Cyanocitta

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"Oh.... that was just a small lick.... not even a proper taste! I mean, for the proper culinary palette one should be allowed to expand their experiences. Surely one quick nip wouldn't hurt..." - Cyan to Harold

Cyanocitta

Bloodraged Cyan, looking for one more taste...

Player Name	Matt L.
Relatives	Mother: Deceased. Father: Unknown
Languages	Common, Druidic, Elvish, and Sylvan
Marital Status	Single
Place of Birth	A small farming village on Osugbo. Cyan is fairly certain it has been destroyed.
Species	Human Dhampir
Gender	Female
Height	5'6"
Weight	130lbs
Eye Color	Amber
Traditional Alignment	Chaotic Neutral
If this character was a MtG card, what color(s) would they be	Black-Green-Blue

Cyan (full name Cyanocitta) is a Dhampir Druid/Barbarian operating out of the Greedy Green.

Physical Appearance

Cyan is pale - some may even say unnaturally so by human standards. Her skin may look porcelain or even slightly grey depending upon the light. Her hair is raven-black and most of the time she wears it loosely and about shoulder length. Her eyes are an yellowish-amber.

Cyan's adventuring cloths are blue dyed leathers, with the black highlights and the occasional feather and serpent scale stitched on. She wears a belt made of animals bones held together with a carved unakite buckle. Her only concession to armor are a pair of hardened leather pauldrons the with feathers of various birds attached along the outer edges. Around her neck Cyan wears a pendent carved from malachite mixed with chrysocolla of a serpentine creature with horns and feathered wings. When around others, she wears a snow goggle made out of a single piece of carved bone to hide her unusual eyes.

Personality

Most of the time Cyan is reserved, and unless her life or one of her core values is threated her attitude is: "live and let live". She will then typically prefer to blend in with the crowd rather than be noticed. While she is quite capable of living off the land, there are certain conveniences that require her to venture into population centers, such as chasing rumors related to her quest to find her spirit mentor. As well as to savor something more than animal blood.

In the rare instance when she feels comfortable around others, Cyan can be quite playful and easy to laugh. However, her thirst for blood is ever fully extinguished, and she has fought hard to not fall into the trap of thinking of strangers as only food. With that said, she has mostly come to terms with her current existence, and likely would not accept a cure if one was offered. She maybe a monstrous predator, but she views herself as a sheepdog guarding the herd and preserving the natural balance - even if some would consider her abilities to be unnatural.

Languages

Common, Druidic, Elvish, and Sylvan

Powers and Abilities

Cyan is capable of many of the abilities one may expect of a druid. These include druidic spells to allow her to talk to animals, allow her to easily find sustenance in the wilds, and to use natural elements to obstruct her enemies. This, of course, includes and ability to transform herself into an animal. However, her particular druidic practices have allowed her to have a unique connection with fungi and other natural elements tied to death and decay. When threatened, these elements will independently attack her enemies from a limited range. They can also boost her own combat prowess.

Attacks and Weapons 

In a fight Cyan is very versatile. Her druidic knowledge can allow her to be a threat at range and to provide some minor healing. However, she is arguably more capable when she allows her vampiric hunger to take control, driving her in a rage-like controlled frenzy for blood. When this happens she becomes akin to a beast on the battlefield, claws included, and is able to deal out and take much more punishment that one might expect. Or she can literally go for an enemies throat and feed in the middle of a fight.

History

Early Years

The being who became Cyanocitta (Cyan) was born in a small human/half-elf farming community. Sadly, Cyan's mother died during her birth and her father blamed loosing the love of his life on Cyan. Cyan's father never let a day go by in which he did not remind her that her mother's death was her fault. His physical abuse began around the time she was four. What her father did to her was widely known in the community, but was not talked about in polite contexts. Cyan was alone most of the time and developed a deep understanding of plants and animals as they were, mostly, the only ones she had. She became quite skilled at growing things, but was even more impressive with her ability to understand and bond with animals. She had even befriended a wild Least Weasel, which after a time would ride around in her clothing. At least until her father snapped its neck in front of her.

Of the sentient population, only two people showed Cyan any true kindness - an elderly couple who had never had children and operated the town's livery. They fostered her connection with animals, which proved to be helpful with calming nervous horses. On days she could manage it, Cyan would go help them with their choirs. They would also allow her to read the only couple of books available in the town. The bond between Cyan and the couple grew to the point that one day the three of them approached Cyan's father about letting them adopt her. This enraged Cyan's father, as it was his right to do with her as he saw fit until she was of age. And if he was going to lose her, he was going to make sure it would be profitable.

Among the Vampyre Army

The 'men' came one morning, paid a paltry sum, and left with a eleven year old Cyan. At first she had hoped that being removed from her father would improve her life. This idea was soon dashed when she learned that she had been bought by recruiters for an army loyal to an overly ambitious vampyre prince (likely a rouge member of the LaCroix bloodline). All recruits were subjected to brutal magical rituals over their first four months, and Cyan was no different. The rituals left her stronger, swifter, and more durable, but also with a hunger for blood that burnt like fire when not routinely indulged. The hunger could never be sated, but with practice one could dampen the inferno to smoldering coals for a time. Many did not survive the rituals. The majority of those who did became slaves to their hunger and lost all sense of who they had been. These bestial creations where known as bloodlusters. Cyan was in the lucky minority of ritual survivors who maintained their mental faculties after the transformation. These people became low ranking officers within the vampiric army.

Despite the position, Cyan's duties mostly consisted of pointing her bloodlusters at whoever her Captain said was an enemy and letting them loose. Most of the time she didn't even have to participate personally. However, Cyan found that she could call upon her hunger to enter a controlled frenzy when she needed to fight.

Enemies typically were guardsmen of towns or small cities, as well as the civilians. Most settlements that Cyan was unfortunate enough to visit were left as ghost towns with the population either consumed or dragged away to have the transformation rituals performed on them. But while there was some thrill to the 'hunt', Cyan despised all of the vampyres around her for what they were doing. But she mostly hated herself for not having the strength to end her own life. The legacy of her father meant that every person she watched gurgle their last as they were being feasted upon left a scar on her heart. She knew that it wasn't her hunger for blood that made her a monster.

The vampiric army was very successful in its early years. After several years, Cyan caught wind of rumors of other officers within the army sharing similar disgusts as herself – or at the very least believing that slaughtering everyone in their path was a monumental lost opportunity to gain power. After months of searching, Cyan made contact with this group of dissident officers who not long afterward rebelled against the vampyre prince. This rebellion happened to coincide with international coalition of religiously minded neighboring kingdoms who become nervous of the vampyre prince's actions and power. The vampyre prince loyalists crushed their rebelling brethren. But the surviving forces were no match again the international coalition and the vampyre prince's army was destroyed. Cyan barely escaped with her neck.

Isolation and Healing

Knowing she would be hunted by religious inquisitors as well as any surviving members of the vampyre prince's loyalist faction, Cyan decided to literally fall off the map, fleeing the continent of Osugbo for Isonhound. As much as possible she traveled away from major travel routes and large populations centers. The ocean voyage was a challenge as she had to learn to feed without drawing attention to herself. Deciding to remain paranoid, Cyan continued her travels 'off the beaten' path on the new continent – as there were sure to still be vampyre hunters about.

One day, while traversing a swamp along the banks of a mighty river, she found a dilapidated ruins of a stone watchtower. Something made her decide to stay, and she fixed up the ruins and made them her home. It was during this time that she began referring to herself as Cyanocitta. Cyan spent the first few years there in seclusion, learning that despite what she had been made into, there was still a deep connection to the natural world within her. The swamp was the perfect place for her to observe and learn from the natural processes of birth, life, death, decay, which ultimately leads to new life.

During this time, she also made contact with an ancient spirit locked in a cursed torpor. At first the connection was a distorted image of something within her dreams. Over time, the connection grew from sharing one or two word thoughts to sharing short sentences. In their interactions, Cyan painstakingly pieced together that the spirit had once been a mighty guardian of rivers called Tlayohualcoatl, and in their curiosity they had discovered secrets forbidden by the gods and had been cursed with eternal slumber. In additions to her own lessons about life, death, and rebirth, the spirit guided her in how to use these forces of nature to heal, harm, and if need be manipulate the dead. It even managed, only once, to manifest a full image of itself in a dream. The spirit has the body of a gigantic snake with brightly colored feathered wings and two massive black pointed horns protruding from above its eyes.

Initially Cyan's swamp and tower were weeks of travel away from the nearest one horse town. However, after a few years a group of pioneers settled along the river, just a few hours walk away. Despite the dangers, Cyan established mostly friendly relations with the new arrivals and she help to teach them of to live of the land as well as provide medical assistance when needed. Things were well for several years and Cyan began to view herself to be something of a guardian to the village people. However, when her vampirism became known many of the village folk quickly turned against her. Learning that hunters would soon be after her, Cyan abandoned her home. Despite her fears, this did not sever her connection with Tlayohualcoatl.

With no other place to go and nothing else to do, Cyan has taken up the quest to find the physical body of Tlayohualcoatl and see if anything could be done to break the curse and reawaken them. This has meant exposing herself again to the wider world as she fears that there is no place that will ever accept her.

The Adventuring Life

Please Note that these entries are told from the perspective of Cyanocitta and do not necessarily reflect my thoughts and opinions on events as a player.

(Date to Come) The rumors from Inergos have indicated that there maybe a mighty serpent guardian of the lake East of Jakalla. The description leaves me skeptical that this is actually Tlayohualcoatl as the rumor indicates this creature being active in recent history. However, it would be good to confirm this. And, while it is unlikely, it remains possible that this creature could know Tlayohualcoatl and how to assist them.

It has been some time since Tlayohualcoatl has spoken with me directly. I hope this does not mean our connection is failing. Despite my promise, if something were to happen to them I am not sure how long the bloodlust could be kept at bay. Sleep does bring some relief as the dreams or visions remain strong. It is the typical one, of my serpentine body slamming against the fire pillars until exhaustion and despair set in. Frustratingly my interpretation remains the same, that the pillars represent bars due to Tlayohualcoatl being trapped or imprisoned. However, it remains a mystery as to how and why fire would be used to contain a water spirit, as well as where this prison is located.

With nothing else to go on, the road leads me to Jakalla.

(Date to Come) Jakalla has been destroyed. No sooner had my transport docked than the city was assaulted by dragon-kin. These pathetic creatures seem to have little more intelligence than the poor bloodlusters. But at least the bloodlusters had no control over what they had become. For a race often lofted as one of the most intelligent, these dragon-kin seemed to have almost no sense of self. Maybe they were just the rabble to the supposed larger army. Despite their stupidity, their animalistic savagery was impressive and defending myself from them proved to be a pleasant distraction.

During the fighting I let myself go a few times, which provided opportunities to sample the dragon-kin. My fangs found it difficult to penetrate their scaly hide and their taste was barely tolerable. Though it is difficult to recall through the mindfog of battle, I am pretty sure I almost wretched after the first taste. However, with proper mental preparation the dragon-kin can be stomached. This at least places their worth above gnolls.

During the course of the fighting I became entangled in a small group of capable warriors. They seemed quiet intent on keeping a particular being safe, which ended up being the mayor of Jakalla- the mayor of ghosts and ruins now. Despite the wreckage of his city around him, this mayor was more concerned with the survival of another settlement on the coast further north. I am still trying to decide if he is an idiot or if he knew the wisest action would be to abandon his city and merge what little population remained with this other settlement. Anyway, coin was promised (which will prove useful to loosen lips) and the warriors and I, as well as two cannons and a trebuchet were loaded onto barges and shipped up the coast. Tomorrow we shall see if this other settlement is worth our time.

(Date to Come) It was found out that the name of the other settlement is Fasiltum, and it still stands. Although calling it a village would be generous, it is a pleasant place. There are few here and it is easy to fade into the woods for some quiet meditation. The animals here are pleasant and friendly enough, but have a distinct absent mindedness about them. Granted not all animals perceive time in the same manner as humanoids, but there are at least some commonalities of "sunrise" and "sunset" which can be build upon. Or maybe it was a misunderstanding on my part in interpreting distance.

My opinion of the animals stems from a specific interaction where, not long after we had arrived, I attempted to gain information on the dragon-kin's location and disposition. The critter I spoke was certain that the dragon-in marched on Fasiltum, but were completely opaque as to when we should expect them. It's estimation in time left nearly a 24 hour window of uncertainty. Thankfully we quickly prepared the siege equipment as the first wave of the dragon-kin attacked within the hour. Our force was supplimented with militia members from Fasiltum, and an intriguing elephant-like creature {Einari} with a mandolin and an unhealthy interest in fire. Despite being unsuited for the task, I was elected to command one of the cannons - such a bulky, unwieldy, and uncivilized piece of equipment.

The dragon-kin's first wave was made of rabble, which were little more than a skirmishing force and were quickly dispatched. We were actually lucky that this force did not have the full weight of numbers a properly massed attack should have had. Fasiltum had no barrier, let alone a wall, to defend ourselves from. Such an attach would surly have destroyed us. As it was, our southern flank was breeched which resulted in the loss of one of the settlement's largest buildings. The loss would have been more sever if it were not for the valiant efforts of the crew {Joshua} of the other cannon (on that flank) and the fairy {Indy} providing air support. My cannon proved ineffectual during this wave, likely mostly due to the old drunken human I was paired with.

In between waves, I lead those not seriously injured or occupied with other tasks to construct a makeshift spiked barrier. It was little more than using the remains of the destroyed building and what could be quickly harvested to put some pointed wooden spikes in the ground. This barrier would not have lasted long against a light assault, but proved its value as the dragon-kin did not want to take the the time to go through it. This narrowed our front to a singular point in which to defend. Also, the elf archer {Tokax} willingly took command of the cannon, freeing me to hold the gap with the firbolg priest {Ophelia} and her militia men.

The second wave a dragon-kin attacked around midnight. Their ground forces directly charged our gap. Due to this my attention was focused on our forward position. I regret to admit to making a tactical mistake during the battle. At one point a gap in their assault opened up and I took the moment to provide a tactical advantage to the priest against a mob of kobolds. However, this ended up allowing a dragon-kin officer and the kobold mob to outflank and pin me down. If it were not for the resistance from my awoken hunger, or the efficiency in which my allies dealt with the rest of the line, this mistake may have been deadly. It has been such a long time since I have needed to show such restraint on a battlefield.

Away from the gap, the dragon-kin attacked us in the rear. My attention was occupied, so I am only report what has been said to me in the aftermath. Our rear was attached by one hundred winged dragon-kin, as well as their leader - a crazed three-eyed kobold on the back of an ancient red dragon. The dragon supposedly killed the crew of the trebuchet with one burst of flame from its mouth, at them, and then picked its teeth with the arm of the siege weapon. Or that the kobold opened a portal to the Hells which pulled the trebuchet and its crew down with them. It was also said that the drunken fool killed the dragon with the cannon I abandoned. These stories are obviously embellished.

After this day of rest I will depart and find my way to the lake, now to the Southeast. My hope is, if this serpent creature is actually there, that the assault from these dragon-kin has not harmed or scared it away.

(Date to Come) The lake to the Southeast of Fasiltum was a disappointment. There are signs that suggest a serpent creature may have lived there some time ago, but it is clear whatever it was is no longer there. With no other leads at the moment, I will walk the path of the mercenary for some time in order to maintain a source of income. Hopefully it will also allow me to gain some contacts or provide information for the next stage of my journey.

(Date to Come) This is either a sign of incredible fortune or one of my greatest follies. A wagon came upon me by chance on the road, heading north to a settlement of the Hummintru Tribe of Loxo. It had been charted by two other adventurers, Herneldo and Reylendor, who had decided to hunt a beast in the area by the name of the "Green Stag". The reward would be a series of wishes granted by the individual who created the flyers. While skeptical that anything that awarded wishes would be straight forward, the prospect of learning Tlayohualcoatl's location is an offer too tempting to refuse. I am currently, and rather uncomfortably, being jostled around in the back of the wagon.

Even if the journey ends up being a dead end, it may still be worthwhile. It is rumored amongst vampyres that Loxo blood is... not just a pleasant treat but a whole flavorful experience. Ambrosia is said to taste like ash after but a couple of sips of Loxo blood. Most vampyres who attempt to collect it meat sudden and violent ends. However, should the opportunity present itself, this may be my only chance to try some for myself.

(Date to Come) We are still two days from arriving at the Loxo settlement. The prospect of arriving at our destination is a great comfort. I have certainly had worse traveling companions, but one of the issues with such a small group is that indulging in my particular appetites becomes extremely difficult. So far I have managed to keep myself fed on the local wildlife. Neither of my companions are much suited for survival in the wilderness, and so if they have noticed any missing blood from the game I provide at night they have been polite enough to say. Honestly though, I do not suspect that they have noticed - both take pains to keep certain activities from me and each other. We all apparently have our own secrets to hide.

The human, Herneldo, is by far the most chatty of our group. He has an arcane aura about him. As he does not greedily and lovingly caress a book every two seconds, he is unlikely to be a wizard. His fascination with fire is, however, concerning.

The elf, Reylendor, is a holy person of some type; however, who he worships is one of the secrets he guards closely. Also, he is apparently unaware of his nervous, almost constant, double checking over his shoulder. A predator knows prey when she sees it.

Tlayohualcoatl has been in my dreams lately. I keep seeing it bashing itself against iron bars. My best understanding is that this is a metaphorical message, that my mentor is trapped in a cage, like a prison. Although it would be foolish to assume that it is not contained within a physical prison either.

The one other clear image in my dreams, accompanied with the words "Release yourself", has been of my hands shifting into claws. This morning I awoke with my fingers tipped with long and sharp catamount type claws. My hands turned back after a few moments of flexing. However, after several moments of inspiration I have found that when I get close to awakening my hunger, or releasing myself, the claws start growing again.

(Date to Come) We arrived at the Loxo settlement today. It must be noted that the massive tree they have in the center fo the village is breathtakingly gorgeous. It is... heartwarming to know that some settled being still hold a reverence for nature. Too often among settled peoples is the view of nature as hostile. While it is true that nature holds many dangers, that is part of what it means to be alive. The dangers are meant to weed out the weak, the slow, and the unadaptable. Everyday is a struggle to prove to the world, and yourself, that you deserve to remain alive.

Anyway, upon our arrival my hope had been to find the one who created to flyer to confirm the payment and hopefully learn more about the prey we would be hunting. We were directed to the Loxo chieftain, who informed us that the flyer's creator was not from there. In addition, we had apparently gotten the name wrong - that the creature was named the "Green Fang" {Kihlek}, not the "Green Stag". Luckily for us, the chieftain pointed out that the beast was a small dragon-kin sitting alone at the other end of the mead hall. Such easy prey did not seem worth the payment of three wishes, but history is full of examples of those drunk on power paying more for less. And even if there had been some mistake, maybe the creatures death would be worth information from someone else. With this in mind, I prodded my companions over to the green dragon-kin. Not wanting to be the cause of violence in such a public space, we managed to intimidate the creature into abandoning its meal. I was relishing the prospect of a good chase.

However, moments after the dragon-kin had slide out of the mead hall's door, there was a great calamity outside. Our group, as well as the other occupants of the building attempted to rush outside, only to find that the door had been blocked by a raised mound of dirt; hunting this clever dragon-kin was going to be fun. It turned out that another Loxo (not of the this tribe) had been attacked and left near death in a nearby lake. Although the injured Loxo was freely bleeding, there were too many witnesses around for a taste attempt to be safe - although the smell was... mouthwatering does not convey just how delicious the Loxo's blood smelt. As the healers tended to the Loxo, I took the opportunity the distraction provided to attempt to track the dragon-kin. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the footprints of such a small creature had been obliterated by massive Loxo feet and I was unable to follow a trail.

Once the injured Loxo regained consciousness, he told a story about being ambushed by a green dragon. Going by the moniker of "Captain Harold"", he was Hell's bent on returning to the scene to kill the dragon and recover some lost ship. Realizing the small dragon-kin was not the right target, my companions and I quickly joined the enthusiastic creature - who required us to be part of his 'crew' for the duration of the mission. Considering the behavior of the previous Loxo I fought with (Einari), I am beginning to conclude that each member of this race must have some extreme eccentricity inherent to their nature. We are joined by dragon-kin, who had been hiding in the massive tree, and by another creature who appears to be more of an outlander to this continent than I am {Ensign}, and looks completely unappetizing. Due to the Captain's injuries, it was decided to wait an hour or so before we leave, to give the Loxo a chance to catch his breath before another fight.

(Date to Come) The events of today have been interesting. On the on hand, not only did I fail in hiding my vampiric nature from my companions, but our green dragon quarry has also escaped. On the other hand, our quarry was so intimidated by our combat prowess that it hastily fled and abandoned its hoard to us. There certainly have been far worse outcomes.

The day began with our departure from the Loxo village in the middle of the night. The green dragon-kin had pre-scouted out almost the path to the lake as the rest of use had rested and readied ourselves in the village. I was able to guide the group to a pre-determined rendezvous location, where the Captain and the dragon-kin wasted time disagreeing over whether or not to consider our little band a "crew". Finally, they resolved their semantic differences, and the dragon-kin skillfully lead us the rest of the way to the lake Captain had been attacked in. As we approached, we noticed that the area surrounding the lake was much colder than was typical for the time of year, with snow on the ground. The lake was of unimpressive size, but did have a small island near the center with what looked like a cave entrance built out of rock on it. Captain's boat was nowhere in sight.

While formulating a plan on how to proceed, I spoke with the local birds. The creatures were quite full of gossip, but I was able to confirm that the green dragon was here and had made its lair in the cave on the island. Additionally, they informed me that, without crew, Captain's boat had sailed several miles downriver until it ended up beached on a sandbar. As the information was relayed to the rest of the group, the dragon-kin realized that the environment was completely wrong for a green dragon, but was perfect for a white dragon. Before the implications had fully set in our minds, we were attacked by a group of white dragon hatchlings.

The battle proved fierce, with torrents of frost breath falling upon us in consecutive waves. Despite his physical prowess, Captain was forced to fall back, leaving the priest, the magic users, and the archer in the front line. Seeing moral breaking and the others beginning a retreat, I reached out to the inferno of hunger deep within me to awaken it. My vampiric self slammed into the line of dragon hatchlings, ripping their center to pieces, and even allowing myself to feast on one of them. This bought the others enough time to focus range attack the remainder of the hatchlings.

At this point, the green dragon, 'The Green Stag' was upon us. However, the pathetic creature immediately proposed a deal by which it would abandon its lair in exchange for us letting it live. Had the dragon-kin not agreed, I would have savaged the winged coward to the ground and feasted upon its blood. Regrettably, it flew away before I was able to act. More regrettably, the others had seen my unchained vampirism. Although some were curious, it was surprising that none made any moves to harm me. As the acceptance of my condition is almost unheard of, they were likely unwilling to fight me due to the injuries they sustained from fighting the hatchlings.

Once the dragon was gone, the dragon-kin rigged up a line by which the group could hang onto the rope and glide down to the island. Knowing this may be my only opportunity to observe Ottermas, I transformed myself into an otter to swim to the island. During the swim, a plan began to form in my head. At this point, it was obvious I would not be the beneficiary of a wish, but there was still an opportunity to achieve one of my secondary goals. Upon reaching the island, Captain was surprised when I stayed in otter form and scurried onto his shoulders. Although likely confused, he also did not force me down. In this manner, we began exploring the cave. With my low light vision, Captain and I were able to quickly develop a system by which I could guide him so as to not need a torch and alert any other denizens to our presence. As it turned out, this was not needed as the lair was completely abandoned. We quickly found the treasure room, as well as the carcass of a dead white dragon, the the group began searching through the spoils.

As everyone was preoccupied, it was now the best opportunity to taste Loxo blood. One of Captain's injuries on his back was not completely closed, so I simply readjusted myself and began licking the wound, careful not to reopen the injury. The taste was... indescribable. The clunky words of this language are too vulgar to use to describe just how wonderful the taste was. I am unable to think of an appropriate phrase even in Sylvan. Simply beyond belief!!!

So lost was I in the experience of even such a small taste, that it took several seconds to realize that Captain had wrapped his trunk around my otter throat and he was not glaring at me with anger fueled eyes. In my haze the words he said were not clear, however, his throwing me across the room conveyed the message clearly. Afterward, fully satisfied, I busied myself with extracting what I could from the white dragon while the others counted the coin and other treasures. In the end, there were enough scales for me to commission an armourer to make a mail out of it, as well as for the dragon-kin to do the same.

The other treasure of note was a cracked crystal orb capable of scrying. Captain took possession of the orb to have it repaired and for its services to be shared when we all meet again.

As of now, I may see if Captain will allow me to remain with him and his ship, once we free it from land. I have no better leads for finding Tlayohualcoatl, and a captain is likely to visit a lot of port cities where rumors can be accumulated.

(Date to Come) My original plans to possibly accompany Captain are now not viable. I awoke tucked under a tree on the river bank, and not in the bunk I had been assigned on Captain's ship. Abandoned without ceremony for barely a taste is extreme! If I ever see that Loxo's face again I will drain him.

(Date to Come) As it turns out, Loxo blood has a quite literal side effect. It has been several days, and even the taste of the blood of other humanoids has been gritty and fowl. The taste is so bad, I have been unable to eat or drink anything, and have come dangerously close to loosing control of my hunger. It is not just a lack of flavor, but all things have seemed to have taken on a ash-like taste and all I have craved the past few days is more Loxo blood. Thankfully, the side effects began to diminish today. In a few more days my hope is for my taste to be fully restored. And all of this from a few small licks. It is horrifying to think of how long a mouthful or two would have taken to recover from. It fully appears that Captain has saved my existence. I hate owing people.

(Date to Come) While regaining my bearings, I have heard rumors of a settlement to the East called Seglock. Apparently there has been the establishment of a group to fight against in continued invasion of the dragons and their kin. This also is supposed to include an artifact which protects the settlement from dragon attack. While the abilities of such an artifact, if it indeed does exist, are likely inflated by the rumor mill, the establishment of such an organization could be a significant boon to me. Any organization fighting the dragons would attract the attention of anyone looking for refuge from such attacks, and the stories they could tell may provide some clues as to where Tlayohualcoatl could be found. With no better option, I will head East and see what, if anything, can be discovered.

(Date to Come) Seglock has been... disappointing. The rumors of the organization, and surprisingly the artifact, proved true. The organization took my on, although there seems to be some deep disagreements about the actual name. They even allowed me to interact with their information gathering arm, although there has been no substantial leads for my own interest. It has been frustrating on that account as they no longer send me out to directly collect information coming into the city - something about my presence being off-putting. This leave me without the ability to ask my own followup questions. Instead they have tasked me with taking the summarized rumors and finding patterns among them to see if we can begin tracking individual dragons. While I am no expert in dragon behavior, my handlers do seem to be happy with the insights provided so far.

Remaining in the city has been difficult. Thankfully there is a grove not too far outside of its walls in which I can meditate every couple of days, but the rumor work keeps me quite busy. I feel a strain on days when I am unable to visit the grove. In addition, feed has actually become more difficult. It has be a long time since my diet has consisted of so much humanoid blood. While better tasting, there is a missed feeling when an occasional treat becomes an everyday staple.

At the very least, I hope there is an opportunity for me to enter the field soon. Being in the wilds is very much missed.

(Date to Come) Not a lot of time. I am preparing to leave Seglock with a group. There was a post on a job board about investigating a cave with some bars made of fire. When it was handed to me I immediately sensed the connection with Tlayohualcoatl. Something there is related to my mentor and friend. We are leaving with the utmost haste.

(Date to Come) The past few days have been quite busy. We left Seglock with such haste, and I have been so involved with our travel efforts that there hasn't been much time for recording my thoughts. The excitement of finally finding a solid link to Tlayohualcoatl has my mind buzzing, and I am even having difficulty focusing on my nightly hunts to feed the group. The other night was particularly sloppy. I had found and brought down a deer closer to camp than was strictly safe. While feeding the hunger within, I heard the snapping of twigs and looked up to see the drunken idiot Karl stumbling toward me while fumbling with his pants. He stopped several dozen paces away, looked at me, and waved as he relieved himself against a tree. Surprisingly it seemed as though he did not notice the blood covering my face. When Karl stumbled away, I quickly cleaned off and carried the deer back to camp. Once there I was surprised by the lack of angry or suspicious gazes at me. The rest of the party were acting normal. It is unknown rather Karl truly did not notice or if he is playing some form of long game. But the point is that even with that recent mistake, the prospect of having a clue to find Tlayohualcoatl has me acting less cautious than I should. Almost like a maiden on her wedding night.

Beside Karl, I have been accompanied by a human adolescent who I had previously fought with at the Battle of Fasiltum {Joshua}, a young and naive elf {Aesir}, and a battle hardened tiefling who road a large beetle {Cynthia}. The tiefling seems to have a close relationship with a disembodied voice that has also been following us. This entity, which the others are calling Silent radiates some of the same dark energies which Tlayohualcoatl has been attempting to teach me. However, the entity called Silent claims to be a deity, but I have seen little to suggest that it would be worthy of worship by anyone. It certainly is not silent and give every indication of being a cruel trickster. As our interests seem to align, Silent will no doubt be a powerful and useful ally. But, as with so many so called deities, I find its claims of being a superior being to be hollow. We are all subject to the natural cycles - even unnatural monsters such as myself. We all have a roll to fulfill in life, and just because the catamount maybe stronger and fiercer than the deer does not mean that the deer is any less of a being for acting in the roll it was meant to fulfill.

Anyway, it is getting late. And I must rest to have my wits about me to decipher what clues will be presented. Tlayohualcoatl, may this finally be the first step to your freedom!

(Date) Returned to Greedy Greener's HQ by Cynthia the tiefling for archival purposes.