Cyan (full name Cyanocitta) is a Dhampir Druid operating out of the Greedy Green.
History
The being who became Cyanocitta (Cyan) was born in a small human/half-elf farming community. Sadly, her mother died during her birth and her father never let a day go by where he did not remind Cyan that this was her fault. His physical abuse began around the time Cyan 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. Only two people showed Cyan any true kindness - a neighboring elderly couple who had never had children. 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. However, Cyan's father grew jealous that this couple held his daughter's affections and decided to get rid of her.
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 ambitious vampire prince. Cyan survived the brutal magical rituals subjected to all recruits, but it left her with a hunger for blood that burned life 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. Not all who survived the rituals could develop this level of control and became frenzied bloodlusters. As Cyan did have this level of control, she became a low ranked officer in this vampiric army. Despite her position, her duties mostly consisted of pointing her bloodlusters at a target and letting them loose. In addition, Cyan found that she could call upon her hunger to enter a controlled frenzy when she needed to fight directly.
The vampiric army was very successful in its early years. However, this success came at the price of growing concern among more religious minded neighboring kingdoms. In addition, Cyan was among a small group of officers who were disgusted by the army's treatment of civilians and prisoners - which was essentially to allow the bloodlusters to consume them. A combination of an international coalition from without, and an internal rebellion from the disgruntled officers lead to the destruction of the vampire prince and his army. However, this did not come to pass until after the rebels were shattered. Cyan barely escaped with her neck.
Knowing she would be hunted by religious inquisitors as well as any surviving members of the vampire prince's loyalist faction, Cyan decided to literally fall off the map. She traveled further than any map she had previously seen, the whole time avoiding major travel routes and large populations centers. 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. 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, but that 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 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. Things were well for several years. 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. Thankfully, this did not sever her connection with her spirit mentor. With no other place to go and nothing else to do, Cyan has taken up the quest to find the physical body of her mentor and see if anything could be done to break the curse and reawaken them.
