Arianrhod

Arianrhod (アリアンロード), also known as the Steel Maiden (の), is introduced as the Seventh Anguis of Ouroboros and leader of the Stahlritter.

Appearance
Arianrhod is a tall woman who has a youthful appearance with bright long blonde hair and blue eyes. Part of her hair is worn in a braid. She is always seen wearing an ornate set of silver plate armour which consists of a chest and neck piece, two pauldrons with three spiked protrusions each, a circular plate around the waist, gauntlets, greaves and large round elbow guards. She also has a face-obscuring helmet with a series of lines for vision and two curved horns. Part of her outfit is a large silver cape with a violet lining, and similar drapes of cloth around her waist with the Ouroboros emblem on them.

Arianrhod uses a huge cavalry lance in battle, which is taller than her. The handle is long and thin, ending in three spikes, whilst two thirds of the weapon is the lance blade itself. The lance has several tiers of metal bands which narrow to the tip, with turquoise and gems inlaid along. The tip has two blade like extensions.

Personality
Arianrhod is a noble-minded warrior, considered the strongest fighter in Ouroboros, rivaled only by Enforcer No. I, McBurn, and in the whole of Zemuria, it is believed that only First Dominion of the Gralsritter, Ein Selnate, would stand a chance against her in a fair fight.

Arianrhod is a woman who can be described as a saint. She has a noble personality and the disposition of a warrior having been raised since birth to be a knight. She can be considered well-educated and because of her noble lineage excels at military tactics and combat techniques.

With regards to Ouroboros, Arianrhod puts her loyalty for the Grandmaster above anything else, however, despite her loyalty to the Grandmaster, Arianrhod had gone out of her way to assist Lloyd and Rean, being a woman of pride who prefers to let her actions speak for themselves.

Arianrhod was also rather fond of Enforcer No. II, Leonhardt, as she would often spar with the Bladelord many times prior to the latter's death, and considered it a great loss upon learning of his passing, as she believed that he had the potential to surpass her one day.

Background
Arianrhod is the alias of St. Lianne Sandlot (リアンヌ・サンドロット), a woman who lived for more than 275 years and played a vital role in Erebonian history.

During the Middle Ages, Arianrhod fought alongside Emperor Dreichels Reise Arnor during the War of the Lions and helped him claim victory. During this time, she was known as the Lance Maiden (の) and Valkyrie, , and led the Eisenritter knights to assist her and Dreichels in the war. Later, she became the Awakener of the Silver Divine Knight, Argreion.

In her final decades, Arianrhod, now entitled the Steel Maiden, served Ouroboros as its Seventh Anguis. She was the leader of the Stahlritter, an elite band of female knights within Ouroboros led by Duvalie and also including Ines and Ennea, all of whom she recruited. Possessing both a Divine Knight and a powerful lance, Arianrhod was one of the three most powerful agents of the Society, along with Enforcers McBurn and Loewe, with her serving as a mentor to the latter prior to his death.

Childhood
Arianrhod was born as Lianne Sandlot, daughter of the Count governing over Lohengrin Castle, in Legram in S.926.



She showed great martial skill from a young age. In particular, her skill with the lance was unparalleled. By the time she was 15, she was able to compete with any knight of the castle and no records exist of her ever being bested in combat. Growing up in Legram, home of many martial arts, she was able to demonstrate her natural talents from a young age onward and became skilled enough to best the soldiers of the castle at the age 15. She grew up to be a woman known her for preternatural strength and beauty, which led some to believe that she was a changeling, switched by fairies at birth.

In S.942, Lianne started hearing a voice, whispering to her about her fate and a mission she had to fulfil. Before long Roselia appeared before her and guided her to the basement of Lohengrin Castle. Together, they tackled a number of trials proving her fitting to become the Awakener to one of the seven Divine Knights: the Argent Knight, Argreion. Lianne, however, found its power too great and decided to seal it away in the basement of the Lohengrin Castle.

War of the Lions
Lianne became the commander of the Eisenritter. They operated from the Lohengrin Castle off the coast near Legram. They were a band of knights said to be able to charge across the battlefield like lightning, cutting down all in their path. During the War of the Lions, Lianne Sandlot met the wandering prince Dreichels Reise Arnor during a prolonged conflict in Legram, Erebonia, in S.950. . After recognizing each other as reliable and trustworthy, they pledged to fight together under a united banner. With the Eisenritter bolstering Dreichels' ranks, their combined effort swept through one region after another. In just a year, they were able to defeat the other princes and free Heimdallr.

In their final battle against the Vermillion Apocalypse, Lianne Sandlot was mortally wounded as she covered for Dreichels and lost her life as the war came to an end. With her death, the line of Count Sandlot came to an end.

In the aftermath of the war, Roselia retrieved her body and brought it to the home of the Hexen Clan. After half a year of no decomposition, Lianne suddenly revived, as witnessed by Roselia and Sion Arseid, her second-in-command. Rather than returning to her duties, Lianne decided to wander through Zemuria. She left Arseid in charge of her hometown, Legram. The Arseid Family then started referring to themselves as 'S. Arseid' in her honour. Arseid was subsequently granted the title of viscount after the war because of his show of bravery and courage during it.

Following the System once initiated by the Hexen Clan, Roselia erased any knowledge regarding the Divine Knights and the Infernal Castle from the minds of the populace, leading them to believe that Lianne died under mysterious circumstances after the War of the Lions. There are theories that she was murdered or died to an illness. One of the accounts of St. Sandlot's death places it right around the end of August. Ever since her death, Legram holds an annual memorial service for St. Sandlot and the Arseid Family has taken up the responsibility to care and maintain Lohengrin Castle. A statue of Lianne and her two foremost commanders was erected in Legram in approximately S.1000 to honour St. Sandlot's achievements. The knight kneeling on the lower right is the Sion Arseid.

After her revival, Lianne wandered outside Erebonia until she decided to visit Dreichels in Heimdallr in S.994. While she herself had not aged, Dreichels himself was now in his deathbed. Dreichels called her cold-hearted for discarding the promise they had made to live together, but she answered that she would not have been able to grant him his long-cherished dream of birthing him children. She immediately asks for particulars about the darkness that is torturing Dreichels. After Dreichels' death, she was worried that the curse might transmigrate with Dreichel's soul, ultimately deciding to look out for his possible reincarnation.

During her wandering, Lianne has regular contact with Roselia. That ends when she meets the Grandmaster in S.1186, who invites her to join her side. Lianne, however, continues her search for Dreichels' transmigrated soul and finds him 180 years later in the form of Giliath Osborne, a man in the prime of his life married to a woman with whom he has a child. Though glad to see Osborne living happily, a part of Lianne did feel regret she had not found him earlier and missed an opportunity to finally be with him herself. She watches over Osborne from the shadows, but is relieved to find the darkness has not yet transmigrated along. Reassured, but wary the darkness cannot have disappeared entirely, she considers and eventually accepts the Grandmaster's invitation to serve her at Ouroboros.

The Grandmaster, however, immediately warns her for an impending crisis. The instant she took her eyes off Osborne, the darkness reared its head again. Lianne sped to Osborne's house, but was unable to make it in time: In order to save his son's life, Osborne had made a pact with Ishmelga, who had been waiting for Dreichels' reincarnation for 200 years. On that moment, Lianne decides to help advance Ouroboros' Phantasmal Blaze Plan, absorb the strength of the five other Divine Knights with her own and slaughter Ishmelga for once and for all. She assumes the identity of Arianrhod and serves the Grandmaster as the Seventh Anguis.

Ouroboros
Details about Arianrhod's early years at Ouroboros are sparse. In S.1194, Arianrhod battles the legendary assassin of Calvard, Yin, who was among the first capable to destroy the mask she wears in battles. Arianrhod is also involved in the decisive attack on the assassination group Order of the Moonlight Horse later that year.

In S.1198, she notices the 15-year-old Duvalie, who had always admired the legend of the Lance Maiden of the faraway Erebonia. Arianrhod immediately reveals her true identity to Duvalie and decides to patiently train her. Together with Duvalie she raids one of the D∴G Cult Lodges and saves Ennea, who felt reborn and would repay her eternal gratitude to them by joining their cause. Ines was working as a bracer when she met her, observing an unnamed ringleader with political power. Arianrhod intervened by cutting down the ringleader and his henchmen, "condemning evil without bound by anything", Ines later recalled. Inspired by Arianrhod's resolution, Ines picked up her family's traditional fighting style, and joined the Stahlritter.

In S.1197, five years after Campanella's successful recruitment of Leonhardt as Enforcer No. II, she introduces herself to him and challenges him to a sword duel. She easily breaks his defense and gives him the alias of Bladelord. She then leaves for the Grandmaster in the Celestial Globe, where she acknowledges Leonhardt's strength and requests him a new sword. Her request is granted and returns with him before the Grandmaster, where she warns him that accepting the Kernviter means he will be leaving out the rest of his life in Carnage with no means to return as a human.

Arianrhod's first appearance is a game is in as the Seventh Anguis, where she mourns Loewe's death during the Gospel Plan as a swordsman with the skills to surpass her one day. She advises the Grandmaster not to blame herself over the losses of the plan and fully commits herself for the execution of the Phantasmal Blaze Plan in Crossbell and Erebonia.

On August 29, S.1204, Arianrhod briefly visits the old headquarters of the Eisenritter, the Lohengrin Castle near Legram, after having heard word that something strange has happened at the castle. Encountering Class VII who are on a field trip, Arianrhod decides to watch their progress from the shadows taking particular notice of Laura S. Arseid as they battle Nosferatu, the condemned soul of a king who has taken possession of the castle. After Class VII defeats Nosferatu, Arianrhod notices Nosferatu making a last desperate assault on Class VII and decides to intervene, saving Class VII (and specifically Rean) from the Nosferatu by making a final attack on the orb controlling the barrier surrounding the castle. After launching her attack and destroying the orb, Arianrhod disappears so that Class VII doesn't notice her (though they notice her anyway) and returns to her Stahlritter squad, having become interested in Laura's noble background and latent potential

Soon thereafter, Arianrhod accesses the Celestial Globe to report that she can leave preparations for the Phantasmal Blaze Plan there to the "Oathbreaker". She indicates she'll be heading to Crossbell next, ignoring Campanella's remark that the city has significantly changed since her last visit. Her involvement in the Phantasmal Blaze Plan in Crossbell is limited to defending the bell on top of the Stargazer's Tower for the success of the Azure-Zero Project. She is ultimately confronted by the SSS late December of S.1204. After their battle, Elie MacDowell makes an attempt to confirm Arianrhod's identity as Lianne Sandlot. Arianrhod compliments her for knowing her history books and teases that fate holds the "answer" for them before warping away.

After the Erebonian Civil War, she moves toward Erebonia alongside her Stahlritter. She is tasked with retrieving the Phantasmal Blaze Plan that was taken over by Chancellor Osborne in S.1204. When she resumes her (on-screen) duties for the plan in Erebonia in May/June S.1206, a year has passed since she last met McBurn and Campanella. The Stahlritter are tasked with charging the Aion Type-αII in the Sol Shrine, but they find themselves interrupted initially by Millium Orion, whom they managed to trap, followed by Rean Schwarzer and Class VII. When the students turn the tide into their favour, Arianrhod decides to intervene. She orders the Aion to stop Valimar and engages into a duel with Rean. When Gaius Worzel shows up and Millium breaks free from her trapping, Arianrhod comments on the yet unrevealed Stigma of Gaius and warps away. While the majority of Ouroboros and the Red Constellation distract major imperial forces near Ordis, Arianrhod, the Stahlritter, and the remnants of the Northern Jaegers take over Juno Naval Fortress for the final Aion experiment.

On top of the fortress, Arianrhod is challenged by Aurelia Le Guin. Together with her knights she faces off against the former general of the Noble Alliance and members of the original Class VII. Aurelia emerges victorious, with Arianrhod admitting that she is now stronger than she herself once was. To resume the experiment and return to the domain of the Great One, she activates the Aion to test its capabilities against Valimar and assisting Panzer Soldats. After the battle, she summons Argreion, the Divine Knight she first met almost three centuries prior. She destroys the Aion's remains and speeds off. That night, she meets with Roselia for the first time in 20 years, jesting that she wonders what Dreichels would have said of her new 'child' look.

After Ouroboros’ experiments with the 3 Aions, the seven Anguis votes on whether to support the Chancellor and Gnomes’ Great Twilight plan in exchange for the completion of the Phantasmal Blaze Plan. Arianrhod votes to support the Great Twilight, knowing that it would give her the opportunity to take down Ishmelga.

After the manifestation of the Gral of Erebos, Arianrhod serves as the first obstruction alongside McBurn for the two generations of Class VII. Arianrhod reiterates she sides with Osborne for the sake of the Grandmaster. The Ouroboros powerhouses are stopped in their tracks by Gaius, Laura, and Emma as the others proceed down the Gral. Right before the end of, Arianrhod is forced to summon Argreion as she makes her way down the Gral to stop Rean and Valimar from going berserk. As soon as she catches the Sword of the End, it instantly returns to its original blue hue.

After warping away from the Gral, Arianrhod does not appear until Rean's jailbreak from the Black Workshop. She fights him and New Class VII alongside Osborne. She and Osborne summon their Divine Knights to battle Valimar, Ordine, and the students in their Panzer Soldats, but her opponents flee the scene before the battle can even start.

For her Rivalry Arianrhod decided on the Stella Sanctuary, which Rean and his comrades access through the Wetlands south of Mishelam, Crossbell. When they reach the area, Arianrhod awaits them she proclaims she will be fighting them not as Lianne Sandlot but as the Seventh Anguis of Ouroboros. Both groups realize that they both ultimately wish to rid Erebonia of the curse and engage in combat to settle the score and prove who is stronger.

At the end of the battle, they managed to break off the tip of Arianrhod's lance. With the stage set for the Third Rivalry, she boards Argreion and launches her attacks against Valimar. With the help of Ordine, Valimar is victorious and the power of Argreion is getting absorbed into the Ashen Knight. Motivational speeches from Roselia, Duvalie and Juna Crawford have her second-guess her decision. When she makes up her mind to meet with Dreichels one more time and seemingly decides to become Rean's kin as well, just like Crow, she is interrupted by Rufus Albarea, Awakener of the Golden Divine Knight, El-Prado, who pierces Argreion trough the chest. His Divine Knight absorbs Argreion's power and inherits its wings. He shields himself for incoming attacks from the enraged victors of the Rivalry, but protects himself with El-Prado's superior defensive system and disappears from the scene.

Argreion vanishes and reveals a semi-transparent Arianrhod lying on her back with an enormous wound through her left. She thanks her Stahlritter, describing them as the children she never could have had. She also express her gratitude to have met Roselia and tells Laura she would be honoured to have her family (continue to) carry the "S" in their name. To Rean she expresses how she had watched over him for most of his life, and that he was the son she always imagined having. With her final strength, she bestows a blessing upon Valimar, allowing him to talk once again, and the Sword of the End, allowing Millium Orion to leave the sword as a spectre. With her last breath, she whispers that she will be waiting for Dreichels at the Goddess's side, before finally fading away.

After the Stella Sanctuary vanishes and the characters find themselves back in the Marshlands, Campanella shows up to say farewell to his old acquaintance. Fellow Anguis Vita Clotilde and (former) Enforcers Joshua Bright, Renne Bright, and Bleublanc also come to pay their respects. The reunion is interrupted, however, by the appearance of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Two days after her death, the Stahlritter create a memorial for their fallen lord.

A hollow copy of Arianrhod is created as an opponent in the Infinity Corridor.

Etymology
Arianrhod is named after the Celtic Goddess of fertility and rebirth, responsible for the weaving of cosmic time and fate. Her name has been translated as 'silver-wheel' (from the Welsh arian, ' silver,' and rhod, 'wheel'), a symbol that represents the ever-turning wheel of the year.

Trivia

 * She is both the oldest and only female Awakener.
 * Arianrhod's design is inspired by Joan of Arc, also known as Jeanne d'Arc.
 * Her full name "Lianne Sandlot" is an allusion to a real life legend named Lancelot, who is a close companion and loyal knight of the legendary King Arthur in Arthurian mythology.
 * Arianrhod's physical attacks cannot miss.