Siera Nilifen

"'Have you heard the tale of the wanderer? The one lost so far from home?'"

A blue-haired, de-winged musician of an angelic-in-appearance race who appeared on Engelain in the time before the Dread Lord was defeated. She also appears to be quite adept in various kinds of magic, although it all seems to be conducted through her music. Siera claims to be from somewhere above the clouds, although she is unable to give the exact location or provide any feasible means of getting there. Recent events have rendered her mute, and as such her personality has shifted to a more somber and apathetic  version of what she had been before the events of Messia that culminated in the defeat of the Dread Lord Acoxyle.

 

Origin

One of a race of winged humanoids that she calls Seriyans, Siera ended up on Englain as part of a coming-of-age ritual that grants all Seriyans above the age of ten a connection with the Spirits from which they draw their magical energy. Typically, there is little that happens during it, merely a single, minor spell casting that proves it was a success. Siera, however, wove a grand conjury - although through no effort of her own, as the power being drawn and the spell being cast were by the design of something beyond herself - and was teleported out from the Citadel of her people and tossed into Engelain. 

Her first experience with humans was a bad one, and ended with one of her wings cut off and her placed in a cage and displayed along with several other exotic creatures. This traveling zoo was an attraction that went all around the world, showing off what they considered to be rare creatures for the public’s amusement. The “one-winged angel” was a great attraction, too, and it was only due to the preferential treatment that she got because of it that Siera was able to keep herself from falling into deep depression. 

That part of her life ended suddenly one night, when a group of well-armed and ill-intentioned bandits set upon the caravan as it traveled down the road. They killed the guards, the entertainers, and most of the “attractions” before deciding that the girl was human enough to keep around for some fun. The wing was in the way, though, so one of them took his bloody sword and hacked it off while two more held her down. 

Something in that triggered a part of her memory she had all but forgotten, and despite everything that was happening she began to sing. It wasn't clear to the bandits what was going on - and in fact they were laughing at her while she did it - until, one by one, they became unable to move. Orbs of energy began to float into reality around her and them, emitting beams of blue energy that seared flesh and burned through bone. She didn’t look throughout the whole process, and only stopped singing when her energy failed her and she collapsed into unconsciousness. 

Her awakening came to an empty area, the bodies of the attackers gone and only ash remaining of them. She barely spared any energy looking for anyone alive, for she had watched them die and knew there wasn’t any hope. She only retrieved one thing from the wreckage of the caravan: a flute that had been given to her when she had begged for an instrument. It had drawn more people, and she had seemed happier when she had it, so they had seen no harm in giving it to her. 

From that point, Siera wandered the roads, stopping and performing at inns and taverns to keep herself fed. Her music always brought in a fair amount, as her performances were, to the common man, nothing less than breathtaking. She had always been an outstanding musician, and now that she was forced to practice it as a trade she only got better. 

Along the way, she picked up a second companion: the sentient flute that follows her around to this day. She knows almost nothing about it, only that it showed up out of nowhere and was insistent that it was going with her. The flute cannot speak, instead using played notes to indicate what it wants. Although an outsider would have no chance of being able to figure out the specifics of what it is trying to say, Siera can, for the most part, fully understand it. The language of music is something that she understands like no other, and so the flute can speak to her in a way that is nearly as effective as the spoken language. 

Magic

Siera's magic is not be same as the majority of the magic in engelain. She does not know the origin of it, only that it was something that was consisted unique among her own people as well. Unlike most of her people, who cannot perform any magic until they undergo the ritual that threw her from the Citadel, she could call up magic through music from a very young age. That led many to believe that she was destined to be something else, although they did not tell her what it was before she lost the chance to speak to them.

Through some research of her own, both in the Citadel and in Engelain, she found some vague references to those who could call magic as she does, and those individuals were labeled as “Bards”. They were always travelers, although where they traveled to and why there is so little about them is unknown to her. Most of the references to them were in major historical events, however, which lead her to believe that Bards have something about them that gets them involved in world-changing events. Her own recent situations have only reinforced this belief.

Recent experiences have led her to believe that her type of magic is governed by pieces she refers to as “Songs of Power”. What the actual term for these might be she does not know, but as of now she is aware of the existence of two, one of which she is aware is called the “Worldsong” and one of which she knows has something to do with the natural Harmony of existence. The true purpose of either is unknown to her, but it is undeniable that they do have power in the proper situations, as simply singing the Song of Harmony was able to destroy the dream realm of a demon that was undeniably more powerful than she. The only stipulation about these that she has found is that they must be sung, the nature of the melodies making it impossible to convey through the use of an instrument.