Nyltastra Cilaybrin

ByNyltastra Cilaybrin, known as the "Emissary of Darkness" is a favored soul of The Dark One who operates in northern Therrmordia.

Biography

Nyltastra was born in Thallasus thirty-nine years ago to a silversmith and his wife. She had a comfortable childhood. As an adolescent she became fascinated with theater performers, spending hours watching them and practicing with them. Her parents died when she was sixteen and Nyltastra used her skills to become an extremely successful conwoman.
As a conwoman, Nyltastra worked to play whatever role was required to obtain her goal. she choose her roles by diligent research of her marks, studying what made them tick and what approach would work best. By the time she was in her late twenties she had amassed sizable wealth, and had an alternative personal as a noblewoman that was welcomed by the aristocrats of the capital.
Unfortunately, sometimes cons go wrong, and sometimes you pick the wrong mark. When both of these things combine, there can be serious consequences. Nyltastra attempted to run a con on a mark that she didn't realize, despite her research, was the leader of the local branch of the Garnet Guild. The crime lord figured out what was going on, and sent some enforcers to send Nyltastra a message. This message consisted of several hours of torture culminating in the Guild members cutting out Nyltastra's eyes and dropping her in a gutter to die.

Conversion

Nyltastra was found before she bled to death and brought to the local church. The clerics healed most of her wounds but could do nothing for her missing eyes. On the second day she was at the temple, the leading cleric of The Dark One in Thallasus arrived on the doorstep and asked to speak with Nylastra privately. When they were alone he told her he had received a dream. In the dream he traveled to this temple and found a blind woman. He then asked her to confess the evils of her life and offered her a new life in service to The Dark One. Nylastra said that she wasn't interested in swearing vows or joining a religious order. The cleric replied that the dream did not contain any instructions about vows or orders, simply an offer of a new life in service. Also the dream ended before the woman answered.
Nylastra thought a long time before telling the cleric her story. She spent the next three hours pouring out the details of every con she had committed, every innocent bilked, every person she hurt. When she was done she said she guessed she was ready for something different and would pledge herself to the The Dark One. As she finished speaking all light was blotted from the temple complex and total darkness lay on it for three minutes even though it was noon. After three minutes the darkness receded, remaining only in Nylastra's eye sockets, which were filled with two orbs of complete darkness. She had received the favor of The Dark One.

Service

In the decade since her favoring, Nylastra has moved through several nations working in The Dark One's interest. She has countered necromancers and put down undead where need, and seems to take joy in bringing criminals to justice, but her most valuable use to her deity seems to be in ferreting out and destroying Shadow Cults. These dangerous perversions of The Dark One's worship are becoming much less common in northern Therrmordia in recent years. Harkening back to her conwoman days Nylastra operates with a flair for the dramatic that can seem unnecessarily risky upon initial observation, however, she has also maintained her tendency to research heavily before acting. This insures she is well informed about her targets capabilities. Plus, she knows that doing her job with a little razzle dazzle can achieve goals without resorting to violence, at least outside of cult leadership. To this end she tends to announce herself as the "Emissary of Darkness" when she is ready to start acting.

Powers and Abilities

Nylastra's mundane abilities include her acting and a talent for languages. She has strong research skills and at least passible combat training, though she rarely engages in a fair fight. She frequently wears a blindfold to hid the dark orbs in her eye sockets, which makes people underestimate her, something she is very willing to take advantage of.
As a Favored Soul, Nylastra gained enhanced attributes, as well as a number of specialized supernatural abilities. She is able to comprehend the world around her in much the way people see, to a level of detail fine enough for her to read words written on a page, although she cannot distinguish colors. This sense will work even in total darkness and is independent of the orbs that replaced her eyes, so it is usable even when she wears a blindfold. Nylastra can summon areas of darkness, overpowering all nonmagical light sources. She can also shape this darkness into weapons or create tendrils that she can direct. Nylastra likely has other supernatural abilities but since she prefers to start fights be cloaking the area in darkness, the full extend of her powers are unobserved.
Current Activities Nylastra Cilaybrin's current whereabouts are unknown, but she was last seen in Snassarian.