Cynthia

Physical Appearance:

Cynthia san Espera is a tiefling who stands a little over 6 feet tall. She has a muscular build, light purple skin, and straight dark-purple hair that is cut quite short. Her horns are relatively thin, and they point almost straight back along the sides of her head. She wears simple but well-made leather and chain armor, with no adornments or notable markings. At her hip is a similarly plain but functional longsword. Two possessions of hers stand out: the first is a finely-crafted viol that she keeps slung over her back or on her mount. The second is a shield that seems to be ornately made, with patterned leather straps and a finely engraved edge, except that its entire face has been polished smooth.

Personality

Because of her training, Cynthia is generally reserved, almost terse, and prefers not to be the center of attention. That being said, she is willing to put herself out there if it helps her complete a contract. She exclusively takes monster-hunting jobs because, to her, they are morally simple; as a result of her experiences with the lord she used to be sworn to, she views matters of a more political nature to be dangerous, messy, and often meaningless. Over the years, she has learned to appreciate the simple pleasures of the road; in particular, she enjoys both playing and listening to music. She maintains a proficiency with her viol, the one link she has to her potentially-dead former love.

Current Occupation:

Though a knight-errant Cynthia works mostly as a monster hunter, traveling from place to place and doing small extermination jobs for money. She avoids mercenary work, and dislikes becoming embroiled in people’s personal disputes; to her, killing monsters is morally straightforward and so easier than other pursuits.

Backstory:

Cynthia was raised to be a knight in service of a minor lord. Her parents were farmers in service of this lord, though most of the parenting was done by the other knights at the estate. She was trained in both hand-to-hand combat and the etiquette expected of her station, and though her childhood was by no means easy, she looks back on it fondly. As a young adult, she developed a romantic relationship with one of the lord’s tutors; it was from this tutor that she learned to play the viol.

When she was 24, a minor dispute between her lord and one of his distant cousins escalated into armed conflict. In the course of the battle, the estate was burned to the ground, and Cynthia only escaped as a result of her natural resistance to fire. She fled into the woods; as she left, she saw her lord, unscathed, in gaudy golden armor, atop a prize horse. A week later, she snuck back to the estate, only to see him sharing a drink with the person who he had done battle with, the estate already being reconstructed. At that moment, she abandoned her oath, becoming a knight-errant.

She discarded most of her possessions, polished the crest off of her shield, and set off once more; since leaving, she has taken odd jobs as a monster-hunter while wandering from town to town.