Cynefin

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She wasn't looking for a knightShe Was looking for a sword-Atticus
Cynefin 	Cynefin
 	
Background 	Background
Creator 	Bermuda
Attribute 	curiosity
Color 	teal
Song 	<soundcloud url="https://soundcloud.com/lin-manuelmiranda/we-know-the-way-from-moana" height="20" auto_play="false" color="#2d4d55" theme_color="xxffff" width="20"/>
Character 	Character
Age 	22.3 (human years)
20 (dragon years)
Gender 	female
Tribe 	SeaWings
Orientation	unknown, likely demisexual
Occupation 	explorer + cartographer
Affairs 	none
Quote 	"There's more out there than you think."
This is Bermuda's OC.
A P P E A R A N C E
Cynefin is built in an interesting way. She's slightly shorter than average SeaWings, who aren't the tallest tribe to begin with. She has a lean, toned body from the physical exertion she goes through daily. Her arms are very strong, and she has abnormally strong paws for gripping the ropes of her boat. Her body is quite well built, and she has an appearance not unlike a very lean gymnast. Cynefin has been toned by the waves as she moves with them as she steers her boat across the Kingdom of the Sea.
Cynefin has a sun kissed complexion, and her markings seem to ripple in the sunlight, just like the water she sails every day. Her scales shimmer slightly in the sunlight, but not so much that it gives a viewer a harsh glint when looking at her on a sunny day. Her scales are softer than normal, and they can be pierced rather easily.
Her scales are a darker teal, a single wave-like shimmery ripple of lighter teal runs down the middle of her main scales, running over her shoulders, down her sides and fading out after her hips. The scales on her back that support her SeaWing fin are colored darker than her main scales, and have a slightly lighter glint inside her scales. Her underscales are lighter than her main scales and are a relatively pale teal blue-green, and are much softer than her other scales.
Her photophores are spread quite thin, as one may notice when looking at her. She has three elongated teardrop shaped photophores right behind her eyes, not unlike a NightWing mind reader's scales. On each of her gill scales, she has a small teardrop photophore. Her photophores are the palest teal possible, almost pure white. The light up markings of the SeaWing tribe run down her side, but stop about a quarter of the way down her tail. They start after her last gill, and are not shaped uniformly.
Her wings are the average size for a SeaWing, and sometimes Cynefin will use them to help her steer in strong wind. They have very elongated teardrop shaped photophores here, and they seem to burst out from the corner wing joint to the rest of the wing membrane. They stop a little less than a quarter of the way trough her wing membranes. Slightly smaller teardrops line the edges of her wings, and little dots, almost undetectable unless she lights them up, appear in the shape of something like a map. The wave-like shimmery stripes that appear on her main scales are also present on her wings, in much larger and slightly more wild shapes. Still, it just adds to her look as a wave-tossed explorer. Her main wings are a shade of teal about halfway from her main scale color to her underscale color. The ripples on them are slightly lighter than that.
Her fin is the same color as her wings, and also has a vertical ripple on every single membrane. Her fin is of average height, and has one or two nicks from her journeys across the sea.
Her horns are slightly lighter in color than her underscales, and are slightly curved, a common thing among her tribe. They glint easily in the sun, as well as her claws and teeth, which are pure white.
Cynefin has light teal eyes that glimmer in the light and seem to slightly shift color depending on either her mood or the environment around her. Around the top of her eyes, there is a very pale teal outline, nearly white. It continues down her snout, curving at her nose and bending down to her mouth. After coming out from her eye, it takes a slightly ripply appearance like the other markings on her body. She has another one of these on her cheekbone, though it's far less noticeable and sometimes appears nonexistent. On her left ear, she has a little nick from an...accident.
For accessories or jewelry, it varies with Cynefin. She has accumulated a wide variety of exotic jewelry or apparel, including a parrot's feather collar-like necklace and very intricate beaded armbands. However, Cynefin is nearly always wearing her gold horn cuff and feather earring. Usually it is an albatross feather when most see her (the other SeaWings), but on her trips she'll put in the feathers of exotic birds, gifts to her.
Cynefin has a few tattoos, the most noticeable being the tribal wave tattoo on her flanks. Also, on her right shoulder, she has a spiral tattoo. Both are black, and they mean a lot to her even if she doesn't say why.
P E R S O N A L I T Y
Adventurous from the day she hatched, Cynefin has always been curious. She has always felt at home when she is somewhere new or exciting, and loves the thrill of not knowing where she'll be the next day. Finding new things is her passion and duty to her tribe, but certain things do get in the way.
Cynefin has always been thirsty for adventure. While other dragonets would crowd her parents to listen to a story, Cynefin would be exploring as far as she could. She did have a few close calls when it came to getting in trouble, and her parents did catch her more than once. Cynefin's parents, her father especially, did not like her adventurous nature, and they tried to rein her in, but of course it didn't work.
Curiosity drives her every move, and that is important when you have a job like hers. She has a wandering mind and lots of "what if's" run through her head. She actively tries to come up with reasons why strange things happen, but has always proven herself wrong. Still, she loves doing what she does and has never let herself lose her curiosity in the world.
Her mindset is based on growth, and never gives up the opportunity to learn something new from others that are more experienced (usually fishing). She knows that there is always something else out there to discover, and also knows (sadly) that she will never be able to uncover it all.
Brave and at home when she isn't at home, Cynefin has no fear of water whatsoever. Of course, being a SeaWing helps with that, but she loves the water even more than the others of her tribe.
For negative traits, Cynefin is quite overconfident. When challenged, she will do anything and believe that she can without getting hurt. This has been hurtful to her in the past, along with her lack of social skills. She doesn't talk much, and is pretty awkward around others since she spends most of her time alone at sea.
Cynefin also has issues telling the truth sometimes. It isn't that she likes to lie, she just feels like some things should be kept to herself. She works for Queen Coral, and she is at risk of great punishment if the queen finds out that Cynefin, her best explorer, is keeping information from not only her, but the tribe as a whole. The SeaWing explorer feels that if she does share everything with the queen, the beauty of what she's found will be far worse than spoiled.
Her favorite thing about exploring is the beauty of the places she finds. The tropics are stunning, with the beautiful mixes of greens and teals in the shallows in front of pure, untouched beaches. Sure, she'll go out of the tropical region, but all islands (+ other things) are beautiful in her mind.
A wandering spirit, Cynefin has always dreamed of sailing away and mapping the ocean on her own, not having to contact the main body of the tribe. She wants to be able to pour everything into one journal, not having to have two (one for the queen, one for her personal use that has everything in it) to document her travels and keep the secrets of the sea kingdom as secrets.
A B I L I T I E S
Cynefin possesses the natural abilities of a normal SeaWing, including breathing underwater and a powerful tail, but also has a few more unique abilities that make the cartographer and explorer one of a kind.
As mentioned before, Cynefin has gills and can breathe underwater. She's more than decent at swimming, and lives in the middle of the ocean most of the time so she kind of has to be.Her powerful tail helps propel and direct her as she swims, and her short but quite long build allows her to ride currents with her wings as underwater sails.
Another of her SeaWing abilities is her gift of sight in the dark. Like any other dragon in her tribe, she can see perfectly in the darkest and deepest caverns, and this ability is quite useful at night, so she can easily travel when dragons from other tribes would wreck their boats on shallow rocks since they can't see.
Her photophores are quite scarce on her body, making communication through them a challenge sometimes. When nervous, she may accidentally flash her photophores, sometimes more harshly than other times, and when embarrassed she will subconsciously let her scales give off a soft glow.
Cynefin has a great ability with a quill, in both writing and illustration. With years of practice, Cynefin is a great journal writer and can paint a picture in a dragon's head. She also has a great ability for map making, which is what gave her the job she has today. The SeaWing also can sketch detailed concepts of life she finds on her travels, and her journals are filled with beautiful script with multiple sketches in the pages as well. She has purchased a few colored pigments over the years to add a little life to her sketches.
Cynefin is quite athletic due to her profession, but doesn't train outside of her actual work. She isn't as strong as soldiers, and not as fast or agile as messengers or spies. Still, she is good enough in all areas to be a strong sailor.
Her intelligence is good, since she grew up reading in her parent's library in the SeaWing palace. She could be smarter, but she mainly relies on her instincts and what her experiences have taught her.
Of course, Cynefin is more than decent at sailing. From the moment she touched the ropes of the first boat she rode, she was in love. Her body is one with the boat as she navigates the waves, and her calloused paws let her hold the ropes without irritation on her scales.
Lacking social skills, it is always awkward for the explorer when she presents her findings to the queen or others. She prefers to write reports instead, and has massive, unbelievable stage fright. That's another reason that she doesn't want to share the best secrets of the Sea Kingdom with everyone. She doesn't want to have to share them.
Not good at hiding anything (save her small lies), it is extremely easy to read Cynefin's body language and tone. She isn't good at faking things and hates when she has to be around someone she dislikes because she doesn't do well when she has to accept their presence.
H I S T O R Y
Cynefin was born to parents with noble ranks, her father a librarian in the summer palace and her mother an artist for the queen. The two worked at their jobs and loved it almost more than they loved each other. Cynefin's mother never took a break from her job, even when she heard that she was to have a dragonet soon. On Cynefin's hatching day, her mother almost didn't make it because she was finishing a portrait of Queen Coral and King Gill.
While Cynefin grew to question her own mother's commitment to her, she never doubted her father. The librarian was as kind as a parent could be, and cared for her so much that it made up for her mother's neglect when it came to the little things. The young dragonet was always in the Summer Palace library, reading scrolls or helping her dad organize them just to spend time there. It was the adventure tales that planted the seed of the need for adventure in her heart, and the amount she read just fed the hunger.
Cynefin was just two when she tried to explore beyond the Summer Palace walls. She left at night, knowing her father wouldn't let her out of his sight in the day. While he was sleeping, the young dragonet swam towards the entrance to the palace, ducking outside. It was then that she realized that the entire ocean is not warm, and she was met with a freezing cold current, and just pure darkness even though she could see. Strange, terrifying shapes lurked at the edge of her vision, and Cynefin was scared. Darting back inside the tunnel and swimming back home, she slept next to her father and didn't have the thirst for adventure for a few weeks.
However, it was time for the young dragons to choose their profession in the palace. Around the age of 14, the SeaWings would go through extensive training to get them to select the job right for them. She was still too young, but watching the older dragons learn to sail sparked an inextinguishable fire in her heart. She wanted to explore, and she'd stop at nothing to make her dream come true.
Learning in secret from one of the younger explorers, Cynefin quickly realized her natural gift for sailing. It was only when she turned 14 that she could train out in the open, much to her parents' displeasure. Soon after being chosen for the job, Cynefin became the top explorer for the queen.
To this day, the young SeaWing travels the sea in search of new islands and discoveries, but she realized that if she tells the queen about everything, the beauty of it may be destroyed. Now, Cynefin keeps a personal journal with all her travels recorded, and nothing would ever make her hand that journal over.
----
Sometime during her travels, Cynefin was nearly attacked by a dive-bombing sea bird. She documented the experience immediately that night after fending it off with a wooden paddle. It's cry was scratchy, and it hurt her ears.
However, the next morning, Cynefin awoke to the caw of the bird, and after fending it off once more, it came back again around midday. This time, the bird hovered out of her reach, but seemed to be leading her one way. Deciding to follow it, Cynefin noticed that the bird was always flying out in front, then back.
That evening, Cynefin arrived at a small and rather unimpressive island. Angry, Cynefin turned around to fend off the crying bird, but he kept darting out of her reach. He led her to a cave by making her advance every time she swung, and Cynefin was struck with awe.
The cave was damp, and after a short tunnel, a wide, freshwater pool sat, with stalagmites and stalactites in beautiful formations. The water was crystal clear, and bio luminescent creatures lit the water with an eerie but absolutely beautiful glow.
Cynefin stopped swatting at the bird from then on, and named him Kamoa. He never stays for long and has a life of his own, but the bird will visit Cynefin every so often and sometimes guide the SeaWing adventurer to new islands.
R E L A T I O N S
rp with her to be added.
Kamoa: the sea bird was originally just an annoyance to Cynefin, but eventually, Kamoa became her companion, even though he isn't around all the time. He still annoys the s*** out of the SeaWing, but it's always in a friendly manner, and they seem to be good friends and understand each other. No one knows that Cynefin's best friend is a bird, and she's perfectly happy to keep it that way.
Coral: the explorer doesn't despise the queen, she just doesn't agree with her on everything. After Cynefin told her of a beautiful island with exotic plants with vibrant, striking colors, the SeaWing queen cleared part of the island and had a small resort escape built on it. The native creatures were hunted like mice, and the beautiful plants became jewelry. Eventually, the island lost it's luster and Coral abandoned it, leaving the resort in ruins. It was more than Cynefin could take, and now won't let the queen spoil any more exotic islands. Coral has no idea that her most trusted explorer is keeping tons of secrets from her, and Cynefin plans to keep it that way.
T R I V I A
+ Cynefin is a Welsh word for a place where one feels the need to belong; where the nature around makes you feels welcome and at home
+Bermuda took inspiration from Moana for this character, specifically the sailing part
+Kamoa, her sea bird companion, is not always with Cynefin. He tends to wander around, but has been known to lead her to new places.
+Kamoa is "crow" in Hawaiian, and Cynefin wrote that "that stupid bird has a scratchy call - it's nasty and hurts the ears!" after Kamoa wouldn't leave her boat alone
+Cynefin enjoys painting
+When discovering new things, Cynefin doesn't map or document it until she knows if it is too good for the journal Coral gets
+Cynefin has seen a RainWing
+Cynefin is terrified of growing old and fire
+She has never been in a romantic relationship
|-|Gallery=
Beautiful reference by Infinity!
Design is flexible.
G A L L E R Y
Thank you so much to everyone that has contributed! I love all her art!
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Cynefin's Aesthetics.jpg|link=User:Dragonarrow5767
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Category:Characters
Category:Females
Category:SeaWings
Category:Content (BermudatheSeaWing)
Category:Occupation (Traveler)
Category:LGBT+
Category:Content (BermudatheSeaWing)
Category:Females
Category:SeaWings
Category:Occupation (Traveler)
Category:Status (Nobility)