Background

Zyindra
Full Name	Zyindra
	Touched Human Witch (flavored Adept) Who Works Miracles
Tier	2
Age	19
Homeland	Emerald Shire
Favored Totem	Emerald
XP'	16 Spent/16 Total

Born prematurely while her parent's trading caravan was leaving the small Emerald Shire village of Woodsedge, along the road bordering the sea-fronted Emerald Forest, the eastern foothills of the Ruby Mountains, towards the Amazonite tribal lands and the Free City of Peridot, Zyindra was exceptional from the beginning. As her mother struggled with the premature birth in the back of her parent's covered wagon, nearby in the scrub brush, a young vixen was also giving birth, to a single kit. Born within moments of each other, the human girl's first cry was the first sound that kit ever heard, and as her eyes opened, glowing with golden green hue, that same light was reflected in the kit's eyes.

Startled and more than a bit terrified by what they had seen of their daughter, her parents abandoned her on the road, expecting the elements to claim the unnatural and freakish child and wanting nothing to do with her. They were never seen again. The child, however, was soon discovered by halflings of Woodsedge, and the warm, caring, community-centered people of that village took her in gladly, not only saving her life but giving her the best young life they could.

Young Zyindra wanted for very little. She was an open, happy child, given often to wandering around the village, trying to 'help' the people and the animals she encountered. It was not long before the toddler would encounter a young fox at the outskirts of the village, and she could often be found struggling to hold him and carry him, or giggling wildly while chasing after him as best her little feet could carry her. Bright and inquisitive, she always did all she could to learn about all of the people in the village, their tasks, and the world around them, including the languages and stories of visitors.

Zyindra's natural, inborn talent for magic was learned by her long hours spent with Sabbath, the fox she befriended in those tenderly young years. She would often exhibit tiny hints of her talents, but never anything so strong that she frightened her 'foster family' - namely, the entire village of Woodsedge.

Not wanting to be a burden to the halflings of Woodsedge, Zyindra realized she would never truly belong as a part of the village long term, given her differences. By the time she had reached puberty, she had already outgrown her 'foster family' physically, and she refused to ask for custom bed and clothing for her increasing height. Instead, she chose to leave the town. Zyindra's demonstration of talent with healing and care for the sick would lead her eventually to apprentice herself to the masters of the Cult of John the Barber, a sect of the Church of Emerald focused on learning the arts of healing by studying the body, believing as much in scientific study of anatomy, physiology and (crude) biochemistry as in faith. Here the crude beginnings of poultice and herbal tea making she had learned in the village grew to a fascination with the mysteries of alchemy in their fullest extent, and she learned ever more about healing the sick. She also began to learn more about magic beyond just what she studied from her communions with Sabbath, who accompanied her to the Cult and remained ever with her, never far from his mistress. Sabbath was her one truest friend, the touch of comfort and the familiar as she left the village for the wide world beyond.

After several years with the Cult of John the Barber, Zyindra left, finding no call within herself to the Faith of Emerald, despite her deep and profound calling to heal and help others. She began then to wander from town to town, village to village, city and land without seeming end. As comfortable in the wilds as in the villages, she helped all those that she could in her journeys. She pursued the quiet, sometimes lonely path of the witch, learning all she could along the way. Her innate curiosity and urge to help others would lead her to often lend aid to others, aiding the sick or injured, and trying to solve various small mysteries as she encountered them along her travels, where the answers might help those she found in need.

Zyindra's many journeys took her all over Krystallos, until she eventually reached Borderpoint. As always, she sought out those who might be in need of her assistance, and found Hannah, an elven healer and cleric of Emerald so ancient she actually had wrinkles! Zyindra knew she could learn much from one with such life experience, so she quick ingratiated herself with Hannah, and stayed close, finding a place to stay with Hannah in return for her efforts. But Zyindra's attempt at another quiet time in her journeys was interrupted with the Festival of Dina. The celebration held throughout Crystallos related to the Diamond Icon responsible for the founding of Diamond City held special meaning that year for Borderpoint, as it included the opening of the newly completed temple, replacing the one burned down five years previously. Yet the celebration was interrupted by the attack of goblins. Zyindra found herself compelled to lend her aid, as did others, fighting to stop the goblins and save those who were hurt.

Zyindra then lent her aid to the group of others who had battled the goblins, assisting them as they sought out the source of the goblin threat and dealt with it, and then pursued the mystery of the Skinsaw Man as it unveiled itself in Borderpoint. A vision guided Zyindra to leave Borderpoint and travel with this group as they continued on to city, and then to the desert of city. There she continued to aid them, befriending the gothic mystery of Lucius, the alchemical wonder Midge, the elven huntress Maayan and her sister the elven rogue Shiphrah as they explored ancient tomb ruins, discovering there even elements of the thought-dead Obsidian.

Still following her visions, Zyindra continued with the group as they undertook a mission to investigate a seemingly haunted base of operations for Lucius' family company, and then on to Amethyst where she encountered the Empress and a dark mystery festering at the heart of that mighty empire, earning for themselves several rewards, including a knighthood for Lucius and lands to be claimed and cleared.

Cypher System Character Sheet

Pools

MIGHT 9 · SPEED 11 · INTELLECT 20 · RADIANCE 3
Armor 0

Edge & Effort

MIGHT 0 • SPEED 0 • INTELLECT 2
EFFORT 3

Skills

Magic Lore (Trained/-1 Difficulty)
Healing (Specialized/-2 Difficulty)
Alchemy & Potions (Trained/-1 Difficulty) Note the ability to create one-shot assets as-needed based on alchemy & potions
Cooking (Trained/-1 Difficulty)
Krystallos Lore (History & Religion) (Trained/-1 Difficulty)
Nature (Trained/-1 Difficulty)

Special Abilities

Hedge Magic (1 Intellect point): Can perform small tricks such as creating light, changing the color or basic appearance of a small object, cause small objects to float through the air, clean a small area, mend a broken object, prepare food, and so on. Cannot be used to harm another.
Magic Sense: Can sense magic by studying an area or object for one minute.
Cypher Friend: Can carry up to 3 cyphers without negative consequences
Prehensile Hair: (2 Intellect points): You can reach out to 10 feet with your hair and use it to manipulate and lift objects. When performing feats of strength with your hair you use your Intellect Pool instead of your Might Pool. Your hair cannot be used to harm or grapple another.
Short Range Warp: (2 Intellect points): You can teleport anywhere you can see within 100 feet.
Resonance Field: (1 Intellect point): Energy patterns form around your body to block attacks. When active, defending against most attacks becomes an Intellect ability and not Might or Speed. If you get a minor or major effect the creature attacking you takes damage.
Ward: You have an energy shield around you at all times and gain +1 Armor.
Barrier: (3 Intellect points): You can create a solid, opaque, stationary energy barrier within 10 feet. The barrier can be up to 10 x 10 feet in size. It is level 2 (target number 6 to shatter) and lasts for 10 minutes. It can be placed anywhere it fits and can be floating. Each level of Effort you apply strengthens the barrier by one level.
Healing Touch: (1 Intellect point): You touch someone and restore 1d6 points of one stat Pool to them. This is a difficulty 2 Intellect task. Each time you attempt to heal the same creature the task increases by one step. The difficulty returns to 2 after 8 hour’s rest.
Alleviate: (3 Intellect points): You can cancel one malady (disease/poison) in one creature.
Familiar: You have a level 2 creature which serves as a conduit to your patron power. The creature is intelligent and can speak with you, though no one else can understand it. It will not attack others but provides a +1 bonus to any action it can assist you with. You must perform a ritual each sunrise and commune with your familiar. Failure to do so results in an inability to use any ability which requires intellect points, though you can still spend Effort on non-Magical tasks.
Radiance Pool: You have an additional Pool called Radiance that contains 3 points. When spending points from any other Pool on a task involving magic, you can tak points from your Radiance Pool to spend on Effort or ability costs. If you do so, however, the flood of radiant energy overflows and triggers a Wild Magic effect (see Flaws). Your Radiance Pool refreshes when you commune with your familiar each day.

Weapons & Armor

Spellstaff (Light Ranged Weapon / 50 foot range / 2 damage)
Quarterstaff (Medium Melee Weapon / 4 damage / Non-proficient, +1 difficulty)

Flaws

Inability: Because of the energies flowing through you other people can find you unnerving. The difficulty of any task involving charm/persuasion/deception is increased by 1.
Familiar Communion: You must commune with your familiar each morning for 1 hour or you cannot use any ability which requires the spending of Intellect pool.
Wild Magic: When you roll a 1 while performing a task involving your magical abilities or you use points from your Radiance Pool, the radiant energy overflows and strikes an object near you, transforming it into a single use cypher which immediately activates. The effect of the cypher is determined randomly. (Roll 1d20, 1d100)
Price of Magic: The use of magic is eased by rote and ritual. Choose three specific methods you must employ when using your mystical abilities. The intellect point cost for using your abilities increases by +1 for each method you are unable to employ when you use one of your abilities.
- Focus: Zyindra uses a very special stave, created from a very special tree, as her focus for magical workings. To do any magical working without the stave, the difficulty of the task is increased by 3.
  Zyindra's focus is a staff that is a branch from a tree from a seed planted at the same place and time as her own birth and Sabbath's, which she uses as a sympathetic link to the access of the positive material plane.
- Magical Signs: Zyindra's magic is accompanied by a tell-tale sign; for example, your body glows brightly, the sound of tortured souls shriek as you cast, feelings of a deep chill affect all creatures within 30 ft. All nearby creatures know when you are using magic, as well as the nature of the magic used.
  Zyindra's magical signs are that her eyes sparkle and glow with green and gold light when casting, and the same light flows in sparkles and pulses around her and outward from her with her magic.
- Somatic Casting: You must gesture to cast spells—a process that requires you to have at least 1 hand unoccupied. When using magic, you cannot wear armor heavier than light without incurring a chance of arcane spell failure. You may select this drawback twice. If taken a second time, you cannot wear any armor or use a shield without incurring a chance of arcane spell failure.
  Zyindra has taken this drawback twice.

Cyphers & Artifacts

Number of Cyphers Which Can Be Carried Without Potential Negative Consequences: 3 (+1 in Holding Crystal)

Illithid Essence Potion (Cypher): Level 5 / Adds +1 to your Intellect Edge for one hour
Flying Broom (Cypher): Level 6 / allows you to fly for a total of (roll 3d20) minutes. You don't need to fly them consecutively. It flies at a speed of 1 mile per minute. If you run out of minutes while in mid-air it slowly falls back to the ground
Cloth Window (Cypher): Level 7 / A length of cloth the size of a flag (roughly 3x5 feet). When you unroll it and press it up against a solid surface it acts as a window, allowing you to see through up to 2 feet of material. You can use it once and it lasts for one minute before the magic fades.
Holding Crystal (Artifact): Diamond crystal a foot long 3 inches in diameter, with harness to strap across her back. Touching it to an item causes it to derez and disappear inside. Holds up to 250 pounds of information.

Equipent

Item	Weight	Location
Dagger	1 lb	Belt, left
Quarterstaff	4 lbs	Held, left
Alchemy Crafting Kit	5 lbs	backpack
backpack	2 lbs	Worn, both shoulders
bedroll	5 lbs	Tied beneath the backpack
belt pouch	0.5 lbs	Belt, right
flint & steel		belt pouch
ink		backpack
pen		backpack
iron pot (cauldron)	5 lbs	backpack
mess kit	1 lbs	inside iron pot
soap		backpack
5 torches	5 lbs	backpack
small shovel	2 lbs	backpack
5 days rations		backpack
3 waterskins	16 lbs	left shoulder
Formula Book	3 lbs	backpack
Healer's Kit (stocked herself) -2	1 lbs	backpack
Midwife's Kit (stocked herself)	2 lbs	backpack
Surgeon's Tools (case embossed with Icon for John the Barber)	5 lbs	healer's kit
Spell Component Pouch	2 lbs	waist
Explorer's Outfit	8 lbs	backpack
10 Candles		backpack
10 Chalk		backpack
Chalkboard	2 lbs	backpack
iron skillet	2 lbs	inside iron pot
ladle	1 lbs	inside iron pot
skewer		inside iron pot
wooden cutting board	1 lbs	backpack
cutting knife	1 lbs	inside iron pot
iron tripod for the pot	1 lb	backpack
packet of tinder		belt pouch
selection of seasonings		belt pouch
50 foot of rope	10 lbs	tied around backpack
Sack	0.5 lbs	right shoulder
Shaving Kit	0.5 lbs	backpack
Sealing Wax	1 lb	backpack
Antidote Kit (stocked herself)	3 lbs	Healer's kit
131gp, 19sp, 1pp		belt pouch
1 medium tent		Crystal of holding
winter clothing		Crystal of holding
Map of Tomb's location Map of Amethyst Island Map of Amethyst City Extra journal 4 vials of ink 10 pens Copies of metal books from tomb, translated		Crystal of holding
A cloak clasp made of gold in the shape of a scarab		worn
ancient oversized gold coin from kobold tomb		wrapped in rag in Crystal of holding
Magical Cooking kit (dimensional, grants Feat for magical cooking)	25 lbs	Crystal of holding