Sanya was born in Chuchelo Village. The special trees in that area are often used to make magic puppets, which are a common export of the village. Numerous craftsmen have settled in Chuchelo to hone their craft, as the area provided easy access to the special lumber.
Many of the villagers learn some level of magic to control the puppets, often using them for certain tasks including heavy lifting. Sanya was particularly gifted at mystical puppetry, to the point where she could control several at once, a very rare feat. From a young age, she entered into an apprenticeship with a puppet master. Eventually, she caught the eye of a visiting sorceress, Lilly Smith, alongside other young puppet masters from both Chuchelo and elsewhere.
Sanya became a combat mage, with Lilly helping her develop her magic to greater levels. She was given high-quality puppets that could be stored as small accessories until needed, as well as magic guns for her own defense. Like the puppets, these firearms use her mana as a power source.
As one of Lilly's most talented puppet masters, Sanya served as one of her elite enforcers, often serving as her bodyguard during missions, and other times traveling in her regular party when it didn't call for Lilly's personal touch. However, during one mission she was critically injured and had to be petrified in order to save her life. Due to the nature of her wounds, they were unable to heal her and she was left in stasis for several years.
In time, Lilly developed new magics that could aid in Sanya’s recovery, somewhat. Although she was still unable to restore her physically, she awakened her consciousness while leaving her body in a petrified state. Her mind was hooked up to a transmitter, allowing her to control golems, even from great distances. However, she is no longer able to send them mana or cast spells.
The golems were built in Sanya's image, giving her a sense of normalcy. Eventually, they got complex enough to be considered androids. Sanya's talent for controlling puppets wasn't lost, allowing her the ability to control several at once with minimal loss in functionality. This was initially aided by a support A.I., and later aided further by the advancements Deana Williams made once she was able to get her hands on one.
Now, Sanya acts as a one-woman SWAT team. She can switch the androids to autonomous mode, only taking basic commands from her. They are often used as shock troops. For personal reasons, Sanya will normally have the autonomous units wear helmets while the ones she directly controls go bare-faced.
Growing up, Sanya always enjoyed playing with her dolls. She would spend hours practicing her control over them or polishing them. After her near-death experience and years in storage, she became more outgoing, enjoying life's experiences despite her synthetic body. This had the extra effect of making her more sociable.
I came up with Sanya back in 2017 and commissioned the picture, but I never got around to really using her. I was inspired by Prince Lwai from Dimension W. However, I wanted to use her in a few stories first. I never did come up with any where she would get enough battle damage for a robot reveal. She was in Plight of the Necromancer, but that took place before her incident.
I'm afraid her rifle came out more modern-looking then I would have liked, as opposed to the high fantasy rifle I wanted. Lilly generally avoids importing traditional firearms into Trivium, but guns that work on mana already existed well before her.
I had also come up with the green color scheme before settling on Lilly's colors. Back then, I was using a more G.I. Joe approach, using just what ever I felt like for their outfits and colors.
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Colors by me.
