Patron Saints/Red Diamond
From Greenthings
Red Diamond was truly her namesake in the rough of Chiaroscuro. Her paintings and glass figurines could take one's breath away, and sailors would refuse to look at her depictions of storms for fear of drowning... If anyone ever got to see her art, that is.
Red Diamond was a pack rat. Her art was made for art's sake, and she kept everything for herself. Even the smallest doodles were locked away in the basement of the crystal pyramid a friend had helped her build for her house. Red Diamond felt that others had no appreciation for her talent or the emotions that she expressed in her work, and thus kept her heart as hidden as her crafts, only exposing it to a few trusted members of Chiaroscuro's Council for the Glass City's Beautification (CGCB).
Well, until one day she spotted the exotic-looking Westerner downtown. A freak accident caused a shard of glass from one of Chiaroscuro's old towers to plummet into the main square, skewering a couple that was there to shop. Immediately recognized a beautiful event when she saw it, Red Diamond whipped out her treasured silver brush and an ever-present piece of canvas. She sketched the people with dull browns and purples, contrasted by the bright yellow and green of the glass and bursting crimson of their blood. Before she could finish, though, someone emerged from the crowd of onlookers to whip them into action. The Westerner called for help, and began to staunch the victims' bleeding. His action and impassioned face further inspired Red Diamond, and her first picture of him is something that she treasured above all else.
Her courtship of him was not traditional, to say the least. She suspected that he was surprised and confused when he began to receive glass figurines of traditional origami (a fad of the Realm that she found out he so adored), beautifully woven silk shirts, kimonos, and pants. She liked to think that his biggest shock was when he found the huge mural painted across the side of his parents' home, in which a beautiful island scene was depicted.
When Cho finally caught up with her, though, she was speechless. Not only from the confidence and masculinity that she'd always admired from afar, but because her humiliating speech impediment made her so. After he lavished compliment upon compliment on her, though, she managed to stutter out an embarrassing ten-second attempt at "Thank-you." Horrified about what he would think of her, she hid for days until he found her again and courted her in return. She was in love with the man who could look past what she saw as a depressing flaw, and expressed that love by dedicating her art and her life to him.
Cho's social ease also brought Red Diamond out into the world. Cho spoke with a few members of the CGCB and they in turn persuaded Red Diamond and the rest of the coalition to work with Dragon-blooded representatives of the Realm to restore Chiaroscuro. Their most prominent work is a sparkling crystalline fountain that dominates Chiaroscuro's main square, the same one where Red first saw Cho.
As beautiful as Red's work was, though, her body was exactly the opposite. Ever-present acne scars marred low-cheek bones and a broad jawline, and her forehead sloped a bit that accentuated her slight balding. Her hair was always nappy no matter how much she tried to take care of it (not that she did much), and she expressed hair in unfortunate places that most cosmopolitan women didn't. She didn't think that mattered, though, because surely her suitor loved all of her... right?
