for killingkingdoms
to kill a king

⊛ role ⊛
the advisor's daughter, XXII

⊛ house ⊛
house rayne

⊛ full name ⊛
anastasiya rayne

⊛ nicknames ⊛
anya, ana, niya

⊛ age ⊛
eighteen

⊛ biological sex ⊛
female

⊛ gender identity ⊛
female

⊛ romantic orientation ⊛
biromantic

⊛ sexual orientation ⊛
bisexual

⊛ marital status ⊛
unmarried

⊛ height ⊛
5'3"

⊛ face claim ⊛
stephanie hsu

⊛ personality ⊛
anya is a very demure woman. she is not sociable or outgoing, so she doesn't captivate people with her magnetism and social graces as some other women do, though she is quite friendly. despite this quiet nature of hers—or, perhaps, because of it—anya is an incredibly perceptive woman. she misses nothing when she observes at balls and feasts, preferring to gain her information by watching people when they do not realize how intensely they are being scrutinized. when she does speak to someone on the chance that a person approaches her, she learns just as much from gestures and postures and eyes as she does from words. she can carry a conversation, though she would prefer not to, when conversations at such events tend to be a bore.
anya is nothing if not loyal. although she does not seem to be, she is incredibly selfless and brave—she's plotting to kill the king, after all—and she would sacrifice herself to save her friends and the kingdom in an instant.
but brave does not mean bold. anya can seem very much like a coward—she is the ismene rather than the antigone, acting with reason and calculation rather than reckless emotion.
though she has a hold on it, anya is a passionate and empathetic woman. it's as if she feels everything twice as hard as she probably should. add hopeless romanticism to the mix, and anya can become a weepy disaster over a well-written romance novel with all heartbreak and love to go with it.
she is naive and she knows it. confiding in the other assassins about her powers when she barely knew them was a very idiotic thing to do, and anya was lucky that they were good people who did not want to see her dead.
she's aware do her flaws. she's trying to work on them, trying to make sure they don't interfere with the task at hand, while honing her skills as a liar to support the group.

⊛ powers ⊛
anya is a shapeshifter. this means she can shift her body into other humanoid features as well as other animals. the easiest shifts are the smallest ones; changing her eye color or bone structure, for instance, is as easy as breathing. shifting dramatically—changing her entire body's features or changing into an animal—is much more difficult. this sort of shifting requires concentration, care, and energy, and can be taxing if it is done too often in one setting.

⊛ opinions ⊛
anya is not at all what she presents to the outside world. though she seems like a perfect elyrian lady, her powers make her vastly different, and her experience meeting the rest of the assassins has changed her considerably.
she hates the fact that she might be persecuted for a gift that must have been given by the gods—or why would she have it at all, were it not their will? to be able to control the appearance of her body as she does was not her choice. to be killed simply for who she is would be a despicable thing.
this view was what changed anya's opinions on homosexuality as well. where she had once been confused, frightened, and angry about her own bisexual tendencies, understanding that an ideal kingdom would allow a person to live as they were meant to live in the eyes of the gods banished those feelings. it is not the king's business who she chooses to love or make love to.
anya has always faced the consequences of sexism, and she has always been annoyed by it. watching her brothers have experiences that she wanted to share with them was frustrating. hearing and seeing the sexism around her with her own eyes, from her own parents and friends, was unbearable. but she accepted it, letting herself become what was expected of her.
anya believes a woman is in no way less than a man. she knows women are strong; she has seen that in herself.

⊛ backstory ⊛
anya is the middle daughter of the king's advisor. she lived the very prosperous life of an elyrian lady, one made all the more comfortable by her father's particularly close proximity to the king. her life has been filled with luxury, education, art, and delicacies of every kind.
there is often a trade off with such things, however: she was carefully scrutinized as she grew older, and as the people around her pushed her to become a true elyrian lady, she lost many freedoms she'd had as a young girl.
anya seemed to have gained people's approval in her behavior. but what came next for her in life frightened her—anya simply did not feel ready to tie herself to a man forever, especially when she likely would not have a say in who she was given to. she did not feel ready to have children and raise them the way she'd been raised.
the small rebellions began then. little ones that would not be noticed—like stealing a dagger to keep for herself or rummaging through her father's paperwork just because she could. anya was never reckless with the gravity of things she did. she has never been caught being unladylike or disobedient, and prays she never will be. this behavior helped her hone her skills as a liar and a spy.
when she met the assassins and confided in them about her powers, it did not take long for her to become very devoted to their mission. they are fighting for a better world; she knows this, and she isn't afraid to sacrifice anything to reach it.

⊛ pets/companions ⊛
anya has a fluffy, pure white cat she can sometimes be seen cuddling in her chambers. she named him silas, and she loves him to death.

⊛ alignment ⊛
neutral good