Cera walks into Gilded Vale exhausted, dirty, and on her wits end with the nonstop whispers and seriously unsettling visions. Her hand keeps twitching reflexively towards her trusty crossbow, and she barely manages to stifle a yawn as she makes her way through a few kith, mumbling apologies as she bumps into them.
Of course, then she seriously considers turning around and heading right back into the Valewood when she sees the monstrosity of a tree with many kith of all kinds hanging from it. The number keeps changing as she tries multiple times to count it, but she finally decides that there must be around twenty bodies hanging from that horrible tree.
First the Glanfathans, now this place. Where exactly have I come to? But I can't go back to Aedyr, not to my family.
In truth, she is completely ashamed of her family - and the feelings are mutual. They consider her to be an embarrassment, as she was never interested in politics or being 'noble' like they thought it meant. She, in turn, steadily grew ashamed that everyone else was more worried about how fancy their clothes were than whether or not they could take care of themselves. The fact that she could read their minds since she was five helped her feelings of shame grow all the more - she could tell that they thought it made her a freak, and that if they could control her it would be a very big asset to them.
She refused to be their tool though, refused to dress up and play the game by their rules because she'd never be anything but another tool to further their own fortune. When she taught herself how to pick a lock, her mother was horrified, her father furious, and they took away her practicing wires. When she proved to be a dead shot with her crossbow, she quickly explained that she wanted to join the hunts and such - otherwise she'd never be allowed near another arrow, much less the weapon. And that was without anybody seeing the bolts of the crossbow covered in purple flames, the ones she generated just by focusing on her target.
Her Cipher abilities, or Brîshalgwin in Eir Glanfath, started showing when she very young, a sign that she was extremely powerful and gifted. And she basically taught herself everything she knows how to do. She started with reading the servant's thoughts, getting practice for reading her parents'. With controlling kith, well, she's never really liked to force somebody to do something - last resort only, life-and-death situations exclusively. But she did it to rats and spiders that she found, because every skill available to her is useful at some point. She started seeing the places objects had been soon enough, and some of the weapons in the guardhouse had some violent histories to them - not that she expected anything else, they were weapons.
It all finally came to a head when she spurned every suitor they attempted to pair her with after reading their minds and finding them entirely wrong for her, and before they could cast her out she left. Took a bag of supplies and left.
She forces herself out of her thoughts, the story is done and over with, and starts further into town - she's feeling like she's about to drop dead and sleep for a week, and this place must have an inn somewhere.
A thin, bony man comes up and says "You must be one of the new settlers. Welcome to Gilded Vale. I'm the Magistrate, Urgeat, and you'll be pleased to hear we've had some…recent vacancies." He looks at the monstrous tree behind him, then adds "The inestimable Lord Raedric VII has taken great pains to insulate the town from Waidwen's Legacy. Have you ever conceived a Hollowborn Child?"
Cera's mouth may be hanging open, but she's not entirely sure - she's too busy processing the shock of how this guy just bluntly asked if she's ever had a kid. That and this 'Hollowborn' thing.
Calisca said kith were having trouble giving birth…
Finally, she asks "A what? I've never heard of that before."
There's a thick condescending tone in his voice as he says "A child born without a soul, of course. Pitiful, dumb things that breathe, barely, but do not truly live. The problem started soon after Waidwen claimed to be Eothas, and so the name stuck." Urgeat's voice turned suddenly vicious, like the mention of this Waidwen sparked a bit of life in him.
"I see…is there anywhere I can rest? I've been on the road, and-"
"At the moment, I can't provide any permanent accommodations, as the Lord's wife is with child and due any day now. I'm afraid the interview will have to wait until after the birth. Until then, the inn has rooms. Or the stable for all I care."
Cera doesn't even need to look in his mind to know that this guy sees her in utter contempt and wouldn't care if she got murdered in a back alley around the corner. Three bells suddenly toll, and kith immediately huddle up and start whispering to each other.
No…no…things'll only get worse…
Raedric is going to hang everyone for this…
Is his child Hollowborn as well?
We're all doomed…
The thoughts are suddenly swarming her, hasty, hurried, and unpleasantly miserable - she's likely better off just staying in the inn and not showing her face until she leaves.
Urgeat tells her that things have literally just changed a great deal with the three bell tolls, as they only toll three times for the death of a Raedric, and that she should be very careful. She gets the distinct feeling that she could well end up hanging from that tree very soon if she doesn't get out of here fast - but she needs to sleep, her whole body is screaming for it from her pounding head to her aching feet. She walked literally a whole day from the ruins to here, and she needs a hot meal and somewhere to sleep that isn't the ground - the ground would work though, honestly.
When she finally finds the inn, as Urgeat gave her no directions, she finds the first sign of real life in the place - unfortunately, it's a heated argument. Three figures that are swaying drunkenly are crowded around a slim figure in a hood, one who's smooth voice says "I meant no offense. Let's settle this with another round, shall we? My treat." He's got a strong Aedyran accent, and judging from his stature he's more than likely an elf.
The woman, who's clearly as drunk as it gets, says "Hoping to soothe our pride with a few Aedyre copperes, eh? We don't need your coin!"
The bigger man, who's clearly the leader and every bit as drunk as the other two, says "Go ahead, say it again. I'm itching for an excuse."
The hooded elf suddenly says "Fye your itchin' for the kindling touch of your sister, ye coxfither!" All three gasp, and Cera immediately knows something's up - the words came from the hooded elf, but everything about them was different. Tone, inflections, accent, even the sound of his voice - like it came from another person's mouth entirely.
"I'll cut that barrel-licking tongue outta your head!" The leader's hand drops to his knife, and Cera decides right then and there that enough is enough. This is literally the last thing her frayed nerves can handle at the moment, between the nonstop whispers and the fact that she walked all the way here from the ruins, she's ready to sleep for a week.
She connects with their minds, instantly calming them down and making them highly susceptible to suggestions - particularly her suggestions. She then marches over, getting between them and the hooded elf, and says "You've all had too much to drink. Go home, sleep it off. Remember none of this."
They all mutely nod, and then obediently stumble away in what must be the directions of their homes. Given the fact that they reeked of awful beer, it wasn't too hard to get them to do what she wanted. She didn't control them, just planted the suggestion of going home and passing out in their beds in their minds. That's what she tells herself anyway, trying to rid herself of the lingering guilt.
If they got into a fight, they'd likely drag anyone around them into it and have killed this guy along with them. Nobody was hurt, after all.
She pulls out of her thoughts when the man she just saved says "Thank you for your assistance with that…awkward situation. However you just helped. Aloth Corfiser, at your service."
"Your welcome. I'm Cera." She looks away from him after a second, just over his shoulder she can see a woman inside his body, for some reason. It's very disconcerting. She's walked through kith chained to racks, tied to posts with piles of wood tented around the base, and tried to ignore endless whispers that she can't make out - all sound in a range of pleading, accusatory, and convincing. It's maddening, she must be going insane.
"You don't look well, Cera."
She looks at Aloth again, and is immensely relieved to see he's solid once again. "Funny thing, I don't feel all that great either. I've been walking through the woods for…a day I think. Not a few hours either, a day straight. Before that, I was traveling with a caravan here but we got attacked by…Odema called them 'hut-dwellers' but I think that'd offend kith here. Is this the inn?"
"Yes, it is. And I think anything will offend these kith. Let me buy you a meal, as better thanks for getting rid of those three."
Cera nods gratefully, and says "Lead the way, Aloth."
Twenty minutes later, Aloth's watching Cera eat like she really hasn't had food in at least a whole day.
Between mouthfuls of food, she told him how she got sick with something called the Rumbling Rot on her way here and how she couldn't keep anything down for most of the day before they were attacked by Glanfathans and she was forced to go through some ruins after escaping a Biawac. So she hasn't actually had food in at least two days.
And he noticed she keeps looking around, and pointedly going back to her food at times.
And she apparently saved the cook from bandits, so she's a favorite of the house.
"So, mind telling me how you got those three drunks to leave back there?"
She looks at him warily, then mumbles "It was nothing…"
"It was impressive, that's what it was. From what I've seen of them, they drink until they pass out and were already too far gone to even hear reason. Yet somehow you managed to get them heading home in mere moments. I'm curious, I don't know of any spell such as that, and you don't carry a grimoire and didn't say an incantation."
She studies him for a moment, then says "Just don't start calling me a freak or report me to the guy who decorated that tree."
Aloth has to suppress some laughter at that, and says "Never. You saved my skin, after all. Speaking of which, how would you like to travel with me? I can bet your looking to head out of here, and I find it's better to travel in numbers."
"Done. Though you might reconsider that offer when you hear my story."
He's seriously thinking that's an impossibility. She saved him from a beating and likely much worse - no thanks to Iselmyr.
She quickly looks around, then quietly asks "You know about Ciphers? Or Brîshalgwin, as they're called here?"
"Yes, a kind of Glanfathan warrior. They're supposed to use their minds to fuel their powers."
"Right. And that's what I do. I'm a Cipher. I might've just put the suggestion of heading home in their heads earlier."
"Ah, that explains it. I'd say you seem like a powerful one, but I'm afraid I don't know much about Ciphers myself."
He can see the faint blush that shows in her cheeks for a moment, and then she clears her throat and says "I am. That's what everybody says, at any rate. It just started happening when I was young. And, I'm talking very young, about knee-high. Maybe younger."
Aloth's eyebrows rise into his hair, that would make her very powerful.
"I don't normally do stuff like earlier on kith, but…"
"But they'd have possibly dragged the whole time into their fight. I'm not criticizing."
Her eyes suddenly widen in horror at something behind him, and she says "I think I'm going to turn in. Thank you for the company, we'll figure somewhere to go in the morning."
He nods, and looks back when she heads up the stairs.
There's nothing there, though.
And she was practically running.
AN: Alright, now we have some background for Cera! I sort of combined two of the choices for Aristocrat into one for Cera's background. And I got the inspiration for Cera's powers from the Cipher you talk to in Dunryd Row, how he says your character's abilities - if they're a Cipher - are much stronger than his. And the story in the Cipher Necklace sold in Ondra's Gift, how the mute Cipher was extraordinarily gifted. Think of Cera as a self-taught Cipher. Anyway, enjoy! Hope you all like the story so far! Will include White March, btw.