Sharess "Shaeryn" Mournsong

"𝐼 𝑔𝒶𝓏𝑒 𝓊𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒾𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓇.. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓂𝒶𝑔𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒸𝑒𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈. 𝐼 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝑔𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒸𝑜𝑔𝓃𝒾𝓏𝑒 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻, 𝐼 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝑔𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈. 𝐼 𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝐼 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹'𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃, 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝐼... 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹'𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃. 𝐼 𝓅𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃, 𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝐼 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒.

𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝓁𝑜𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝒹.

𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒, 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒."

> Journal entry penned upon a blood-stained piece of parchment.
>
>

## Sharess Mournsong

### Occupation

Blade Dancer (Rogue)Fleshcrafter (Blood Mage)Expert Leatherworker

## Biographical information

### Date of birth

Approx 70 years BDP(520s King's Calendar)

## Description

A dancer's body is petite and svelte. Muscles are firm and well toned, but do not show in an excess of unnecessary bulk. Shoulders are small and limbs are long, their growth patterns shaped and molded by surprisingly intense and rigorous training from a very young age. Their joints supple and flexible as well, and their core body likewise compact and firm.

All these attributes are easily visible in Shaeryn, even compared to the already graceful standard set by elven kin. It gives her silhouette an unmistakable elegance, and her absolutely text-book perfect posture making her appear elegant and suave even in the highest extremes of relaxation of tension, ever accentuating that very specific aspect of femininity.

Resurrection into undeath and the subsequent mutations that come with being a vampiric darkfallen even struggle to subtract anything from this all, much to the chagrin of any who would want to reduce all the damned to a grotesque imagery of shambling, disgusting corpses. - And this only fuels the elf's vanity further, with her obsessively putting an excessive amount of focus in preserving her physical appearance. Sure, her ivory white skin and deathly appearance leave no shadow of a doubt that the woman is not living but an undead, but with her extensive use of moisturizing ointments and balms to her skin, nourishing oils in her hair, and all combined with profane magical rituals and life-syphoning powers make her appear dangerously pleasant to behold, all a passive insult to those who'd audaciously brand her an "abomination".

Having also died at her very peak as a young adult as well leaves her facial features appear surprisingly soft. Large eyes, rich lashes, plush lips and a delicate jawline make her appear disarmingly docile and petite, yet mistaking beauty for harmlessness is a grave error that leaves room for few repeat offenders. - Alas, the ability to accentuate her more disarming features with a soft touch of makeup doesn't inhibit the darkfallen from taking advantage of the most threatening of features. Nails that evolved into sharpened claws tip each of her fingers with a deliverer of sharp punishment, and her mouth need only give a broader smirk to unveil the tips of six jagged, pointed fangs, two pairs of canines up top and one below, framing her bite as a dangerous natural weapon in and of itself.

Distinct to her nature as a Darkfallen, the vampyress' ears appear a bit more short and stout than the typical daggers of her elfin bretheren, giving an almost bat-like silhouette to her shadow, aided perhaps by the lengthy growths extending from her shoulders... From afar they seem almost a mantle decoration, a bony chandelier swinging above her shoulders fashioned in a grim and threatening silhouette. - They seemed to bear the likeness of limp vestigial wings, which may well be attributed to vampyric mutation, but one who did not know the girl's nature as a fleshcrafter would likely not realize they were artificially constructed limbs, and so likewise may underestimate their potential lethality.

By far, though, the woman's eyes would be the most threatening of all her features, their glow out-right dominating her visage and monopolizing much of the attention offered to her face, such that in her otherwise apathetic lack of facial expression, the slightest angling of her brows or flexing of her eyelids could make her stare shift from impassive to threatening and foreboding in ways only perceived by the onlooker's primordial lizard brain, to which only the most disciplined of the living are exempt.

## Personality

At first encounter, the woman will more often than not showcase an unsettling presence. Her nihilistic perspective and disconnected attitude give her the vibe of a social outcast, an alien, a pariah. Her monotone manner of speech and unsettling calm can easily draw one in an uncanny, eerie sense of calm, but the harrowing presence of a darkfallen will just as easily make the average person's hairs stand on end upon the conscious realization of how seemingly benign this supposed incarnation of death is.

Of course, the sentiment of existential dread won't last forever, as neither will her attitude towards the people around her. On those rare occasions when another gains the vampyr's trust, Shaeryn may sometimes begin to open up a little, and it is then that the distinction can be more clearly be made betwixt the Scourge-bred killing machine and the elven dancer who once perished in the frozen wastes of the North.

The elf they can then be given to see will show much more of her care-free air, an almost naively optimistic dreamer with great hopes, deeply hurt by the disappointment inherent in the cruel realization of reality. The artist's outlook on life is not without its eccentricities, either, often times wording her thoughts in the form of poetic musings, or taking a cathartic disposition in describing with a wealth of details the perceived beauty or symbolic value of whatever item, view, memory or thought currently dwelling in her mind.

Of course, though, given her nature, what was once beautiful now seems twisted and bastardized by the cruel twists of fate, and much of her perspective has taken a deviation toward the darker side of the moral gradient, without the girl even noticing. Where once she may have admired the beauty of a bird, the melody of its chirp, and the inspiring coloration of its plumage, the darkfallen's eyes now revel in the sip of blood whimsically drifting on the back of hard working muscle, her ears tingling to the more guttural and choked up whistles to gush past a broken windpipe to give sound to the creature's dying breath, and the weak throbs and twitches of the creature's little muscles as hollow bones crumble to the lightest caress, in the harrowing throes of either peaceful death or grotesque transformation.

These dark nuances become all the more overpowering when the Darkfallen is put in a combat situation. - There the san'layn conditioning as a Scourge assassin take an overpowering hold over the vampyr's senses, her conscious mind acting as but a feeble witness behind the eyes of an instinct-driven killing machine, cold and unrelenting. - She remains calculating, precise and poised to kill, yet all vestiges of her morality atrophy briefly until she feels the certainty of solitude once more, the deathly dance in which she was so far wrapped alas concluding, with her partner as well taking their last step, and the warmth of their fleeting life seeping alas from their eyes and body. Only in that realization of solitude does the beast slumber once more, that the elf's thoughts may free themselves anew.

## Background

Full background story with more flavorful depictions and in-character perspectives can be found in spoilered sections on her original application, here:

https://chronicles-rp.com/forum/index.php?/topic/147-the-promised-bloodsucker/

### Childhood

* Shaeryn, born under the name "Sharess", in a family with a long lineage of artists, living in a settlement toward the outskirts of Quel'thalas.
* She grew up a commoner, with no aspirations to the military or magical arts, instead spending her formative years practicing various forms of dancing and gymnastics.
* Her passion was sponsored from early on by a wealthier member of extended family, alongside the efforts of her parents.

### Adulthood

* She reached the age of reason set firmly on the path to becoming a successful entertainer, ever searching to broaden her horizons and become a better artist.
* In doing so, she grew more distant of her family, spending instead more time in Silvermoon, primarily in service to her aunt to which she felt indebted due to her long term sponsorship.
* Her sheltered life however made it difficult for her to reach mental and emotional maturity until later in life, leaving her naive and susceptible to error.

### The War

* The naivete that made her popular as an entertainer kept her oblivious to the ramifications and consequences of the First and Second war, leaving her unprepared for what was to follow.
* When the Third War reached the threshold of her home kingdom, Sharess was traumatized greatly by the sudden wake of devastation.
* Due in greater part to fortune than talent, she managed to not be in the way of the main marching path of the Scourge, which allowed her to survive the invasion despite being woefully unprepared.
* Her immaturity served as well to make the loss of her home carry that much heavier of an impact on the girl, serving as the catalyst to the utter abandon with which she put herself in the service of Kael'thas, whom she idolized as her people's one and only hope for survival.

### Death

* Due to the traumatic experience of surviving the unthinkable, the end of her world, Sharess' former drive to inspire and mesmerize her bretheren got channeled instead into vindictive ambitions, devoting herself entirely to the martial path, and signing on to join the retinue of Prince Kael'thas.
* Her lack of martial training was overlooked in favor of her years of physical exercise and fit body, making her an acceptable candidate to bolster the ranks of the ranger corps with additional recruits. Dire circumstances did not allow the luxury of being picky with preselections, considering at least that her devotion - and popularity as an entertainer - would serve well to boost the people's morale.
* Due in part to the insistence of her parents, detail which she was oblivious of, the Ranger Lieutenant she enlisted under did not liberally use her as cannon fodder, instead allowing her the chance to be trained by field experience through selective deployment, which also served well in ensuring the Sin'dorei's survival through the trials and tribulations to follow, unable to afford to waste lives if at all possible.
* Between training as a scout, field practice in small skirmishes and preliminary engagements, Shaeryn was provided barely enough time to adapt her physical exercise and discipline taught by dancing, and use this alternative experience to supplement her lack of lengthy martial training. While her performance was never outstanding, she was able to perform a sufficiently adequate job in her given tasks to survive the perils of the blood elves' campaign, from their exodus from Quel'thalas in the search of a cure to their addiction, to their subsequent exile following the discovery of their collaboration with Vashj's naga.
* The fierce battled in the unforgiving hellscape of the Outlands further cemented her training and would stand as the final test of her ambition, managing to scrape by and earn her spot on the retinue of sin'dorei that followed Illidan in the march to Northrend to face off against the Undead Scourge that had destroyed her home, an ambition fueled by reckless hatred and a desire for justice for her impoverished kin.
* Shortly upon reaching the Frozen Wastes, however, Sharess succumbed to a combination of un-healed battle wounds, underlying illness masked by the side effects of fel consumption, and the unforgiving climate of the throne of the world.

### Rebirth

* Dying out of battle did not leave many people remembering her for any valiant deeds, but it allowed her to perish at a time and place where her remains would not be immediately repurposed in the hasty fashioning of Ghouls. - Instead, her body was preserved in the ice and snow for long enough that the early generations of San'layn, among which her former Ranger Lieutenant, were able to return to these old communal graves and unearth the bodies of their kin, to bolster the ranks of the San'layn with fresh recruits.
* Her former Lieutenant, now her Syre as a darkfallen, oversaw the early trials by which they picked the strong and worthy to join the organization's ranks, during the years of isolation during which the Scourge had formed its ranks and secured its grip of the North. After passing these trials, and earning her place as an agent of the San'layn, Sharess was given a new name, "Shaeryn", to further disconnect her will from the moral values of her former self, and convert her fully into an agent of the Scourge under the Lich King's complete dominion.
* During the years that followed, Shaeryn continued to serve the organization as a whole, and her Syre first and foremost, trained to utilize a blend of her own physical prowess, and forms of vampyric rituals that wielded blood magic not with the acuity of a proper war mage, but rather focusing on practicing arts of flesh crafting that could better serve her in duties of espionage, infiltration and warfare by terror tactics.

### Concessions

* For most of the time leading up to the Argent Crusade's campaign in Northrend, she was put to use not on the open field of battle, but rather in continued exercise of her more useful skills, playing some small parts in monitoring the local populations in vassalage to the Scourge, particularly in matters involving keeping an eye on the affairs of the forcefully conscripted Wolfcult, until their defeat at the hands of Alliance troops and Adventurers.
* She similarly served as a messenger for many a Blood Prince and Lieutenant, not so much directly, but by delivering missives to and from fellow infiltrators and outlying outposts across Northrend. All these continuous months of constant service devoid of the luxury of sleep or respite, carried out in the perilous Northern wilderness, provided the decades' worth of training her living kin would've received in life, securing her lasting survival in the Darkfallen's hierarchy, further supported by her willingness to offer service in exchange for favor to not only her own syre, but also occasionally to other members of the organization.
* The many duties with which she was tasked further saw her skills in life be adapted to more sinister uses, as her aptitude for dramaturgy and interpretation, as well as experience dealing with crowds of people provided instrumental talents in her role as not only a spy and infiltrator, but also as an envoy and messenger with respectable diplomatic talents for dealing with living servants of the Lich King.
* Later, however, when the Argent Crusade's joint campaign with the Faction armies arrived in Northrend to lay siege upon the Scourge armada, and the War in the North ensued proper, her duties gradually transitioned from reconnaissance and infiltration to sabotage and assassination.

### Resolution

* As the War in the North culminated with the fall of the Wrathgate and the siege of Icecrown Citadel, Shaeryn's operations became more and more risky, now shifting priorities towards salvage and retrieval of San'layn assets, and exploration in the interest of scavenging of former Scourge and San'layn outposts that had since been purged by the armies of the Living.
* It was due to such long distance missions into what was now enemy territory that she was locked out of the sanctuary of the Scarlet Halls at the time that the gates of Icecrown had been broken down, leaving her among the many forces of the Scourge still scattered across the continent, idle and in waiting for the final battle to be concluded.
* When alas the Lich King fell, the sudden liberation from his clutches came as a shock to her, only now realizing that in her abandonment of self she'd come to forget her former self, and even came to rely upon an outside will to dominate her every thought, as a shelter from individual responsibility.
* The next lengthy period of time was spent in isolation, in deep self-reflection, trying to grasp for the lingering strands of her will and desire to survive, and to rediscover the courage to make decisions for herself again.

### The Cataclysm

* Having stumbled upon captain Kyla Morgan of the Siren's Call while on the shore of the Howling Fjord, Shaeryn managed to broker a deal to be smuggled over to the Eastern Kingdoms in exchange for a hefty sum of gold... which she cheated on by sneaking onto the ship without the Captain knowing.
* After assisting the Argent Crusade in the Plaguelands as a mercenary in capturing a necromancer of the Cult of the Damned and release a captive Argent official, Shaeryn received a writ of acknowledgement as proof of her exploits. Returning to the Undercity, she brought this letter to none other than Nathanos Blightcaller as a definitive proof of her defection from the Scourge, pledging her loyalty to the former Ranger General, now Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner.

## Present Day / Current Status

* **Shaeryn is currently dwelling in former Lordaeron, seeking further work to prove her allegiance and usefulness to the Forsaken.**

## Abilities

**Racial and Innate Abilities:** Aptitudes and skills pertaining to her nature as a Darkfallen, or unique to her:

* **Quick Learner:** Shaeryn's background of varied practice and her enthusiasm towards incorporating new techniques and knowledge trained her in the art of learning. She is able to rapidly train a new skill or talent, provided it is in at least some way similar to something she already knows, grasping the fundamentals with astonishing ease. Still, entirely new skills or in-depth mastery of a talent will require exponentially more effort and practice. - A jack of all trades, but a master of none, yet still superior to just a master of one.
* **Heightened Senses:** As a darkfallen, she possesses the acute senses of a true killing machine. - Flawless eyesight at both a distance and close range are paired with a keen attention to detail. Vaguely bat-like ears perceive and distinguish between both quiet and distant sounds, able to recognize voices even when moderately distorted. Her scent is particularly sharp as well, but only with regards to feeling and tracking the scent of blood, keen enough to be able to even tell apart a creature's race, gender and sometimes even age by attentive examination of the scent and taste of a trace of ***fresh*** blood. - Her sense of touch is similarly perceptive enough to changes in temperature to be able to feel the lingering heat of a living body from a moderate range (6 yards), on her exposed skin, but not through armor or clothing.
* **Limitless Energy:** As an undead, Shaeryn can not suffer from lack of stamina, shortness of breath, or physical exhaustion. - While still susceptible to pain, her combat conditioning leaves her able to mostly ignore it in the heat of combat, and it is generally unable to cripple her entirely through pain alone. - As a consequence to being a Darkfallen, however, she can suffer atrophy of all her capabilities as a result of being blood-starved, this manifesting in a manner comparable to extreme physical exhaustion.
* **Celerity:** A state akin to bloodlust enhances speed of perception and movement, allowing Shaeryn to move at supernatural speeds for up to three turns of combat, allowing for either more fast and precise attacks, a quick escape, a more efficient ambush, or more precise dodges and counters. - On e daily use.

**Hemomancy:** Aptitudes in the field of Blood Magic and Flesh manipulation:

* **Blood Magic Fundamentals:** While specializing in rituals of flesh crafting, preliminary studies in Hemomancy left Shaeryn with a novice aptitude in basic blood magic abilities, such as the power to form and launch orbs of magical blood, syphon blood steadily from a short range through uninterrupted channeling, or concentrate on a ritual of supernatural perception to sense the presence of living, blood-bearing organisms in a manner similar to a Detection spell.
* **Flesh Weaver:** Shaeryn's specialty is the magical manipulation of flesh and bone. While this takes some time and concentration, making it impractical to use it as a form of magical combat, and conscious creatures can actively resist these attempts (akin to a Fortitude or Willpower proficiency check), she is capable of manipulating the shape and general anatomy of living and undead tissue.
* **Sanguine Necromancy:** Through vampiric rituals of varying complexity, Shaeryn can reanimate lesser corporeal (not skeletal) undead in a state similar to artificially emulated life. They might have functioning circulatory and nervous systems, and feel warm to the touch, but they suffer from all the vulnerabilities inherent to an undead being. Examples of this would be ghouls, undead animals of medium size or less, non-sentient zombies, blood beasts, maggots, etc. These undead do not possess souls, and are not sentient, but are exclusively instinct-driven, incapable of speech, only able to follow basic one-word commands.
* **Body Alteration:** Through lengthy surgical procedures, Shaeryn is capable of making alterations to her own anatomy or that of other creatures. - This process is unable to create physical matter, but is simply able to slightly modify its basic nature, for example the ability to harden bone or to create new limbs or alter the shape or functionality of specific organs, but would be unable to turn blood into muscle or similar transformations. - These transformations generally take time, and are unable to be executed on the go. - However, they **can** be performed on living individuals, provided they are either willing or fully unconscious.
* **Equipment Adaptation:** Through the weaving of flesh and bone, Shaeryn is capable of modifying weapons and armor by incorporating auxiliary organs in their construction which can serve a variety of utilitarian functions. These constructed organs are undead in nature, and can suffer debilitating damage. They behave as extensions of her body when in physical contact, or rudimentary short-lived independent organs when separate. Examples of this would be small blood-sucking sacks on throwing knives, tentacles to prevent disarming of weapons or to extend their reach, or hollow fangs and webs of veins to facilitate the draining of blood.
* **Skinwalking:** A trademark technique devised by Shaeryn, made possible due to her small stature. - When provided with a fresh and relatively undamaged carcass, Shaeryn possesses the ability to surgically hollow out the body's internal organs as necessary and perform rudimentary alterations to their anatomy, allowing herself to physically don their body like a costume. - This requires her to be completely unarmored, and requires the carcass to be of sufficient size for her body to fit fully inside of. - In the case of humanoids of comparable size, this may imply simply wearing their skin and a thin layer of muscle tissue over her own. - For slightly larger creatures and people, such as an orc or tauren, she need only be able to fit inside their chest cavity. - Inter-connecting nerve endings and circulatory systems allows her to briefly delay the on-set of decay, allowing such a disguise to be maintained for at least several hours and upwards to a few days, depending on environmental conditions. - She is unable to fully halt the process of decomposition, but using the creature's existing organs, she can emulate the motions of breathing and speech in the individual's voice, or specific animal cries (i.e. the howl of a wolf or the growls of a bear). - These disguises can easily fool the average person, however close scrutiny will reveal flaws in the disguise, and she is not hidden in any way from magical means of perception. - While inside such a disguise, she will only be able to conceal a very limited number of small items inside her chosen carcass, depending on its size, and will usually have to rely on her own natural weapons or those carried by the individual she's impersonating. (( the body she dons can still wear armor and wield weapons, but they will usually not fit her person once leaving the disguise. - Finally, once a disguise is abandoned, the carcass will rapidly begin to decompose, and become unusable.

**Martial Prowess:** Aptitudes in the field of physical combat:

* **Supernatural Reflexes:** Due to her vampirically heightened senses as well as training and general awareness, Shaeryn is capable of quick reflexes, beyond the average of living aptitude. Due to being undead, these reflexes do not take the form of flinches or involuntary reactions, but rather conscious responses, and her physical and mental conditioning (both from combat and as a dancer), result in her having extraordinary balance and increasing her ability to dodge attacks.
* **Weapon Skills:** Shaeryn is adept in the use of light and swift bladed weapons. While her specialization is in the dual wielding of matching knives or short swords, she is able to use natural weapons, sharp fist weapons, glaives, one-handed axes or sickles, and throwing daggers sufficiently well to not be at a significant disadvantage if her preferred weapons are not available. - She however does not make use of blunt weapons, nor two-handed weapons, and neither is she able to utilize magical foci such as staves or wands. This is all due to her quick-learning skill and necessary adaptability. - Her preferred loadout consists of a pair of identical scimitars and a pair of whip-like tendrils sprouting from her shoulders.
* **Acrobatic Agility:** Having learned much of what she knows of melee combat by adapting her pre-existing extensive skills in dancing, Shaeryn's style of combat is one of acrobatic moves, making up for a lack in physical mass with swiftness and precision for decisive and impactful attacks. Her blades cut deep into flesh, cloth and most leathers, but against heavier armored opponents she will be at a disadvantage, unable to pierce through thick metal or natural armor plates, and requiring her to search for existing armor gaps to exploit. - Alas, due to her swift, nimble and elaborate movements, those same heavy-set opponents might find it equally difficult to land a hit on her.
* **Stealth:** Her flesh disguises are not the only means by which the darkfallen can conceal her presence. - Whether it be through employing camouflage, her ability to move in complete silence without the need to breathe, and ability to lay in perfect stillness without even the need for a beating heart, Shaeryn is extremely capable of quickly hiding and staying hidden, as well as moving between spots of concealment with minimized chances of detection. - This paired with her speed will sometimes even allow her to slip unseen in the middle of combat and maneuver to a new position of ambush, if her opponents ever lose focus of her.

**Domestic and Social Skills:** Abilities not pertaining to combat and which add no benefit to hostile encounters.

* **Flesh and Leather Working:** Her aptitude in fleshcrafting is often trained and applied domestically in the form of fashioning of light armors, clothing, and even artistic objects such as book covers, accessories, bags, bandoliers, sheathes and such items. - She possesses a macabre fascination of using skin, flesh and bone in grotesque displays of artistry, and is of course naturally capable in harvesting the different materials necessary for these crafts from animals and humanoids alike. - While she evidently prefers working with unprocessed tissues, she is still able to identify and perform maintenance on most types of leather, and natural materials such as scales, bone or horn.
* **Body Language and Social Skills:** This is where her background as an entertainer comes greatly into play. Having to interact with people on a regular basis, Shaeryn is able to recognize most basic patterns of speech and body language, or little tells in a person which can suggest things such as anxiety or dishonesty. Not only can she detect them in others, but being aware of them she can also diminish these same tells in her own person, making her quite capable in the arts of deceit and interrogation. Then again, knowledge of anatomy also helps with... violent questionings. But at least she'll better know when they lie to her.
* **Courteous and Diplomatic:** Even more important to being a good entertainer, Shaeryn knows how to pull people's heartstrings. She'll often prove to be surprisingly persuasive and charming, or alternatively, know just how to say what she needs to say in order to intimidate a person. This talent was especially trained a lot during her service as an envoy and messenger to different vassals of the Scourge on the Northern continent, where many needed to be treated not with the carrot, but rather the proverbial stick.
* **Language Skills:** Needing to interact with a handful of respective races during the years of service to the Scourge, Shaeryn is capable of a basic understanding of Nerubian, Vrykul and Zandali languages, written and spoken, enough to carry out the most rudimentary conversation only, or understand the generalized over-all meaning of sentences, without knowing the specifics of individual terms or words, but rather guessing their meaning from context. - And, of course, she is fluent in Common and Thalassian. - With quite the beautiful handwriting, to boot.

## Notable Items

 Crypt Fang
- Greater -
Serrated - Cuts inflict profuse bleeding, requiring magical healing or surgical mending to quell.
Numbing - Blade secretes poison that makes slashes feel painless, but also inflicts a potent slowing effect, lasting one to three entire days.

## Home

Shaeryn is currently nomadic, roaming the Northern continent without any permanent establishment.

## Quotes

*"*𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀. - 𝐼 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝓎, 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝒻𝓇𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁. 𝐼'𝒹 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓊𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓈𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝑔𝑜... - 𝒮𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓈𝓁𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝓈𝑜 𝓁𝒾𝒷𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒹𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝓅𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝓇𝓊𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓇. - 𝒯𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝒸𝓇𝒾𝒻𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒𝒹𝑜𝓂 𝒾𝓃 𝑒𝓍𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓁𝓎 𝒾𝓇𝓇𝑒𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒽𝑒𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝑒."

## Notes and Trivia

* Even as a Darkfallen, Shaeryn's artsy tendencies still manifest all fine and well, but without her even realizing fully, they too take a darker twist. She will often fashion articles of clothing, jewelry, accessories or decorations to her weaponry which are beautiful and delicate to her eyes, akin to veils of colorful and vibrant silks or precious metals of captivating beauty. - In truth, however, she sees this manner of beauty now in macabre and disturbing ways, taking great pride in attire woven of taut skin, appreciating the different hues and textures of flayed hide, kept in as much of a life-like state by hemomantic rituals, or by the incorporation of rudimentary, magically emulated metabolisms. - A gown woven of a virgin's surgically removed skin may find itself adorning her body, still bearing life-like warmth and vibrance, blood still flowing through numerous capillaries, pumped by heart-like muscles woven through its seams akin to embroideries. - While rationally she is fully aware of the macabre nature of this fascination, her trauma-induced emotional draught no longer feels repulsion towards this, but rather her vampyric eyes see a most fascinating beauty in the way this living dress seems to 'blush', or bruise, or even flinch in pain, in its emulated life-like state.
* Despite all she's been through, Shaeryn still greatly enjoys music, and poetry, and will eagerly spare a peaceful moment to enjoy a song or a story from another, be they even a hated person, or one she is either way about to kill.
* Being a natively quick learner, Shaeryn is generally unable to acknowledge how impressive her own feats or achievements may be, taking her talents for granted. A skill she does not possess might seem impressive, no matter how banal, yet the very same skill will appear uninteresting once she's mastered it herself, regardless of how complex or rare it may be. This might make her belittle or praise others in objectively undeserving ways at times.
* Despite suffering no detrimental effects from the light of day, Shaeryn still prefers night-time and dark places; this is because - no matter how beautiful - the bright and vibrant colors as seen in daylight are often overwhelming to her eyes, simply making darkness more comfortable for her.
* While she is not actually amnesic, years of mental and emotional trauma have led to her mind selectively blocking and discarding numerous scattered recollections. - This can leave her oblivious to some elements of the past that should seem obvious, such as the names of her parents, or major events of the past, and yet still have very precise and specific long-term memory at other times. - Effects of this may still be seen to this present day, making it seem like she only selectively remembers some things and forgets others. - She might forget a person's name or general appearance, but be able to describe in great detail her first impressions of them, their way of speaking, or the detailed nature of an object worn on their person, to later recognize them by something as bizarre as the pitch and tremor of their startled gasp, or the pattern of the staggered microscopic motions of their eyes.
* Even as an undead, Shaeryn does on rare occasions indulge in eating or drinking. In the absence of a need to eat to survive, she finds the gesture to be even more significant, bearing a rich symbolic value. A glass of sweet wine or a bite of her favorite fruit can help her keep in touch with her true self, for example, whereas eating from the flesh of a defeated enemy can serve as a gesture of dominance.