Cyanocitta

Cyanocitta

Cyan with her shield and quarterstaff

Relatives	Mother: Dead. Father: Unknown
Languages	Common, Druidic, Elvish, and Sylvan
Affiliations	Chaotic Neutral
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

Cyan (full name Cyanocitta) is a Dhampir Druid 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 an 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.

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 Vampire 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 vampire 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 vampires 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 vampire prince. This rebellion happened to coincide with international coalition of religiously minded neighboring kingdoms who become nervous of the vampire prince's actions and power. The vampire prince loyalists crushed their rebelling brethren. But the surviving forces were no match again the international coalition and the vampire 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 vampire 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 vampire 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

(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.

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, 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.