-length robe, usually kept open in the front, and over the robe a high-collared sleeveless coat in leather, a few straps meant to close the coat left undone to dangle. Occasionally, whenever she gestures, an ornate set of golden bracers can be glimpsed beneath the long sleeves of the robe. A few necklaces hang around her neck, a random assortment of tiger claws, small feather charms, and semiprecious stones. In addition, two baldrics cross her chest, off which hang two crossed swords on her back. One is enormous, easily as tall as she and almost as wide; the other is slightly less massive, being only four feet long and a handspan wide. At her waist on another belt hangs a slim, slightly-curved sword in a dark red sheathe, the golden quillons worked to resemble wings and the hilt wrapped in red leather. To a long-time resident of Middleton, it would be recognizable as the Red Feather Sword, a symbol of her position as Middleton’s Fire Point Guard.

Personality:

Curious – Her curiosity and desire to discover new things and explore uncharted territories is a great deal of what fuels her—she loves finding things out, whether physical places or arcane bits of knowledge, and is generally far too curious for her own good.

Restless – It was what moved her to leave her home village so long ago, and what made her accept Simurgh’s offer so easily. She has the heart of a wanderer, truly--the discovery of new things delights her to no end, and staying put in one place for too long leaves her feeling itchy and restless.

Secretive – She's something of a mask-maker, in a way--there's always another side, another facet that she presents. She dislikes showing any emotion deeper than amusement or light irritation, and keeps perpetual lightheartedness as her usual facade. Information is kept close to herself, as well, usually doled out as grudgingly as a miser does gold.

Honest – On the flipside, she's very blunt and straightforward when she wants to be. It comes of not caring, to an extent, what people think--if someone asks her opinion, she'll give it truly. She might soften it, if it's a harsh one and she likes the person, but she'll give it all the same. In addition, if something is going badly, there's usually no reason to hide it, either.

Cautious – She didn’t get to be this old without learning some caution. Some of that has slipped, given her long status as a ruler of her own city and a fairly powerful person in her own right, but there still remains that core; she dislikes rushing into anything without knowing all the information, and when investigating something new, will make certain of each step carefully before continuing onto the next one. She might be curious and adventurous, but she’s not reckless.

Whimsical – Much of the lightheartedness she usually displays is a façade, but to some extent, it is what she really feels--it’s just not all that she is. The world really can be a funny place, and it would be remiss of her not to observe it from time to time. And if that sometimes translates to her actions, well, she has her own logic for what she does, even if said ‘logic’ is nothing more than ‘it’s amusing for the moment.’

Arrogant – Tai’en is very, very arrogant. Not so much in the sense of ‘I am the best evar and you will all bow down to me and acknowledge my strength, puny mortals’ as it is, well, ‘I am the best evar.’ When one gets to the point where one has wrestled with spirits, defeated far older Exalts, summoned up armies of magical beasts, and can defeat any number of things that come one’s way, a certain cockiness begins to be understandable. However, that may prove to be her downfall, here; back home, she had her city, her militia, her school, and above all, her Circle, and an extensive knowledge of the world to work with. Here? She has none of these, just herself in a land filled with people often more powerful than she would guess, with ways completely foreign to her.

What it translates to, in everyday terms, is simply this: she won’t take no for an answer, and wanders where she will fearlessly, without any apparent sense of the danger of something. Even if warned, she would simply shrug it off as being another warning of ‘don’t go there, you might die’—which she’s had many of, in her life, and yet she still came out alive. (Sometimes barely, but...) If anyone tries to protect her or suggest that they know better than she, she would get terribly annoyed (even, or perhaps especially, if they’re quite right). In addition, she has a tendency to ride roughshod over other people, feeling that she knows best.

Easygoing – What works, works. She’s not going to sweat the small stuff, and really, everything is the small stuff. Well, most things, at least. It’s difficult to get her riled up or her feathers ruffled, because she simply doesn’t care much of the time. She’s comfortable with herself, and she’s largely unsurprised by most events. Besides, going around being uptight and nervous all the time just doesn’t get anything done--much better to take everything in a calm, reasonable frame of mind.

Callous – She has an unfortunate habit of seeing mortals as just that--mortals. Useable, expendable, and there mostly to work for her. Some mortals can distinguish themselves to her, becoming real people, but for the most part she lumps them into the ‘drudge’ category. In line with this, she can be sometimes rather callous about how people are treated--she has no real problem with slavery (though she kept none herself, due to some issues with Circlemates), seeing it as an indelible part of society, and killing presents no difficulty to her, though she’s no warmongerer and dislikes unnecessary cruelty. She has compassion for her loved ones and those she works with, and outright cruelty will incite her anger, but for the most part she’s not exactly a paragon of love and virtue.

Intelligent – She is, simply, quite intelligent--she was always fairly quick on the uptake, but many years have honed her mind sharp, and she’s not afraid to use it. She learns things rapidly, even for an Exalt, and often retains information for far longer than most would, sometimes surfacing with an unexpected bit of knowledge acquired years ago and dusted off from the dim recesses of memory. She’s quite quick at putting two and two together, as well as remembering things, and the combination of the two has often gotten her out of more situations than might of arm or magic.