Asumyn Sequoia DeNereia

Art by Xeno!

Asumyn is a Triton Druid, who had been raised by her mentor, Thia Sequoia, in the Crown Forest for most of her life. Upon reaching a point where Thia felt she would be safe wandering alone, Asumyn left to explore the world, and find out why she'd always felt like something was missing from her life.

## Design

Asumyn is a medium humanoid, with light blue shark-like skin. Her hair is an opalescent blue, most often pulled back into either a ponytail or a braid; when loose, it reaches her mid-back with natural curls and waves. Her eyes are a bright yellow-green.

## Personality

Asumyn is bright and bubbly, with a tendency to slip easily into sarcasm, though it doesn’t always successfully come across the way she intends. In general she’s a kind mannered girl, wanting good things for others, but she has a tendency to hold grudges against those who’ve crossed her, or hurt people she cares about. She’s easily driven to emotional reactions, which can prove both beneficial and detrimental to both her own goals as well as those of her party.

## Story

### History

Princess Asumyn was born to the goddess Selune and the King of Nereia, and was smothered with adoration immediately. The small royal family was happy for a short time, but before the end of Asumyn’s first year, her father heard murmurs of the king of the neighboring kingdom of Ogygia planning an attack. The king had Asumyn sent away with a trusted friend to keep her safe.  Neither king survived the battle, and Selune hid the kingdom of Nereia beneath the sea, until such a time that Asumyn could return to reclaim her kingdom.

Asumyn grew up under the care and mentorship of Thia Sequoia, a Druidic Elf, in the Crown Forest of Malkuth. The pair rarely left the woods, instead making use of the small world around them for much of their needs. As they resided quite near the shores of the Shining Sea, Asumyn found herself enjoying much of her freetime in the water. She wasn’t allowed to stray too far from shore, or from where Thia could see her if she stood at the shoreline, but Asumyn took every chance she could to spend time in the water.

Asumyn’s childhood was happy, but as she grew older, she found that she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing–though she couldn’t tell whether it was from her life, or herself, let alone what it was that could possibly be missing. At around age 15 or 16, she spoke with Thia about this feeling. The elven woman always seemed to understand Asumyn on a level on which Asumyn couldn’t even understand herself, and this instance was no different. Thia made a deal with Asumyn: once Thia felt that there was nothing left she could teach Asumyn, or do to prepare her for the outside world, she would let Asumyn go out to try and find what was missing.

A few years later, not long after Asumyn had turned 18, Thia agreed that Asumyn was ready to begin her journey. However, the unprecedented events of a nearby apocalyptic battle changed things. Thia left to investigate, insisting Asumyn stay in the safety of their home. Investigation turned to defending the Crown Forest, and by the time Thia returned, she had a new scar, and a disappointing message for Asumyn: she would need to wait longer before Thia felt comfortable letting her leave on her own, after what she’d just witnessed.

Several months later, Thia finally felt comfortable enough to allow Asumyn to head out on the road.

## Relationships

### Thia Sequoia

Thia is the druidic elf who raised Asumyn from a very young age. Until Asumyn's discovery of her true origins, Thia had been the only family she'd ever known. Asumyn looks up to Thia, and hopes to become a Druid that the elf can be proud of. Until Asumyn met Selune and learned about her past, Thia was the only mother-like figure Asumyn had ever known. Early on in raising Asumyn, Thia had tried to keep some distance between herself and her ward, knowing that she was only stepping in until Asumyn could safely leave her guardianship. However, despite her best attempts, even going so far as to keep Asumyn from referring to her with any sort of motherly terms, the two still ended up incredibly close. It was only after Asumyn met Selune and learned about her blood-related family that Asumyn came to realize that Thia had always been her mom, whether the two of them ever said as much or not.

### Selune

Asumyn's birth mother. Upon meeting, the two had a rocky start as Selune showed clear favoritism towards Asumyn over Calypso, Selune's other daughter. However, after working together, and learning about where she came from, Asumyn is hopeful that her relationship with Selune will continue to get better. For the moment, Asumyn is still learning what kind of relationship she has, or wants to have, with Selune. She struggles to refer to her as “Mom”, or anything other than her name, unless Asumyn is speaking directly to Selune. And Asumyn very much wants a good relationship with Selune, and wants to have her as a part of her life. But Selune’s lack of experience in mothering, and her prolonged absence from Asumyn’s life, leave Asumyn feeling uncertain about how to approach the goddess most of the time.

### Calypso deOgygia

Selune's oldest daughter, and Asumyn's half-sister. Asumyn and Calypso met when Calypso's pirate ship attacked the party's ship after they'd made it past the storm wall. Calypso is the one who told the party to go to the island on which they met Circe, who turned the party into animals; this situation put the party in clear danger. Upon reaching the Kingdom of Ogygia, and reuniting with Calypso, they learned that Asumyn's locket featured the symbol of the goddess Selune. They also learned that Selune was Calypso's mother, and if they wanted to meet with Selune, they needed to take Calypso with. They traveled to the sunken kingdom of Nereia, and swam to its gates, which were said to open to Selune’s Lost Daughter. The group had assumed that this referred to Calypso, however, the gates wouldn’t open to her. Asumyn had approached, to see if she could figure out what was wrong, and the gates opened for her instead. They went to the palace and met Selune, where they learned that Selune was Asumyn’s mother, which meant Calypso was Asumyn’s half sister. The group left the palace to do some exploring and investigation, and when they returned to the palace, they found that Calypso had stabbed Selune. As a goddess, Selune would live, but Asumyn ran in and tried to reason with Calypso. Calypso had been frustrated with Selune’s absence from her life, and for being the reason her father left. Asumyn and Calypso began to fight, both gaining powers and new appearances as a result of their celestial heritage.

### Florian Solari

Asumyn's love interest (though she has yet to entirely figure that out).

They met on Asumyn’s first visit to Grand Chokmah: while she was swimming, they approached her underwater and offered her a shell he’d found that was pretty. Asumyn was almost instantly taken with them, finding Florian a fun and sweet presence, and dancing with him at the Fantasy Met Gala. While they danced, she learned that, before he was adopted by Charity and Sabine (who are also Enid’s moms), he’d lived somewhere else, and he was looking for someone. It was very important that they find her. Asumyn told him that she’d do what she could to help.

They got closer while on their ship across the ocean. At the mall in the middle of the sea, Asumyn learned that the person Florian was looking for was a princess, and that their parents were knights, and he was meant to be a knight to this princess as well. They had been very young when they left the kingdom they’d been born in, so he didn’t even really remember what the princess looked like, let alone her name.

Once the party learned that Calypso was actually the Princess of Ogygia, everyone thought that she was the princess that Florian had been looking for. Asumyn respected this, and allowed him to prioritize Calypso, even though it felt strange and wrong.

After it was revealed that Asumyn was actually the princess Florian had been searching for, the two spoke with each other while the party was stranded on an island. Florian expressed that he wanted to be able to protect her, like he was supposed to, and Asumyn protested that she could protect herself. She declared that instead of one being responsible for the other, they should just protect each other, and Florian agreed.

After they returned from their trip across the sea, Florian and Lio doubled back to the location of the party’s battle to retrieve Poseidon’s trident as a gift for Asumyn.

While the party was trapped in the school dream, Asumyn and Florian had forgotten their reality, and in the dream, the two were in a relationship. Upon returning to the real world, with both their memories intact, they spoke with each other about it. Asumyn declared that she “didn’t hate it”, and she kissed their cheek before quickly departing.

### Captain Antolio Rortugal

Asumyn thinks Antolio (whom she calls Lio) is frustrating and obnoxious, and sometimes she wishes he’d shut up forever. However, she also has faith that if she were ever in trouble, she could turn to him for help. After traveling with him for so long, and getting to know him better, she can tell that most of his silliness is forced. She has a feeling that if he didn’t crack jokes or act stupid on occasion, he’d combust from the pressure and thoughts of the life he’s lived. So while she might not trust him with a porcelain doll, she’d trust him with her life.

### Enid Solari

When they all first met, Asumyn and the rest of the party were unaware that Enid is a Corollin. Having been sequestered away from the world for most of her 19 years, Asumyn had little to no prior knowledge about Corollin, except for the fact that they weren’t organic beings. When she was told that Corollin were created by people, Asumyn believed it, feeling mildly uncomfortable at the idea and, in turn, finding Corollin an uncomfortable subject and species. Upon learning that she’d been told a falsehood, and upon getting to know Enid better, Asumyn is more than fine with the species now.

When the group enters situations where things are unfamiliar to Asumyn, she can usually find companionship with Enid, who is frequently in the same boat with her. Asumyn admires Enid’s fierceness, and the way it will come out almost suddenly, in particular when she’s defending others. Asumyn reacted with excitement upon learning about the other Enid, the Corollin spirit, and that the spirit is, essentially, Enid’s parent; she’s amused by the two of them both having godly parents.

### Nimbra the Nimble

Asumyn still doesn’t know a whole lot about Nimbra, which she’s certain is on purpose. Still, she’s spent enough time around Nimbra by this point to have a general idea of who she is in personality, and with others. Even though Nimbra tries not to let her emotions out, Asumyn has still picked up on them a handful of times, doing what she can to be a friend and support the tiefling.

Asumyn also really likes Crow, and Crow seems to really like Asumyn in return. She and Nimbra are the only ones able to understand Crow’s speech, and that’s a point of bonding for the three of them.

Asumyn admires and trusts Nimbra, regardless of her lack of knowledge about her past. Nimbra’s been a solid companion, trustworthy and protective of their group. She’s more than happy to give Nimbra as much time as she needs in order to feel comfortable being vulnerable with the rest of their group.

## Trivia

* The first draft of Asumyn's character was created during quarantine in 2020, which Emily feels like explains a lot about some of the decisions regarding her character design and personality.
* First-Draft Asumyn’s last name was “Ranonsath”, taken from a Triton name generator.
* The reason Asumyn releases Bees when casting the cantrip "Infestation", rather than the cantrip's original parasites, is due to a joke with one of Emily's friends with whom she'd originally played Asumyn: Somehow, this friend cannot escape any mention of Bees in any game, story, or even in real life. This friend's father even keeps bees in their yard. And so, Asumyn casts Bees with Infestation to perpetuate that joke even now.