Dyani

Arcane Archer 2

Dyani Sequoyah is the daughter of Kele Sequoyah, and while she shares her mother's casual attitude toward the barbarity of the natural world, Dyani also revels in the thrill it is to take part.

Dyani is socially very mellow. In her downtime, Dyani will fletch arrows, engage in light conversation, or play peacefully on her pan flute. It's not uncommon for her to zone out of conversation for minutes at a time as she ponders abstract thoughts or watches a moth flutter around a candle, and her ability to choose words wisely is lacking. Sometimes, if someone says something she finds ironic, she'll burst into laughter, and doesn't stop when she notices that nobody else found it funny. But for the most part she's polite, albeit a little blunt, and remains quiet and thoughtful during social situations.

However, Dyani is always alert, looking out for even the slightest creak of a door, snap of a twig, or pant of an animal, and the moment something out of the ordinary occurs her demeanor changes. The natural world is made up of predators and prey, and sometimes the only difference between the two is whoever gets off the first attack. It's not uncommon for Dyani to interrupt a conversation by putting her hands out and standing still for several moments to get a gauge on what is approaching.

## Appearance

Dyani is taller than either of her parents, at 6'0. She has a lean build, and a long nose that tilts up at the tip. As with most of the Muani women, her skin is tanned, and she has dark brown hair and brown eyes. Her limbs are a little lanky, her legs are slightly bowed, and her feet are small, usually wrapped in plant fibers. Her hair is tied into a high ponytail, and she's never seen without her bow and arrows. Most of her outfit is made from reptile hide, the main exception being her half skirt, made from a wolf's pelt, that covers the thigh where she rests her quiver.

## Background

Conceived almost the day that Adexia returned to the Muani tribe, Dyani was born to Kele Sequoyah in late May of the following year. Kele was a good mother to her for the first few years of her life, but for the most part Dyani was raised by the elders of the village. Dyani preferred to play with animals more than other children, and she and Azban, who also loved playing with animals, often snuck away to catch rodents or watch birds make their nests. But as time went on, and as the monsters began to encroach more on the outskirts of the Woodlands of Lenmana, it the children were warned to stay close to the tribe and not wander off too far. This upset Dyani, and she looked forward to the day that her people would again be free to wander the woods without threat.

When Dyani was 12, Kiasax organized a group of warriors to push back the enemies surrounding the woodlands. Dyani was too young to join, but once news returned of the warriors' successes, Dyani was given permission to deliver food to their campsite. She wasn't to engage in any battles, but Dyani still got as much practice as she could in guerrilla warfare by hunting and bringing the food back to Kiasax. Dyani very much admired Kiasax, and worked hard to gain her favor. And one day the opportunity to prove herself arose.

Dyani, now 15 years old, was out stalking a stag when she became aware that she was not the only one hunting it. Dyani saw an orc girl, who looked to be a similar age as her, stalking the animal from behind a nearby tree. Dyani's heart sank for a moment, knowing that if she shot the stag her position would be revealed, and she might not live to bring her prey back to camp. But then it truly dawned on her. In the end, the stag was not the prey. The prey was either Dyani or this orc girl. They were the true enemies here. And Dyani noticed her first.

After a few moments, waiting for the perfect shot, Dyani loosed an arrow, striking the young orc in the chest. She staggered for a moment, in a state of shock, then attempted run. Dyani loosed a second arrow, piercing her leg, though the second shot turned out to be unnecessary. The first arrow had pierced her heart, and she lost consciousness after only a few moments. The stag ran away, but Dyani lept from her perch and carried the orc back to Kiasax's camp.

The warriors applauded Dyani on her first kill, and rushed to tell Kiasax the news. Kiasax approached the orc, and looked over her body, then sat down next to her a breathed an exasperated sigh. "Wow." Dyani's heart sank. Should she not have killed the orc? She had looked up to Kiasax for so long, she certainly didn't want to upset her. But Kiasax looked back up at her with a smile and laughed. "Why haven't you been fighting with us? We a lot more archers who can do this to an orc."

This was perhaps the happiest day of Dyani's life, and she eagerly ran back to the village to tell her mother and the elders. The response from the village, however, was quite the opposite. The Kele and the other women of the tribe were not impressed that she killed an orc who was minding her own business, and Panra personally explained to Dyani that orcs, however awful they treated her sisters, were will sentient creatures, and that one should not be proud of ending a life. While this wisdom did leave an impression on her, Dyani made the decision then to not return to be a part of the village until all of Kiasax’s warriors had finished their mission.

## Abilities

Dyani is ever alert, always on the lookout for an approaching enemy. Her hearing, eyesight, and even smell are all far above most humans, and her experience with nighttime hunting, coupled with her attunement to the primal magic found in nature, has given her the ability to see well in nearly complete darkness. She is well adapted to living in the wild, and also is proficient at slaying monstrosities, such as those found on the plateau.

By far Dyani's most successful form of attack is to sneak up on a creature, usually at night or from a great distance away, mark the creature in her mind with magic, get to an advantageous position, and fire. With preparation, she can fire four shots into critical points on a creature's body before it has time to fully react, and then hide so the creature can't find her. If successful and usually with the help of Azban, she can stay hidden or retreat fast enough that the monster does not pursue, get some rest to clear her mind, and then track the monster down to it's lair, performing a second volley similar to the last. The creature will usually be dead by this point, but if not the cycle can repeat.

## Trivia

* Dyani's is a Native American name meaning deer
* Dyani is a spellcasting class, but the only spell she knows that requires material components is longstrider. The material component for longstrider is dirt. Needless to say, Dyani does not carry a spell component pouch.
* Dyani's design takes a lot of inspiration from the Monster Hunter series of video games, but her original concept was based on the Amazoness Trainee card from Yu-Gi-Oh!