Editing Treachery:Blades (section)

==Background==

Three centuries ago, Musashi Blade's-Regal set off across the World Ash, in search of new worlds and worthy opponents to duel.

Three weeks ago, Leah Kerrigan became the new Domina of Blades.

Perhaps the finest swordsman on Earth finally met his match. But given the timing, there are those of the opinion that it was Ram-Khvastra's patience that ran out; that Musashi refused to be recalled to his inquisitorial duties, and was unmade by his Imperator.

Leah was born into a family of Irish immigrants in Boston; an alcoholic father, an overworked mother, and an elder sister crippled by polio. Never beaten, never abused, Leah instead faced the worst fate any child can imagine; she was ignored. As she grew older, attention-seeking tantrums and sulks gave way to resigned withdrawal, and Leah's frustration turned inward, her weapon of choice a razor blade and a bottle of iodine.

Over the last year a bad neighbourhood rapidly got worse. Violent crime was up, employment was down, vandalism and arson plagued every street, and a rash of teen suicides was in the news. Leah's home was in the middle of the Power of Strife's latest playground.

When Leah's father lost his dead-end job, the arguments between her parents got worse. One night the screaming and crashing was cut off at its peak, replaced with a jarring silence. Leah investigated just in time to witness her father bleeding to death from multiple stab wounds to the chest, and her mother calmly slitting her own wrist with a bloody kitchen knife.

At that same moment, half a reality away, the Domain of Blades was pulled free of Musashi and summoned back to Earth. It found Leah's soul, ringing with pain and blood, and seized hold of it, transforming her forever.

It was Ada Williamette who found the new Noble and spirited her away to Ram-Khvastra's Chancel. Leah is as close to Ada as she is any of her own Familia, but Strife's motivations are as much a mystery as those of Ram-Khvastra.