Tsuruta

The first crystals Tsuruta ever touched were cold, inert things set into the walls of The Teikodian Empire's grand palace. They would spend hours tracing the lifeless facets, dreaming of mountains made of such light. Years later, they left, their pink backpack filled not with rations, but with charcoal sticks and sketchbooks. The first time they found a true crystal, humming with inner energy in a forgotten cave, their eyes went wide with stars, reflecting a universe the Empire had never shown them. The journey eventually led them back, but to the dungeons beneath the gilded city. There they found the truth: gems being shattered, their light drained to power war machines. That was the day they applied the war paint. The diamond dust on their back now is from living rocks, and the shocked look on their face is a permanent memory of beauty’s terrible cost.