Minerva Reas

[Minerva Reas]

Commander Minerva Reas, Captain of the Guard

FROM HERE TO THERE

FULL NAME: Minerva Reas
ALIAS / NICKNAMES: Most cannot be repeated in good company, and most certainly not within earshot of her (though she does seem to favor ‘The Iron Bitch’).
AGE: 28
BIRTHDATE: June 6
RACE: Human
SOCIAL STATUS: Commoner
OCCUPATION: Captain of the Guard, holding the formal rank of Commander.

DOWN TO THE FINER POINTS

HEIGHT: 5’9”
WEIGHT: 140 lbs
HAIR: Blonde
EYES: Green
GENERAL APPEARANCE: Depending on who you ask, Minerva is either simply very serious, dour or a walking pillar of repressed anger. If the dictionaries of the world had an image for the idea of ‘ramrod straight’, there would be a picture of Minerva glaring at the person who had made the woodblock carving.
When she is not looking to spear someone with her eyes, Minerva is actually a lovely young woman. Tall and slim, she is anything but skinny. Solid muscle, honed through years of swinging a sword, fisticuffs and the occasional barfight ripples underneath her gleaming armor. Her blonde hair is kept neat and trimmed, though her bangs are just within regulation. Her most distinguishing feature is a cowlick on the crown of her head, which tends to bend toward the left. Two unbraided tails are usually on the side of her head. When she knows that she will be going into combat or wearing a helm, they will be braided and pinned to sides.
Her eyes are pine green, though it can be difficult for some people to tell, given her seemingly perpetual frowns. To most, when those eyes swing toward them, it is far better to look anywhere but at them.

PICTURE:

PERSONALITY: Minerva is a soldier’s solider. She eats and breathes regulations, thrives on a ten mile walk in full armor and pack, and seems to find a cold sword a much better lover than a warm body. At least, that’s the way her troops see her, and how she has portrayed herself to them.
But like some many things, within the wheat of exaggeration, there is a germ of truth. Minerva is all those things, to some extent, but she has a softer side. She keeps that hidden, buried since the loss of her last love. At the time, it was to keep her from having a complete emotional breakdown over the loss. Now, the façade has become fact because facing the truth about her own emotional state could be far more devastating.
Off-duty (which can be defined very loosely in her mind, since she considers herself to be on-duty 90% of the time), she often spends alone, playing a violin that was a gift from her lost love. It is not uncommon for persons who pass by her quarters to hear music that can break one’s heart. None, though, have been brave enough to approach her about someone so tough can play such soulful music.
Despite, or rather because of, her being promoted to the position of Captain of the Guard, she not slackened on training those beneath her. In addition to her duties to protect the Royal Family, the castle where they live and all those underneath its roof, she also has every intention of making sure that her people will walk away from almost every encounter. She drills them until they curse her name with every pant of breath, but they will fight by her side with a fierce loyalty. Minerva sees each solider under her command as her responsibility to protect, along with the Royals. Those soldiers would damn her under their breath, but they would storm the gates of Hell if she asked them. She will not ask a soldier to do more than he or she can handle. And what they discover that they can handle under her control often surprises them.

[/b]
[li] training
[/li][li] training
[/li][li] playing her violin
[/li][li] training
[/li][li] making her troops proud of themselves…and her

DISLIKES:
[/li][li] slackers
[/li][li] disorderly conduct
[/li][li] disobedience
[/li][li] dealing the pain of her loss
[/li][/ul]

HOBBIES: Other than playing her violin, Minerva has no other real hobbies. Nor, with her love’s death, has she sought any other hobbies.

BELOW THE SURFACE

SPECIAL SKILLS: Minerva is skilled with all common melee weapons (swords, spears, maces, etc.) and distance weapons (bows, crossbows, thrown spears, etc.), as well as few not so common ones. Though she would be reluctant to call herself a tactical genius, she is skilled in both small groups and larger unit maneuvers. She has a near perfect memory when it comes to Army regulations, capable of quoting them with a heartbeat’s notice (much to the annoyance of many, especially her troops).
She does have one talent that few have seen but some have heard: her playing of the violin. She used to play for her lover, but with her death, she rarely plays for more than herself.
WEAPONS: Minerva carries two magical items of note, in addition to being able to request just about any weapon she needs in the course of her duties. The first is her armor, which has the mundane ability to keep looking clean and polished, regardless of the rigors of job. Though a fight could result in rends and penetrating blows, these will, over time, seal themselves. Otherwise minor scuffs will simply fade away in moments, and even blood stains vanish in minutes.
The second is her sword, Silverhawk. It is more or less indestructible, always keeping an edge, and very light for its size. Though it cannot deflect or dispel magic, it can cut into, and often through, magical defenses. Finally, it will always return to her hand if thrown or dropped.
MAGICAL ABILITIES: None, though she is surprisingly good at implementing magical attacks and defenses into attack plans.

FAMILY: General David Reas (father), Captain Karen Reas
BACKGROUND: Minerva can trace her linage to around the founding of Terre de Conte. In fact, since the founding of the country, her family has been a part of its defense in one way or another, mostly through the army. Both Minerva’s mother and father are officers in the army, her father a general, her mother a combat trainer. With such a pedigree, there was little doubt that she would succeed.
And succeed Minerva did. She made the rank of captain by the time she was 18, based solely on her skills, as her parents had done their best to not interfere in her career. She gained the rank of commander when she turned twenty-four, which is the rank she currently holds.
During her rise, Minerva had one friend who came up with her, though more or less independently. Her name was Helena, and she was Minerva’s partner, in both combat and in love. The two had met during training, and became fast friends. Within weeks, they gave into their growing mutual attraction. Though Minerva advanced quickly, she did her best not to leave Helena behind. She couldn’t advance her in rank without accusations of favoritism, but she could make sure that Helena was moved with her when she was assigned to new posts. And, though some of the posts were difficult on the pair, neither complained so long as they could be together.
Two years ago, Minerva was assigned to a fort that guarded several important caravan routes between Terre de Conte and several countries. For years, bandits had hidden in local mountains, but no one had managed to halt their predation. Within a year, Minerva and her soldiers had not just rooted them out; they had also managed to kill their leader. However, that turned out to be a mistake. In reality, there were actually several bandit clans that had been operating around the area. Minerva had removed the head of the strongest clan, but that only forced the other clans to consider uniting to oppose her. They organized a massive raid on the fort, and what they might have lacked in skill, the bandits made up for in ferocity and numbers.
Hard-pressed, Minerva managed to get her troops to route the assault. But it was not without cost. More than 2/3 of her troops were either seriously wounded or outright killed. And more personally, Helena was killed when she took a blow meant for Minerva.
For her victory, she was given the rank of Commander and brought back to Venus, the capital of Terre de Conte, to recover. However, she had lost her heart emotionally with Helena’s death. It took months before she was in any shape mentally to be considered fit for duty, though her physical wounds had long since healed.
For the first time, Minerva’s parents chose to interfere with their daughter’s career. When Princess Anactoria ran away from her arranged marriage, the Captain of the Guard at the time was relieved of duty. His replacement stepped up the security of the Royal Family, even before the Princess returned of her own free will. Recently, a young woman, the Princess of a nation known to harbor criminals and assassins, was able to enter the Castle grounds through stealth. Though Princess Anactoria seems to be willing to vouch for the woman’s good behavior, the King and Queen were more than a little upset that, yet again, the Royal Family’s security was breeched with seeming ease, this time from outside.
With the second Captain of the Guard dismissed within two years, Minerva’s parents realized that she would be an excellent replacement. She had been working alongside her mother in training troops. Before Helena’s death, Minerva had been strict with her troops. After her death, some felt she had become draconian in discipline. Yet the improvement in the skill and, oddly enough, loyalty of those troops was testament to her efforts. The King and Queen agreed that she might be able to make the necessary difference, both with their security and with their strong-willed daughter. Additionally, they gave their blessing to the appointment, including giving Minerva authority to do what she felt necessary to secure their daughter’s willfulness.
Just how the two will get along (or not) remains to be seen. As loyal as Minerva is to her leaders, she is likely to have little patience for the younger woman’s tendency to go by her own rules. Secretly, it is hoped by her parents that Minerva will turn her energies from being angry with herself for the loss of her love, and instead focus that need to protect toward a woman who needs it far more.

THE MASTERMIND

ALIAS: None
ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS: Calla Valerian
HOW YOU GOT HERE:Through links to the previous site on other boards.
NOTES: