Mariko von Adrestia

Mariko von Adrestia
Full name	Masamune Takeshi Celeborn von Adrestia
AKA	Prince Masamune V
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color and style	Blonde hair
Eye color	Blue-Gray
Skin color	Light
Other	Issue: none (unmarried)
Biographical information
Father	Emperor Anarion (Emperor of the Imperial Federation)
Mother	Qasima Çakar
Date of birth	1728 (25 AN years)
Place of birth	Gondolin, Adrestia
Residence(s)	The Imperial Palace, Gondolin
Nationality	Imperial Federation (Ralgonese)  Order of the Holy Lakes
Occupation	Aspirant Officer, Princess

Prince Masamune V of the Imperial Federation was born in 1728 AN as Prince Masamune Takeshi Celeborn von Adrestia. While not the first to bear the name of Mariko, she carries no ordinal by choice. She was born minutes after her twin sister, Masamune V. Like her brother, she takes her name from diverse cultures in the empire, and bears the name of certain ancestors. In 1746 AN, the family's name was changed and "Adrestia" was adopted as a simple surname to reflect the prestige and origins of her family (while other laws were passed banning individuals from illegally taking this name for themselves).

From her father's side, she is part of the House of Adrestia, the ruling dynasty of the Imperial Federation. This in turn is the Western (and main) branch of the House of Ral, from which her direct (and still-living) ancestor Nobunag'an IV originates.

She is the second-eldest child of Emperor Anarion of the Imperial Federation, out of an astonishing 24 other siblings. While the Imperial Federation is an elective monarchy (this being done through the Senate), she is, nonetheless, one of a handful of people considered the Emperor's heir-presumptive. She reached his 18th birthday in 1746 AN. She and her twin brother Masamune V are essentially inseparable, and tend to be fiercely protective of each other. She is the more aggressive of the two siblings, and is known to be fiercely competitive in all matters not directly pertaining to her brother. They even went to he same school and deployed to the same units together.

As of 1753 AN, Mariko von Adrestia is 25 years old. Similarly to her brother, she has delayed marriage as she's not found any suitors measuring up to her stringent standards (by which she openly uses her brother and father as a proverbial yardstick). Owing to the long life Ralgonese royalty tend to enjoy, she is in no rush, either.

Biography

Early Life

Born in Gondolin, Adrestia in 1728 AN, he is the eldest of Emperor Anarion's 25 legitimate children by his wife, Empress Qasima Cakar. Mariko arrived minutes after her twin brother, Masamune. Celebrations were held for weeks in the capital, as the birth of twins was considered an auspicious start to the Emperor's young family.

Their father proved extremely fond of his children, and proved fiercely protective of them. Furthermore, Mariko and her twin brother took after their father's eccentric tendencies. And to the dismay of the court, the two shared their father's rather intense fondness for oddities, and -- like Masamune -- Mariko's interests could be just as macabre as his father's. Alongside her brother's love for setting rather unconventional things on fire, Mariko's own love of exotic, carnivorous plants was similarly upsetting, as her father frequently gifted oversized versions of the already-terrifying things. Worse still, she shared some of her twin brother's enthusiasm for explosions, which led to a series of events chronicled to equal parts amusement and horror of present and future courtiers. (Multiple incidents at the Imperial Court involved her, her father Anarion, and often several of her siblings setting fireworks off inside the Palace to cause "well-structured" disturbances "to keep the little rabbits on their toes," in his father's later words).

Multiple courtiers attempted (at the cost of their careers) to separate the rapidly growing flock of noisy, relentlessly restless children from their father to give them a more "proper" education than they deemed possible under their father's overly protective vigilance, and worse, infectiously eccentric attitude. Unfortunately for them, Anarion wised up, and in an act engineered directly to spite these same people, pre-empted notions of "extra summer education." By this, he sent his two oldest children during several summers beginning in 1732 AN to the court of Mondo, who Emperor Anarion was especially fond of at the time. To compound his expression of displeasure with the Court, the Emperor sent more of his immense brood of children to live with Mondo (a "known ravenous eccentric") for separate periods of time when Masamune was home, "to keep his good friend company."

From 1740 AN, the two children would also spend every other summer or winter season visiting the family of their mother Empress Qasima, alternating with (increasingly large) groups of other siblings as the years went by. Conversely to her hobbies, she was known to others as a civilized, well-mannered princess, even if an odd one by most standards. She remained inseparable from her twin brother for both of their entire early lives. Also like her brother, she was deemed (at least by her father) as a role model for her younger siblings, most of whom took after their father's eccentricities in their own fashion. The fact that Mariko and her siblings' own "concerning" interest never abated was attributed by some in the Imperial Court to his father's and Mondo's influence. Unlike her twin brother, however, she didn't avoid these rumors, and even told a reporter in 1745 AN that she considered Mondo and his own rather odd family "some of her favorite characters."

Education

Mariko reached her 18th birthday in 1746 AN, fully completing her intensive post-secondary and preliminary military studies in the same year, alongside her brother.

In accordance with the imperial family's tradition, Mariko and her twin brother were given notice that it was preferred that they went through their university education overseas. This would be done to familiarize themselves with the world and its peoples outside of the Imperial Federation, and gain appreciation for what their home country had, and needed improvements on if they were to rule or otherwise occupy consequential posts in the imperial government.

After intense deliberations (these involving unsolicited advice from the Imperial Court) of the imperial family abroad for international education, in 1746 AN, Mariko went with her twin brother Masamune V to began attendance at the Peace Academy in Hurmu from 1746 AN to 1750 AN. This formed a compromise between those wanting to send the Emperor's eldest children to Shireroth, Cakaristan, and New Alexandria. It also coincided closely to Anarion's own election to the Senate of the Lakes, a fact that most likely helped Masamune and his sister land a spot in the extremely competitive school. The two spent a few years in the Hurmu Fyrð after graduation, focusing on graduate education before they knew they had to make separate choices regarding their political (and marital) lives.