Seyah Mal'Tarr
Born nearly in the fiery gutters of Tyr, Seyah was the product of an unholy union between a Tyrian Blood Witch and a Pirate of ill-repute.
Though neither of her parents were unkind, nor unloving, the laws of their people and the city made their romance a brief one. Seyah's mothers status as a Blood Witch had condemned the their romance to an end before it had ever begun. Their union one made long illegal by both law and tradition, the two lovers when discovered were quickly exiled.
Seyah's father was sent away upon his ship, never to return, while her mother was sent into the Ash Wastes of Sheketh.
Sent to her death, it was only by some small miracle that Seyah's mother not only managed to survive, but gave birth to her.
The girl's early life was not a pleasant one, the first decade spent wandering the wastes with her mother. They survived by using the ancient paths of their people, hiding in ancient caverns and old dugouts. Surviving only through the use of her mother's mastery of the Blood. It was during this time that Seyah learned these rituals, the two surviving until her mother became ill just as she turned fifteen.
Having no skill in the arts of healing, Seyah knew that her mother would be lost without assistance, and thus decided to break the ancient Exile. Hoping that her mother's crimes were forgiven, Seyah made a plynth and dragged her mother back to their home city of Tyr.
It was here that she found not kindness, but persecution.
The law of traditions was clear, and Seyah's mother had broken the pact of exile. Though she was treated of her illness, the Kings of Tyr had her put to death, though 'luckily' absolved her daughter of any sins. Showing what they said was kindness as they tossed Seyah into the streets.
There, the young woman learned her second set of lessons. She spent the next four years within the mire, doing what she had to do to survive. Selling herself, and every trinket that she could steal. Eventually, breaking free of the life only when her hand happened to stlip from the wrong pocket.
It was this chance meeting that turned Seyah's fate.
Though she did not know it at the time, the man she had stolen from would set her life on an entirely different course. With his help she lifted herself from petty thief, into something far more respectable. Her intelligence, skill, and knowledge of the Blood being an invaluable skill that could not be bought or sold.
Before long, Seyah managed to truly ingritate herself within the Underworld of Tyr. Setting herself up not as some underling, but a woman who could get things done. Within a short few years Seyah opened a brothel and bar named the Black Orchid, placing itself on the precipes of Tyr's ancient Temple District. Straddling a very dangerous line between the forgotten honored Gods, and the debauchery of the Gutters below.
It is from the Black Orchid that Seyah conducts her business; Gathering information, selling gooods, and doing as her benefactor asks.
The Blood
Lastly comes the gifts of blood.Every Tyrian is born with an ability called 'the reading'. A skill that most be honed like a muscle, every Tyrian is at least capable of this feat. Using ones blood they are able to catch impressions of a person. Seeing the truth in them, what they hold most dear, and sometimes even snippets of pasts and futures.
This gift is an incredibly integral part of Tyrian society, and has created some of the most firm rules within it's Culture. This gift within the blood must be practiced, and if not touched upon will fade over time. It is said that the truly skilled can see the very soul of a person, reading everything from memories, intentions, and even possibly futures.
Although these gifts are possible for any true-blooded Tyrian, it has long since been known that various other gifts are bestowed upon the people of Tyr. These magics are all involved and related to the Blood. Some of these abilities allow their bestowed to communicate over great distances, take on the faces of others, and even control the crimson within the beings of the living.
Tyrian's are inherently gifted with Blood Magic, the Crimson Vitae of life being a core to their being and society.
Seyah happens to be an incredible talent within the Blood. Born as the daughter of a Blood Witch, she holds an exceptional amount of knowledge in the rites and uses of the Blood. Enough that most of what she knows is considered heretical. Her relatively low station in life marking her as 'unfit' for the ancient lore and rituals she holds within her mind.
It is for this reason that Seyah reveals very little about her abilities, nor the understanding she has of them. To most within the Temple District of Tyr, she is but a harmless Madame. No more gifted with the Blood than any other Tyrian that can be found on the street.
The truth however, is far darker.
Seyah is well aware of the ancient rites of her people, and although not as learned as her mother, she knows many of the ancient magics that the Tyrian's of old held true. In the days of the Lost City Seyah's particular gift would have marked her as a 'Blood Dancer', capable of flickering from talent to talent. Holding a modicum of the aptitude within nearly every ability found in the Blood, though having mastery of none.
Her only true proficiency, laying within the control of those whose Blood she has tasted.