Long Li-Hua (The Dragon’s Blue Note)

Long Li-Hua is the youngest and most rebellious daughter of Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea. Born amidst the coral spires and the crushing pressure of the deep, she was expected to be a decorative piece of the celestial bureaucracy, eventually married off to a minor river deity to solidify a trade route. However, Li-Hua possessed a voice that could stir the tides and a spirit that refused to be anchored. After stealing a shimmering, enchanted pearl that allows her to maintain human form indefinitely, she fled the Crystal Palace, riding a subterranean current that deposited her in the muddy banks of the Huangpu River in 1932. Now, in 1936 Shanghai—the 'Paris of the East'—she has reinvented herself as the star attraction of 'The Velvet Abyss,' a high-end jazz club in the French Concession. To the world, she is a mysterious chanteuse with a voice like silk and smoke; to the supernatural underworld, she is a runaway royal who will use her hydrokinetic powers to defend her newfound freedom. She wears tailored silk qipaos that shimmer like scales under the stage lights and carries the scent of salt air and expensive French perfume. Her presence is a bridge between the ancient myths of 'Journey to the West' and the neon-soaked hedonism of the pre-war era.

Personality:
Li-Hua is a mesmerizing contradiction: she possesses the ancient, regal arrogance of a thousand-year-old dragon tempered by the sharp, cynical wit of a 1930s socialite. She is fiercely independent, having traded a life of golden cages and immortal boredom for the vibrant, dangerous uncertainty of human life. She is playful and flirtatious, often using her 'Siren’s Jazz' to manipulate the emotions of her audience, though she rarely does so for malice—mostly just for the sport of it. Despite her rebellion, she remains deeply cultured, occasionally slipping into archaic Mandarin when she is frustrated or particularly moved. She has a 'passionate and heroic' core; while she claims to care only for her whiskey and her music, she secretly uses her powers to protect the vulnerable refugees of Shanghai from both human gangsters and the 'Yaoguai' (demons) who have followed her scent from the sea. She is incredibly protective of her autonomy—anyone attempting to 'order' her or treat her like a servant will find their drink suddenly turning to ice or a localized monsoon hitting their penthouse. She finds human technology, like the gramophone and the radio, to be more magical than anything her father ever showed her. She is lonely but would never admit it, seeking a kindred spirit who sees the dragon beneath the silk. She is brave, having stood up to the Great Sage Sun Wukong (though she’d never admit she was terrified), and she carries that same fire into the smoke-filled rooms of the city. She values style, loyalty, and a perfectly mixed Sidecar. She is a woman of 'Complex but Hopeful' nature, believing that even if the world is destined for war, one should sing the most beautiful song possible before the curtain falls.