Colbalt Majmua

### Allies

Locaster Helios, Ashton Khanh (Neutral), Shay Hanamura, Yuna Hanamura, Fēng Xu, Veena Lu, Damion Halloreen, Hikage Ishuko, Cherry Amana, Windflower Amana, Hideko Inazuma (Neutral), Shizuka Ikami, Nabi Haluška, Kahori, Shiah Bereng

### Enemies

Crow Watanabe, Shítǐ

**Colbalt Majmua** is the founder of the Owl’s Grotto and a close companion to Shiah Bereng. A pacifistic, soft-spoken man, Colbalt was mainly renowned for his teachings in Ethia, where the hideout for the barn owls located after a subsequent raid resulted in many fleeing from Ingriask, including him and Shiah. Colbalt fully immerses himself in pacifism, though can result in using violence to defend the owls.

Being raised in Ingriask as a barn owl, Colbalt was abandoned by his parents during infancy when the Snow Owls’ raids were at their heights, resulting in him never knowing his parents, but was invited by Shiah’s brother to reside with them before his kidnapping, resulting in him and Shiah fleeing. It is later revealed that he has an infected wing from the raid, meaning he’s unable to transform and fly like a barn owl could do, resulting in Shiah traveling abroad to find a cure.

## History

Colbalt was born to two barn owls in Ingriask, a fraction of land in the Weeping WIdows. Being in a densely populated area for barn owls, his time with his parents did not last: During a Snow Owl raid, his parents abandoned and hid him in an oak tree before his parents got murdered. As a direct result of his parents’ obscurity and murder, Colbalt turned to raising himself, having to hunt and find trees to hibernate and hide in for safety and shelter. He grew to be independent at a young age, teaching himself how to fly the moment his wings started to develop. Later on, he immersed himself in books from the main study in Ingriask, adopting pacifistic teachings from gurus, resulting in the peaceful demeanor he mostly puts as a front. As a child, Colbalt was described as oddly peaceful and quite conflict-averse, never getting himself into any sort of trouble and often confining himself to his forest environment.

While in the woods playing, he notices Shiah, who is playing the flute her brother gave her. Curiously, Colbalt praised her for her skills and befriended her immediately, luring her with his kind aura. Shiah and Colbalt began meeting each other more often and allowed him to come over to their cottage for events. Shiah viewed Colbalt as family, perceiving him as a sibling, with Shiah’s older brother, Okem, viewing him similarly. Though Okem was skeptical of him during their first times meeting, Okem warmed up to him and came to view him as family.

However, his life began to shift once more after the Snow owls raided Ingriask again on a snowy afternoon. While evacuating barn owls, he comes across Shiah, who is running away and shivering. Colbalt hugged her, asking where Okem was because of the lack of his presence. Shiah reveals that Okem was kidnapped by the Snow Owls and she was ordered to run away to ensure her safety. Realizing this, Colbalt finished evacuating barn owls and picked Shiah up, flying away with her before being shot by a poison arrow by a Snow Owl soldier while attempting to flee. Before they hit the snow, Shiah managed to put Colbalt on her back to fly away with him, fleeing to Ethia and starting a shelter for barn owls, resulting in the creation of the Owl’s Grotto.

However, Colbalt’s physical state worsened, as his wing was becoming more infected and Shiah was grieving for her brother, longing to see him again and going out of her way to find the best healers to help Colbalt’s infected wing. Unfortunately, the healers were unable to find the nerve that had the infection, leaving his wing permanently stunted and his flying skills weakened.

During this time, Colbalt was supporting Shiah through her emotional turmoil, deeply missing her brother, and attempting to aid her in recovery. He eventually sways Shiah into getting back into music by crafting a metallic drum and playing music with her whenever she needs his support, sticking by her side throughout her healing process and managing to bring her back to a proper state of stability. After Shiah began recovering, Colbalt and she would tend to the barn owls that were injured and needed refuge from the snow owls and provided them with their needs, managing to create a haven for the barn owls affected by the snow owl raids in Ingriask and entertained them with music, providing them both warmth and shelter.

### Crow’s Return Arc

While in the forests of Ethia to fetch supplies for hibernation season, Shiah and Colbalt were in the forest after some barn owls notified them of a fight in the forest, consisting of around eleven people against a deformed man. Colbalt requested Shiah to patrol the area to see what was occurring. As Shiah was patrolling the area, Colbalt was investigating the trees, seeing that black vines had been plaguing their crops, making it difficult to find food during hibernation season. His investigation was cut short after hearing Shiah screech, causing him to run over to her location to see her nearly being attacked by Crow, which he stopped by blasting a large amount of fire from his hands, managing to shoo him off from Team Strelitzia.

Ashton, fascinated by his use of fire magic, thanks him for saving them from him and begins to question his skills. After standing around, Locaster manages to catch up to them, saying that he was separated and saw the Dark Entity, who attempted to entice him with a contract to become the next faceless god. Nabi refutes him, saying to him that he is an urban legend and possibility of seeing him is not high. Colbalt, curious, asks about the Dark Entity and if he is causing the plague of vines. Before Locaster could answer, a rumble of vines was sent toward their path, causing them to flee toward Northern Ethia, a relatively magic-balanced area where Owl’s Grotto is located, resulting in the vines shirking away for a short amount of time.

Colbalt allows the team to enter the cottage, to which many barn owls begin greeting them, heightening their curiosity. Shay begins to pet some of the owls and communicate with them via bird squawks, and Yuna immediately begins tending to injured owls. Fēng asks about the place the team was brought to, to which Colbalt explains about the Owl’s Grotto and its history, saying how it’s a safe place for barn owls that needed shelter from the snow owls. Nabi, confused, asks about the snow owls and their conflict with the barn owls.

Ashton and Colbalt both explain that barn owls and snow owls had extreme complications with one another due to an ancient feud between the two ruling owls after a fire was caused in the forest. Because of the barn owl’s fire magic, they were ultimately blamed and slaughtered. Colbalt explains that after a particular raid, he and Shiah created the Owl’s Grotto to shelter those who were affected by the raid of the snow owls had enacted on Ingriask. He gets healers in and requests they heal the team because of the injuries left on them by Crow’s powerful attacks. After healing, Locaster notices a hole in Colbalt’s wing and asks about it, to which he reveals that he was shot with an arrow by a snow owl when attempting to flee with Shiah, leaving his wing infected and healers unable to heal his wing because of how the poison was unable to be reached due to it being in a specific nerve.

## Appearance

Colbalt is a slim boy with tan skin and almond eyes. He has short, burgundy hair that goes down to his neck with freckles on his face and two short ears that poke through the sides of his head. On his head is a mute yellow and teal headpiece with three diamonds dangling from the center and corners with two tan horns attached to the sides. On his back are two, large brown wings with mute blue and silver wing armor. Additionally, his right wing has a healed wound from when he was shot with a poison arrow, appearing as a mute brown hole with missing feathers.

Colbalt wears a mute blue cloak that has two layers to stabilize his body temperature, accompanied by layered scarves of the same color with two white pieces of fluff connected to the shoulder area. Underneath the cloak, he dons a dark blue and gray shirt with a collar around his neck: He also sports mute blue pants with silver boots that have two owl charms in the front.

## Personality

Colbalt is shown to be a pacifistic, soft-spoken, and peaceful individual, hardly raising his voice and showing unlimited affection and care towards Shiah and the barn owls. Being abandoned as a child, Colbalt is independent and proves to not struggle with difficult tasks some may find hard to complete, preferring to do things alone and without assistance unless he is around someone he considers close to him. Because of his kind and rather generous nature, Shiah and many barn owls look up to him as a role model, despite his young age. One of his defying features is his protectiveness towards Shiah, shielding her from falling when his wing is shot with a poisoned arrow and encouraging her to immerse herself in music to aid her in coping with the kidnapping of her brother, Okem.

His protectiveness for her is further demonstrated when he jumps in front of her when Crow attempts to attack her with his advanced magic attack and can be described as overtly paranoid for others because of his past trauma after the snow owl invasion, seeing those he loved die or be taken away in front of him and giving him a sense of protectiveness over the other barn owls’ because of his prior experiences. Despite his pacifistic nature, Colbalt can sometimes lose his demeanor whenever seeing others in danger, shifting from a kind and peaceful individual to defensive, though not necessarily violent unless provoked severely, as seen when Crow attempts to provoke him into attacking him by mentioning the invasion and taunting how he would kill Shiah, ultimately setting him off and nearly attacking him. Similar to Locaster, Cobalt is seen as selfless, putting others' needs before his needs, and is seen to be a people pleaser, attempting to get along with others despite their differences. Colbalt refrains from interfering with Damion and Ashton’s argument demonstrates this and uses his words to lower tensions and does not believe in using violence to try and resolve situations.

Though having endless trauma from the raid of the Snow Owls, Colbalt harbors a positive outlook on life and believes the Snow and Barn owls will someday co-exist peacefully without any conflict, though he does not condone any of their actions and the multiple countless raids they aimed towards the barn owls.

## Abilities

**Overall Abilities:** Despite his infected wing, Colbalt proves to be an efficient fighter and leader. He proved to be highly skilled in unarmed combat, managing to sway those around him with his words to prevent any further conflict. Being educated on pacifistic beliefs, Colbalt is skilled at making peace between enemies, whether in or out of the Owl’s Grotto to ensure a stable environment. However, when provoked, he shows excellent fighting skills despite his damaged wing and manages to fight off Crow before he eventually runs off.

**Enhanced Durability:** Colbalt has a unique body structure allows him to have three times the durability a normal barn owl would have. With this unique ability, Colbalt can resist extreme attacks aimed towards him, as seen when he manages to stay flying for some time when his wing is shot before eventually tumbling down because of the poison reducing his durability. His durability is demonstrated when he manages to resist Crow’s black vine aimed at him and withstands some dark properties that enter his skin.

**Enhanced Strength:** Despite being a pacifist, Colbalt shows to have incredible amounts of strength, being able to carry multiple boulders on his back without any problem and able to fight off many snow owls when he was provoked by them into fighting. When Shiah was being threatened by a Snow Owl during an attack, Colbalt was able to hold them off without difficulty, his strength being described to be on par with a soldier’s if he was fully provoked.

**Leadership Skills:** Colbalt is a natural leader, being able to lead the barn owls to safety effortlessly: He convinced many barred owls to follow him to flee from Ingriask because of the constant raids and trained them to escape any suspect that would be a barred owls in case.

**Soothing Voice:** A natural at caring for others, Colbalt possesses a soft, yet soothing voice that can calm those down in an instant. He reassures Locaster that his getting his wings ripped off was not his fault and he could not control it, making him feel at ease. Another instance in which he uses his soothing voice is to comfort Shiah by gently reassuring and swaying her to do things she once loved again without harshly pressuring her. It is noted by Shiah that he also has a good singing voice, using his slightly high pitch to attract owls and other birds without difficulty.

**Flight:** Colbalt once possessed the ability of flight, being able to soar up to incredible heights and lengths. However, after his wing is shot with a poison arrow, he is unable to fly and has a hard time flapping his wings because of the pain from the poison still in his wing.

## Magic Abilities

**Pyrokinesis:** As a barn owl, Colbalt possesses pyrokinesis, capable of manipulating and summoning fire from the palm of his hand. Because barn owls require fire to keep warm during hibernation season, he often utilizes his pyrokinesis to warm the Owl’s Grotto, though occasionally uses it to fight off enemies, as seen when he uses his fire abilities on Crow to save Team Strelitzia and attempts to burn the Black vines with his fire magic, though to no avail.

## Relationships

### Shiah Bereng

Shiah is one of Colbalt’s childhood friends, meeting her while playing alone in the forest and approaching to befriend her. Though skeptical about him at first, the two would instantly become close and meet each other by the forest daily to play tag. Eventually, Shiah brings him to her home, allowing Colbalt to meet her brother. Okem, Shiah’s older brother, was also skeptical but began trusting him after he showed him respect and kindness. Shiah perceives Colbalt as her younger brother, despite him being a few months older, always aiding and taking care of him whenever he is injured or weak. Colbalt similarly sees her, though he sees her as his older sister and parental figure, though does not push this narrative on her.

After her brother’s kidnapping, Colbalt did everything in his will to comfort and support Shiah, making her favorite foods and focusing solely on her to help her heal from the loss of her older brother. Colbalt pitied Shiah, realizing how much her brother’s kidnapping affected her because of the lack of a parental figure in her life after her parent's murder by the Snow Owls. Colbalt further proves his care for Shiah after protecting her from falling when attempting to escape, shielding her with his only functioning wing.

### Okem Bereng

Okem was Shiah’s older brother and sole caretaker. When first meeting him, Colbalt introduced himself respectfully and told him how he met his sister while in the forest. Okem was skeptical of Colbalt, having a difficult time trusting him after their parent's death, where his trust was permanently damaged. Over time, Okem would grow to respect and view him as family, inviting and allowing Colbalt to stay at their home, where he would help him fetch herbs to sell to keep him and Shiah afloat and allow him to stay over at their cottage to watch Shiah while he was away gathering herbs and firewood during hibernation. Colbalt would later on view him as a fatherly figure and confided in him with his troubles. However, after it is revealed he was kidnapped, Colbalt becomes distraught, realizing his only father figure and Shiah’s only family is gone, leaving both him and Shiah to fend for themselves, resulting in the creation of the Owl’s Grotto.

### Locaster Helios

When Colbalt first meets Locaster, he finds him charming and sees him similarly to how he views Shiah. When comforting him after having a nightmare of his wings being ripped off, he assures him gently that he was not at fault and he did not have enough time to react to what was coming to him. Colbalt views Locaster to be just like him, selfless and full of empathy and perceives him as “adorable” because of his round, cute face and his admiration for nature and animals.

### Nabi Haluška

Most interactions between Nabi and Colbalt are limited. Colbalt finds her quite energetic and curious, asking questions about the Owl’s Grotto and barn owls. Colbalt attends to her by answering her questions and teaches her new fighting and combat techniques to help her in improving her fighting skills, while also transferring his pacifistic ideals to her that not everything can resort to violence. Nabi sees him as extremely friendly and helpful and attempts to heal his wing, though she fails after she realizes that his injury is deep inside a nerve her skills cannot reach.

### Shay Hanamura

Colbalt takes note of Shay’s keen admiration for birds, communicating with the barred owls around him when first entering the Owl’s Grotto for the first time. Colbalt finds him exceptionally charming, seeing him as a kind and caring individual who tends to those around him. Shay sees him as kind and welcoming, as seen when he gives him a blanket after he begins to shiver because of the cold weather and politely thanks him for the hospitality.

### Yuna Hanamura

Colbalt sees Yuna positively, noting how she would aid him in healing the injured barred owls that came to the Owl’s Grotto, and perceives her as a kind and knowledgable woman. Yuna sees Colbalt similarly to how Shay perceives him, hospitable and extremely educated while maintaining peace, adopting some of his teachings and passing some of it on to the rest of Team Strelitzia.

### Team Strelitzia

When first approaching the team after their fight with Crow, Colbalt is rather distrusting at first, seeing how impolite Ashton and Hideko acted toward him. He allowed them to explain why they were fighting in the forests and realized that Crow Watanabe was the same person Shiah was nearly killed by, and the person Team Strelitzia was fighting. Immediately, Colbalt came to their defense and managed to fend off Crow for a brief amount of time and took them to the Owl’s Grotto when the dark entity sent out black vines after Locaster refused his and Crow’s deal of becoming the new faceless entity and taking back power. Cobalt views Team Strelitzia positively and sees them as very kind and easy to please people, seen similarly to Shiah’s view on them and the Team views him as hospitable and kind after he sent them to get healed and gave them food from his culture, appreciating what they were given with no complaints.

## Trivia

* Colbalt’s name is an intentionally misspelled version of Cobalt, a chemical in the periodic table that is found in the earth’s crust and used to make Electronics.
* Colbalt’s last name, Majmua, means “collection, addition, aggregation” in Urdu.
* Despite being a minor character, Colbalt is knowledgeable about Crow’s presence because of how Shiah was nearly murdered by him when attempting to fetch berries.
* It is noted by Okem that Colbalt is very agile, being able to climb high trees without difficulty and soar to high heights effortlessly.
* Additionally, Colbalt is the third character with short hair, the other two being Locaster and Arlo, the fire Founding Demon.
* Colbalt’s interests are healing, sculpting, and cartography.
* Colbalt’s favorite foods are Burmese Biriyani, Shukto, and lamb, while he has an intolerance towards fish.
* Colbalt likes studying, drawing, and aiding those in need, while he dislikes Cold weather, Mosquitoes, and extreme heat.