Lullaby

*“It's not enough that you land your hit. You must ensure a blow to your opponent's knee shatters his kneecaps.”*— Lullaby
**Lullaby** (Spanish "*Victoria Concierto de Arena*") is a recruitable character and a former member of the Cult of Sanctity. She is highly trained in the methods of assassination and quiet murder, and one of the five members that made up the Company.

## Personality

Stoic and disciplined, Lullaby's modus operandi is cold calculation.

## History

### Early Life

The woman who would become the 'Lullaby of the Forest' was left as an orphan in the war-torn border town of Sandstorm. Not much is known of her parentage other than that she was left at the Sandstorm Temple in a basket with a gold weave, as well as her name embroidered in similar fashion. Gold was a rare commodity at the time, and was typically only used for ornaments. This perplexed the convent that found her until they discovered she was completely blind - deducing that she was abandoned by affluent parents due to her deformity.

As time went by, the ongoing war around Sandstorm hindered the Temple's ability to function, and there were many times the Temple's children went hungry. Young, impressionable, and discouraged by her disability, the young Victoria was often forced to turn to God in times of strife. While it did not always provide for her needs, the kindly temple attendants were able to teach her to effectively calm herself with hymns. Unfortunately, conditions did not change.

The tribulation continued until she was twelve, and the war was at a peak. Many military groups would come seeking aid, while their enemies would attack the Temple for providing it. One night, a roving band of brigands would attack, indiscriminately burning, looting, and killing. She was forced to flee after one thug had entered her room with 'uncertain intent', as she would later refer to it. A nun managed to guide her out of the Temple before being pulled away by an unknown person, telling her to run as far from her voice as possible.

Lullaby wandered and stumbled blindly into the wild, with only her songs to keep her. This went on for two days, until she had managed to reach a running river. Taking it as a sign of providence, she was ever a fervent believer in the Architect. She stayed there for some days, having been used to the hunger and sustaining on things she could gather. Another miracle crossed her path, when a group of pilgrims lead by Theophilus had stopped to help her. Giving her food and shelter, they were more than happy to help her, and she had no problem living with them.

Theophilus took no hesitation on providing for her, as he knew being indebted to him would guarantee a loyal follower. Asking her how she managed to keep her sanity in her distress, Victoria answered him by singing the Hymn of Love. Noting her impressive memory and recitation, he immediately sent her to live with an occultist camp that specialized in Spellcrafting, and instructed them to train her until she was able to come back to her on his own. With the promise of a true and secure adoptive family driving her, she would train day after day in order to be with him.

This went on for five years, in which she had been instructed in advanced spells and given experimental enchantments, both of which would help give her awareness of her surroundings. What she found most invaluable, however, was her Ranger training, which would see her move from the occultist settlement south of Sandstorm, to the King's Ruins deep in the Northern forest. This is when urban legends of 'The Lullaby of the Forest' would begin spread, with people recounting the spirit of a woman who would live in the forest, noticeable only by her singing.

Upon actually living with Theophilus for the first time, however, the newly world-wise Lullaby began to see through his intentions. He immediately had her practice her archery and swordsmanship rigorously when she arrived, and had her attend sermons of his where he would promise a violent revolution on the heathens ruling the country. This went on for a year before he asked of her to join his Inquisitors, the initiation of which entailed the sacrifice of a heathen. Though he had deliberately sought out and captured the bandit who cornered her as a child, she refused this cruelty, and renounced his teachings.

For the next seven years, Lullaby took back to the wild, opting to protect the vulnerable and do good only by her own terms. She took on the moniker people had given her, and freely protected travelers through Mournwood. While she was forced to use force over the course of these years, she would be adamant about it being her choice alone, and only when she felt God offered no alternative. When a new threat revealed itself to Cynedom in the form of Asubu and his guilds abusing the forest, she vowed to have him face consequence for his actions.

### Vistan-Haze Crisis

Lullaby was invaluable in her efforts to defeat the Haze.