Arcem Alva : Ral Shir-Del

the queenpin is finally here  tfw your side chara is more developed than ur mains..........
edit: big thank you skyggedal for your invaluable input!! NOTICE: looking for nobles/important/mage families to be friends with!
edit2: changed the 700 to a less older number 

  

Name: Ral Shir-Del
Age: 52 
Birthday: 
Gender: Female
Height: 159 cm
Race: Human
Class: Conjurer
Occupation: Headmistress

City: Song- lu
Allegiance: Koben Empire

Personality: Intelligent, Jovial // Boisterous, Generous // Power-hungry, Manipulative

On normal situations, Ral is simply the one intrusive auntie you have to endure during family gatherings and always manage to excuse her attitude by sweet-talking her way further back from the line, other times she is also the overbearing grand-slash-mother to her brood whenever they’re within grabbing distance. Years of teaching taught her the workings of a youth’s heart and Ral knew at the end of the day the best way is to simply to indulge them. If she wasn’t already generous with her charity efforts, Ral is a popular figure among the young adults for her humbleness and casual attitude compared to her older peers.

But if there’s anything valuable her parents left her, it’s the wisdom that it’s alright to make mistakes for the sake of learning and Ral holds this belief dearly to her heart. However the meaning might’ve transpired on her over the course of her 50 years of living: Ral started out as an ambitious woman who won’t stop at nothing between her goals to someone who would do anything to get what she wants just because she can, especially given the resources she has within an arm’s length. Her actions from here on may be thoroughly planned, starting from her choice of words down to her mannerism and unofficially challenge people into a staring contest, but the bottom remains that Ral is generally reckless. Ral trusts her own judgement more than anyone else's and more often than not she sees things for herself, and sees them on a very personal level.

History:

As the first child and daughter of Ara Shir-Del and Jiro Isshiki, Ral was born the best of both worlds for the scholarly mage couple being as talented and equally enthusiastic in magic as they are, in addition to being genuinely interested in learning, if not slightly unrestrained. The lack of discipline was soon fixed when the couple dies from a horrific accident, leaving Ral and her younger brother Seifer under the supervision of the family elders. Even then, Ral's endeavors tend to be overlooked in favour of the latter being the future family head. The young mage was very much independent in her choices which, more often than not, tend to stoop close to being scandalous much to her elder's displeasure. Ral followed her father's steps on the path of conjuring as taught by her mage elders, though as soon as she was of age and established herself as a proper summoner, Ral immediately joined the Song-lu Peacekeepers. Her participation of the guild was mostly described as her thrill-seeking phase: brief, educational and memorable all at the same time. Ral employed herself as a very active peacekeeper and a magic's expert, she was never short of exciting crime-solving adventures and extended travels, ever delighted to discover how magic affects society and the crime world with her own eyes. This is also where she met her husband-- Seid Dul Camara, a Tusar roughhouse that Ral only met for less than a month before she went down on one knee for him, much to her elders' horror. The summoner and the half-wood elf married happily despite their jarring differences and had three children: Hida, Sergei and Rohayu.

Ral had a fairly content life with her budding family in Tusa until her brother renounced his name for the girl he promised to, forcing the older Shir-Del to take his place as the head of the family. Things seems to roll downhill from there on as Ral tries to fit in her new position, starting from her eldest daughter losing her eyesight as a result of an illness, followed by the sudden disappearance of her husband and in the wake of her brother's scandal, Ral had to return to Song-lu to calm the uproar. On top of leaving her Tusar home, Ral quit the Peacekeepers in order to take lead of the Shir-Del's school of mages. Considering the Shir-Dels already saw a significant drop in enrollments following the death of Ral's parents, the family's intolerance of Seifer marrying a non-mage only brought the family name to lower levels. 

The arrogance that runs in the Shir-Dels may be the one thing that kept Ral going in dealing with the clan's difficult situation. She eventually solved the family's financial crisis with the aid of old family alliances and persuading 'certain' parties into doing her favours, though at the cost of her peers' respect and her relationship with her children as she became more involved with her efforts. After 19 years of heading the mage school Ral introduced new branches of studies, beast taming and performing arts among others. The decision was met with protests as many view the new change degrading of the school's proud mage status, but the criticism was soon overwhelmed by positive reception that it was enough to bring the Shir-Del name back in good light. The school's performance improved drastically since then, receiving increasing number of enrollments as the years come by. 

Ral now basks in the small glory of the school's success, but even for an experienced senior nearing her retirement she still thinks her life is not yet fulfilled. Following the outbreak of the war, the mutiny against Song-lu and the assault on her son and heir that left the young man comatose-- the old mage is set on leaving an even bigger legacy, now more than determined to protect her family and its interest by all means.

Additional Info:

• The Shir-Del School of Mastery of Sorcery was founded almost 300 years ago. As the badly transcribed name suggests, the school deals with a hands-on approach of mastering one's magic in general, though it's worth noting that the school  also specializes in Summoning. Being an experienced Conjurer, Ral also teaches a handful of classes. 

• To clarify, only the Shir-Dels feels that the mage school is degraded to a mere drama school, on the assumption that those who enrolled are seeking opportunities for career in performance, which is mostly true, but the fact that the clan feels more threatened by the onset of non-mages is not wrong either. For this matter Ral imported certified trainers from Tusa to head the subject-- and even went as far as inviting her brother over, being a Ranger himself. Simply put the school's teaching are now divided in three categories; control of magic, summoning practices and beast taming for the inspired rangers-to-be and both combined on a performing arts level.

• Ral has specific glyphs and runes sewn to the underside of her cape sleeve, which she uses to summon her familiars, but obviously she has to demonstrate the proper methods of summoning circles on flat surfaces. These are among her favourite familiars, mainly brought out for teaching purposes and posterity.

• She mingles a lot with nobility and business families but fear not, the Shir-Del's doesn't care about politics, unless it involved serious debate on magic and directly threatened their existence. Ral does her best to try get on their good side and money.

• Like every other Shir-Dels, Ral is a hardcore gambler and connoisseur of harder liquor. 

• Ral may seem to be the caring auntie with ulterior motives, avoid saying anything about her husband at all cost. Of all upsetting things people could confront her about it’s much better left unsaid, lest anyone is willing to pay the price or unless you’re police.

Relationships: 

Seifer Soejima (Disowned Younger brother, 49)
Seid Dul Camara (Husband, ??)
Hida Shir-Del (Eldest daughter, 29)
Sergei Shir-Del (Son, 28) 
The couple's only son, whom takes after his mother's genius and lack of manners much more than any of the two would admit. Even though his own arrogance played the part of getting himself stabbed in the gut, Sergei is still considered one of the many Kobener victims following the failure of the Iadlain talks. Fell into coma and has been hospitalized ever since.

Rohayu Shir-Del (Youngest daughter, 27) 
Ral's carbon copy and favourite daughter, though their relationship is more distant than she liked it to be. Often criticized as a result of her carefree parenting, Ral will only guess what the reactions will be if she's to make Rohayu her heir next in place of the peacekeeper's invalid brother.

Velanor Taft (Granddaughter, 1) 
Shui Shir-Del (Adoptive Grandson, 7)
Rohayu's adopted son whom she frequently place in Ral's care when her peacekeeping became too demanding. To make up her own lack of presence in raising her children and out of consideration of the boy's background, Ral becomes the overbearing grandmother who watches over Shui like a hawk. 

The Canvallios - Friend of the family, Ral and Seid closely associated with the merchant family back during their stay in Tusa, though it's only recently that both families made a formal alliance. Ral dotes on the couple's two children the same as her own brood and expressed high hopes that both families would come together one day through a unison between the eldest daughter and her son.

RP reference: Headcanons, script RP, though collabs or RPing over paintberri would be lovely so please note for more info!