Cyprinus

Cyprinus is a very passionate soul. She’s the kind of person who takes something she loves and runs with it until she runs out of juice. And it takes a lot for her to run out of juice. She’s got a lot of energy and zest for life that spills out in her multitude of passion projects. Cyprinus gets things done too - she finishes everything.

The saying “curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back” absolutely applies to Cyprinus. She’s the kind of person who gets into trouble just to find out the answer to a question. She’ll even chase a sea monster into the deep just to find out what it eats. And sure, Cyprinus has almost died multiple times. That doesn’t matter to her, though.

Cyprinus is also extremely anti-authority. She is a firm believer in the inherent goodness of people, but also the inherent corruption of power. This is a viewpoint that she can and will defend with the fury of a thousand suns. If she knew how, she’d overthrow the government itself. She’s not powerful enough by herself, and she’s not great at people.

After all, Cyprinus is rather socially awkward. She’s good enough in professional settings that she gets things done, but beyond that she tends to fumble around with feelings and people. She has good intentions, promise! However, Cyprinus tends to drop the ball with people’s emotions. She never quite figured out how other people’s emotions work.

Overwhelmingly, though, Cyprinus does want to do the right thing. She’s a sensitive soul who wants to make sure people are doing okay. The weight of the world hangs heavy on her shoulders, and she wants to do what it takes to make it better. It hurts her when people are hurting.

Cyprinus was born and raised in the Outlands. Her family was one of the early families to settle the Outlands, so they’ve been living off the land for ages. Cyprinus took to that life easily - she was quite the capable hunter and was always kind to the creatures she killed. Her family needed to eat after all.

She was always fascinated by the sea. Her parents tried to warn her away many times, but she always, always snuck back. It was almost like it was calling to her. Eventually, her parents agreed to let her pursue a career in marine biology.

However, this was a rather sheltered lifestyle. Cyprinus had no idea about the true state of the world until she moved to The City for school. It shocked and horrified her just how much the government was ruining lives. So, she started finding protests and rallies to participate in while she finished her schooling.

It was at one of these where Cyprinus met Styx, the person who’d eventually become the love of her life. Xe was the lead singer of au upcoming punk band who were singing at one of the rallies to inspire people. To her surprise, Cyprinus found herself loving xer music, especially Styx’s voice. Styx’s voice was magical and filled her with fire and determination.

After the rally, as everyone was packing up, Styx came up to her. Apparently, she’d caught xer eye too - she was one of the speakers, and xe was impressed by her passion. Xe wanted to have lunch with her and get to know her better. That lunch didn’t spark romance right away. But it did start a long and enduring friendship that after some years would turn into love.

Cyprinus graduated in record time and began her periodic expeditions into the seas. Her passion inspired other scientists to great heights and soon they were making discoveries they didn’t even know were possible.

When Cyprinus was landside, she and Styx slowly fell in love until one day they decided to get married. It was a small affair - only her immediate family, her cousins and Styx’s bandmates were actually there. Cyprinus figured they didn’t need the drama of more people than that.

The expedition she’d go on after her wedding would prove to change her life around. There was an unexpected storm, which was both a blessing and a curse. Everything was in chaos, and it was all she and her fellows could do to keep everything secured. However, she caught a glimpse of a peculiar sea monster, one that reminded her of the rumors surrounding “The President’s Monster” (though different).

She’d spent much of the next few years in search of the monster. It plagued her dreams, her nightmares, her daydreams, everything. Finally, she made contact - the “monster” was a vetehi named Racsaue, a disenfranchised prince who had an unfortunate habit of eating people. They tried to eat her, multiple times, but she eventually wore her way into a friendship.

It was lucky they didn’t try to eat her - she happened to be pregnant with her daughter Ryukin at the time. Ryukin was an unexpected baby who was nevertheless adored by both her presents. Cyprinus would take her and Styx to the seas and they’d go on small adventures together. Cyprinus could tell that Styx was half-hoping and half-terrified to meet the “monster” Cyprinus had gone on about for so long.

And xe did. Styx and Cyprinus were having a discussion about what to do for 10 ten year old Ryukin’s future when she fell in. The boat was moving too fast for them to be able to catch her immediately and everyone was freaking out.

Then out of nowhere, what seemed like a serpent’s tail set Ryukin carefully down on the deck of the boat. A few moments later, Racsaue’s face popped up out of the water. “I believe this is yours,” they said dryly.

From that day on, the two main pieces of Cyprinus’ life were carefully interconnected (and she got the assurance that Racsaue wouldn’t eat her family).