I'm here looking for a game to join with my character, Ky'lia. I've had her in my head for a long time and with new material that has come out, I finally decided to dust her off and hope to join a game with her. Before I introduce my character, however, I suppose I should
introduce myself.
My name is Dahlia. I was brought into the folds of D&D
by friends and the well-known Critical Role D&D group. I’ve been playing
here on Roll20 and over Discord voice since May of this year. During that time
I’ve played in several campaigns, I’ve ran a one-shot, and currently am
preparing to DM Curse of Strahd for a group of six players. I wouldn’t say I
know everything about D&D and I am still ever learning and discovering more
material. I’m also always coming up with character concepts which in turn makes
want to play more D&D. Now that I’ve settled into my new job I’m up for the
challenge. I’m also 27 years old, and if you didn’t know already, I’m a gal. I
live in the EST timezone and I'm free Mon, Tues, Sat, and Sun around 8PM. I can campaign until around 12pm those days.
If you have any further questions, let me know and I’ll do
my best to answer them. Now I’ll introduce my character. Changes are always up
for discussion.
Ky’lia Larkspur
Race: Half-elf (SCAG Half-Moon Elf)
Class: Cleric of the Grave (Xanathar's Guide to Everything)
Background: Outlander (Exile)
Alignment: Chaotic Good
The first thing I learned was that life had seasons. You
were born, given life as if from the very brightness of the stars in the sky.
Then you grew, like seedlings breaking soil, becoming saplings, green and
unfurling their leaves. You gained wisdom and experience much like the rings of
the sturdy oak--everything left its mark. Then you died. You returned your
starlight to the skies above and a new adventure began. The body died, but not
the soul. That starlight would twinkle and if lucky be born again.
I do not know how many times my soul has wandered the earth.
Perhaps someday…
I do know, however, that I was born beneath a brilliant sky.
That is what my teacher told me. She told me of the stardust that lit my eyes
when she first saw them. To her, I owe my life and my utter devotion. You see,
I was an exile from my community from the first breath I took.
My teacher gave me the name Ky'lia Larkspur. She said, it
meant "Ruby Maiden." I was born on a night when the ruby star,
Centuri was ablaze in the sky. For some cultures, such a thing would be
accepted as no more than beautiful, but for others it is a dark sign. So, it
was for my mother tribe. My mother was an elf, which leaves my father as a
human, but I do not and probably will not ever know their names. My birth was
beneath a dark star for them, a star that breathes of chaos and tragedy, and a
star that called my teacher to find me in a lock of larkspurs.
All knowledge of before my birth comes from my teacher—most
would pity me for the faith I have in her, but you will see that she is someone
to believe without doubt. She knows many things and has gifted me with them
over the years I have lived with her.
Teacher was the one I called Mother as we served in the
woodlands. I would not call it a sheltered existence, but I was not raised in a
bustling town either. I spent my life serving as guide and trader to the people
in the closest village as well as those passing through. I travelled with my
teacher, Thana, often when I was a child to sell the wares we made from the
land or the creatures she hunted and as I began older she taught me to hunt, to
fish, and to make medicines. My solo trips to the closest settlements became
more often too. I would not say my teacher and I did not fight, that I did not
rebel, but I will never say I did not appreciate the care and life she gave me.
I will also never forget her teachings, the lessons she and
nature gave me. I know I have told you the first lesson she taught me, but
there were many others. She taught me of the beauties of life and how fragile
it was, she taught me as well of loss. The pain of losing a pet, of watching a
plant whether. That is why life is beautiful—why anything is beautiful. We are
all nothing more than stardust and breath, short to bloom and that is why
everything must be appreciated. Why nature should be enjoyed, kept, protected;
it is why friendships should never be taken lightly. We never know when the
stars or breath will leave us. But though painful, death, I learned is nothing
to fear. It hurts to lose and yes, it hurts to die, but when we all come to the
gates of the afterworld—our afterworld—only two things should matter us.
Did we find joy in our life? And has our life brought joy to
others?
We fear death as humans, as creatures capable of insight and
thought, but upon our death what worry is there? There is only warmth, a
return, peace. Death is so often seen as an end all, but I learned it is only
the beginning to another journey. Yet we mourn what could have been, not what
is. Mourning is right, just, but we must live our lives to honor those gone and
be sure that our life touches those that go on after us. You see, if our lives
bring joy and inspiration to others, we never truly die do we? I also learned
that sometimes Death comes early to those who are not deserving and that to cut
a thread so strong would be travesty.
Thana was ever the enigma and yet an anchor in my life. I
owe my life to her, my respect to her. Not many are so candid and yet gentle
about death. So many fear its coming, and yet she taught me to revere it. Now I
can understand why.
There was always incense in my home. There was always people
who came to Thana to bless their dead, to ask for funeral rites. I have seen
many a wake, a ritual, and burial in my life. My life, thus was always present
with the dead. From the villagers that came and went to the animal we hunted
for food. Crops grew and were harvested. Life beget death and death beget and
nourished life.
Thana was a ivory-skinned woman, with Raven hair and sparkling
eyes that sang of starlight in their silver midst. She was beautiful in a way
that is breakable. If you did not know her, she always looked forlorn and sad.
Her beauty came from tragedy and resilience all present on her face. Curiously
though, Thana never seemed to age.
Thana was a moral who became a god. Her true name is lost to
history, but many know her as the Raven Queen. She represents the transition
from life to death, the cutter threads, a weaver of golden webs. She had been
once revered, but as I said, so many fear death. Many fear her. Death is equal,
neutral, it doesn't judge and so it seems so cold. Death may be feared, but she
a siren of grief and just as she brought many from the fingers of death, she
too saved me. I had a destiny that death could not touch just yet.
When her radiant form was revealed unto me, in my sixteenth
year, how could I do anything other than bow in service of her. I would become
a voice of her and in turn she blessed me. I had not found my purpose in life
just yet. Nor had I anything to show for it other than the love of this goddess
who had so raised me without complaint. So I vowed to represent her on this
earth and bring her and renew her temples all across the continents while also
respecting the other gods. For her I would enjoy Life.
This would be my pilgrimage, my path, and as I prepared to
leave she came to me bearing a gift. It was ironic, but Thana was never one to
shy from visages given to the spectre of death. She could joke.
She gave me a large, beautiful scythe whose handle was
wrought of the strongest wood, smooth and pleasant beneath my fingers and I ran
them over the darkened grooves of the branch or trunk which had given itself
for this service. The blade was silver and sharp. Even I laughed, but this gift
I would use. I would cherish just as I cherished my bow and arrows. I knew the
way of blades, how to survive and protect myself.
I just hoped as I left that little cottage which
had been home, that I was worthy of her blessing and that I would not stray
from my heart whose starlight was a blessing from my first cry.
