Twin Empresses
| NPC | Trivia |
Lieselotte Ewigegnade and Hildegard Grimmacht, the Twin Empresses of Leithanien, are NPCs in Arknights. They are first mentioned in Rewinding Breeze; Lieselotte makes a brief appearance in Lingering Echoes and Hildegard appears in Zwillingstürme im Herbst, where both also act as major characters.
Background
As the current Kaiserinnen of Leithanien, Lieselotte and Hildegard, the Twin Empresses, are viewed as heroines who slew the evil Witch King within his Spire during the Septemberrevolution of the Kurfürsten and liberated the Leithanians in the year 1077 following the victorious yet disastrous Battle of the Four Emperors. The twin sisters are noted to have two different color schemes and personalities: Lieselotte wears a white uniform, have golden hair and curved horns, and is known for her motherly nature, whereas Hildegard wears a black uniform, possesses black hair and straight horns, and has a more ruthless character, to the point that the local nobles, out of fear, often refer to her as "The Next Witch King". Their differing characters result in frequent clashes on some issues and cooperation, though it is said that the day when both Empresses unanimously agree is a very significant one.[1][2] Due to their popular support, the Empresses' political power is so immeasurable that even great powers like Victoria have to pay homage to them. The Empresses have a band of royal guards known as the "Empresses' Voices" who remains close to them at all times.[3]
Not everyone is supportive of the Empresses, however, especially the so-called Echoes of Herkunftshorn. To them, the Empresses are viewed as usurpers of the throne who underestimated the King's legitimacy. They accuse the Empresses of having shady backgrounds and blame them for the bloody purge of the King's family, including his distant relatives.[4] In reality, while the purge did occur, the Empresses had attempted to rescue some of the innocent relatives from the Echoes' grasp, particularly the children. On one occasion, after dispatching their forces to dismantle the Echoes' lab, they rescued young Ebenholz, the last descendant of the Witch King's bloodline, brought him into their court, and restored some of his status out of pity. However, their mercy came with the price of frequent "brainwashing" by the Empresses' fanatical supporters to blindly praise them.[5]
Side Stories
Lingering Echoes
Following the Vyseheim incident, one of the Empresses' servant reports the event to Empress Lieselotte. The Empress then receives the full record of the lost "Voice of Terra" played during Czerny's concert. As she listens, she becomes entranced by the melody and appreciates Czerny's talent, though she also remarks that he is not quite talented enough.[6]
Zwillingstürme im Herbst
During the days approaching the 23rd anniversary of the Witch King's death, Empress Hildegard had plotted to uncover the Witch King's legacy, the Genesis Horn, in order to retrieve the knowledge he left behind. To that end, she had called for Ebenholz to return to Leithanien and requested the aid of a Lich named Fremont to extract the Voice of Terra from him.
On the day of the ceremony, the Twin Empresses had intentionally allowed the Echoes of Herkunftshorn to tamper with the Güldenesgesatz, causing the performance to fall into disarray, tearing open a warp in space-time known by the Liches as Desolate Domain, or Kargereich. The two empresses forced themselves into the space with the help of the Liches and came face-to-face with the lingering soul of Herkunftshorn, the Witch King. Lieselotte, with her white shield, and Hildegard, with her black sword, battle against him once more, just as they did 23 years ago, in order to finally rid Terra of his presence completely.
The Twin Empresses successfully triumph over the Witch King. However, his defeat causes Kargereich to collapse even faster, with Collapsals threatening to leak out into Leithanien. In order to protect their country, Hildegard chooses to stay behind and uses her power to construct a new spire in place of the Witch King's, stabilising Kargereich. Lieselotte returns to reality safely, praised as the hero who saved Leithanien once again. After the incident, Hildegard is declared as having "lost her voice" by the Kurfürsten.[7]
References
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