Zenobia

Catenae Aurelianorum

These are the shining golden chains with which Zenobia was bound by the emperor Aurelian and paraded through the streets of Rome as a part of a triumph. A symbol of her defeat. But what is a burden can also be a boon, if the hands that were bound with it just grasp it and use it to their advantage.    The chains are imbued with the power of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, and can harm any being that has a weakness to the sun. That also means that the very fact that they are a symbol of victory while they envelop Zenobia makes them even stronger, enough to parry or clash with other weapon-type Noble Phantasms, so she can employ them as a sort of armor. And they are especially proficient at ensnaring enemies who are fellow monarchs, as well.    Of course, there are trade-offs to be considered while enjoying these advantages. The chains restrain Zenobia’s innate power, since they were designed to protect the Roman public from her, but she takes this in stride too. “It’s just like training with weighted clothing!”, she says, while using the heavy manacles that trap her fists as an improvised cestus.    Lastly, the same way that she accepted to wear those chains, she can also decide to break them. Her true physical strength and speed will be unlocked, but the bindings will lose their mystical properties and eventually fade. 

Kataphraktos Tadmor

Though Zenobia of Palmyra is mostly known because of her defeat, that need not be a stain that forever marks her as a Servant. Her war against Aurelian could very well have ended with her as the victor, and that was always on her mind. So set she was on that future victory, that she commissioned a formidable vehicle not only to carry her into battle, but to also ride into her city when the time came for her own triumphal parade. It was to be the maximum expression of Palmyra’s power and craftsmanship, clad in the white color of Aglibol and shining in the fiery golden radiance of Malakbel. The spirit of the city itself, turned into an engine of war.    After all, Palmyra’s strength in warfare was twofold: it’s true that the city could field excellent archers, but its true force to be reckoned on the battlefield were the cataphracts, the heavily armed cavalry that could tear through infantry formations like paper. This inspiration can be seen all over her Noble Phantasm.    The Kataphraktos Tadmor, named after Palmyra in the native Palmyrene, is a massive chariot, though some would describe it as something more akin to a tank or a siege engine. Built for both ceremony and power, its ornate surfaces include mounts for long-range weaponry such as ballistae, and its reinforced wheels can deploy blades to rend whatever crosses the vehicle’s path, trampling the enemy and pelting their forces with an onslaught of projectile fire. A true mobile fortress.    The chariot is drawn by a set of automatons in the shape of armored camels, crafted by the Palmyrene magi. The choice of the camel instead of a horse for their design was a preference of the Queen herself, who loved the animals and was all too happy not to endanger them in battle under her command. The fact that horses tend to be afraid of them also was a factor, of course. And the automatons can be summoned separately for Zenobia to ride, if needed.    The Queen guides her war machine with surprising dexterity for something so apparently unwieldy. The chariot is able to perform unbelievable turns, except for when its pilot commits to a full charge. This attack, performed at Zenobia’s command, is called the “Clibanus Mode”, a sort of overcharge in which the vehicle deploys plating to cover it’s vulnerable zones and become an overheated battering ram capable of plowing through most defenses and fortifications. This burst of speed is what temporarily sacrifices the Kataphraktos Tadmor’s maneuverability. However, it’s not like the enemy can take their chance to outflank you if they’ve been completely crushed. 

In the 3rd century, a girl called Bat-Zabbai was born in an influential family of Tadmor, known to other cultures as Palmyra. She easily stood out among her peers, as the only daughter of a prominent clan in one of the most prosperous cities of the Middle East. However, her intent seemed to be not to shine brightest, as her gaze was fixed ever inward, but rather trying to fill some strange hunger within her soul. Uncaring of any rules or barriers, she held life in her hands and squeezed every last drop of nourishment out of it, both for her body and her mind. She read every text, sampled every language that she could find, observed the exercises of the local gymnasts with avid interest. But that’s not to say that she desired to hoard said knowledge; she shared it freely with her few friends and proved to be very keen on applying her skill.    As much as her bluntness and carefree attitude gave her parents no small amount of headaches, her growth and virtues were undeniable. Bat-Zabbai could communicate in fluent Aramaic and Greek, she could more than hold her own in a discussion with philosophers and her pastimes of riding, hunting and wrestling had been the perfect complement to her physical development. Her height and strength made for a striking first impression, as anyone who met her had to gaze up to look at her steely grey eyes. And even if her pursuits had been a constant distraction, her parents had managed to at least instill in her the necessary notions of management and economy. They never intended for her to become a soldier or to actually partake in the family’s trading business, but she was more than capable of managing a household and property.    In short, that made her a desirable match.    The plans that her parents had made to marry her cut through Bat-Zabbai’s personal world like a knife. Her adolescence had completely passed her by, and all of a sudden, she had to face the prospect of becoming a wife, something that she had neither sought nor prepared for. For the first time in her life, she felt forced to look outside of the bubble of what she knew and face the greater world.    After all, her prospective husband was none other than Septimius Odaenathus, the rising star of the city, a man that was changing the whole of Palmyra. Someone who had recently ascended to the rank of senator and was becoming a very important person in Rome’s plans for the eastern reaches of the empire. He was also more than ten years her senior, but that was par for the course in those times. Not that Bat-Zabbai even had the time to consider factors such as age or attractiveness. In a way, she couldn’t help but feel that her father was getting rid of her in a very convenient way. The relationship between them had become strained, and with this union, the family gained a very powerful ally.    So did Odaenathus, of course. The man who was quickly becoming the main military leader and sole ruler of Palmyra had hastened the city’s transition into a more diverse enclave, where tribal distinctions would lose their value before the common identity of the Palmyrenes. Nonetheless, the old families still carried a lot of weight, and honoring the traditional order would be of great value to his cause.    It was obvious that they stood to win. The question was: did she stand to win in this transaction?    After some consideration, she decided that she did. Marrying Odaenathus not only would give her the chance to complete her transition to adulthood, but it would also give her new access and freedoms that even her doting family couldn’t grant her. Much as she had given her parents her love for all that they had done for her, there were still things that they weren’t willing to allow. Maybe her new status would lift those restrictions for her; she would definitely fight to make it so. 
After all, the best way to define Odaenathus would be as a political animal. He was a very shrewd man, surveying his land with the eyes of a bird of prey, awaiting the best opportunities to act. Palmyra was often a close witness to the conflicts between the eastern nations and the Roman Empire. The latter, Palmyra’s overlord, had been going through difficult times for years, wracked with instability and turmoil, while the Persian Empire was on the rise.    Odaenathus felt that something was brewing, and his mind was already planning and calculating for different outcomes. In a way, it was as if he was out of sync with the world, with his train of thought flowing “faster” than the rest. In the game that he was playing, everyone else was a piece on his side of the board, that he could influence to his advantage. In his meteoric climb through Palmyrene society and his plans for the region, he didn’t have the time for minor things.    For Zenobia, it soon became clear that she was one of them. Odaenathus already had a son from a previous marriage, named Hairan, and that made his wife a valuable commodity, but not an indispensable one. She was one more item that he needed in his checklist for legitimacy as a ruler, and her attempts at communication weren’t reaching him.    For a time, she pondered how best to approach her husband, but distracted herself by getting to know her city better. As an adult citizen, she enjoyed a new perspective and status that helped her understand the Palmyrenes differently than when she was just a colorful misfit among the elite. Her new power also meant that she could engage with the community and change it, which made her realize the potential of what Odaenathus could do with his power and popularity. But she also knew that the longer that Odaenathus was allowed to believe that his condition as a leader and (to some) a hero was just a convenient way to get people to comply with his goals, the harder it would be for him to connect with his fellow citizens. She had to break him out of his detachment.    And so, after that time of following the rules and broaching the subject with politeness, Zenobia’s patience ran out and she sprang into action. If she was going to make her husband listen to her, she was going to have to use the one language that he could truly understand: she was going to have to engage him as an opponent.  Therefore, she cornered him one day and boldly declared her intention to make him see that she wasn’t just a shiny toy that he could store in a shell. She issued a challenge to pit her strengths against his.    At the beginning, Odaenathus dismissed this as another of the quirks of his wife, but he realized how serious she was when she physically blocked him from leaving and refused to back down. Only then did he dedicate his whole attention to the challenge ahead of him.    They clashed by competing in several disciplines. Zenobia was the indisputable winner in hand-to-hand combat, the physically stronger and faster of the two. She also ran circles around him where philosophy was concerned and was better at speaking other languages. However, Odaenathus was obviously more experienced as a strategist, a better archer, and his unexpected knack for black humor managed to make Zenobia laugh more often than she expected. Not that he wasn’t amused as well, after several instances in which she easily folded him in half.    In a way, it was a stalemate, or it revealed that they each possessed talents that the other didn’t, but the deed was done: the ice had been broken. For the first time, Odaenathus had allowed himself to really look and listen to Zenobia, and he had discovered a mind that not only could compete with the sharpness of his own, but that showed potential to go even further. Someone with which he could be himself. All in all, it turned out to be the true beginning of their relationship. 
But the world wasn’t going to wait for them while they evolved as a family. Odaenathus’s hunch was right: the Crisis of the Third Century came to a head when the Persians defeated and captured Emperor Valerian, and chaos erupted throughout the empire as pretenders rose to challenge his son Gallienus’s claim to the throne. In the meantime, the Palmyrenes stayed put as the situation evolved. Odaenathus carefully observed the situation and chose his moments to strike as soon as it appeared that there would be a likely winner. He swiftly attacked the Persians and forced them to retreat from Syria, and eliminated the pretenders’ forces in the region to prove his allegiance to Gallienus. This earned him several titles from the emperor that recognized his control over the eastern part of the Roman Empire, as well as completing his ascension to King of Palmyra.    And this was just the beginning. Odaenathus began a series of actions against Persia with Zenobia at his side, making a point of having her participate in the campaign. This way, she gained experience with real war and acquainted herself with generals and the army, who certainly wouldn’t forget her. Together, the monarchs of Palmyra struck Persia, managing to lay siege to the capital. This was the kind of decisive action that Gallienus was completely unable to perform himself, given his weak position and the instability of the other regions of the empire.    In fact, the relationship between Rome and Odaenathus was quite peculiar. The throne had no choice but to recognize the Palmyrene king’s dominance and management of the East, but Odaenathus was always very careful to observe the customary obedience to the Emperor. Even as Odaenathus’s power and influence kept growing, he kept fighting in name of Rome, and effectively became the protector of the region with imperial approval. His control over the Levant was complete.    In summary, things were going well. The kingdom that Zenobia and Odaenathus were building was prosperous and well defended. Their relationship with the imperial power was good, and Palmyra had become stronger and more beautiful than ever before. Even their marriage was bearing fruit: their first child, Vaballathus, was growing healthy and well.. The King and Queen departed for their next campaign in Anatolia in high spirits… so of course, it was then that tragedy chose to strike.    Several relatives of Odaenathus banded together to assassinate him and his heir, Hairan. The ringleader, a cousin of Odaenathus called Maeonius, declared himself King immediately, but the conspirators had clearly underestimated Zenobia, who quickly apprehended them and had them interrogated. No one knows what Maeonius told the queen. Did he claim to act on his own initiative? Or had the conspiracy been backed by a Roman court fearful of Odaenathus’s growing power or even by a faction of malcontent Palmyrenes? Whatever the culprits revealed, two facts are certain: the perpetrators were swiftly executed and the event changed the Queen’s outlook.    After all, what did she see when she gazed at Rome? The empire was broken into pieces. Gallienus had been betrayed and killed as well, and his successors squabbled to gain control of a territory beset by foreign invasions on many fronts, grabbing as much power for each other as they could grasp. In contrast, Palmyra had resisted, had grown, had shielded the Roman Empire from Persia’s offensive. All in the name of Rome and its emperor. Zenobia’s conclusion felt inevitable:    “Rome doesn’t deserve the fruit of our labor. We can do better.”    The Queen made her plans. She would rule as regent in her young son’s stead, and the power that rested in her hands in all but name would be put to good use. Palmyra would become its own nation, its own empire. In order to achieve that, there was work to be done. 
Firstly, Zenobia kept the facade that her husband had carefully constructed by declaring herself and her son subjects to Rome and protectors of the East, but she quietly gathered support from the governors of the region. She fortified her domain, opened her court to scholars from abroad and declared her tolerance for different religions. After all, she intended her court to be a center of learning, and her growing kingdom to be a haven for people with various beliefs.    However, she didn’t neglect the battlefield. Under the pretext of pacifying the areas that Rome simply couldn’t reach, she conquered the neighboring provinces, and the most important of them was Egypt. Once she did, the endgame was fast approaching. As much as she made sure to create the appearance of working within Roman rules, it was obvious that Rome wasn’t going to stay put much longer while someone held the granary of their empire.    And someone who objected to this situation had indeed risen out of the chaos that was Rome. His name was Aurelian, and his mind was set on rectifying the current state of the Roman Empire, on rebuilding it whole under his command. Step by step, he campaigned through the provinces to restore order, and it was inevitable that his march would end up taking him to the Palmyrene Kingdom.    Zenobia recognized this. She had initially played her game of nominal obedience while the new emperor was busy fighting pretenders, but as soon as she saw how imminent their clash would be, she abandoned all pretense and gave her son and herself the title of Augustus. By doing this, she was announcing to the world that she would face Aurelian as an equal, and that the fate of the empire would be decided by the victor. All who believed in her would have to rally to her side.    The war was brief, but intense. Rather than spreading her forces thin, Zenobia decided to concentrate them on the core of her kingdom, amassing an army capable of fighting Aurelian’s forces without a significant numerical disadvantage. In the decisive battle, the Palmyrenes initially routed the Romans, but a tactical mistake due to their overconfidence spelled their defeat. Zenobia retreated back to Palmyra, leaving her treasury behind, but she had also planned for this eventuality. Considerable reserves of resources had been gathered to resist a prolonged assault.    Aurelian besieged the city. However, he soon realized that Zenobia had caught him in a trap: his quick advance through Palmyrene territory had been based on sparing the cities that he encountered on the way and attempting to break into the capital by resorting to extreme brutality would dispel the goodwill that he had built in the neighboring regions. In this way, the Queen had created a stalemate that pitted her will against that of her enemy: the Palmyrenes might have been cornered into a defensive position, but the Romans would have to maintain their siege in the harsh conditions of the Syrian Desert. Aurelian would have to endure or negotiate.    Nonetheless, Zenobia wasn’t willing to hinge the result of their war on a siege that might well break the will and body of her people before she got the desired results. She needed a final element to hit Aurelian, her true last resort: proposing an alliance to the Persians. Despite Palmyra’s previous conflicts with Persia, Zenobia had faith that they would agree that Rome was the bigger enemy and that they stood to profit from their defeat. It still was a very risky plan.    Which is why she decided to do it herself. As one of the city’s best riders, her chances to reach Persia unharmed were higher, and keeping this plan close to her chest would minimize both the damage to her people and the risk of discovery. With this mindset, she exited the city in the dead of night, clad in common clothing, and rode one of her camels towards the Euphrates with a handful of her most trusted soldiers. 
She wasn’t the only one capable of setting traps, though. A detachment of Roman soldiers expected them on the way to the river, and a fierce battle ensued. Zenobia resisted to the end, and even though she put up a tremendous fight, she was finally overwhelmed and captured.    She was brought before Aurelian, and the two rivals met for the first time face to face. What ensued was a confrontation. Not one of might, but of ideals, in which both espoused the beliefs that had brought them to that point, their ambitions. It turned out that their motives had been similar, even if the end goal had differed. However, one fact was inescapable: in their contest, Aurelian had won and Zenobia had lost. Their war had to end.    A deal was struck, a treaty of surrender. Aurelian would spare Zenobia, her son and the whole of Palmyra, without any kind of retribution imposed to her citizens. In exchange, Zenobia would persuade the Palmyrenes to stand down and accept Roman rule, before going to Rome, where she would serve as a proof of the new emperor’s victory and magnanimity, paraded for all to see. Her trial and testimony would fortify Aurelian’s cause before the Senate. The final price to pay would be her pride, since she would have to admit to the wrongness of her actions.    And she paid it gladly.    To her surprise, the teachers that she had befriended in her time as queen stood up for her, taking part of the blame for their defiance. Mindful of her agreement, she held her tongue, and watched as they became all too convenient scapegoats. She found that it hurt much more than being paraded around Rome covered in chains and jewels, and as the masses jeered at her, she gazed at their faces. Those scowls that wanted to humiliate her in the middle of the excess of that marbled city, and thought:    “They look so small. So petty. So many of them don’t even understand what me and my people represent.”    She couldn’t help but laugh as the rose petals filled the air with their cloying fragrance.     When all was said and done, Aurelian set aside living accomodations for Zenobia and her son, and suitors didn’t take long to arrive, seeking the hand of the mystifying former Queen of the East. She had decided to play it safe, but it soon became apparent that she didn’t have to worry: none of this men would pose the constant challenge that her late husband had. With a glance, she knew that she would easily bend their will when the time came, so she picked the most pleasant and convenient one and was done with it.     And so began her second life as a philosopher in Rome, visited occasionally by the emperor who had defeated her (but who would be outlived by her). It’s unknown when she died. She was survived by descendants that mingled with Roman society, but eventually, that memory was lost as well.    As a Servant, Zenobia appears to be taking a more personal approach to life instead of pursuing grand goals. She knows that history is written by the winners, and if anything worries her, is that her story and that of her people could become a footnote in someone else’s tale. If there’s anything that she wishes to rectify, it’s that. She doesn’t put much stock in the ability of any magical device to change past events. What happened, happened. History can’t be changed, but the narrative? The narrative can. If it’s within her power, the Palmyrenes won’t be forgotten.    She appears largely unperturbed by her past defeat and doesn’t hold on to old regrets, ceaselessly seeking new fights and experiences who entertain her in her ventures into the modern world. 

Zenobia has been summoned into a new battlefield with the determination of facing new challenges and reaching new goals in this second life. She is the sum of all her triumphs and failures, and she refuses to be defined by any one of them, major as they might be. She takes developments in stride and appears to be boisterous and good-humored… but there’s an edge and a coolness that one might draw out from underneath.    The Queen of the East believes that life should be enjoyed to the fullest, and her one true ambition is that of self-improvement. Knowledge is to be embraced, skills are to be honed, and new experiences are to be sampled like the delicacies they are. She rejects closed-mindedness and prejudice (misogyny is especially irksome), despises incompetence and corruption and strives to be worthy of everything that she possesses. This means that if an axiom defines her, it could be one as succinct as “work hard, play hard”: she takes her duties very seriously, but she also believes that anyone deserves to enjoy the pleasures of the world, especially if they have been earned beforehand through one’s own efforts.    Because of this, even though she will jovially engage with her Master in hopes of securing a mutually beneficial relationship, she will silently watch them like a hawk, gauging their worth. Should she find them acceptable, she will carefully listen to their opinion. Should she find them unworthy, her commanding side will emerge, she will swiftly take control and demote her Master to either her apprentice or her subject in their relationship, someone who is under her wing until they see the error of their ways and find a better way to lead their life. Needless to say, she would find the notion of entitlement of certain magi very distasteful.    She hates wastefulness. However, money holds no appeal for her. It is just a means to an end, a useful tool that she exploited to grow her kingdom and send a message. The more tangible goods and experiences that one may need or enjoy take precedence before the currency that buys them. What is a mountain of gold compared to a field of grain or a stream of water? To a book, or a dance?    Zenobia’s light shines the brightest in a fight. She tackles the enemy with a smile and is always on the move, looking for leverage, for new advantages. She has no taste for cruelty in combat, but relishes the challenges, the technique, the satisfaction of outmaneuvering her enemies and the chance to unleash her full strength. She is very mindful of power, and knows that sometimes, force is more effective than diplomacy. As someone who was once powerless to control her own fate, she endeavors to make part of every defeat a victory and isn’t afraid to fight when she can lose if she can make something out of it. For her, practicality is above prestige.    “To live another day is to fight another day”, she says.    As much as she gladly carries on the spirit and pride of the Palmyrenes, she has decided that she should not involve her citizens in the battles that she fights as a Servant. Fighting them is her choice alone, and this is why she has discarded any Noble Phantasms that would allow her to summon her troops.    "It was my privilege to have them at my side in life. They have earned their rest. Now, it will be my duty to make their memory one that the world will not easily forget! Our footprints might have been blown away by the winds of time, but the idea of us is eternal. My husband, my son... one day, you will be a memory that I will carry on too. Make sure that it's a good one!"

Zenobia has access to the weaponry that she commissioned for her armies: a sword, a spear, a shield, knives, a bow, arrows. These are sturdy but modest weapons, devoid of any kind of legend or special effect besides withstanding the rigors of standard Servant combat. She will use them if she needs them, but Zenobia still sees her body as her main weapon and will usually initiate hand-to-hand combat to deal with her enemies. In most circumstances, the attacks that she deals this way are stronger than the bite of any metal that she may carry on her.    The Queen’s height and muscles make her a big target, but she’s deceptively agile, dodging most attacks with ease. She is perfectly capable of performing feats of acrobatics, but she tends to be more practical than that.     The chains that she carries allow her to entangle her enemies and bring them within range of her fists, as well as to use them to grab elements from the environment and smash them against the enemy. In her most inspired moments, she has been known to give quite the exhibition by materializing and dematerializing the chains at will to quickly confuse the enemy and lure them into traps. 

[To be unlocked after the contest. Some things are better discussed afterwards.]    I will say one thing, though, I imagine her voiced by Romi Park.