{folkmore | application}

★ Character Information ★

Character Name: Cairos Mirefang
Character Age: 25
Character Species: A witchborn changeling with a blood hag for a mother.
Current Health: Cairos will be a bit exhausted from battle and sporting a few minor injuries. Nothing life-threatening, however.
Outfit: Cairos wears a shoulderless dress with many layers and a bit of tearing, cinched by a belted corset. The red stains on the edges of her dress are of an undetermined origin that she will not be clarifying for anyone. In addition to her dress, she also wears ribbons tied around her legs and foregoes any sort of footwear. Cairos also wears a number of necklaces and a thin scarf/choker combination around her neck. Lastly, Cairos wears a pair of long grey gloves that extend nearly to her elbows. (ref by kayla)

Character Canon: Pathfinder Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path
Link to History:

Cairos was born in the woods outside Sandpoint known as the Mosswoods. Given the rarity of a blood hag's desire to be anything other than entirely on their own, Granny Ursula Mirefang (known to most as Granny Mirefang) did not give Cairos away to be fostered by human parents in the nearby fishing town. Cairos, for the most part, was content to remain in the woods even as a child rather than venturing into Sandpoint all that often. But when she did, she would imagine her father to be various men she saw and what it would be like to be that man's daughter instead of the daughter of hag. She abandoned such fantasies rather quickly, however, and she reached the conclusion that were she ever to meet her father, he would no doubt hate her. Perhaps even fear her. Either way, there would be no place for her in his life or heart, and it was better to accept that than set herself up for such disappointments should she ever somehow cross paths with him.

So, in the absence of a father, Cairos was treated less like a beloved child by Granny Mirefang and more like a constant source of frustration and being perpetually underfoot. Punishments were never particularly harmful, but they were often severe all the same, and it was always rare for Granny to speak kindly to or of Cairos. There has always been an expectation that when the time came Cairos would form a coven with her mother and another hag, but Cairos privately felt differently about the matter once old enough to understand it. Granny has always been well-aware of Cairos' quest for her own freedom, and while she dismisses it as impossible, she's always been privately proud of Cairos' ambition.

But life was not always pure harshness in the woods. Cairos grew up alongside Selene, a dhampir who possessed no idea of her true nature due to the efforts of Selene's mother to hide the identity of her father from her. Given Granny's involvement in Selene's birth, Cairos is more than aware of what Selene truly is, but she likewise has always remained steadfast in guarding that secret. While with Selena and her mother, Cairos had the luxury of being a child and experiencing open affection she could never experience with her mother.

As the years went by, things carried on as normal. Cairos ran errands and completed her chores for her mother while looking after Selene and never giving up on her ambitions to be free of her mother's control. That is until one day a dwarf and oread became lost in their woods. At Selene's behest, Cairos assisted with guiding them to Sandpoint. Little did any of them know of the path that lay ahead for any of them.

Rise of the Runelords | Burnt Offerings

Note: The party did not encounter anything pertaining to The Shopkeep's Daughter or Monster in the Closet. Otherwise, the adventure was as written for the party.

Canon Point: Cairos and the party have made it through the first floor of Thistletop, having survived Ripnugget's failed attempt at an ambush.
Canon Iteration: Original
Canon Iteration Explanation: N/A

★ Folkmore Roles & Attributes ★

Skills:

🧿 Alchemy. Although it is a fraction of the potions, oils, poisons, tinctures, etc. that her mother is capable of making, Cairos has learned her own fair share over the years albeit she needs a bit more hands-on practice to really claim any proficiency. That being said, she has quite a bit of knowledge about the properties and qualities of various herbs, fungi, parts of animals, and other such ingredients. In other words, her knowledge is a bit greater than her ability to apply at this point in time.

🧿 Polyglot. Cairos is fluent in Aklo, Common, Draconic, Elven, Giant, and Goblin.

🧿 Survivalist. Having lived and grown up in the woods her entire life, Cairos has basic skills needed for surviving the outdoors. This includes being able to identify and follow tracks of various creatures with a great deal of accuracy.

🧿 Weaponry. Cairos is comfortable wielding a stave or dagger. She's also got some familiarity with a light crossbow, but her aim is a bit shit.

Canon Abilities:

🧿 Claws. Cairos' fingernails are hard and sharp. She can use them essentially the way other creatures might make use of claws, although the damage she can do with them is relatively minor.

🧿 Darkvision. Cairos can see in the dark up to 60 feet away. In darkness, it is black & white, and she is not able to see anything she would not be able to see if the room were normally illuminated.

🧿 Inscrutable. By virtue of her birth to that of a blood hag, Cairos is much more difficult to read than the average person. It's difficult to tell if she's lying or what her true intentions may be. While there's certainly some skill involved in this (such as double-speak, guarded expressions, etc.) there's just simply a bit of a magical aura that makes it more difficult to intuit what Cairos is thinking and/or the truth of her words.

🧿 Natural Armor. Cairos' skin is tougher than the average human. While not impenetrable, it will take a bit more effort to leave a mark than one might anticipate.

🧿 Spells. Cairos has the ability to learn a number of spells. Magic does take something out of one when casting an abundant amount of spells (i.e., spell slots). Outside of cantrips, which Cairos could perhaps perform in her sleep, the larger the spell, the more it takes it out of her and the greater likelihood she will not be able to perform an equivalent spell without taking some time to rest. However, it should be noted that Cairos appears to have a natural aptitude for magic, allowing her to cast larger amounts of spells or more demanding spells with greater frequency/for longer (i.e. her INT modifier is Big (TM) and it grants her more spell slots).

🧿 Hexes. In addition to her spells, Cairos has the ability to learn hexes. These are abilities that tend to either help or hinder others. They are not, however, guaranteed to work. Those with stronger wills or magical resistances may feel unaffected altogether or lessened effects depending on the hex Cairos is implementing. As Cairos develops her magical abilities, her hexes will grow in strength, making them more difficult to resist.

🧿 Patron Spells. Cairos' access to growing and developing magic comes through the guidance of a patron. Unlike others who may call upon a specific deity or magical entity for this guidance, a witch's patron is more akin to a force of nature. For Cairos, her patron is that of vengeance.

🧿 Familiar. As a wizard has a spellbook, witches have their familiars. Without their familiar, a witch is unable to access her spells. Cairos is able to summon a familiar through an 8-hour ritual. New spells are learned through experience, interactions with other familiars, or by creating a paste of a spell scroll and feeding it to the familiar. Cairos' familiar is a vampire ground finch named Chirp. At this point, Chirp is able to understand Cairos and vice versa through an empathic link, meaning that it is merely general emotions. She is not able to see through Chirp's eyes nor can he adopt her senses, but through their connection, Cairos is often more aware of her environment. With more time, Cairos will eventually be able to scry for Chirp when he is not near and communicate with him verbally without others understanding in the absence of magical intervention. Chirp may also develop the ability to communicate with other similarly intelligent animals over time. Lastly, Chirp is currently able to deliver spells to others that require Cairos to touch them in order to cast.

Role: Myth
Role Qualities/Attributes: For Cairos, this role will manifest the more she attempts to use people to further her goals or pursues power above the well-being of others or her relationships with them. It will result in the development of fangs and horns, and her claws will grow to a length that cannot be hidden by gloves any longer. It will also create a feedback loop for itself wherein she is even more focused on her goals to the detriment of others, provoking continued horn growth and enhancing her ability to acquire more spells/magic.
Role Reasoning: Cairos is primarily motivated by protecting herself and furthering her own goals. This means that she tends to view most others as means to an end. To her, if someone cannot serve a purpose or hold their own, she often does not have the time or wherewithal to invest in them or a relationship with them. This focus on her own goals to the negligence of others lends itself ultimately to the behaviors of a Myth. That being said, it is my intention and hope that Cairos will begin to develop genuine relationships with others wherein she has more consideration and concern for their well-being, and perhaps even develops a willingness to sacrifice something on their behalf. Eventually, if she's able to follow this path, Cairos will become a Legend. However, there is ample opportunity for Cairos to struggle with this change and many false starts and stops. It's entirely possible that she may dig herself deeper as a Myth before she can begin making appreciable change.

★ Personality ★

Option 2. Choose FOUR-FIVE of the following questions to answer and expand upon. You may choose a fifth question if you feel it is integral to your character's personality. Each answer has a 100-300 word requirement.

🧿 What is the most important and defining relationship(s) in your character's life and why?
In terms of important relationships, Cairos has honestly two extremes. On one end is her own mother, Granny Mirefang, and on the other is Selene and her mother.

Granny is naturally one of the greatest influences on Cairos and her life not only because she is the only biological parent she has ever known, but because Granny has maintained such tight control over Cairos' life. She is not a particularly affectionate caregiver towards Cairos, offering more criticism and punishment than anything else by way of instilling a sense of discipline within her. And yet even as she's been often so unkind towards Cairos, it cannot be denied that she has also facilitated much of Cairos' education in such a way that her potential has not gone to waste. She has also instilled that independent streak in Cairos that allows her to have such high ambitions for herself, which Granny is quite proud of even if she would never admit it.

And as for Selene and her mother, they were truly the only other constants in Cairos' life, of course. From a pragmatic standpoint, that alone makes her relationships with them of the utmost importance. But unlike Granny who was strict and unrelenting, Cairos was afforded opportunities to be a child, to make mistakes, to be accepted, to have affection whenever she was with them. While she knows better than to admit to such fondness for them, Cairos often feels happiest with them and there are times she does privately wish circumstances could be different. They are the closest things to family beyond her mother that Cairos possesses and she would do anything to keep them safe, which says a great deal given her drive for self-preservation above all else.

🧿 What is your character's moral code? Do they have one? Why or why not?
Cairos would say that she does not because she views such things as often bendable if not outright breakable. But deep down, she does place importance and weight upon debts much as she was taught by her mother to do. While she certainly does not mind that others may owe her a debt, she will do everything she can to avoid creating a debt between herself and others. If a debt is created in which she is indebted to another, Cairos opts to resolve it as quickly as possible. If she is the one that is owed, Cairos is a bit slower to collect on the debt as it seems wiser to wait and find the opportune moment to exploit it for her gain rather than acting too hastily.

Also given her loyalty to herself and her ambition for her independence, that is something that guides her decision-making throughout life. She rails against anything that would cause her to feel not in control of her own destiny and has little patience for those that might attempt to block her from reaching her goals. To that end, if someone stands in her way, she feels minimal conflict about removing them by any means necessary. Most would rightly consider this to be a ruthless way of living her life, but Cairos does not ascribe a judgment upon it. She just sees it as what it takes to survive in the world. Nothing more, nothing less.

🧿 What does your character feel like they struggle with still? Where could they improve? This could be physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise.
Frankly, Cairos' perspective on where and how she needs to grow is very limited. Primarily, she is focused on her magical development. While it cannot be discounted that she feels a particular thrill each time she masters a spell for the first time, Cairos is also still not yet completely satisfied with her current abilities or known spells. She knows that she is going to need a great deal of power to break free of her mother and strike out on her own with any chance of success. Thus, for her, she feels that there is still always more that she could be doing to learn more and apply it with more efficiency and skill.

The reality is, however, that while Cairos' independence is one of her greatest strengths, it is also one of her greatest weaknesses as well. Cairos is someone who takes a very long time to not just warm up to another person, but to trust their input/judgment. This leaves her isolated more often than not, and it's truly that isolation that has allowed her mother to have such control over her as well as simply placed a barrier between Cairos and any semblance of happiness/satisfaction with life.

🧿 Is your character capable of forgiveness or will they hold a grudge until they die? Would anything ever make them change their mind?
Cairos is not entirely incapable of forgiveness, but it is not a very easily given or earned thing from her. Wronging Cairos, after all, is much like creating a debt. Except rather than a debt of mutual beneficence, it is of mutual harm. Therefore, her "forgiveness" is often only earned when she feels that a price has been paid and appropriate vengeance has been delivered. This is only increased by tenfold when the harm is against someone that Cairos cares for, such as Selene.

And yet, even as Cairos appears to release the hurt and anger from whatever harm was inflicted, Cairos inarguably is still not truly forgiving. Whatever trust has been fractured is not often something she is willing to allow attempts to repair/mend. She regards actions from the other party with suspicion and views their attempts at repairs to be most likely an attempt to pull one over her again or otherwise put an end to whatever retribution has been given to them.

★ Player Information ★

Player Name: Crystal
Pronouns: They/She
Are you over 18?: Yes
Contact(s): rebreather or PM
Who Invited You?: N/A, current player
Current Characters: Jaskier
Permissions: Here
Writing Samples: Here