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Anya Redhilt is the High Priestess of The Holy Crusade played by the Runescape user of the same name. She has seen combat as a squire under Sir Bool Cowbra and was knighted at age 21 for the White Knights, which she later left. Anya currently spends the majority of her time in training for combat, often taking part in regional tournaments or duels.
| “ | Let it be known that, should you attempt escape, I will crush the spirit from your bones with a righteous fury, leaving your cries for mercy unanswered, the sound accompanied only by the God of Order praising me for carrying out His will. | ” |
–Anya Redhilt, warning the imprisoned pyromancer who took her left eye | ||
Early Life[]
Anya was born in the month of Bennath, year 148 of the Fifth Age in Catherby, a fishing and commerce hub in the Kingdom of Kandarin. Anya was the first born of four children to a Kandarin mother and a Fremennik father of the clan Redhilt of the island of Utena. Her mother was a fisherwoman by trade, and her father was a 'Southernised' Fremennik warrior who settled into the fishing business after retiring due to injuries. Anya's family had, for the most part, been of the lower class of Catherby families and Anya had to work in her family's business from a young age to support herself and her smaller siblings. Other than the usual hardships that poor families in Catherby faced, Anya's early childhood was without tragedy or large incidents worth of note. However, at age nine, Anya's family faced a particularly bad harvest year and her parents were forced to send her further west to live in a monastery outside of Ardougne, as her mother was quite devout. While difficult at first, Anya moving to the monastery turned out to be a blessing for her, as she was able to get an education that her previous life would have not provided her. She learned to read, write, and speak Asgarnian throughout her education in the monastery. In addition to the skills Anya had learned, she also took many of the vows that the monks of the monastery took themselves, as, at the time, Anya believed that she would spend the rest of her life there.
The White Knights[]
Anya was seventeen when the Sixth Age dawned and the Battle of Lumbridge ensued in a faraway land. She and several others in the monastery had only heard of the battle a week after it had begun, and many of the monks who had received combat training for defense of the monastery left for the east to join the battle on the side of Saradomin. Anya left as well, parting ways with the group of monks she was traveling with when they made it to Catherby. Anya took the time to say goodbye to her family before spending what little money she had on a trip to Port Sarim. After arriving in Asgarnia, Anya went straight to Falador, enlisting her services as a squire to the White Knights, seeing the time serving under the knights as an opportunity to learn what she could of combat before being sent to the Battle of Lumbridge. Towards the end of her squirehood, Anya was sent out with other White Knights to the Battle of Lumbridge, where she got her first taste of battle and first Kinshra kills.
Anya Redhilt's Knighting Ceremony
After 4 years of squirehood under Sir Bool Cowbra, Anya Redhilt was knighted in Falador Park by Sir Vye Ver, having passed her test for knighthood and being deemed fit for combat. Anya's first mission was the arrest of the notorious arsonist pyromage known as 'Ace'. She led two other White Knights, Sir Elias and Sir Spug, to capture 'Ace' at a campsite just North of Falador. Anya attempted to bring the arsonist in for questioning peacefully, feeling confident with cover fire being provided by Sir Spug, who sat atop a hill with his crossbow ready. After Anya made her intentions known to 'Ace', the pyromage attacked her with a relatively weak blast of fire, which did little besides cause minor first degree burns to Anya's upper arms. After a prolonged fight, Anya and her comrades cornered the pyromage, at which point 'Ace' threw her mithril longsword at Anya's head. The sharp metal easily cut through Anya's steel helm, slashing her left eye and severely cutting the left side of her head. Anya was able to retaliate to the attack by using her halberd to stab the pyromage's armored knee, and 'Ace' quickly passed out of blood loss. Due to this, Anya and the other White Knights were able to bring 'Ace' in alive, making Anya's first mission a great success, despite the cost she paid.
After the Septober Award Ceremony, in which Anya Redhilt earned four medals for her service, she and another Initiate were promoted to the rank of Proselyte for their recent work within the Order.
The Battle of White Wolf Mountain[]
Along with many other White Knights, Anya Redhilt fought at the Battle of White Wolf Mountain in the 6th Age. The White Knights of Falador were reinforcing Kandarin soldiers encamped on the slope, along with a handful of monks under Lord Dion, against Monvallis, who were backed by archers and cannoneers from the South Asgarnian Republic. The battle was considered a landslide victory on the Kandarin side, largely due to the vast number of reinforcements that the Kandarin forces received before the battle actually began. Anya Redhilt fought mainly on the Southern Ridge, widely considered the bloodiest side of the battle for the White Knights, where she and most of the other White Knights charged the ranks of the South Asgarnian Republic archers and cannoneers, suffering losses due to multiple artillery barrages. Sir Bool commanded the force to march up the South Ridge, where Anya was on the front line of the march. Under cannon fire, Anya and several others broke rank to force many of the archers into a small pass on the South Ridge. On this small strip of land, the archers were routed and boxed in by Lord Dion's monks at their back, and the White Knights at their front, whereupon Anya Redhilt and many other knights crushed the archers in, dispatching them quickly in a melee. Anya herself received light wounds on the South Ridge; notably a broken left wrist and a shallow stab wound in her sternum, as this was stopped mainly by her cuirass. She and the rest of the surving White Knights parted ways with Lord Dion and the Kandarin forces after a large victory rally near the main pass of White Wolf Mountain, returning to Falador with the others who fought alongside her.
Due to her actions in this battle, Anya received the Red Herald for exceptional courage and bravery.
The Academy of Heroes[]
During her service in the White Knights of Falador, Anya took several months of leave to train in the Academy of Heroes and hone her skills. Upon seeing the training and approach that most of the teachers there took, Anya saw them as rather weak-willed, and sought out a trainer that would challenge her. Seeing Hefty Fist training under Gonad Yaksplitter, training that was quite brutal and appeared very effective, Anya became a student of Gonad's and trained in Hefty Fist, becoming his first female student. During training, she rose to the point of one of Gonad's best students, and showed her skill whenever she could, including taking part in spars with a Mahjarrat and an armed barbarian, winning both with rather brutish style. Whe her leave was over, she left the Academy of Heroes as an official student, though she still trains under Gonad when she can and uses the Hefty Fist style often in combat.
Morytania[]
At age 25, Anya left the White Knights of Falador officially, seeing that it was crumbling around her to the
A Sketch of Anya in Morytania
point that it could not hold up Falador with its tactics. She left for Morytania after this, stopping in Varrock to have new armor and weapons crafted for her use in the swamp so as to be able to hunt Vyre effectively. Anya spent only a year in Morytania, fighting alongside a friend that she'd made at the Academy of Heroes and using guerrilla tactics and strength in numbers to kill Vyre one at a time in ambushes. Her time in Morytania, however, was quite brief, as she was recruited by the Sicarius within a year of the time she spent there, and accepted the offer in order to further hone her skill under the guidance of the experienced warriors in the Sicarius.
Personality[]
Anya herself tends to be, at most points, plainly spoken with eloquency that hints at her level of education. She holds respect in speech to those she considers her mentors or superiors in combat and the Saradomin Clergy, though others are often victims of her sarcasm or anger. Anya, after many years in combat, has done her best to retain her original chivalry and sense of honor that she had in the White Knights of Falador, though the years have caused her to become rather cynical towards these beliefs, despite the fact that she still tries to uphold them. She treats her opponents that are knights with the same respect as her comrades, though common foot soldiers or brigands are seen solely as targets and Anya takes whatever advantage she can in fighting them. When speaking to those she sees as enemies to Order and threats to the weak, Anya holds a rage that seems to nearly boil over into violence, and often does. The many years of combat she's experienced have left her with a hint of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which when coupled with her religious zeal often leads to times where Anya breaks down in combat or stressful situations to a less-focused and more vicious level of fighting, something that she does her best to pretend never happens. Anya, above all else, sees morality as completely black and white, but has lost her "ends do not justify the means" approach in her transition to full adulthood, after she had fought many battles and lost several comrades who held the same approach.
Appearence[]
Facial[]
Anya's facial features combine several elements that hint at both Kandarin and Fremennik descent. She has a fairly strong jawline and sharp chin Like many Kandarins, her lips and nose are fairly thin. Her eyes are somewhat rounded (at least the uninjured one is) and have a slight slant to them, and the iris of her functioning eye is a light sage green. Anya wears a black eyepatch over her blinded left eye, a subject she takes quite lightly and sees as her payment to Saradomin for sparing her life from the full damage that the slash that caused her blindness could have done. For a little less than two inches behind the eyepatch, on the left side of her head, is a jagged scar caused by the same slash. She has eyebrows of fairly average thickness that match her dark hair, which she keeps cut short in a generally messy fashion, given that she cuts it herself. Anya's skintone is pale, like most Fremenniks, and because of this she has been known to sunburn quite easily.
Body[]
Standing at 5'11 and weighing just over 150 pounds, Anya is of a boyish build and her use of heavy weapons and armor, as well as rigorous training, keeps her in an athletic condition. She has a scar from a stab wound in the center of her gut, one large stab wound on her right thigh, a scar on her left forearm from an arrow, and a spear wound scar near the base of her back. Anya's limbs are proportionate to her size and her arms are equally muscled to the rest of her upper body.
Clothing[]
When not wearing her standard platemail armor, Anya tends to keep to wearing her blue colored fatigues and rarely wears anything flashier than that. Her fatigues consist of buckled leather pants that assist with her running and a collared, short-sleeved shirt. She wears a bodice-like piece of boiled leather over her waist that functions as light armor and has saved her life before. When wearing armor, Anya wears a gray gambeson under her platemail cuirass that goes to her thighs in addition to her fatigues, which were built to function as both casual clothing and protection.
Formal[]
Anya's formal garb, which she's taken to wearing quite often, consists of a navy-esque coat and pants in a dark blue color. The outfit was originally made for a Varrock nobleman who was slain in a duel before he could purchase it from the tailor, and Anya found it when searching for an outfit to wear to the White Knight's Victory Ball that is to be held in celebration of the soon-to-be victory at the Battle of Lumbridge. Anya was oblivious to the fact that it was designed for a man and purchased it solely because it fit her the best. She often refers to the outfit as a 'dress', highlighting her lack of knowledge concerning high fashion.
Trivia[]
- Anya Redhilt was created by the Runescape user of the same name.
- Due to her experience in fishing, Anya is quite skilled with spears and carries one quite often.
- She was knighted at age 21 after passing the required test with a score of 90%.
- Anya Redhilt wears an eyepatch over her left eye due to an injury caused by a slash from a mithril longsword.
- She has been known to hold immense disdain for foreign nobility and high-ranking soldiers who gained their position by birthright.
- Anya Redhilt has been awarded the Harbinger of Peace, the Asgarnian Defense Medal, Saradomin's Cuirass, the Asgarnian Paladin Medal, and the Red Herald.