Katherine Chandos

Katherine Chandos is the Empress of Azukri and, as the wife of Slender, the Empress-Consort of Magonia. She is of mixed heritage, having 1/3 Adelie Penguin, 1/3 Enclave Penguin and 1/3 Chavezuelan ancestries. She is the first female ruler of the Sublime State and widely considered to be the figurehead of the Multicolour Revolution. Katherine’s father is the previous Emperor Edward V, but her mother’s name is not publicly known (although the fact that she is said to be a celebrity in either Cuadra, Castilla, Malesia or Chavezuela has narrowed the list to around 5 penguins who supposedly bear some resemblances to the Empress).

Previously exiled by her father and unrecognised due to her father’s dislike for Enclave Penguins, she resided in South Pole City for a few years after becoming qualified as an anaesthesiologist. During that time period, she used the alias of Katherine Gabriella.

Early Life
Katherine Chandos was hatched on 21 December 1999. The brief marriage between her father, Edward V, and her mother was a closely guarded secret. Initially, Edward V looked to her as the last hope for the country as all of his children were spoiled brats by that point. She was shown to be extremely intelligent at a young age and even able to solve calculus problems at the age of 5.

Things took a turn for the worse in 2005, when her mother was caught cheating on Edward V with the then-Emperor’s chauffeur. What happened next was unclear, but after the incident Katherine’s mother could no longer be found in the palace. Multiple accounts exist, with the most prevailing theory being that the Emperor kicked her out of the country with allegedly 300 million CPC as hush money. Others said that he imprisoned her, but she managed to escape back to her home country. A third theory, which sounded likely considering the despotic nature of the Emperor, alleged that the Emperor had her executed. The chauffeur was found dead with 50 bullets lodged into his back later on, which the Azukrian authorities ruled to be suicide.

Initially, Edward V’s relationship with Katherine did not change much. However, as she grew older, her facial features began to closely resemble her mother’s. As this reminded him of his adulterous ex-wife, the Emperor slowly grew to dislike her presence and a rift began to form in their relationship. In addition to this, Katherine’s father provided her with much less material comfort compared to her siblings. This is because he did not want her to be spoiled like the rest of her siblings. For instance, while her brother Francis was gifted a Lamborghini Gallardo for his 14th birthday, she had to buy her first car with her own salary. Katherine’s clothes were also considerably more “upper-middle class” than her siblings’ couture outfits, as her clothes are relatively affordable for most Azukrians albeit they are branded.

At the age of 14, she started pursuing a Degree in Medicine at Penguin State University. She’d initially wanted to become an actuary, but she changed her mind. At the age of 16, Katherine became among the youngest anaesthesiologist in the country. She briefly resided in South Pole City for 2 years, with her father giving her a “modest” income of 120,000 CPC per month (which is roughly equivalent to her annual salary). This sum is small compared to the millions that her siblings received every month from Edward V.

Rise to Power
In 2016, while then-Magonian Chancellor Slender was on a trip to South Pole City, he got to know Katherine when he went to a café for coffee. As the former had broken up with another girl a few months ago, he tried to hit it off with her, which worked out pretty well since Katherine was unusually friendly with him. This is considered to be abnormal since Katherine usually do not talk much to boys.

The two started dating casually, which eventually evolved into a serious relationship. Around 2 months into their relationship, Slender first found out about her royal lineage when she invited him to her sister Francesca’s wedding in Azukri. Their relationship quickly became known throughout Azukri and Magonia, and soon enough the rest of Antarctica. Edward V was initially opposed to his daughter dating Slender (it was even claimed that Slender had to evoke diplomatic immunity just to avoid being arbitrarily arrested by the Azukrian Emperor), but overtime he began to approve of their relationship.

In 2016, the Multicolour Revolution broke out against Edward V’s racist government in Azukri. Initially, Edward V, who had the support of the military and the Mukhabarat, was able to suppress the demonstrators and rebels. However, these two institutions (long regarded as pillars of support of the monarchy) began to turn on the Emperor himself. Most Azukrians supported installing Katherine on the throne, as the rest of her siblings were either incompetent or uninterested in their royal duties. Edward V, who still held the support of a few hardline factions of the military, was reluctant to abdicate the throne after holding it for decades. Many feared that there would be a bloody last-stand in Azukri City as the Emperor tried to preserve his power. However, just as tensions reached boiling point, the Emperor abdicated to everyone’s surprise. What happened was unclear, but there are allegations that Slender offered to pay the Emperor over 5 billion CPC in various assets in exchange for handing the throne to Katherine (almost all of Edward V’s massive fortune had been seized by then).

Rule in Azukri
Under Katherine’s rule, the Sublime State became considerably more liberal politically. State-sanctioned racial discrimination against Enclave Penguins ended, with the country electing its first female Enclave Penguin Grand Vizier, Nurul Ismail. Compared to the “blood and lead” rule of her father, political dissidence was not as suppressed as before (although this is often attributed to the fact that Azukrians prefer her policies over her father’s). The country also enjoyed higher economic growth than before, as it started trading with more countries. Some of the country’s policies are also influenced by Magonia’s governmental policies. Katherine also seeks to enhance the country’s technological level by pouring more funds into STEM subjects.

Aside from several notable changes to Azukri, the country is otherwise unchanged.

Personality
Katherine Chandos can be described as a reserved penguin. It is uncharacteristic of her to engage in conversations with strangers. The only exception to this is if she’s in a really good mood.

Compared to her husband, Katherine is genuinely kinder and more compassionate. She is capable of understanding her subjects’ grievances, which helps her in ruling the country. She is also capable of controlling and channeling her emotions, as she rarely gets upset compared to Slender.

Abilities
Katherine Chandos is considered to be a very intelligent person due to her ability to learn and master something faster than ordinary penguins. Her academic results are outstanding and she is also known for being able to converse in several languages fluently, namely English, Malay, Spanish, Chinese and French. She is currently learning Japanese and Esperanto. The Empress also knows how to code in Python.

Katherine also knows a vast array of life hacks, which makes her life easier. She also knows how to play several musical instruments, such as the drum, the piano and the viola.

Relatives
Katherine has a strained relationship with her father Edward V. Previously, this was due to her father’s dislike for penguins with Enclave heritage (which she had from her mother). While xenophobia no longer defined their relationship, her father still dislikes her for overthrowing him even though he still holds the honorary title of Emperor. In return, Katherine doesn’t really like her father much for exiling her and treating her unfavourably compared to her siblings. Even then, it is still apparent that the two’s relationship leans towards one of love-hate as her father regularly speaks fondly of his memories with her when she was still young, while Katherine often intervened on Edward’s behalf whenever his father is caught up in some controversy overseas.

Aside from her brother Francis and her sister Theresa, Katherine doesn’t really get along with her siblings. In her youth, she found the unfavourable treatment that she received from her father compared to her siblings to be unfair, and she would occasionally be mad at them. As a result, clear distinctions formed between them. While her siblings would drive sports cars, wear expensive designer clothes and be accompanied by their own retinues, she drove a Japalandese sedan (until Slender bought her a Bugatti), wore relatively inexpensive clothes until she returned to Azukri and at most be only accompanied by one servant. She was saddened when Francis was killed in a car crash and she still keeps in touch with Theresa, who lives in Liguria nowadays. On the other hand, she shed almost no tear when her elder brother Joshua Chandos attempted to suppress protesters with his own paramilitary and ended up getting killed in the Multicolour Revolution. She also cut off Mary Chandos’ royal allowance when she attempted to lay her claim on her throne and refused to attend her funeral when she passed away due to heart complications.

Weaknesses
Katherine is lacking in terms of physical abilities. As a result, she can’t really stand a chance against opponents who have been trained to fight.

Trivia

 * Katherine’s favourite dish is spaghetti aglio olio. Her favourite beverage is flat white, like her husband.


 * The Imperial family’s wealth is legendary due to its sheer collection of land holdings, equity stakes (both public and private), artworks, real estate, jewellery and other assets. In fact, it is said to be larger than Slender’s, which led to controversy within the Azukrian court when Katherine married Slender.