Cinna
"The threads of the future are all tangled within a web of uncertainty, love. Some threads are of silk, others of barbed wires Be careful which you tug on, for it might be your throat that bleeds next."
Appearance
The natural beauty of the untamed wilderness. Cinna's skin is pale blue and shimmers faintly in the moonlight. Her eyes are green, vibrant and swirling like a living forest. They are the only part of her capable of betraying her emotions when the rest of her remains so unreadable. Her hair is long, unkempt blue waves that cascade down her back. Perpetually adorned with twigs, leaves, and occasionally flowers, one has to wonder if they were grown there or acquired. Fortunately, no one has tried to pluck one from her head yet. Cinna would prefer to go without clothing, but reluctantly wears whatever is forced upon her.
Skills and Abilities
She was born with the ability of foresight, and surprisingly hasn't gone completely mad yet. It is uncertain, glimpsing threads of potentials until a certainty comes along. Her visions may be cryptic, requiring much to interpret, or clear as the skies of Day.
Her particular breed of fae have an affinity for nature. A little coaxing, a subtle bending to her will. It is by no means impressive.
(Un)fortunately, she is rather skilled in deception, misdirection, illusion. She was not blessed with the ability to keep her mouth shut, however.
Her particular breed of fae have an affinity for nature. A little coaxing, a subtle bending to her will. It is by no means impressive.
(Un)fortunately, she is rather skilled in deception, misdirection, illusion. She was not blessed with the ability to keep her mouth shut, however.
Personality
Loyal to a degree, never blindly so.
She has been called unpredictable, oscillating between stillness and a laugh that brightens a room.
She has been called unpredictable, oscillating between stillness and a laugh that brightens a room.
Biography & Lore
All you need to know is that she was fooled only once. And now, she must spend the rest of her days as a seer for some criminal scum.
If you must ask...no. Cinna is not her born name, but one with a complex and bittersweet history to it.
Many centuries ago, long before she became entangled in messy, dark dealings, Cinna had another name- a name gifted to her by her mother, woven with magic. Her name was one whispered amongst the leaves, carried on a wind. It was intricate, unable to be pronounced with the mortal tongues. This name was lost, buried beneath time, heartache, and one of many deals gone awry.
Cinna loved once, a mortal man, a scholar who found himself lost in unfamiliar terrain. She had seen him coming to the court before he had even thought about traveling. He was a scholar of a civilization long since abandoned. A traveling scholar, she supposed.
Cinna was drawn to his curiosity when he passed from mortal to fae realms, his cleverness, and the way he found beauty in her wildness.
However, he could not pronounce her fae-given name, no matter how hard he tried. It frustrated him and amused Cinna. Eventually, he gifted her with something she held so near to her own heart- a nickname. Cinnamon, he had called her. It was humorous, but he claimed it belonged to her. It suited her fiery moods, her sharp mind all hidden beneath a sweet exterior. She had laughed when he first called her that. Laughed so hard she had cried, the sound echoing under a moonlit sky like chimes in the night.
But days spent together turned to years and her silly name, shortened to Cinna, became so much more to her. It was a piece of him. A piece of his joy and his brilliant mind that only reminded her of their fleeting time together.
He told her that he was okay with dying hundreds of years before her as long as he had been able to spend his time with her. But Cinna knew she would not survive the heartbreak when the cruel hands of death came to drag him to the beyond. She had disregarded his feelings entirely and searched for another way that they might spend more time together than all he could offer with his painfully human lifespan. She was desperate.
There had been rumors of fae tucked away in the Elderglen. Fae which might trade a wish in exchange for something else...
In the shadowed forest, the air tasted damp, earthy. Ancient magic could be felt in each step I took until I found myself standing before him. An ancient fae shrouded in the shifting mist, he moved like water, ever-changing. His features were unmatching, eyes of two colors, one ear pointed upward, the other more rounded. Each finger seemed to be from a different hand as if they were borrowed from countless other beings-he was an amalgamation of beasts, shadows, voices, and something indescribable.
"You come seeking my aid, little seer?" His voice startled me, whispered in my ears while he stood so far away. From where I was, I could see his eyes- one golden and one pure white- gleaming like the sun and the moon.
I nodded, unsure if I should bow, stand still, or address him. I was desperate, more than I'd care to admit. So I met his gaze and spoke. "You are the one they speak of, aren't you?" I asked, she shaking in my voice betraying the confidence I had tried to display. "You are the one who can grant me a wish in exchange for something I have."
He bowed to me, though it felt more like mockery than anything. "Indeed, I am. You may call me Lioren Nomvarith." His voice sent a shiver down my spine, soft like the rustling of autumn leaves but hinting at something much more ominous. "And I see what you have for me. It glimmers with power. Oh, what a delightful treasure it will make in my trove. Please, please. What may I give you in exchange for it?"
I hesitated. How had he known what I brought? It was hardly worth anything and certainly carried no power. Nothing noteworthy at least. I thought as I ran my fingers over the ring passed down from my great-great-grandmother. "I would like a trade." His unmatched brow rose and fell curiously. He was still, waiting for me to continue and make my demands. "Can you make Eryndil, the mortal man I love, fae? I cannot fathom a lifetime of loneliness without him."
I felt guilty saying those words aloud. How would he react when he discovered that I had taken away the certainty of his human life for my own selfishness?
He was quiet for a while. The whole forest seemed to still while Lioren pondered my plea. I could feel my heart thundering in my ears, but still I would wait for his reply. Eventually, the leaves rustled again and the breeze returned. Lioren approached from where he had stood. "The Change is a costly thing, dear. Are you prepared to pay the price for your love to live?"
Desperate. I was desperate. I had no other choice. "What do you want for it?"
Lioren smiled, revealing rows of sharpened teeth. Too many teeth. "I will take your name. Your true name, of course." He sounded overjoyed. "With your true name, I will hold a piece of you forever and your love will be untethered to the rather miniscule lifespan he was given."
My name? I hesitated again. I knew the dangers of giving up my name. To us, it was not just a sound. It is our essence, our identity, our power. Oftentimes our own fathers, brothers, and sisters don't know the true names our mothers have given us. But I knew that I would lose another part of me if I didn't share it with Lioren. My fingers brushed over the ring again, an apology to the generations before me, and I whispered. "I accept."
The moment we sealed our deal, bloodied hands held together, I felt...lighter. So light and so lost. It felt like part of me had been torn away, a limb missing. A void had been where it was, open and aching where it had been torn from me. I stumbled over, gasping for breath.
"Ah," Lioren purred, "What a delightful name! It sings with power! Such a pity no one will speak it again. A tragedy that something so beautiful has to be locked up forever."
I clutched my chest, knees scraping against the rocks and dirt. I felt threads, the fates as I'd seen them, snapping. Futures I had seen, futures of me and Eryndil, fading into nothingness. What was happ-
"I hope it was worth it, little seer." His form was dissolving into the misty forest. "One day when everyone has forgotten who you are, I hope you know how much you have lost."
She didn't see him again. His parting words echoed in her head for years. When she returned home, it seemed no one knew her. Family, friends, Eryndil treated her like a stranger. She spent years in the libraries, trying to figure out who Lioren was, but she should have been searching for what he was instead. Seventy years after he'd stolen her name, she had stumbled upon the books of the Nomvarith- the Name Taker.
If you must ask...no. Cinna is not her born name, but one with a complex and bittersweet history to it.
Many centuries ago, long before she became entangled in messy, dark dealings, Cinna had another name- a name gifted to her by her mother, woven with magic. Her name was one whispered amongst the leaves, carried on a wind. It was intricate, unable to be pronounced with the mortal tongues. This name was lost, buried beneath time, heartache, and one of many deals gone awry.
Cinna loved once, a mortal man, a scholar who found himself lost in unfamiliar terrain. She had seen him coming to the court before he had even thought about traveling. He was a scholar of a civilization long since abandoned. A traveling scholar, she supposed.
Cinna was drawn to his curiosity when he passed from mortal to fae realms, his cleverness, and the way he found beauty in her wildness.
However, he could not pronounce her fae-given name, no matter how hard he tried. It frustrated him and amused Cinna. Eventually, he gifted her with something she held so near to her own heart- a nickname. Cinnamon, he had called her. It was humorous, but he claimed it belonged to her. It suited her fiery moods, her sharp mind all hidden beneath a sweet exterior. She had laughed when he first called her that. Laughed so hard she had cried, the sound echoing under a moonlit sky like chimes in the night.
But days spent together turned to years and her silly name, shortened to Cinna, became so much more to her. It was a piece of him. A piece of his joy and his brilliant mind that only reminded her of their fleeting time together.
He told her that he was okay with dying hundreds of years before her as long as he had been able to spend his time with her. But Cinna knew she would not survive the heartbreak when the cruel hands of death came to drag him to the beyond. She had disregarded his feelings entirely and searched for another way that they might spend more time together than all he could offer with his painfully human lifespan. She was desperate.
There had been rumors of fae tucked away in the Elderglen. Fae which might trade a wish in exchange for something else...
In the shadowed forest, the air tasted damp, earthy. Ancient magic could be felt in each step I took until I found myself standing before him. An ancient fae shrouded in the shifting mist, he moved like water, ever-changing. His features were unmatching, eyes of two colors, one ear pointed upward, the other more rounded. Each finger seemed to be from a different hand as if they were borrowed from countless other beings-he was an amalgamation of beasts, shadows, voices, and something indescribable.
"You come seeking my aid, little seer?" His voice startled me, whispered in my ears while he stood so far away. From where I was, I could see his eyes- one golden and one pure white- gleaming like the sun and the moon.
I nodded, unsure if I should bow, stand still, or address him. I was desperate, more than I'd care to admit. So I met his gaze and spoke. "You are the one they speak of, aren't you?" I asked, she shaking in my voice betraying the confidence I had tried to display. "You are the one who can grant me a wish in exchange for something I have."
He bowed to me, though it felt more like mockery than anything. "Indeed, I am. You may call me Lioren Nomvarith." His voice sent a shiver down my spine, soft like the rustling of autumn leaves but hinting at something much more ominous. "And I see what you have for me. It glimmers with power. Oh, what a delightful treasure it will make in my trove. Please, please. What may I give you in exchange for it?"
I hesitated. How had he known what I brought? It was hardly worth anything and certainly carried no power. Nothing noteworthy at least. I thought as I ran my fingers over the ring passed down from my great-great-grandmother. "I would like a trade." His unmatched brow rose and fell curiously. He was still, waiting for me to continue and make my demands. "Can you make Eryndil, the mortal man I love, fae? I cannot fathom a lifetime of loneliness without him."
I felt guilty saying those words aloud. How would he react when he discovered that I had taken away the certainty of his human life for my own selfishness?
He was quiet for a while. The whole forest seemed to still while Lioren pondered my plea. I could feel my heart thundering in my ears, but still I would wait for his reply. Eventually, the leaves rustled again and the breeze returned. Lioren approached from where he had stood. "The Change is a costly thing, dear. Are you prepared to pay the price for your love to live?"
Desperate. I was desperate. I had no other choice. "What do you want for it?"
Lioren smiled, revealing rows of sharpened teeth. Too many teeth. "I will take your name. Your true name, of course." He sounded overjoyed. "With your true name, I will hold a piece of you forever and your love will be untethered to the rather miniscule lifespan he was given."
My name? I hesitated again. I knew the dangers of giving up my name. To us, it was not just a sound. It is our essence, our identity, our power. Oftentimes our own fathers, brothers, and sisters don't know the true names our mothers have given us. But I knew that I would lose another part of me if I didn't share it with Lioren. My fingers brushed over the ring again, an apology to the generations before me, and I whispered. "I accept."
The moment we sealed our deal, bloodied hands held together, I felt...lighter. So light and so lost. It felt like part of me had been torn away, a limb missing. A void had been where it was, open and aching where it had been torn from me. I stumbled over, gasping for breath.
"Ah," Lioren purred, "What a delightful name! It sings with power! Such a pity no one will speak it again. A tragedy that something so beautiful has to be locked up forever."
I clutched my chest, knees scraping against the rocks and dirt. I felt threads, the fates as I'd seen them, snapping. Futures I had seen, futures of me and Eryndil, fading into nothingness. What was happ-
"I hope it was worth it, little seer." His form was dissolving into the misty forest. "One day when everyone has forgotten who you are, I hope you know how much you have lost."
She didn't see him again. His parting words echoed in her head for years. When she returned home, it seemed no one knew her. Family, friends, Eryndil treated her like a stranger. She spent years in the libraries, trying to figure out who Lioren was, but she should have been searching for what he was instead. Seventy years after he'd stolen her name, she had stumbled upon the books of the Nomvarith- the Name Taker.
