Cyrus William Black is a fishermen from Port Fallengrove.
- Age
- 32
- Date of Birth
- 30th of Undril
- Gender
- Male
- Eyes
- Murky Blue/Green
- Hair
- Black
- Skin Tone/Pigmentation
- Tan
- Height
- 6’2”
- Weight
- 215lbs
Birth
Cyrus William Black was born on the 30th day of Undril during the peak time of the rainy season in Northern Anadare. The one and only son of William James Black and Ellisandra Black Cyrus was a blessing bestowed on a dark and stormy night in the bay of Port Fallengrove. You see William and Ellisandra tried for many years to have a child but resources in Port Fallengrove were scarce and few and far between. They lived off of only what William could catch and the sea was not as bountiful as it used to be. There were a few times Ellisandra began to grow a child however the stressful environment always took their hope for a family from them. It wasn’t until almost 12 years after they tried to start a family that their prayers were finally answered and Ellisandra give birth to their son Cyrus.
Childhood
Cyrus did not grow up with what most humans of Anadare would call a "normal" childhood. Instead helping out around the house or getting an apprenticeship with the various shops and craftsman around town Cyrus was encouraged by his parents to get an education from Ms. Lilly before joining his father on the seas. By the time he was 10 Cyrus became more than sufficient in Reading, Writing, and basic Arithmetic and had his parent's approval to leave the classroom behind for the open seas with his father.
Cyrus was a natural as fishing and seafaring was in his blood. He would diligently watch his father's every move from the intricate knots he tied to the way he read the winds and always adjusted the sails to the perfect degree. Cyrus studied every little move his father made on that skiff and then as if he had been doing it his whole life he would do the same movements as if he was his father's shadow.
When Cyrus was 14 his father told him he was finally ready to learn how the Black family hunted sharks. Cyrus was nervous but excited to finally get a chance to go from a boy to a man in the eye's of not just his father but himself as well. So at sunset Cyrus and his father took the skiff out deeper than Cyrus had ever been before, nothing lighting their way but the light of full moon atop a clear sky. Eventually William closed the sail and the skiff came to a slow halt. Cyrus looked at his father and knew it was time. He took the rope and tied it around his waste and then to the mast. He grabbed his father's spear and looked up at the moon for a few moments. Cyrus then then looked back at his father one last time before he gritted his teeth and dove in to the cold water's below.
It took Cyrus a moment to adjust to the dim light beneath the water's surface. It was colder than he expected down there, perhaps the result of no sunshine to warm the sea. He could hold his breathe for quite sometime but knew he needed to get moving in order to do this right. He took the head of the spear and made a slit along his palm. Nothing too deep but just enough to get a decent stream of blood out into the water. He then waited for what seemed like hours before he saw something in the distance just far enough away he couldn't make it out clearly. A few more moments passed and then this mysterious figure came into view. No, it couldn't be... Cyrus was sure sharks couldn't grow that big. Maybe it was some kind of whale? That's when it came closer tracking the source of blood that it smelt so clearly. A great white shark far bigger than Cyrus had ever seen. It began to charge toward him at a blinding speed, Cyrus gripped the spear like his life depended on it but kept the tip away from the shark as to not give away his plan. The gap between Cyrus and the shark was closing fast but Cyrus knew in this moment of adrenaline and fear that patient's was his friend. He waited, and waited, and waited... until the great white opened it's massive jaws and reeled back it's black eyes prepared to strike and that's when Cyrus in one swift motion adjusted his body to the side and repositioned the spear to strike the sharks throat on impact. Cyrus had done everything perfectly exactly how he had been told, the spear head began to penetrate the sharks throat but then the shaft began to bend and then with a crack it snapped completely. The top end of the spear came loose from the shark and began to sink into the dark abyss of the sea where the moon light couldn't reach. Cyrus knew without that blade he was a good as fish bait. So he began to swim down as fast as he could doing everything in his power to catch the spear head before it was lost to the darkness beneath. Cyrus finally was able to grasp what was left of the shaft attached to the spear head and that is when he realized he had lost track of the beast. He looked around but saw nothing but open water and darkness. It was at that moment he felt a chill down his spine and looked down only to realize it was too late. The Shark arose from the dark waters below and latched onto Cyrus's leg causing the boy immense pain. In a scream Cyrus let out his what was left of his deep breath. He knew he had to act fast or he was going to die alone in the cold dark waters. He took the spear head and the other end of the shaft with the sharp splintered wood and jammed them into both the sharks eyes as hard as he could. After intense thrashing and squirming the shark fell still and released its grip on Cyrus's leg. He did it, he defeated the beast despite a few set backs. If only he would've been able to make it back up to the surface alive to show his father. Cyrus was out of air, out of time, and almost out of blood. As he was losing consciousness he saw another figure closing in on him from above, another shark must've been attracted by the fight. Cyrus closed his eyes and drifted into black, accepting his fate.
Cyrus awoke the next morning back on his father's skiff with his leg bandaged up and pain pulsing through his body. Greeted by his father as he was tying down the shark that had almost taken his sons life just hours ago. William walked over to Cyrus and knelt down with a smile on his face and roughed up his son's hair. "You scared me there for a second but I knew you could handle it" Cyrus couldn't believe it, he thought for sure he was a goner. He laid there looking up at the clouds in the sky as his father took him back home. Despite the immense pain he was in Cyrus couldn't help but smile.. even though it didn't go as planned he took down a shark all by himself. His childhood was over, and a new adventure was about to begin.
Adulthood
Becoming such a prolific and successful fisherman under his father's guidance filled Cyrus with a sense of confidence and bravado that opened the fisherman to a sense of recklessness and risk. Cyrus would often take his father's skiff out much farther than advised where the waves would swell sometimes 30-40ft high and if it wasn't for the Black's innate ability for expert sailing the skiff would be doomed to capsize and sink. Then Cyrus would free dive deeper than necessary with an open cut at night without any rope to anchor him to the skiff to try and attract multiple sharks as if it was some sort of twisted sport to survive the endeavor.
This brazenness didn't end at the shore line unfortunately as Cyrus sought after thrills elsewhere in the form of gambling which was only fueled by his need to always have a full gourd of rum at his side for "comfort". Cyrus would often bet a weeks worth of compensation on a single game of Fanorona, Morris, or Pirate's Dice. However due to his above average intelligence for most denizens of Port Fallengrove Cyrus often won these games angering the unsavory competition he faced in tavern's or back allies of the town. The person responsible for bailing Cyrus out when he did get into trouble was his one and only friend Jarin Steel. Jarin and Cyrus have been friend's since their days at @Ms. Lilly's makeshift school in the flats. Like Cyrus, Jarin also has a love of the ocean and the freedom the open water brings. They always talked about sailing around the entire world stone of Zadia together someday.
However that dream never became a reality as it was Jarin's younger sister Annabelle that stole Cyrus's heart from the sea and never let it go. Cyrus and Annabelle were always fond of each other but nothing ever went further than longing glances and subtle smiles from across the docks. It wasn't until one night Cyrus dragged Jarin home from yet another bar brawl and was on his way out of the Steel home when Annabelle saw a deep cut on Cyrus's cheek and offered to bandage it for him. This isolated moment was all it took for the two to connect in a way they never had before. After Annabelle cleaned Cyrus up the two took the Black family skiff out for a late night sail. It was out on the waters under the moonlight that a great love was born.
Unfortunately the happiest time in Cyrus's life came to a deafening halt the winter before his 22nd birthday. Due to the challenges his parent's faced in creating their family they were far older than Cyrus by almost four decades. This winter was particularly harsh and there wasn't enough food in the Black family house even with Cyrus secretly going without for over a week. His father William and mother Ellisandra did not make it to the rainy season. Something in Cyrus changed after the death of his parents. He emerged from that harsh winter a far more serious and somber man.
The only times Cyrus smiled after his parent's deaths was when he was out on the ocean or in the presence of his beloved Annabelle. It was the summer after the loss of his parents that Cyrus married the love of his life and officially made her Annabelle Black. It was less than a year later Cyrus found out he was going to be a father. After he and Annabelle knew they were going to be parents they worked tirelessly to fix up the Black family home and Cyrus even surprised Annabelle with her very own forge in the back. As the months went by and the birth of their first child drew near the two traversed the entire coastline of Anadare in the Black family Skiff.
Fatherhood
Cyrus and Annabelle were about 2 weeks away from retuning to Port Fallengrove when the baby decided to arrive early right there on the skiff. Elijah Cyrus Black was born on the 21st of Rasarius under a clear nights sky and warm summers breeze. Cyrus couldn't have been any happier to have a son of his own to teach and protect like his father had done for him. He could already picture the two working as a team fishing everyday, showing his son all the various knots one must know out on the seas and even preparing Elijah for the shark hunt.
Times were hard and it seemed like every year there was half as many fish in the water as the year before. The trees along the coast stopped bearing fruit and the lands no longer supported the growth of crops. Fishing became the last hope for Port Fallengrove. What little Cyrus did catch was now taken by the authorities and distributed "evenly" among the populace.
Cyrus's fears became all to real when both Annabelle and a 2 year old Elijah became ill during the winter. Cyrus did everything in his earthly power that he could to keep his wife and son warm, full, and healthy but there is only so much a mortal man can do. It was 3 days after the fourth anniversary of his parent's deaths that Annabelle and Cyrus lost their one and only son. Two days later Annabelle also perished, after Elijah passed she lost her will to live and a combination of the hunger and illness overtook her.
Cyrus Black had lost everything he ever loved.
The Deal
Cyrus not able to bear the pain and heartache in this prison of misery that his life had become needed a way out. He took his skiff as far out as he could traversing the frozen water's that were covered in ice. He took some rope and tied it to a sack of very heavy rocks weighing almost 3 times his own weight, he then tied the other end around his ankles. Cyrus picked up the sack, looked up to the sky one last time and then let out a final sigh of relief. It was so cold the last thing he saw in the air was his breath as he plunged into the frozen waters sinking at an alarming speed to the bottom.
He was only about 100 meters down when he lost consciousness and let go of the sack of stones. Shortly after the sack reached the bottom of the ocean and Cyrus wasn't far behind suspended in the infinite, frozen, black abyss. It was here he heard the voice for the very first time. It started as a soft whisper... then grew until it was so loud the deafening boom of the voice woke Cyrus from his frozen sleep at the bottom of the ocean. "Your story does not have to be over yet my champion, I can bring them back... I can bring you all back." Cyrus was confused and did not know if this voice was real or just a dying mans final hallucinations. "All you must do is promise me your eternal surrender to my will and I will return your wife and son to you." Cyrus had nothing nothing to lose and so he agreed to the deal that had been laid out before him. "You must say it!" hissed the ominous voice. So as the icy waters filled Cyrus's lugs he uttered 3 final words before he lost consciousness that would change the course of his very reality. "I... am... yours...".
A Bad Dream
Cyrus awoke washed up on the shore near the docks of Port Fallengrove. He laid there on his back looking up at the sky confused and in disbelief at what had just transpired. It was there he heard a familiar voice as Jarin called out to him "There you are asshole I have been looking everywhere for you. Annabelle has been worried sick she said you didn't come home last night." Even more confused now Cyrus was about to object and explain how that couldn't be possible but then he stopped. Perhaps it is possible perhaps he had simply dozed off on the shore and dreamt that whole nightmare. He took off running for home at a rapid pace throwing the front door open and seeing his wife and son alive and well around the dinner table. "Cyrus William Black where in the hell have you been." Annabelle shouted out. Without even answer Cyrus ran to his wife embracing her in a shroud of unfathomable joy. He apologized to his wife and explained to her he must've been exhausted from the long hours of work lately and dozed off on the shore. Cyrus and his family enjoyed a modest supper that evening and as he laid in bed that night next to his wife he told himself that the voice didn't exist and all he had was a bad dream...
Appearance
Physical Description
From a lifetime of physical labor fishing on the harsh waters near Port Fallengrove Cyrus has become very fit and strong.
Body Features
Tall muscular body with tan skin
Facial Features
Square jaw hidden behind a thick black beard as well as a scar through his left eyebrow.
Mentality
Education
Cyrus has no formal education, he grew up learning the trade of fishing and sailing from his father.
Employment
Self employed as a fishermen for the city of Port Fallengrove.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Youngest Black to ever catch a great white shark.
Mental Trauma
Depressed by the loss of his wife and child. Possible delusions of a voice from the deep.
Known Languages
Having to deal with a variety of people in the the trade of fishing and sailing Cyrus has become fluent in Common, Elven, Draconic, and Giant.
Personality
Motivation
Every decision Cyrus makes is motivated by his mission to get his family back.
Vices & Personality flaws
At the mercy of the voice from the deep
The major events and journals in Cyrus's history, from the beginning to today.
The list of amazing people following the adventures of Cyrus.



Social
Birthplace
Port Fallengrove
Current Residence
Port Fallengrove