First Name: Cianna
Last Name: Arathiel
Appearance:
Race: Elf
Age: 307
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 120 lbs
Eyes: Deep green
Hair: Faded Blonde
Personality Profile:
General Health: Fair
Deity: Bahamut (requires a change and spell failure)
Initial Alignment: CG
Profession: Various
Base Class & Proposed Development: Ranger -> ArcaneArcher/ElementalArcher
Habits/Hobbies: Saving dragons from adventurers, acquiring books, hunting, fishing, tracking
Languages: Draconic, Elven, Common, Animal, Orc
Weapon of Choice: Longbow
Background:
Short Version
Hidden: show
Two hundred years ago, Cianna was an archer/scout adventuring in the Pirate Isles when she was involved in a war against a cult similar to the current Cult of Dragon. She was captured and experimented on. As a horrific result of these experiments, Cianna’s developed an unnatural affinity to dragonkind, as if she was dragon-blooded. She fights a constant battle between this affinity present in her blood, which is to the evil-minded green dragonkind, and her own good-minded nature.
Cianna developed the abilities of a dragon disciple, but lost them when she was nearly killed in battle with a Dread Pirate. She then wandered various cities and towns in Faerun filled with rage, until she finally met a young half-elf and got married. She lived in the Western Heartlands for the last sixty years.
She seeks to eliminate the Cult of Dragon at every turn, due to the horrific pain she felt under the thumb of their precursors.
Cianna developed the abilities of a dragon disciple, but lost them when she was nearly killed in battle with a Dread Pirate. She then wandered various cities and towns in Faerun filled with rage, until she finally met a young half-elf and got married. She lived in the Western Heartlands for the last sixty years.
She seeks to eliminate the Cult of Dragon at every turn, due to the horrific pain she felt under the thumb of their precursors.
Hidden: show
Cianna Arathiel was born into a small non-noble family in Evereska. Her mother was a renowned priestess of Corellon Larenthian. As a child, she found more excitement in the archery fields of Solonor Thelandria’s followers than in her mother’s stuffy church. She refused to join the clergy.
A former adventuring companion of her mother’s came from Suzail and visited Evereska in the hopes of being granted an audience with the gold dragon Horadyzan, an ally of the Evereskan counsel. Her mother’s friend was a half-elven noble and priest of the Draco Paladin, Bahamut. The half-elven noble met Cianna and was impressed by her skills as a scout. With her mother’s reluctant permission, Cianna was sent to train under Elebrian Ravenwood, a moon elf archer under the employ of the half-elf.
Cianna learned much from Elebrian Ravenwood in the art of archery. Her skills with a bow increased quickly, but she became fascinated with the art of arcane magic. She was inspired by an arcane archer who she met at an archery competition in Suzail. She immediately began studying arcane arts, and found she that her clever mind facilitated her study of the art. Soon after she began however, she was sent to the Pirate Isles to investigate Cult of the Dragon activity.
Upon her arrival in the Pirate Isles, Cianna found that surviving the island's dangers would challenge her to use every skills that she had learned . Cianna made contact with the Grimthorpe watch, but the watch would not accept an unproven scout into their ranks, and so Cianna was forced to prove herself.
Under the employ of an odd priest of some dragon deity Cianna had never heard of, she began to learn much about dragonkind. Cianna realized that using dragon parts, one could make armor to protect oneself from the evils of chromatic dragonkind. After almost a year of intense research, Cianna emerged with many ideas and began to implement them. Working with the dwarves of a local town, the local armorer was able to craft a greenscale jerkin from the scales of an Adult Green Dragon. The fruits of her research finally realized, Cianna turned to the main teaching of the noble House she worked for—the elimination of the Cult of Dragon.
Unfortunately, the Cult was prepared for her. An evil organization dedicated to the birth of undead dragons (dracoliches), the Cult of Dragon is large and well-funded. Employing an army of evil half-dragons, dragons, dracoliches and human followers alike, the Cult of Dragon and their allies fought a number of battles with Cianna's allies, eventually capturing Cianna herself.
As a prisoner, Cianna was tortured daily. She was whipped, cut, beaten, all the usual means of torture, but Cianna was not deterred by such means of physical pain. She held out well, for a captive under an evil organization, until one day:
The fateful day that jerked Cianna's life, belief, and even her very being, began as any other day. Like most days, Cianna was taken into a dark room, laid out on a cot and tied down with heavy chains. Instead of the usual beating, the Cultists then left the room and returned with a large covered cage. As they uncovered the cage, Cianna saw a young green dragon tied down with heavy metal chains, struggling to free itself but failing badly. Cianna heard footsteps and turned her head to the room's entrance, where a hooded man entered with a very large axe. The hooded Cultist raised his axe and took one swift swing at the dragon's neck. The young dragon attempted to roar, but as its throat was severed by the Cultist's axe, all that the young dragon could emit before slumping over was a loud, high pitched screech. A creature that should have lived for a millennium, cut down at a young age, in cold blood. Cianna winced at the loud screech, beginning to rethink her hatred of chromatic dragons. A few robed cultists surrounded the dead dragon and began a ritual, but Cianna was too tired to make out the words. As the cultists neared the end of their ritual, one of them covered a long dagger in the dragon's blood and brought it towards Cianna. Cianna braced herself for pain, but when the cultist's dagger pierced Cianna's skin, she felt a different pain from any pain she had ever felt before. She screamed from her intense pain and, unable to resist it, she fainted.
For the next week, Cianna was neither able to sleep nor stand. She lay in extreme pain, screaming and yelling constantly, much to the amusement of the cultists. Cianna felt a pain strong enough that she prayed for death, to free her from her torture. The cultists refused. Her mind began to leave her, her memories floated away. When she tried to think, all that she could remember was the screech of the young green dragon as the cultists slaughtered it. She felt a mental pain, emotional pain, and physical pain so strong that she just prayed for death. She had even forgotten the name of her god, all she knew was that she must pray for death, or any relief from the pain.
Relief came in the strangest of ways. Words began to form in Cianna's mind, lyrics to musical ballads, and Cianna sung them. Her songs, strange draconic tunes that she neither recognized nor understood how she knew, comforted her and was the only thing she could ever do to fight the pain that seemed so endlessly to inhabit her body. These songs, she realized, praised that odd dragon god Bahamut. Her faith in the Seldarine was not protecting her from the intense pain she felt, but these songs were. Songs of praise quickly became prayer, and Cianna became a fervent follower of Bahamut. Her singing kept her sane for a few more weeks, but she was terribly hurt, both physically and mentally. Eventually, her voice gave out, and she fainted. She lay in a coma, unable to wake until she was rescued and healed by the local mage academy.
When Cianna awoke in the mage tower, she felt like a different woman. She had forgotten nearly all about herself, except her name and childhood. She knew she was Cianna Arathiel, daughter of the priestess Lia of Evereska. That was about all she could remember when she awoke. Not only was she mentally a mess, having lost her memory, most of her knowledge and all of her magical talent, but she felt physically different. She retained her quick reflexes, they returned to her when she was healed. Her muscles still remembered how to fire a bow, though her mind would not allow her the same aim she had before her torture. Most importantly, the pain was gone. She could stand and walk again, but her mind constantly returned to memories of her terrible pain and that single loud screech, the final sound of the young green dragon.
The local mages gave Cianna a bow, and returned her to Grimthorpe, that she may start a new life. So, Cianna set out to forge a new path, remembering the blood she had lost, and unaware of the blood that she had gained.
The new path went well for Cianna, and although she had lost many of her talents, she quickly gained them back. She regained magic, though she realized that she no longer needed to study books, and now the magic came from herself. She realized that it must be a result of the ritual performed on her.
She was still tormented by the image of the young green dragon's death, and his final scream. Whenever she saw a dragon in pain, Cianna would lose her mind, falling unconscious at times. People began to think her crazy. Nonetheless, she learned to harness her new-found power and she began a painful yet empowering transition.
The Changing.
At first, Cianna just felt stronger. Then blades seemed to bounce off her hardened skin. Finally, after the most painful year of Cianna's long life, Cianna grew a set of scaled green wings. She loved her wings, as they allowed her to fly and feel a beautiful breeze. Unfortunately, at the same time, the Pirates of the Pirate Isles combined their forces and mounted an attack. Although not working for the Watch, Cianna led forces to counteract the pirates. It was a bloody war and Cianna does not remember the end. All she knows was that she flew up to the top of a suspicious black tower, and felt the greatest pain she could ever know. Worse than growing wings, worse than her blood being taken over.
When Cianna awoke, she had lost her wings and claws. Her strength remained, but her magic was gone. Cianna was full of anger, and hatred. Officially crazy, she was banished from the Pirate Isles and she eventually made her way to the city of Hillsfar. The Plumes immediately chased her away, and even the Zhents would not accept her. Cianna wandered for a few years, lost in her own anger and memories.
Arriving at the small town of Nesme, Cianna began to learn to control her anger by using it in combat. She proved she could be a formidable warrior and helped defend Nesme from all sort of terrible creatures. On one day however, a goblin horde fell upon the city and broke far into its gates. Partly by luck, partly by strength, Cianna was one of the few adventurers not killed in the first round of fighting. She wound up single-handedly pushing the goblins back. The people of Nesme had no thanks for the terrible visage that had saved them. They cursed Cianna, calling her a monster. She was cast from Nesme's gates only a few days after she saved the town's gates from the goblin's assault.
She wandered for years until she fell in love with a young half-elf, and the love removed the terrible rage from her body. Although her power was no longer available, she turned her energies from battle to that of aiding her lover. She married the half-elf, and settled down in a small kingdom of the Western Heartlands. Half-elves, unfortunately, do not live nearly as long as their elven partners. Her husband died, and Cianna felt another pain she had never expected, the loss of a lover. Her daughters, Illia and Kairi, continued their life in the Heartlands, but knew Cianna would not stay forever. Cianna chose to take the road, her faith in her offspring allowing her to leave them in charge without her.
The years had allowed Cianna to grow rusty and unskilled. Can she relearn to use her bow and keep to the shadows before something terrible befalls her in Baldur’s Gate?
A former adventuring companion of her mother’s came from Suzail and visited Evereska in the hopes of being granted an audience with the gold dragon Horadyzan, an ally of the Evereskan counsel. Her mother’s friend was a half-elven noble and priest of the Draco Paladin, Bahamut. The half-elven noble met Cianna and was impressed by her skills as a scout. With her mother’s reluctant permission, Cianna was sent to train under Elebrian Ravenwood, a moon elf archer under the employ of the half-elf.
Cianna learned much from Elebrian Ravenwood in the art of archery. Her skills with a bow increased quickly, but she became fascinated with the art of arcane magic. She was inspired by an arcane archer who she met at an archery competition in Suzail. She immediately began studying arcane arts, and found she that her clever mind facilitated her study of the art. Soon after she began however, she was sent to the Pirate Isles to investigate Cult of the Dragon activity.
Upon her arrival in the Pirate Isles, Cianna found that surviving the island's dangers would challenge her to use every skills that she had learned . Cianna made contact with the Grimthorpe watch, but the watch would not accept an unproven scout into their ranks, and so Cianna was forced to prove herself.
Under the employ of an odd priest of some dragon deity Cianna had never heard of, she began to learn much about dragonkind. Cianna realized that using dragon parts, one could make armor to protect oneself from the evils of chromatic dragonkind. After almost a year of intense research, Cianna emerged with many ideas and began to implement them. Working with the dwarves of a local town, the local armorer was able to craft a greenscale jerkin from the scales of an Adult Green Dragon. The fruits of her research finally realized, Cianna turned to the main teaching of the noble House she worked for—the elimination of the Cult of Dragon.
Unfortunately, the Cult was prepared for her. An evil organization dedicated to the birth of undead dragons (dracoliches), the Cult of Dragon is large and well-funded. Employing an army of evil half-dragons, dragons, dracoliches and human followers alike, the Cult of Dragon and their allies fought a number of battles with Cianna's allies, eventually capturing Cianna herself.
As a prisoner, Cianna was tortured daily. She was whipped, cut, beaten, all the usual means of torture, but Cianna was not deterred by such means of physical pain. She held out well, for a captive under an evil organization, until one day:
The fateful day that jerked Cianna's life, belief, and even her very being, began as any other day. Like most days, Cianna was taken into a dark room, laid out on a cot and tied down with heavy chains. Instead of the usual beating, the Cultists then left the room and returned with a large covered cage. As they uncovered the cage, Cianna saw a young green dragon tied down with heavy metal chains, struggling to free itself but failing badly. Cianna heard footsteps and turned her head to the room's entrance, where a hooded man entered with a very large axe. The hooded Cultist raised his axe and took one swift swing at the dragon's neck. The young dragon attempted to roar, but as its throat was severed by the Cultist's axe, all that the young dragon could emit before slumping over was a loud, high pitched screech. A creature that should have lived for a millennium, cut down at a young age, in cold blood. Cianna winced at the loud screech, beginning to rethink her hatred of chromatic dragons. A few robed cultists surrounded the dead dragon and began a ritual, but Cianna was too tired to make out the words. As the cultists neared the end of their ritual, one of them covered a long dagger in the dragon's blood and brought it towards Cianna. Cianna braced herself for pain, but when the cultist's dagger pierced Cianna's skin, she felt a different pain from any pain she had ever felt before. She screamed from her intense pain and, unable to resist it, she fainted.
For the next week, Cianna was neither able to sleep nor stand. She lay in extreme pain, screaming and yelling constantly, much to the amusement of the cultists. Cianna felt a pain strong enough that she prayed for death, to free her from her torture. The cultists refused. Her mind began to leave her, her memories floated away. When she tried to think, all that she could remember was the screech of the young green dragon as the cultists slaughtered it. She felt a mental pain, emotional pain, and physical pain so strong that she just prayed for death. She had even forgotten the name of her god, all she knew was that she must pray for death, or any relief from the pain.
Relief came in the strangest of ways. Words began to form in Cianna's mind, lyrics to musical ballads, and Cianna sung them. Her songs, strange draconic tunes that she neither recognized nor understood how she knew, comforted her and was the only thing she could ever do to fight the pain that seemed so endlessly to inhabit her body. These songs, she realized, praised that odd dragon god Bahamut. Her faith in the Seldarine was not protecting her from the intense pain she felt, but these songs were. Songs of praise quickly became prayer, and Cianna became a fervent follower of Bahamut. Her singing kept her sane for a few more weeks, but she was terribly hurt, both physically and mentally. Eventually, her voice gave out, and she fainted. She lay in a coma, unable to wake until she was rescued and healed by the local mage academy.
When Cianna awoke in the mage tower, she felt like a different woman. She had forgotten nearly all about herself, except her name and childhood. She knew she was Cianna Arathiel, daughter of the priestess Lia of Evereska. That was about all she could remember when she awoke. Not only was she mentally a mess, having lost her memory, most of her knowledge and all of her magical talent, but she felt physically different. She retained her quick reflexes, they returned to her when she was healed. Her muscles still remembered how to fire a bow, though her mind would not allow her the same aim she had before her torture. Most importantly, the pain was gone. She could stand and walk again, but her mind constantly returned to memories of her terrible pain and that single loud screech, the final sound of the young green dragon.
The local mages gave Cianna a bow, and returned her to Grimthorpe, that she may start a new life. So, Cianna set out to forge a new path, remembering the blood she had lost, and unaware of the blood that she had gained.
The new path went well for Cianna, and although she had lost many of her talents, she quickly gained them back. She regained magic, though she realized that she no longer needed to study books, and now the magic came from herself. She realized that it must be a result of the ritual performed on her.
She was still tormented by the image of the young green dragon's death, and his final scream. Whenever she saw a dragon in pain, Cianna would lose her mind, falling unconscious at times. People began to think her crazy. Nonetheless, she learned to harness her new-found power and she began a painful yet empowering transition.
The Changing.
At first, Cianna just felt stronger. Then blades seemed to bounce off her hardened skin. Finally, after the most painful year of Cianna's long life, Cianna grew a set of scaled green wings. She loved her wings, as they allowed her to fly and feel a beautiful breeze. Unfortunately, at the same time, the Pirates of the Pirate Isles combined their forces and mounted an attack. Although not working for the Watch, Cianna led forces to counteract the pirates. It was a bloody war and Cianna does not remember the end. All she knows was that she flew up to the top of a suspicious black tower, and felt the greatest pain she could ever know. Worse than growing wings, worse than her blood being taken over.
When Cianna awoke, she had lost her wings and claws. Her strength remained, but her magic was gone. Cianna was full of anger, and hatred. Officially crazy, she was banished from the Pirate Isles and she eventually made her way to the city of Hillsfar. The Plumes immediately chased her away, and even the Zhents would not accept her. Cianna wandered for a few years, lost in her own anger and memories.
Arriving at the small town of Nesme, Cianna began to learn to control her anger by using it in combat. She proved she could be a formidable warrior and helped defend Nesme from all sort of terrible creatures. On one day however, a goblin horde fell upon the city and broke far into its gates. Partly by luck, partly by strength, Cianna was one of the few adventurers not killed in the first round of fighting. She wound up single-handedly pushing the goblins back. The people of Nesme had no thanks for the terrible visage that had saved them. They cursed Cianna, calling her a monster. She was cast from Nesme's gates only a few days after she saved the town's gates from the goblin's assault.
She wandered for years until she fell in love with a young half-elf, and the love removed the terrible rage from her body. Although her power was no longer available, she turned her energies from battle to that of aiding her lover. She married the half-elf, and settled down in a small kingdom of the Western Heartlands. Half-elves, unfortunately, do not live nearly as long as their elven partners. Her husband died, and Cianna felt another pain she had never expected, the loss of a lover. Her daughters, Illia and Kairi, continued their life in the Heartlands, but knew Cianna would not stay forever. Cianna chose to take the road, her faith in her offspring allowing her to leave them in charge without her.
The years had allowed Cianna to grow rusty and unskilled. Can she relearn to use her bow and keep to the shadows before something terrible befalls her in Baldur’s Gate?
Goals:
1) Stomp out the Cult of Dragon, if it has a foothold in the region.
2) Weaken the influence of Tiamat and her followers, if they have an foothold in the region.
3) Work towards general good by allying with the Harpers and other good-minded organizations.
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas:
1) Cianna or her friends receive intelligence that a Cult of Dragon operative is present in Baldur's Gate.
2) A Cult of Dragon cell is blamed for attacking a caravan bound for Baldur's Gate. Cianna, as an expert on their methods, is called in to help investigate.
3) A pirate troop shows up in Roaringshoard selling caged wyrmlings or dragon eggs.
Misc Facts:
1) Cianna doesn't like to kill dragons, even if they're evil.
2) Cianna hates pirates, especially "dread pirates".
3) Cianna's eyes, though always green, change shades depending on her mood.
4) Cianna is not above using questionable means to achieve a good end, which could definitely end in alignment shifts.