Margaret Adelay (Character)

Margaret's a cold and distant character with a difficult personality. She is hard to reach into and she hides her emotions expertly well, as if with years of experience. She often claims that she "had never smiled for 17 years" (what lies).

Only recently she had started to be less impassive, showing signs of slight humor and happiness, but those are still few. She is often seen with a scowl, or a perturbed expression. She does not trust people easily, and is just a tad pessimistic, but compared to her younger years it's actually gotten much better. Shows little mercy in fighting; not because she is cold-blooded, but because she either 1. becomes hot-headed through a situation, or 2. is a tough fighter from the start.

Having served as a maid for 10 years, Margaret has a tendency to be critical with domestic aspects of life, and sometimes gives the appearance of just an ordinary woman doing daily chores.

History
Margaret's family, the House of Adelay, had been fairly wealthy, most notorious for their skills in combat and earth magic that has been passed down for generations, and also their fertility; many children were often born in a family, mostly sons. Due to the dominant masculinity in the families, Adelay daughters tend to cross-dress; Margaret was no exception. Margaret had three older brothers; Daniel, Richard and Alexander. Margaret occasionally went by the name of Maddox.

As Margaret grew of age, she was sent to be a pageboy of another noble family, continuing her cross-dressing, never revealing her true gender. She easily hid it, and she was a tough character. However as Margaret grew closer to being a squire, a terrible incident happened.

Margaret's entire family was murdered. It was a grand mystery that ran under investigation and gossip for two whole years, but the murderer was never found out. Margaret continued her stay and became a squire, and she studied fighting and magic. Knowing the murder was some wicked plot, Margaret never revealed herself to be from the House of Adelay, and went by under the name of 'Maddox d'Arte'.

When she was 16, her Lord had a grand visitor - the grand Earl, by the name of Dominic Felino. He noticed Margaret and offered to take her in, suspecting her gender. Margaret's master was reluctant to release her, but as she had worked for him long enough already, and he himself was forced to dismiss servants due to financial issues, Margaret was released and came under the House of Felino. Much to her surprise and shocked, Dominic employed Margaret as a maid in the household. The Earl had a long discussion with Margaret; with the wit of a cat he managed to learn of her origins. She made no protest about her gender, and donned a skirt for the first time in her life. With Dominic's assurance, Margaret assumed her true name once more; 'Margaret Adelay'.

She was the lowest of the maids, but she caught the eye of the young Emina, Dominic's daughter, who instantly took a liking to her and became her favourite. As time went on, Margaret grew closer to 'Milady' and protected her from whatever threat and danger she faced.

"I swear on my very mortal soul, on the very soul of your good father, a Master whom I had been loyal to, that I will lay my own life for you, till only death will bring me down." Margaret had sworn on Dominic's deathbed that she will protect Emina until the day she died.

Recently
Margaret continued to serve the House of Felino, eventually becoming the sole and most trusted maid of Lady Emina Fiore Felino. Over the years of tending to Emina's massive garden, Margaret had excelled even more in her earth abilities.

However, Margaret's life had not lacked in emotional turmoil. She had been heartbroken twice; the first had been a twist of events and betrayal that led Margaret to become vengeful. She refuses to call it a 'heartbreak' or 'love', but does admit she feels slightly broken over that. The second had been a course of events that had led Margaret to her happiest and her weakest. She had never met such a man whom she had opened up to so much, but had never met such a man whom had led her down the wrong path of beliefs. She would admit that she had been "truly in love", and that she still cares for that (stupid) man.

But then, her "second heartbreak" had left her in a brief moment of emotional breakdown. Margaret had always been cold and distant, so this was simply an utterly stranger concept to her. She spent days milling around doing very little; finding herself being consoled by her best friend Edna [*Oseike] (whom had been with her for most of her years as a maid), watched over by Emina and Eadlyn, and even considering "retiring" (she had been a maid for over 10 years after all). She at first thought it a stupid idea, for she had sworn to protect Emina, but she realized she would do her Mistress good if she took care of her own self, and she knew Emina had her own small problems to deal with. Considering the idea of maybe opening a flower shop, Margaret left the city for a while with a Xanan named Fawn [*AnimeDumbass], whom took her dragon hunting to "loosen her up".

The idea of the flower shop had long since been discarded; Margaret remembered her old training of physical combat that was still fresh even during her life as a maid, her old childhood path to be something possibly close to a knight with her brothers...well, it was a far better idea. And in that simple way, she decided her next chapter of her life. She remained in Arcania, however, to remain close to her former Mistress, whom she remains protecting, sticking to her oath that she never regretted.

Family
The House of Adelay was once a prominent line of elven nobles in Adysia. They are mostly known for 3 things: earth magic, prominent and tall figures, and the daughters being raised as if they were boys.

Margaret had 3 older brothers, Daniel, Richard and Alexander. Daniel was the oldest, a gentle and charismatic young man, Richard the second, a hot-head who loved to argue, and Alexander was the youngest of the three, naturally closer to Margaret and more of a bookworm. They were all, and including Margaret's parents, Lord Edmund Adelay and Lady Ariel Adelay nee Lerinelle, murdered in what was called the Adelay Massacre, which ended all direct descendants of the House of Adelay forever.

Margaret rarely speaks of her family.

Fighting Style
Among her siblings, Margaret was the only one who inherited the ability of earth magic. Margaret's fighting style are mostly direct offensive attacks. Margaret is agile and quick, always creating a distance between herself and her opponent before charging straight in for an all-out attack. In the past, especially when she was a maid, Margaret made use of mainly daggers which she kept up her sleeve, and threw at the enemy with frightening accuracy - it is the only type of long range attacks she uses. Nowadays Margaret makes use of her sword. Her weapons and most notorious fighting techniques include--


 * Multiple daggers


 * Margaret still keeps these things up her sleeve; she even has a belt with a few of them. Before daggers were her main types of weapon, but these days they are only used for when she is in need of a long range attack or a last minute weapon should she be disarmed. Margaret can throw these daggers with frightening accuracy.


 * Long sword


 * She had always kept one. The one from her childhood was too small for her, and when she was serving the Felino family, Dominic indulged her by replacing her old sword with a newer, much stronger one. It is sturdy and long, and it is currently her main weapon. After having dealt with knives and blades for such a long time, Margaret often flips her sword over her hand when she unsheathes it, swinging it in her hands before brandishing it before her. She claims it gives her better momentum with her blows.


 * Earth magic


 * Margaret's favourite use of her earth magic in battle is using vines to trap her enemy and sending a flurry of razor-sharp blades at them. Earth magic could sometimes also be made use as protection - warding off enemies like a sort of invisible force field, it can be strengthened by a bit of light or holy magic.


 * Physical blows


 * Margaret is best known for her frighteningly strong kicks. Aside from being quick and agile, her feet are also strong and lethal, leaving a physically strong person in pain for days. Margaret often pick crucial parts of the body as her target - the gut, the lower back, joints. She sometimes aims for the head, but she avoids parts close to the heart or the neck, which could prove fatal.

Relationships
/work in progress/

Trivia

 * - Had a scary reputation as a maid; being protective over Emina, Margaret had a habit of scaring off Emina's suitors since Emina's girlhood.
 * - Occasionally commutes to Adysia; when she does, she stays in the Eadlyn Dominic Felino's (Emina's older brother) place.
 * - Would still respond if you address her as 'Maddox', 'Maddox d'Arte' or 'd'Arte'.
 * - The colour of the House of Adelay is red and green (christmas!), red as the family is in Adysia; however, Margaret chose to remain wearing blue as she had gotten used to the colour over the years, and to indicate her loyalty to the House of Felino; the red gem on her cape thing indicates her allegiance to the House of Adelay.
 * - That (stupid) man is Vane Ward (©=yufaet)