This character was created for a tabletop role-playing game set in the Eberron world. It was written in October 2008.
Droaam
Outskirts of Kislev
964 YK
The sun had finally reappeared over the small wood as Kyoni moved from under the thicket in which she had rested for the last few hours. There was a rustle of leaves, a deft sound that no untrained ear could perceive. The millennial elf knew she wasn't the source of such noise, it had been decades since she had been that clumsy. Someone, more probably something, had also taken refuge in the wood. Step by step, she glided soundlessly toward the rustling, all the while nocking an arrow on an oaken bow with a silver filigree grip. With a few more steps she spied her quarry; an orc leaning lazily against a tree. Carefully, she picked her way around her target, never losing sight of it and yet scanning every bush and tree for more orcs. She found two, idling about, before deciding to strike. Kyoni never reflected upon the reason of their presence and a moment later an arrow was embedded in the creature's abdomen, quickly followed by a second shaft in its neck. With a wet gurgle, the orc went down and Kyoni was already moving to her second target. The pair of orcs wheeled around at the sound of their fallen companion. Kyoni let loose another pair of arrows and a moment later the sole remaining orc charged the nimble elf with a roar of fury. Dropping the bow, she pulled out two long blades secured to her back and managed to raise them crosswise quickly enough to ward off the blow from the brutish weapon. Pushing away the weapon locked in her swords, Kyoni spun on herself to deliver a quick slash to the orc's neck before gutting it with her second blade.
Satisfied of her handiwork, she sheathed both swords before retrieving her bow and plucking out the arrows from her victims. Kyoni then sped to examine the traps she had laid throughout the wood in hopes of catching small to medium size game. Surely the rain had driven other creatures to seek the relative shelter of these thin oaks, she reasoned, hoping there were no more ocs in the immediate vicinity.Yet, when she arrived at the first trap, she spied a different kind of prey than she expected. Hanging from a thin, but sturdy oak, a boy hung upside down. An amused smiled crept to her usually cold features as she wondered how much time he had spent hanging there. His features marked him as an elf, probably from the nearby village of Kislev. Kyoni also felt some measure of pity for the poor youth and decided to let him down. Slowly, to avoid startling him, she revealed her presence.
«You are far away from home, little one..» Her musical, but harsh, voice carried the elven words with more curiosity and amusement than ill intent.
«Being stuck sure made me miss home. Madam, would you please help me get down?» Answered the young elf.
Kyoni merely nodded as she started untying the knot at his ankle. When she was done, she scrutinized him coldly as he fell into a heap.
«You're lucky it wasn't the orcs who found you.» She remarked sternly.
«Thank you for freeing me. You are right, I need to find the Abrus Precatorius Linn as soon as possible and go back.»
«Aren't you a bit young to be on your own?» Of course, she hadn't been much older when she had started living off the land. Yet, for all the similarities, she couldn't admit to herself that he could survive on his own, as she had for all these centuries.
«Well, Mrs Bloch was not feeling good due to the Scatia. She went to take some rest and I went to get the plant to make her feel better. It is a surprise.» He explained.
«You are from Kislev?» She asked, guessing it was the case.
«Yes.» The answer confirming her suspicions.
«Then go home. I will bring you the herbs later this day. What is your name?»
«Thank you for your help. My name is Arilas. What is yours?»
The huntress turned to leave, but stopped after a step. «Kyoni» She answered, before vanishing in the thick woods. She spent the next few hours going from trap to trap, picking up whatever game she had caught, all the while on the lookup for the herbs she promised to deliver. Yet, for all her usual single-mindedness, she couldn't get the boy out of her mind and an ancient memory flooded her mind.
Pre-Galifar Breland
Somewhere
-1531 YK
A memory. All that was left of this forgotten time. Kyoni peered into the past, unravelling the layers of previous lives, to return to this defining moment, this unforgettable memory. Yet, unforgettable memories fade in there own way. At first, the shocking moment remains vivid, so vivid that it can be experienced again and again. As the centuries trickle by, the vivid quality of the memory wanes, until it slowly becomes blurred, details fading into undistinguishable figures. Each and every time, the ancient elf tried her best to recall these forgotten details. This time was no different.
A melding of trees, grass, and maybe a road, filled her sight. The exact location had been lost to her for the last millennia or so and she had given up the search for it. A flurry of sounds came to mind, hooves, chatter, perhaps birds, the creaking of wheels. There was at least one cart, it had people around it. Elves she reasoned, but she could not distinguish their features. Somewhere in that group stood her parents. They were as blurred and waxy as the others. She too walked beside the cart, its contents or purpose, long forgotten now. Kyoni tried to press her mind for a familiar odor, yet the only smell she could process was damp wood. As most of the memory, she could not be sure if that part was real or simply a produce of her desperate imagination. The there we cries and shouts, all other sounds hopelessly muffled. Shadows parted from the tree line and in moments were upon them. The blurry forms fought back, but one by one, went down covered in a crimson color she knew as blood.
Kyoni was frozen, terrified and unable to act. No matter how much she tried to budge, the little girl she was then obstinately refused to move. Then, something, or someone, sent her sprawling to the ground. There was no pain, simply the stillness of the forms around her, who somehow pierced her soul with their unformed eyes. Her parents were among these fallen, and yet she could not move. There was naught to do, but watch the eerily spectacle of death. The shadows' battle cries turned to rude laughter as they moved on the last survivors. They all ignored her. For some reason, that more than anything made her furious. Her gaze shifted to one of the surviving figures, fending off a trio of shadows. For some reason, she was transfixed. Was this her father? Her mother? Or someone else entirely? Whoever that figure was, she felt it was important to her. So important, that when it finally fell to the red grass in a bloody mess, she screamed. The pain was overwhelming, it felt as if her chest had just been pried open and her heart removed.
Then, trees raced by. Kyoni screamed at her younger self to stop, to turn back and fight. No matter what she yelled, the trees continued to flash by at greater speeds. The flight lasted for hours, or just a few moments, she could not tell, her perception had been warped by time and emotion. When the girl stopped, she cursed her. She was a coward, she didn't deserve to live when everyone around her died. Why had she survived?
Droaam
North of Sharaat Kol
988 YK
Why had she survived? It was a question which plagued her mind with increased frequency as the tide of age advanced mercilessly. Was there others like her? What had she done different to live through the centuries, when everyone else died? It was not simply skill, she could not even believe that lie anymore. Old age should have claimed her more than a millennia ago, yet here she was, still struggling for her life. Kyoni contemplated these question, quietly floating on her back in a small pond. She found the sensation of the cool water on her flesh, comforting.
A slight rustle in a nearby thicket alerted her senses. Something was out there, most probably stalking her at this very moment. Unarmed and unarmored, she was vulnerable. This time, she was the prey, not the hunter. She had to escape. In a quick succession of precise movements, Kyoni brought herself to the nearby shore. The lithe elf rose naked from the water in a dead run. Before she could gain any momentum, something blocked her. A gnoll emerged from the woods, rope in hand. She twisted out of his reach and reciprocated his attack with one of her own. Palm forward, she hit him under the snout and sent him sprawling into a tree.
Only an instant had passed, already she was surrounded. More gnolls hovered around her and she had only succeeded in whipping up their interest by fighting back. She crouch low, keeping track of their movement, her taut muscles ready to react at a moment's notice. One of them moved on her and she instinctively lashed out. Part way through her movement, she realised her mistake. It had only been a bait. Kyoni tried to twist and tumble out of the way, but something connected with the back of her head. She felt herself lurching forward, her vision diminishing with each passing moment. The ground came up to met her, darkness soonfollowed.
