the basics.

name » Liao Hongze 

nickname(s) » 

Hong - Only Miri and her brother are allowed to call her this. If someone else does, she'll say something about it. Bao will also receive this special priviledge. 

Siwang - It means death in Mandarin and it's an unpleasant -but not undeserved- title that is whispered behind her back.

birthplace & birthday » Shangzhao, Capital of Tsutani, Dec 12 (26)

hometown » 

ethnicity » Chinese

language » Mandarin and Korean: Mandarin is her country's true language but Korean is the common tongue spoken throughout the continent. Thus Hongze knows how to speak bother fluently.

face claim » Wang Fei (Miss A)

backup face claim » Arden Cho

appearance » Hongze is not especially tall, standing at 1.68m, but her presence often makes people remember her as taller and more imposing. She keeps her hair a medium length: long enough to put in an up-do or braid, short enough not to be a hassle. She's not what would be considered a classic beauty in Tsutani, but with her grace and poise and the simple fact that she's royalty,  she knows how to draw the eyes to her anyway.

style » 

When it comes to fashion, Tsutani has its own unique style. Court dresses tend to be sleek instead of puffy, but constraining in their own way. On the one hand they make Hongze look even more rigit and intimidating, which is good. On the other hand they constrain movement, which is bad. 

Hongze is much more comfortable in pants  and when she's not in she's usually seen in a dressed down version of her travel/mission gear. 

She sleeps in just a simple tunic, but there's always a knife nearby.

Court:

1 2 3 

Ceremonial:

1 2

Travel/mission:

1 2

" You would do well not to cross me."


 

" Ah yes I'm sure that's exactly how it went."
 

Who are you?

plotline » Water spirit

personality » 

Intimidating and entitled - It's easy to tell that Hongze is royalty. She can stop someone in their tracks with a single look, a look that says that she's used to being obeyed and this won't be an exception. If looks could kill this look might just do it. She's also got this air of entitlement. She's used to people doing what she tells them to do and whenever she gives a command or request she assumes it will be obeyed.

Calm and in control - Hongze has always been quite the ice princess. She keeps her emotions all carefully locked up and keeps the world at an arms length. One of the reasons for this is that with her secret magic, and how much she fears it, she's had to keep herself under strict control. She's also always trying to stay away from what she sees as weakness, such as attechments to people. She quite easily gets attached to people, and thus she tries to stay away so that doens't happen. Still sometimes someone slips under her radar, much like Bao will.

This calm exterior only lasts as long as things are within her control. Hongze always needs to feel like she's got everything in hand. She's got backup plans for her backup plans. When things spiral out of her control is when Hongze panics and starts letting her emotions get the best of her. This is when she might do something reckless, because doing something is better than doing nothing at all. The worse case scenario would be if someone she loves was in danger and there was nothing she can do about it. This is the only time when she might fully break down.

Composed and poised - In front of strangers Hongze is the model ofpoise and composure. She keeps her emotions securely in check and can hold a charming conversation while sticking to the rules of etiquette. At the same time she's known for being dangerous too, and there are many rumours going around about her, not all of them untrue. She often uses this to her advantage, by being every bit elegance and poise but with sharp words that hint at danger.

It costs a lot of energy to keep it up and if Hongze has to be charming and composed for a long time then often she will turn to excersize and weapons drills to empty her mind and recharge. She wishes that she were as friendly and easy to love as her brother, but that's just not the case and she has to make do with what she's got.

Proud and stubborn- Hongze's biggest vice is her pride. She absolutely hates it when anyone witesses her shortcomings. Similarly she is incredibly stubborn and she will not concede defeat. When her stubborness enters the picture it overrules her usual rationale, and that is when she is most likely to make mistakes.

Patient and Observant - Both necessary qualities in a spy master. Hongze is quite sharp when it comes to noticing things out of the ordinary. She's always staying alert for anything strange or amiss, or simply anything she might use to her advantage. Her skill in observation is also one of the reasons why she's such a good fighter, she will keep an eye on her opponent and try to spy out any weaknesses she could exploit. She is also very patient and will sit on crucial information and bide her time until the best moment to use it presents itself.

Hong is far from infallible though. With her pride she thinks herself infallible, but she's not. She makes assumptions too easily and might dismiss someone because they initially did not seem a threat. Like she would dismiss Eunkyung for being a selfish and spoiled child and not see the calculating and intelligence nature that lies underneath, instead focussing on someone who might appear more dangerous.

Frightening temper - It is very hard to get through Hongze's layers of composure and patience, but if one manages her temper can be downroad frightening. When Hongze's well and truly angry she won't shout, but she'll snap insults that are sharp and often target her victim's insecurities, and otherwise she'll make passive aggressive and harsh sarcastic comments.. Hongze's ruthless when she's angry and will spare no inch of her victim's feelings. 

Deadpan sarcastic - Hongze does have a sense of humour, and it tends to be sarcastic and deadpan, and also rather black. When Hongze makes a joke she says it with a straight face and dripping with sarcasm. Sometimes those who don't know her so well won't even know she's joking.

Ambitious - Hongze will not make do with second-best. She is meant to be queen, she knows she will be a fair and just queen and that she will lead Tsutani into an era of prosperity. She might not be the most egregious queen there ever was, but she's smart, rational, fair, and devious when need be. She won't be married off to some baron or prince either, it's Tsutani or nothing to her.

Grudging and resentful - Hongze doesn't just let a slight go. She will hold a grudge patient untl the opportune moment to strike back in kind. Hongze is a fan of the eye for an eye method, she likes to repay any slights dealt to her with a slight of equal value coming when her victim least expects it.

trivia »

Likes
 

- Water, she is quiet literally in her element when she is in the water.

- Horse riding. She has her own horse, a fierce mare named Li. The horse has been with her for years and they're perfectly attuned to each other.

- Politics, and she's good at it too. She knows exactly when the be charming, and when to lace her pretty words with threats. As the master of spies she has more than enough secrets at her disposal to intimidate those who might get in her way, and for those without secrets she has the threat of her own capabilities.

- Fighting drills. Hong loves the feeling of her muscles working to be as lethal as they can be. It gives her a feeling of power different from her political or spy master power. The power to fight for herself instead of sending others to do her dirty work.

- Nights, the air gets so clear and she likes the chill of it too. She really likes to just sit outside at night and enjoy the atmosphere.

Dislikes

- Spirits She's always learned that they're beings of magic, and since magic is dangerous and bad, the spirits are too. That aside she has a harder time figuring out their thoughts and what they want, which makes her uncomfortable.

- Magic. It's unpredictable and dangerous and she has always learned to fear it, which includes her own magic.

- Water, for the same reason she fears her magic. She loves watr, but she also fears it will bring out the magic inside her.

- Crowded places, there's too much going on at once and it's hard for her to keep an eye on everything.

- Killing. She's killed a handful of people in her life, those who attacked her or someone around her. The tales they tell of her would have you believe that's she's ruthless and enjoys it, the Siwang of Tsutani. She's efficient when she has to be, but she by no means enjoys taking a life.

- Forests. She's not accustomed to their sounds and goings on. In a city she knows what things are supposed to sound like, she knows what it feels like when the mood is just off. In a forest she feels blind.

Habits
- Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath whe someone is really testing her patience.

- Tugging on her clothing when she's confused and trying to figure something out.

- Staring people straight in the eyes to make them uncomfortable.

Hobbies

- Learning new skills orstudying information that could be useful. Information is power in the  hands of a spymaster.

- Physical exersize to alleviate stress and frustration, especially from long periods of "charming socialization".

Trivia

- She's generally good at most things she applies herself to, and if she's not then she'll demand to learn and work hard to become good at it. This means that she has quite a few strange skills such as lock-picking.

- The exception to this is swimming. She never learned how to swim and this fact emberasses her so she'll hide it from everyone and just avoids water, which she does anyway because of her magic. She'll pretend she just doesn't want to get wet, or make other excuses to why they shouldn't take a boat across the river. She's far too prideful to admit that she, the  mightly Hongze, cannot swim. (Of course she doesn't know, or is not willing to acknowledge, that water is absolutely fine for her because it is literally her element)

- Being a half-fae who has  worked her entire life on hiding that part of herself, she is unable to make her body turn into water. 

- Hongze is very wary of healing magic because of the way that hers manifested. She will often refuse harmless healing magic just because she doesn't trust it. 

- Her 'mission gear' is mostly ceremonial, she doesn't actually go out on missions since most royals and upper class  know her face, and also she's too important to the kingdom to put her life in danger like that. This also means that while she definitely knows how to fight, and theoretically knows how to sneak around, she can make mistakes that come from having no practical experience in this regard and being to prideful to admit it.

- She doesn't make a habit of getting drunk, she only does it when she feels that things are spiralling out of her control. She's a bitter and self-pitying drunk.

- She's left-handed.

- Hongze will not tolerate anyone being protective of her. She probably has twice the combat experience they have, they're better off using their energy to protect themselves.

- She has a weapon on her at all times, even when she's sleeping it's there where she can grab it in a flash.

- Hongze is really conflicted about murder. She wants to be the kind of person who sees all life as valuable, but she doesn't and that really bothers her. In a way she detaches herself from the murders by sending her network of spies and assassins to do it for her, but that doesn't take away the feeling of guilt for ordering the end of a life even if it's necessary for her kingdom to prosper. I can definitely see her sparing a dangerous enemy because she feels she should be inclined to spare them, and then that coming back to bite her in the .

- She has personally killed three people. The first was when she was 18, a spy attacked her when she found her out and Hongze killed her. It was incredibly messy, her fencing drills had taught her nothing about this. The second one was when she was 22 and on a journey home from a diplomatic mission. A highwayman tried to rob them and she cut him down. The third was when she was 25 and an assassin came for her brother, she cut her down almost efficiently.

- The Siwang rumours started after she killed the spy. Hongze at first didn't do much about them, but after the first assassin went after her brother she sent some of her spies to encourage and spread more. Maybe if people thought she was a ruthless murderer they might think twice about trying anything against the Liao family.

- She can't stand it when people don't take pride in their own achievements. Chin up and own it, son.

home is where your heart is.

background » 

The kingdom of Tsutani is a small kingdom wedged between bigger and more powerful ones. There's always been a threat of invasion, and the history of Tsutani is a bloody one, but for a century now the kingdom has kept itself afloat for two reasons: 

1. Strategic marriages. Over several generations the Liao family has married their 'extra' offspring to various royal houses and created family bonds all over the continent. 

2. A famous network of spies. Tsutani is infamous for having a intricate web of spies and assassins that make quick works of the countries enemies. Tsutani has little birds in most of the continent's courts keeping their ears open for any trouble coming their way.

The country itself has a very rich tradition and distinct culture despite being surrounded by so many more powerful kingdoms. One of those cultural 'quirks' is a distruct of magic and any magical creatures. Most elemantal spirits and fae knows that they can find no welcome in Tsutani, not after an unfortunate massacre of most fae in the kingdom's borders some 150 years ago. Superstition is strong as is the distrust that comes with it and anything magic is simply not welcome there.

This is why it was rather unfortunate when the queen Meixian, coming from another kingdom much kinder to those who are different, was rather intimate with a water spirit right up until her marriage to the king of Tsutani. She got pregnant but managed to keep it a secret from everyone, or so she thought. Little princess Hongze was born and thankfully she looked more like her mother more than her father.

Hongze has spent her entire life learning to be the perfect princess. She can curtsy, she can hold charming (if incinsere) conversation, and she knows her politics. From the moment she was born there was a pressure on her to be absolutely perfect. The kingdom of Tsutani is a patiarchal kingdom, and always has been. Hongze's motheris from a kingdom where genders are equal, and it was always frustrating for her to see how Hongze would be brushed aside as political marriage potential and nothing more. It certainly didn't help matters when her brother was born and she was pushed aside even more. She always encouraged her daughter to strive for the best and show her father what a powerful figure she could be. It was her mother's influence that added fighting lessons to Hongze's studies of etiquette and music.

Hongze's trouble was that she always felt the magic within her. She had a natural attraction to water and was able to make it move as she liked. When her mother caught her manipulating the water in the fountain she took little Hongze aside and made it clear that her magic was something that was wrong and should be hidden at all cost. She agreed not to use her magic anymore but the point wasn't really driven home until one day in the woods when she was 12. She got attacked by a peasant with a vendetta against the royals and was grievously wounded. She found her magic within herself and drained a huge area of the forest of life to repair herself. She was so shocked and terrified about the destruction she'd caused that she vowed never to use her powers again. A girl named Miri was practicing her stealth skills in the same forest and witnessed the whole thing. Hongze begged her to keep it a secret and Miri helped find her new clothes (the old ones were soaked in blood) and helped her devise a cover story to go with it.

That's when Hongze started to immerse herself her country's most infamous tradition: that of the spy. She convinced her father that it would be most benificial for a royal to involve herself in the business of the spying since it was such a big part of their culture and also their security, and he agreed. She found out that Miri was an apprentice spy as well and the two became good friends bonded by a secret kept safe. Hongze threw herself entirely into this spy training. She learned to sneak, to observe, and she became the apprentice to the master of spies so that she might be able to take over the role someday.

While growing up Hongze had always been incredibly eager to please, especially towards her father. She and her mother both hoped that if Hongze could show her worth she might be considered as the heir. She was the eldest after all. But her Huangyan was content to play along and let her become a powerful spy as long as it fit his own goals, but he wasn't going to change Tsutani's laws and traditions for her. Plus, his son was the true apple of his eye. She was 22 when she stopped being hopeful. She became more reserved and cold and stopped obeying her father's every wish. Instead she focused on becoming an excellent spy and became the second-in-command to the current spymaster. She also started to gain a reputation of extremely Siwang after she killed a spy she discovered in the castle. Nobody knows the truth: that after her first kill she spent hours shaking and in shock while Miri comforted her.

When the former spymaster expired (the job comes with occupational hazards), Hongze took up the position. This was a year ago and she's still adjusting to all the responsabilities that come with managing all the intelligence coming from the network and managing the spies. It was her father who 'suggested' she accompanied Eunkyung. He'd received a request for aid and he figured he might as well send her along. Hongze thinks she could do much more good in the capital but in the end what the king says goes and thus she will go on this journey wether she likes it or not.

family » 

Picture

Father // Liao Huangyan // 51 // King of Tsutani // To say that Hongze and her father have a rocky relationship is an understatement. Hyangyan has always  been cold to Hongze, somethig that was even more apparent when Jiangjin was born, whom he doted on. What Meixian doesn't know is that Hunagyan has always know about her affair with the nymph. He never said anything because the marraige was of great political advantage to him, but it's a big part of why he's so cold towards Hongze and has disinherited her completely. // 4/10

Mother // Han Meixian  // 47 // Queen of Tsutani// Hongze and her mother have always been close, her mother had a hand in shaping Hong to be the way she is.. The queen of Tsutani is every bit as  stubborn and crafty as her daughter is and while she also loves her son, Hongze is rather obviously her favourite. Her mother has always encouraged her to seek power her own way and Hongze really looks up to her. She still seeks her mother out for advice if she needs it. // Closeness in 7/10

Brother // Liao Jiangjin // Age // Crown prince of Tsutani // Hongze has a strange relationship with her brother. She resents him for getting for free what she has worked hard for, such as recognition for his accomplishments, the love of the people, and the title of heir. She is envious of his ability to befriend anyone, of his ability to charm the whole kingdom. There has always beedn this layer of jealouse between them that prevented them from ever being truly close but Hongze understands that what she is jealous and resentful of is not within his control so she doesn't exactly blame him for it. She does love him and she tries to keep him safe from his enemies. // 6/10

friends/rivals » 

Second-in-command // Liu Miri  (FC: Moon Chae Won)// 26 // Spy // Miri and Hongze both learned the tricks of the spying trade at the same time and they've been friends for just as long. Miri is mischievous and witty, she gives the impression that she takes nothing seriously, but that couldn't be less true. Miri is always aware of her surroundings, she's extremely intelligent and very good at seizing up a situation and weighing her options. She's one of Tsutani's stop spies, if not the best one. Hongze made Miri her second in command as soon as she took up the position of spymaster, and it wasn't just because of their friendship. Miri usually tries to get Hongze to lighten up and break that cold shell if only for a little bit. When Hongze is alone with Miri she can let her guard down and be human for a little bit, instead of the princess. Miri often chastises Hongze when she gets hurt and refuses healing for it.

Miri is a good friend to Hong, but she does match all the worst qualities of Hongze. Miri is ruthless, both suited for assassination work and spy work. She murders without guilt and she's always telling Hongze that her conflicted feelings about death are a terrible quality in a spy master, and that she must overcome them. // 10/10

Spoiled nuissance // Song Eunkyung // 17 //Princess of Alterie // Hongze doesn't really care much about Eunkyung. She knows some of the rumours regarding the princess' sudden journey but to her Eungkyung is nothing more than a spoiled child. She will suffer her company, but that is as much energy as she's willing to expand on Eunkyung for now. // 1/10

the one and only.

love interest » Xing Bao

backup love interest » Miri

Crushes» Please, Hongze is above crushes, Hongze pummels crushes into dust when they pop up. Ain't nobody got time for that .

personality » Right here

love story » Hongze isn't super fond of nymphs (and fae, though she doesn't even know there's a distinction at this point) because of internalized xenophobia, but also she doesn't understand them and as such can't figure them out. She approaches Bao because she wants to fill that gap in her knowledge. As xenophobic as she is, she'd make a poor spymaster if she'd miss an opportunity to learn more about potential foes. Bao seems the most approachable of the nymph/fae trio that accompanies them, and thus she asks him to tell her more about his people.

As they talk more they get closer. Most of the people on the trip have heard of her via her reputation, and she has heard of them through her political know-how or spy network. She knows nothing about Bao at all and that makes him a wildcard, but it also makes him nice to talk to. It helps to have someone with whom she can talk freely, and also someone outside of her circle of society who has no preconceived notions of who she is and what she can do. He has no expectations of her, and that's something she's never had before. He also fills up a spot of loneliness she'd never admit she has. And so, while she doesn't neglect the others on the trip, she finds herself spending more time with Bao than she could justify to herself. She helps him with swordfighting and tries to get him to take pride in his accomplishments and stand tall. 

Things aren't all smooth sailing in their fledgling friendship. Hong doesn't like how dismissive Bao is about death, how he carelessly throws himself into danger, how insecure he is, etc. But she ends up falling for him anyway, as much as at first she'd like to pretend she isn't, the feelings crept up on her before she could pummel it into dust. She's too stubborn to realize that she can't continue keeping the world at arms length and pushing away anything that she might see as weakness. She needs some love, and these two balance each other out perfectly.

last words.

comments/suggestions » Eeey she's finally done! And Lils and I got some collabing going as well! I hope you like her, I tried to give her plenty of opportunities for growth, she's very flawed but not hopelessly flawed.

scene requests » 

- Hong using her life draining power for optimal angst. Maybe even find out that it works the other way as well too, if someone she loves gets hurt.

- Maybe Hong sparing an enemy and they come back to haunt them.

- Hong struggling with staying away from water, but also being attracted to it?

password » 

"You're not perfect but you're not your mistakes"