#because he thought swordheart should be allowed to escape from his myth in death and he didnt want the both of them to become symbols he

[metapoetix]

PLEASE may we hear about yhe lady herald and swordheart… i am obsessed with them already what banger names

YES YOU MAY & ALSO YAY IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE THEIR NAMES.............

the lady herald:

ok so the previous generation of chevaliers (the conventional word for the wandering heroes of fubao and julia's world) had a huge active network connecting them together which stretched across the empire

the lady herald was a member of the network but was not a chevalier herself (ie didnt fight and didnt travel around performing Great Deeds)

she was a noble and an official with high imperial connections so she would often pass on information about things that were happening throughout the empire that the chevaliers needed to know about

because of this she gained a lot of respect and prestige and ended up having a large group of messengers working for her passing information to chevaliers all over the empire

she was unaffected by The Disease because she didnt fight and didnt know any martial arts but after most of the chevaliers died out and the network fell apart she retired to her castle and basically never left again

her daughter (juliette) and her protege (blaise) are very significant in fubao and julia's story as they are among the many young chevaliers who aim to rebuild the chivalric network

swordheart:

ok so swordheart came about because i realised that in order to establish that fubao aims to embody the archetypal legendary hero-chevalier i need to set down a legendary hero-chevalier archetype

swordheart is that legendary hero-chevalier archetype!!!

he shows up again and again in literary poetry and folk ballads alike and is said to have been the greatest and most virtuous chevalier to ever live

supposedly his martial arts were so powerful that he didnt need a sword--he wielded a blade made out of pure willpower and martial might (thats how he got the name swordheart!!)

he had a group of loyal companions among whom the most devoted and the most famous is castelain. the two of them are seen as the model for chivalric companionship and are often invoked in the traditional ceremonies in which a pair of chevaliers swear loyalty to one another and swear to roam the empire as a pair

the legends go that after swordhearts tragic death he was preserved in a secret tomb to one day be woken up by a worthy chevalier (wink wink)

fubao very purposefully models herself after swordheart as he appears in art--she wears black and red, she ties her hair in a high ponytail etc. and the way she presents herself as a chevalier is so reminiscient of the swordheart legend that everyone around her notices the resemblance

she really REALLY wants to find his tomb...............