#jaakob landegre

[zwy01]

Noble OCs - Anastasia’s bodyguards

Paradiso nobles can’t fight at all. Their clan is the only non-combat clan in Lukedonia. For this reason, Clan Leaders and heirs are protected by bodyguards at all times.

This time I’ll introduce five bodyguards from Anastasia Faye Paradiso’s team of more than twenty.

For complete info please check out the link below:

I also introduced what the bodyguards do exactly in a previous post so here’s the context (highly recommended):

The characters!

Topaz Agvain: Captain. Belongs to Raskreia’s generation.

Topaz is practical and flexible. She gets along with all of her subordinates and often asks for their opinion on matters before making final decisions because she believes that a good leader is part of the team and not just someone who gives orders from the top. Her subordinates sometimes even try to remind her that she’s their captain and they’ll listen to whatever she orders of them, but she insists on gathering everyone’s input. Even Topaz occasionally forgets that she is their captain.

Topaz is the youngest captain to ever exist in the entire history of Paradiso bodyguards. She’s even younger than Anastasia whom she serves. The nobles think she’s too young to be the captain of a Paradiso bodyguard team, but they later understand why she is in such a position because she does an excellent job. Perhaps her flexibility is due to her age since she doesn’t see things the way the older generations do, and it’s probably for the better. Not everyone needs to be a Primavera.

Topaz is committed to protecting Anastasia, but back then she didn’t apply as a bodyguard because she truly felt passionate about being one. Her parents pressured her into it. Directly serving the Paradiso as a bodyguard is extremely prestigious and they wanted their daughter to aim for it. Topaz loves her parents, so she put aside everything she had been working for up until now and gave up her dream of becoming a diplomat to train herself instead. Her application was a success and she eventually landed herself a spot in Anastasia’s team. Topaz went home to share the good news with her parents. Instead of being proud of her, they screamed at her, because apparently if she were more competent, she would’ve been placed into Titus’ team instead. Serving the Clan Leader means much more than serving one of the heirs, they said. Topaz was devastated and shut herself inside her room and cried nonstop for a whole week. Soon, she left home and started working. Things didn’t get better even after she separated herself from that environment. She’d tear up whenever she thought about how her parents responded to her achievement that they forced her to work towards in the first place. Her coworkers didn’t understand why this girl seemed so sad, but they didn’t ask in order stay polite.

Topaz admires Anastasia and broke into tears when the latter asked if she wants to be friends, since they’ll be seeing each other around quite a bit from now on. Anastasia noticed how her newest bodyguard seemed a bit somber and wanted to offer her comfort. Topaz eventually explains her situation to Anastasia and laments how she threw away her dreams to impress people who she thought loved her back, and admits that she can’t quit either because there is nowhere for her to go back to anymore. Anastasia sits down next to Topaz and reassures her that the Paradiso will be her new home now, and promises that she’ll always be here for her, not just as whom she serves but as her companion as well. Topaz starts crying even more. Anastasia and Topaz are great friends in the present day.

Topaz entered the team as an ordinary member and rose through the ranks very quickly. She became vice-captain within a few months, and got promoted to captain in two years. Topaz is an all-rounder fighter and boasts impressive offense and defense.

Topaz’ weapon of choice is a glaive.

Otieno Blerster: Vice-captain. Belongs to the Previous Lord’s generation.

Otieno used to be captain, and now he’s back to being vice-captain. He saw the potential in Topaz and suggested to Anastasia that they should switch with each other because he had a feeling that the young girl would do a great job. Anastasia approved, and Otieno is vice-captain once again. It’s nice to have the youngsters be in charge because they know better than most people these days. Besides, it’ll be great to get to chill a bit because captain duties have gone to someone else already. He’s not going to say that out loud though.

Otieno volunteered as a bodyguard because he had a debt to repay to Titus. His parents regretted having him and often neglected his needs, and never hesitated to tell him that he’s unwanted. They called him names and even told him that he’s the reason for their shortened lifespans despite being the ones who decided to have him in the first place. Otieno left home early because he didn’t feel safe there. From a young age, he had been all alone and had to fend for himself. Titus noticed a sulking Otieno loitering around in Minerva and concluded that this young boy seemed like he had no place to go. Titus didn’t ask any questions and personally instructed one of his Keepers to find a place for the boy to stay inside the tower. It didn’t take more than an hour for them to make arrangements. A very surprised Otieno receives a key to a nice, cozy room of his own. A safe place that belongs to him. There’s no one to yell at him or tell him he’s an eyesore here. Titus then showed himself and greeted the boy, and told him that he can stay here for as long as he wishes. Otieno is forever grateful and promised Titus that he’ll repay his kindness one day. Titus just chuckled and walked away humming.

Otieno kind of just helped around the library until Titus’ twins were born, and the Paradiso needed two more bodyguard teams. Otieno saw this as his opportunity to repay Titus and immediately took action. Otieno trained himself rigorously and eventually qualified as a Paradiso bodyguard and joined the team. His specialty is his impressive long-ranged senses and his role is to be on lookout for everyone. He is excellent with his bow and arrow and never misses anything he shoots at.

Otieno adores Anastasia and he watched her grow up. As a kid, she used to ride on his shoulders while grabbing onto his bright blonde hair. He carried her around when she got tired from playing and read books to her when she felt bored. To this day, Otieno keeps a small ocarina fastened around his waist because Anastasia loves listening to him play the instrument.

Otieno’s weapon of choice is longbow.

Naranja Elenor: Member. Belongs to Raskreia’s generation.

Naranja is smart. While Captain Primavera from Team Titus prefers the old fashioned “pick him up and run” approach for evacuation drills, Naranja is more innovative. She sets up invisible teleportation circles all over Lukedonia for Anastasia to use if there ever is an emergency. They’re idle until Anastasia decides to activate them, and they are designed to respond to her aura only. This is a safety measure to prevent anyone else from using them in case someone tries to abuse the system for whatever reasons. This makes evacuation drills so much easier and faster because no more running around everywhere. Of course, that’s an option too, though it’s the last resort. Titus is envious when he looks at his daughter’s team, while Primavera just comments on how magic is “unreliable” and the best way to get to safety is by running. That’s just Primavera’s prejudice against magic in general and she blames it on young people “taking too many shortcuts”. What she doesn’t know is that Anastasia’s team practices the classic run-for-your-lives drill as well. Of course Naranja is aware that having both is an option. Duh. The more the merrier.

Hand-to-hand combat may not be Naranja’s specialty, but she’s very good at figuring out how to set up her magic for the greater good. That’s how she got recruited without being a melee expert. Naranja is so grateful that their Captain Topaz is very open-minded and never nags anyone when she is uncertain about something. Well, the average age of her team members is much lower than that of Primavera’s, so of course they would be more welcoming of creativity.

Naranja volunteered as a bodyguard simply because she liked it as a career choice and it’s optimal in every way. Don’t have to work in a big group akin to mini society, don’t have to work alone either. The perfect balance for someone like her. Besides, her talent for magic circles will be useful. Anastasia seemed like she’d be a nice boss too. Naranja is very picky about who she works for and won’t easily compromise this aspect of her preferences. Anastasia is friendly and reasonable, and Naranja likes her easygoing nature. A good job and a good boss, who will say no to that.

Naranja tries her best to not looked tired but maintaining her teleportation circles does drain quite a big chunk of her energy. Anastasia is aware of this situation and tells her loyal bodyguard that it should be okay to turn off her magic for a bit. Naranja refuses and insists that they need to stay alert at all times, and keeping the magic circles there is her job. Anastasia just stuffs Naranja with candies and cakes as her way of showing appreciation for her employee’s dedication.

Naranja is also very good at offensive spells. She can blast holes into mountains if she wants to. She’d gladly do so if Anastasia orders her to “clear the path”, though that probably won’t happen because it’s unnecessary. Eh, who knows, maybe Anastasia would like to watch the sunset for a few more minutes and getting rid of the mountain ranges blocking out the light is the way to go about it.

Naranja doesn’t carry a weapon because her magic is her weapon. But, she sometimes uses one too, and her weapon of choice is darts.

Jaakob Landegre: Member. Belongs to Gejutel’s generation.

Jaakob used to be a member of Titus’ bodyguard team but the latter transferred him to Anastasia after she was born. Jaakob’s a great person and an expert at his job, so Titus entrusted him with giving a “head start” to his daughter’s team. This means that Jaakob is Anastasia’s very first employee, and all of the other bodyguards were recruited after him.

Jaakob is the oldest person of his team. He’s the odd one out by age and everyone calls him “Grandpa Jaakob”, and he’s quite happy with it. Primavera thinks this is inappropriate and she insists that members should call each other by their full names because that’s the standard protocol. If that’s how she wants to manage her team, then so be it. Topaz isn’t going to enforce this rule on her subordinates and Anastasia agrees with her. Anastasia likes it when her bodyguards are casual with each other because she sees no need to be so strict with sticking to old traditions. If everyone is family here, of course some affection will come through. Even Anastasia calls Jaakob “Grandpa” and treats him as she would with her real grandfather if she had one. Jaakob adores the youngsters and refers to them as his kids. He doesn’t have any kids of his own and he’s more than happy to figuratively adopt his younger coworkers.

Jaakob is always smiling. His smile never changes. It’s impossible to tell if he’s happy, neutral, or upset. He even smiles as he’s bringing down an enemy. Speaking of which, Jaakob is great at offense. He is capable of fighting off multiple strong enemies on his own and never wastes any of his moves. He only aims for the vital parts and gets the deed done very quickly. He doesn’t even wipe his enemies’ splattered blood off his face after he finishes them off and just waits for it to dry up and fall off on its own. No one has seen Jaakob kill anyone as there hasn’t been a situation or emergency where it was necessary, but they’re all curious. Jaakob recounts tales from the old days when he accompanied Titus on their journeys through the more dangerous areas of the world in search of rare literature, and describes in detail how he mercilessly eliminated the enemies that stood in their way. Cool Grandpa Jaakob.

Jaakob is alert and walks in front of Anastasia whenever they are going somewhere, though that’s also because Titus tripped himself all the time. Poor Grandpa Jaakob thinks that Anastasia will trip herself just like her weird ol’ dad. It’s okay, Anastasia has a way better balance. Jaakob is still very cautious and he’s always ready to catch Anastasia if she falls. He’s just worried for her. Aww.

Jaakob’s weapon of choice is a longsword.

Haizea Mergas: Member. Belongs to Raskreia’s generation.

Haizea is quite shy. She stammers a lot and needs to try seven to eight times before she can successfully say “Yes Captain” without any pauses or breaks. Captain Topaz is very understanding and lets Haizea know that she can just do a hand gesture instead and that’ll substitute for a verbal confirmation. Topaz doesn’t want to stress out her subordinate by making her mentally rehearse her sentences over and over again because it’s simply unnecessary. Again, Primavera would be judging Topaz for being too lenient. As long as Haizea is comfortable, who cares? It’s not like they admit members based on verbal eloquence.

Haizea is sweet. She’s constantly checking in with her colleagues and asking if they need help with anything. Her fellow bodyguards care for her as well and would remind her that they are of equal rank so she doesn’t have to tend to them as she would with a superior.

Haizea volunteered as a bodyguard because she is in love with Anastasia. They met as children when Haizea visited Minerva with her parents and a very enthusiastic Anastasia held the shy girl’s hands and showed her around. They became best friends for the day. As of today, Anastasia doesn’t remember meeting Haizea, but the latter can recall the memory as if it was yesterday. Haizea tries to ignore her growing feelings for Anastasia to no avail, and ultimately decides to follow her heart. All she desires is to stand next to her childhood crush. Haizea is aware that Anastasia likes Seira, and she’s fine if Anastasia never returns her feelings. She’ll just guard her love from a distance and wish for her happiness. That is all she needs to be fulfilled. Haizea’s favorite flower is cherry blossoms because they remind her of Anastasia.

Haizea is very good with barrier spells. Her barriers can withstand attacks from all members of her team combined. She also makes small portable barrier charms for her colleagues and Anastasia to carry around. These barrier charms are single-use and active themselves automatically in the presence of danger.

Haizea’s weapon of choice is a mace.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for future posts!