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OOC INFO;

NAME: ginko
AGE: 18+!
CONTACT: nasuporn @ plurk

IC INFO;

CHARACTER NAME: Jeanne d'Arc/Ruler
CANON & HISTORY: General info on Jeanne in the series; Jeanne's entry on the Fate/Grand Order wiki [Fate/Grand Order is a mobile game that is part of the Fate/ series, but not directly related to Fate/Apocrypha.]; Link to translated volumes 1, 2 & 4 of Fate/Apocrypha; Link to translated volume 3 of Fate/Apocrypha [incomplete]

The information in the first wiki link does not detail everything that happens with Jeanne in volumes 1 and 2 of Fate/Apocrypha! After being summoned by possessing a compatible human girl's (Leticia) body, Jeanne makes her way from the girl's school in France to the small city of Trifas, Romania, where the Great Holy Grail War she must mediate will occur. She manages to hitch a ride at the Bucharest airport on a kind old man's truck. Before Jeanne is able to make it to Trifas, however, she's alarmed by sensing the presence of a dangerous Servant. This turns out to be the Lancer Servant of the Red faction taking part in the war, who had received an order from his Master to kill Jeanne, the Ruler class Servant, in a gross violation of the rules. Jeanne ends up surviving her encounter with Lancer due to the interference of the Black faction's Saber and his Master. She refuses to join forces with the Black faction after this, however, and proceeds to continue walking to Trifas once the battle between Lancer of Red and Saber of Black is over.

Once Jeanne arrives in Trifas, she begins rooming at a local church. The sister in charge offers her both meals and a bed, which she requires because she's inhabiting a human body. Jeanne decides to use the church as her base of operations, of sorts. She heads out at night, because that is when the opposing Red and Black factions are more likely to fight each other underneath the cover of darkness. Using her abilities, she's able to detect that the Servants are congregating in a forest near the Black faction's castle stronghold, and she heads that way to supervise any conflicts that might break out.

Volume 2 begins with Ruler checking over the aftermath of the battles between the Servants in the forest. Nothing seems too unusual, but Jeanne persists in having a nagging feeling that things are not right somehow. This is only exacerbated by her decision to make contact with the Masters of the Red faction due to their attempt on her life and her realization that a Servant of the Black faction is missing. It's difficult for her to stay up through the night and travel everywhere on foot with her human body, although Jeanne manages to meet with the Masters of the Black faction at their castle. Here she discovers that the Saber of Black apparently committed suicide, and the Rider of Black, Astolfo, tells her he did this by gouging out his heart and giving it to a freedom-seeking homunculus to keep him alive. (Homunculi were used as servants, soldiers, and energy sources by the Black faction.) Jeanne determines that she must speak with him, to investigate this new anomaly of a revived homunculus with the heart of a great hero beating inside him.

Jeanne sets out to find the homunculus by exploring the mountain and forest directly beyond the Black faction's base. Luckily, it happens that the homunculus comes to aid even after she's too exhausted to move and risked frightening him by shouting. Jeanne examines the homunculus to ensure his new heart is working correctly, and they share a conversation wherein she discovers they're quite similar to each other; just as she heeded God's cries during her life, the homunculus wants to save his brethren. She promises to cooperate with him in this endeavor, if only because he would go off by himself and possibly cause more trouble, otherwise. The homunculus names himself Sieg after the Servant who gifted him with his heart, and carries a collapsed, hungry and tired Jeanne to a small nearby village.

Jeanne and Sieg receive a hearty breakfast and a place to sleep thanks to a local farmer. They're required to share a cramped bed together, which unnerves her, but the pair are able to recover for the upcoming night. Afterwards, they depart for the Black faction's castle again, knowing that the fighting will probably take place there. They're greeted by a chaotic battle between Red and Black already underway. Jeanne decides that this is her time to meet with one of the Red Masters, because things are getting way too out of hand. Sieg accompanies her at first, but they are separated by the Red faction's aggressive assault against her. She advances on her own only to find herself forced to duel the gigantic flesh-monster the Berserker of Red has become. Jeanne witnesses Sieg's transformation into Siegfried, and makes it to him and Rider of Black in time to defend them from Berserker of Red's final attack with her protective Noble Phantasm. The Red faction steals the Greater Grail—a giant swirl of prana capable of granting any wish—by force with their floating fortress. Jeanne climbs onboard and confronts Assassin of Red, but the conflict has reached a deadly point; the commander of the Black faction has decided to combine himself with his Servant, creating an abomination in the form of a vampire hellbent on reaching on the Greater Grail and wishing for destruction. The vampire nearly reaches the Grail, but is stopped by an unexpected person—Shirou Kotomine, the Master of Assassin of Red. He kills the vampire once and for all and his true identity is revealed to Jeanne, setting in motion the turmoil of volume 3.

AGE: Jeanne appears to be the age she was when she historically burned at the stake, 19, but because she's a Heroic Spirit, she's technically both ageless and super old.
CANON POINT: Fate/Apocrypha, end of Volume 2, following the defeat of the vampire and Jeanne's discovery of Shirou's true identity. (I will be playing her from the light novels, but with input from the new anime for Fate/Apocrypha!)

PERSONALITY: Jeanne is true to the images that the legendary figure of her namesake draw forth. Her inner strength of will is difficult to discount. It can be said that this started at the beginning for her, in a manner of speaking—once Jeanne first heard the lamentations of God, she decided she couldn't ignore Him. This might not seem remarkable on its own until the consequences of her choice are understood. In opting to soothe her God, Jeanne both abandoned the prospect of ever having a normal life and committed herself to an early, unrewarded death. She was completely aware of all of this at the young age of 17, yet she still persisted in following her chosen path. Apart from that, her journey itself was challenging. Jeanne commanded French forces against their English foes during the bloodbath of the Hundred Years' War, subjecting herself willingly to the brutality of battle, the complex world of medieval politics, and the discomfort of existing as the sole woman among countless men. In the very end, her compensation for freeing her home country from its oppressors was burning at the stake at 19, after being branded a heretic by her English captors. When she is revived as a Servant, Jeanne is immediately flung into a Holy Grail War larger than any before it—the Great Holy Grail War—where the fate of humanity and the entire world hang in the balance. What's worse, she's designated everyone's adult chaperone.

How Jeanne manages to survive so much is illuminated in her encounters with others during the Great Holy Grail War. She's visibly a young woman, but she possesses unwavering conviction belying her age that makes itself obvious through her demeanor, words, and even her eyes. As Sieg contemplates in the midst of the massive standoff between Black and Red, Jeanne's declaration of "I have to cross this battlefield," isn't designed to be a show of strength or an attempt to coerce others to follow her, but rather just her communicating her will. Her will is so simple and immovable that changes in her tone don't mask it; whether she is confident or anxious, her genuine, single-minded purpose is conveyed clearly when she speaks. Jeanne suffers several attempts on her life from her fellow Servants and their minions, and she maintains her composure in virtually the most dire of these situations. In one case, she singlehandedly traded blows with a humongous, near-immortal golem in order to allow her allies the time to line up a counterattack. A mistake on her part during the lengthy confrontation would have meant certain doom for both herself and the world. A powerful glare from Jeanne's amethyst-colored eyes is usually enough to demand a base level of respect, albeit sometimes grudgingly given, from those around her. Her resolve is such a force to be reckoned with that it alternately infuriates and dumbfounds other characters, and Sieg himself dreads her more intense reactions.

He has reason to be apprehensive, because Jeanne is fiercely stubborn. Once she sets her mind on accomplishing a particular task, she will devote herself to it without abandoning it. It is also the case that her preconceptions and determinations about, for example, the loyalties of other Servants or the state of the Holy Grail War are difficult to change. This is advantageous for Jeanne in that she isn't swayed by deception, but she suffers from critical errors at other times due to her inability to match her foes' ingenuity. She does not realize the true purpose behind her summoning until the very last moment, for example, when the identity of a key character is finally revealed to her. Although she isn't obsessed with the opinions of others at all, Jeanne does insert herself into the affairs of different people and advises them according to what she feels is best. Generally, this is out of a sincere desire to help the individuals in question avoid harm, but it is yet another indication of her strong self-reliance. She trusts herself and her thinking, so she has no problem suggesting that her allies adopt her input over their own. If someone seems especially unreasonable, she's flustered enough, or the situation is fatal, Jeanne is even prone to scolding like a concerned mother.

What may be the most unique aspect of Jeanne's resilience is that it almost becomes stronger whenever she's under duress. During her original life as a human, Jeanne had to persevere to be recognized in the first place and then continue leading her army once her victories faded into losses, and she began to be doubted as a vessel of God by the French people. She was also imprisoned and put on trial by the English. Throughout all of these stresses, Jeanne held firm and believed in herself until the moment of her death. It isn't true that she's impervious to scorn and abuse from others; as anyone would be, she is troubled when others seek to hurt her. However, this doesn't change the fact that she will act in agreement with what she considers right. Even the threat of dying—as a human girl, and later a Servant—fails to necessarily scare her. The consequences that result from her choices are not always controllable, but because of this, the only option open to Jeanne is to think wisely and trust in what she decides to do in any given situation.

Jeanne's faith is yet another major portion of her character. She regards her relationship with God highly, allowing Him or His principles to dictate ultimately how she conducts herself. There's no exact explanation for why God "chose" to speak to Jeanne, however, it is unmistakable canon fact that she is able to communicate with the voice of God. Her grasp of religion and the function of faith in general may be responsible simply because it is so selfless. Jeanne reflects on this when she recalls the criticism against her prayers as she burned at the stake: for her, prayer—as well as anything else done in the service of one's faith—is never something extraordinary that deserves repayment, but solely a way to offer oneself to God for the sake of just that. In effect, she does not believe God owes her in return for her faith. She is faithful because she prefers it—and her faith, to Jeanne, is its own reward due to the fulfillment it adds to her life.

As would be expected of a peasant girl raised devoutly and championing her faith throughout her exploits, much of what Jeanne has learned from her religious practices influences her. She is satisfied with the bare minimum as far as food and shelter are concerned. Even small kindnesses done for her receive her gratitude. When the sister housing her brings up the topic of non-believers, Jeanne expresses compassion and acceptance rather than implying those people should be punished. With most of the Servants and Masters she encounters, she is helpful and in many cases kind, unless they have proven themselves undeserving of this goodwill.

Jeanne's bond with God is a tenuous and mystical one. The very act of God "talking" to her was actually her just hearing murmured His cries of grief, as well as those of her countrymen as they died in continual warfare. Instead of replying to Him and expecting a response, then, it's more accurate to say that Jeanne channels a sense of God's feelings and tries to act on them appropriately during the Great Holy Grail War. God guides her, but it is up to her to interpret His messages, which can be as vague as a fleeting suspicion that things just aren't right. By the same token, Jeanne does not always expect God to grant her the answers or information she needs. As she states at one point, "God helps those who help themselves," and this perfectly encapsulates how she treats her link with God, understanding that it's necessary to figure some problems out on her own. She doesn't consider God infallible, nor does she blame Him when she encounters misfortune. But why does Jeanne care for her God so deeply to begin with? At her core, she is an altruistic and optimistic person willing to sacrifice everything she has to God, out of a heartfelt love for humanity. She respects God unconditionally as a great being who watches over His children, and she will do whatever it takes to protect or save lives in his stead. To Jeanne, there is little else worth more than this accomplishment.

Jeanne is versatile, a quality that is defined by how she literally left the life of a common peasant girl behind in order to lead medieval French forces in battle. Her fighting skill is impressive, and she seems to possess a natural talent for combat honed over time and many life-or-death altercations. It's implied that Jeanne had no formal training before she donned armor, latched a sword at her waist, and rode a horse at the vanguard of an army while hoisting up her holy flag overhead. Nevertheless, she has become a Servant with agile reflexes and powerful techniques. In addition, Jeanne can make do in a variety of different situations—she has no problem striding right into a hostile base or spending an entire night roaming around rocky terrain in the dark if circumstances demand it. She pushes herself forward even under the pain of hunger and exhaustion. Jeanne adapts to turning points in conflicts and is capable of swiftly altering her course and thinking up new strategies on the fly. Again, she never quite fully loses her composure despite whatever harrowing threats she faces; instead, she is far more likely to candidly admit to herself that something unfortunate has happened, and confront it anyway.

Of particular note is the role Jeanne plays in the Great Holy Grail War. As a Servant—a Heroic Spirit, or famous heroine of human history given magical form in the present world—of the class known as "Ruler", she ensures other participating Servants (and the Masters who summoned them) play by the rules, so to speak. This is a significant undertaking considering the unexpectedly large scale of the War she's supervising; the Great Holy Grail War is about twice the size of a normal Holy Grail War. There could perhaps be no better Servant suited to the job of Ruler, though. Jeanne qualifies as a candidate for Ruler at the outset because of her faith, altruism, and utter lack of greed. She has no wish of her own in a War where the other Servants plot to nab the grand prize of the Holy Grail, an omnipotent wish-granting device.

Jeanne also thrives in being fair and impartial. She operates on a set of concrete guidelines that she applies equally to all Masters and Servants, at times regardless of their own harmful actions against her. For example, shortly after the Lancer of Red tries to kill her, Jeanne refuses to join forces with the Saber of Black to fight him, because as a strict mediator the more appropriate option was just to supervise the battle between Lancer and Saber. Early on, she frequently reminds the War's various participants that she will not be choosing sides or allying with any of them. True to her claims, she never budges from that stance. It's important to note that where Jeanne's personal feelings based upon her faith or intuition conflict with her formal duties as Ruler, she will tend to favor her obligations as Ruler unless circumstances make that untenable—more likely than not, she'll strive for a compromise between her concerns and responsibilities, and she will not hesitate to involve herself if she feels it's necessary. Jeanne unfailingly dishes out punishments—less commonly, rewards, too—to participants whose actions earn those responses. Her default standpoint is to assume the good in people and rate them by their own merits. As a result, Jeanne is cordial to nearly everyone unless they misbehave. Her strong sense of morality allows her to smoothly wield final judgement, dividing her decisions between what is permissible and what is absolutely intolerable.

Jeanne exhibits other, possibly more understated traits that humanize her as a saint and renowned heroine. She does not regret her choices, but she still wonders about what she gave up to answer the voice of God. Jeanne ponders the normal teenage experiences, marriage, and family she could have had if she hadn't resolved to walk the warpath, and she clearly holds some bittersweet feelings regarding this musing. She is pensive at times, before she commits to a decision. Jeanne variously doubts herself, her choices, and the truth of her holiness and heroism, although this hesitation is inevitably fleeting. She worries at length about her friends in the Great Holy Grail War, particularly Sieg. During Fate/Grand Order, a repeated theme is for her to face situations or criticism that call her sainthood into question—and she must come to rebuke these challenges and believe in herself every time. In other words, Jeanne is realistically imperfect even for a holy maiden connected to God. She is inexperienced with important matters that most people have encountered in one form or another throughout their lives, such as the concept of romantic love. While this is understandable due to Jeanne's background—she was constantly in the thick of battles—it's inaccurate to conclude she's incapable of falling in love, either; rather, as her later developing affection for Sieg proves, she simply wasn't granted the opportunity. She has a rowdy side to her that better characterizes a farm girl who grew up running in the fields, and this quality explains how she managed to form a tight bond with the men composing her troops. One of her trusted friends among the soldiers, Gilles, was regularly poked in the eyes by her. Jeanne is also flustered quickly, especially by romantic or otherwise inappropriate hints. She does not always understand the reasons for her own emotions, she acts out when she is upset, and she's both tender and awkward in interacting with the consciousness of her human host, Leticia.

POWERS: Here's a general link for Jeanne's powers in canon. Some notes—

True Name Discernment

Magic Resistance EX

really

Command Spells

Luminosité Eternelle

her holy flag

La Pucelle

here

Holy Water

Servant

**Please note: If it's possible, I would like to play Jeanne as a normal Servant in Spellbind—not a Servant possessing a human body—because I'm not sure how canon would handle that, anyway, and I'd like to leave open the possibility of her getting a Master!

OTHER: Jeanne is a farm girl at her core, and she can shovel away enough food to compete with men probably twice her size?!? She's also so ~pure~ that her overwhelming purity inhibits bad people from even touching her... they don't want "to drag mud into a pure pond"...

GAME INFO;

MAGIC ABILITY: Say My Name, Say My Name. When a character says her true name, they are granted temporary invulnerability as she takes on any suffering they are experiencing.

"Jeanne" and "Jeanne d'Arc" are the two names that will trigger the ability! The effect does not last without limit. It ends after either the other character decides to sever the link or a maximum of ten minutes pass, whichever comes first. If Jeanne passes out or is otherwise incapacitated, the link also cuts; this acts as a control against using the ability repeatedly. She experiences any sort of physical/emotional/mental suffering fully, like she's the one actively receiving it. The effect of this ability can stack with many different characters calling upon her at once, however, this reduces the invulnerability time—if two characters say her name, they each have about five minutes of protection; for three, it's three minutes; for twenty, it's like 30 seconds, and you're all mean. IC-ly, the magical ability can activate unintentionally, although this may not be obvious right away unless a character gets a paper cut or something after saying hi... OOC-ly, all involved muns will be in agreement about this ability taking effect before it does, to respect players' limits.

I'm definitely open to placing more limits on this if it's too overpowered, discussing it, or replacing it with a different ability altogether!

PRICE: Her cross, specifically the handmade wooden one that she burns to death with. (If this doesn't work, it can be the cross she carried with her during her campaigns with the French army!)
ACCLIMATION: 10. Jeanne grew up poor in medieval France, without modern comforts; she also led an army and developed the fortitude to handle multiple survival crises, from the immediate threat of death to solitary imprisonment, because of that. Additionally, she's familiar with being summoned into different places and eras to play an important role as a Servant.

SAMPLE;

LINKED SAMPLE: 10 comments on the TDM!