Empress of the Golden Dynasty
Manipulative and cunning, she has the intellgence any leader of her status should. She can seem cold-hearted to most, but Mei-Lien learned long ago that politics was no place for a soft heart.
While she is not trained in weaponry, her skills with dark magic serve her well enough. The only weapon she possesses is a small dagger...the same she used to kill her late husband so long ago.
Mei-Lien was born the the oldest of two daughters to a Noble family within the Imperial Court. Her was chosen to become to the Emperor's wife, and her upbringing groomed her for such a role. Her grandmother taught her how to use sorcery. While she was originally innocent and pure, she slowly became consumed with the dark arts. With her talents, she killed her sister but made it appear to seem like a natural though untimely death.
With her sister out of the way, she became the newly chosen bride-to-be. Her future husband was as manipulative as she, but she was far more cunning. Regardless they were wed and produced an heir. During the Emperor's siege of the Shadow Monks temples, she killed him in order to save the last child prophesized to be the new Phoenix. Hoping to raise her as her own in hopes that the girl would turn to them, she adopted her as her daughter.
Now, she hopes that all those years of raising her will reward her with a Phoenix reborn in the darkness.