Rinwald

Rinwald ( Royal: Rinwalt Masu-Yu) is a playable character in Struggle for Gera. Rinwald has ruled over the Islands since Geran Year 1796, though she wielded considerable influence in the region much earlier. Though she ruled as Lord before the Struggle for Gera, she currently rules under no title. She operates by using her one-of-a-kind vessel, simply known as the Ship, to secure land for her cause.

Early Life
Rinwald Masu was born to a peasant family living on the coast of Rac's Ack. Though her family had little wealth, they were renowned in their village as great warriors: her father was a deadly gunner while her mother was a powerful mage. She was her parents' only child, and her small village had high expectations for her; she had shown herself to be an adept magic user, even at a very young age.

The Rac's Ack Conflict
In 1771, Lord Ratakhe of the Islands lost a case to Lord Yakov of Efsisi in the dominion court. Ownership of Rac's Ack had been contested between Efsisi and the Islands for centuries, but for most of that time, Rac's Ack had been under the Islands' control, and the majority of the people living there considered themselves to be part of the Islands rather than Efsisi. But, the court ruled that the King of the time had intended for Rac's Ack to belong to Efsisi. Ratakhe, despite the results of the case, refused to cede Rac's Ack. So Yakov was forced to take the duchy by force. Yakov's forces were met with constant resistance, but they managed to push all the way to the coast. Rinwald's village strongly wanted to remain a part of the Islands, and her parents pledged to die defending their home, as did nearly all of Rinwald's village. Before going to battle, Rinwald's parents had advised her to hide, and she had hidden in a barrel near the town's small port. When the people of Rinwald's village refused to surrender, Yakov's forces massacred them all. The small village could not compete against Yakov's advanced weaponry and well-trained troops. Rinwald remained hidden during the slaughter, only emerging from the barrel hours after Yakov's troops had left to resupply.

Meeting Yu Min
It hadn't been a day since Yakov's troops had decimated Rinwald's village when Yu Min arrived. Yu Min was an itinerant Battlist monk who frequently traveled between the mainland and a monastic village on Dugong Island. The ferryman who he usually paid to take him had resided in Rinwald's village, but upon seeing the village destroyed and the people dead, Yu Min surmised what had happened. He was again surprised, however, when he found a little girl wandering through the streets, apparently scavenging for food. Yu Min approached Rinwald and asked what had happened, and she managed to roughly articulate what had occured, and that everyone she knew was dead. Yu Min, knowing that Yakov's forces would soon return, decided not to take any chances. He had enough food to share with Rinwald for the few days' journey. He offered to take her to a village to escape Yakov's troops, and she agreed. Yu Min managed to commandeer one of the boats still moored at the docks, and the two sailed for Dugong.

Village Life
The monastic village that Yu Min lived in was village built around a relatively large monastery. The village was secluded in one of Ragh's many temperate forests, and was relatively self-sufficient. The community had no leader, and the only outside interference came from the occasional monk or nun returning from the mainland and the annual tax collector. Though most of the village was celibate, there were several young children, as the village tended to accept orphans as long as they became an apprentice of one of the monks and attended lessons in reading, science, magic, martial arts, and religion. Rinwald was accepted into the village, and within four years she had become Yu Min's apprentice. She did well in her studies, but had little tolerance for a regimented learning environment, so Yu Min eventually decided to take time out of his studying and writing to tutor her directly. Rinwald excelled in magic, but since Yu Min was the most powerful and knowledgeable mage in the village, he was the perfect teacher. Though she always struggled with reading, and becoming literate was a unique challenge for her, she excelled in and math, and soon surpassed Yu Min's ability to teach her in that subject. The best mathematician in the village was a elderly man simply known as Old Bark, who had previously worked as one of the most renowned shipwrights in the Islands. Rinwald began to take arithmetic lessons with him.