Personality

Cayenne is solitary, and many facets about her are consequences of that lifestyle. Her voice is raspish, her dialogue usually more on the acidic side than anything resembling ‘friendliness,’ and she’s more likely to level you with a judgmental glare than a smile. Her demeanor is incredibly thorned as the result of a full century of neglect from those who gave her sweet-sounding promises and broke them for one reason or another. Cayenne has no patience for false guile or charm - the louder and more vivacious a stranger, the more she detests them - but underneath her vicious behavior is a weakness for honesty and gentle love. She wants to find someone to be close with, but can’t face another rejection.

Over time, her behavior has become extreme as a result of her inability to reconcile herself. She sets her traps around her chosen domain to lure people in, unable to resist the desire for company, and if she finds them not to her liking, she kills them and uses them to feed her magic-rich garden. It’s worse if she does like those she’s lured, however. With her thorns, she keeps them, never allowing them to leave her like those who abandoned her before. Exceptions to that rule of hers is someone in need of healing, or someone willing to make a trade with her. A solitary lifestyle leaves a lot left to be desired, after all.

Appearance:

Cayenne is very far from pretty. She shuns populated towns or cities unless strictly necessary, and always wears a dark cloak with the hood up. Her skin is a sickly color from her preference of staying in dense woodlands, her hair is dark and incredibly messy under her hood (because honestly, who would she be aiming to please by combing that monstrosity), her mouth is always turned in a scowl - but her eyes are a brilliant light brown that catch attention like coins at the bottom of a well.

She wears black fingerless gloves, never wears shoes (so her feet are incredibly scarred and hardy) and around her ankles are stained red ribbons wrapped a dozen times that she will never explain if asked about.

Her entire body is covered with scars from her healing ability she overused in her younger days. The scar tissue looks well kept, expertly stitched and tended to, though some scars on her torso look like they should have killed her by all accounts. Not that she lets anyone see those.

History

Cayenne's parents? Gone.

One left her shortly after her birth, the second from a Witchfinder attack as Cayenne hid under the floorboards. She got her first scars from that, and for what? He still left her like all the rest.

Cayenne's father-figure who took her in as a child, Riordan? Gone.

Cursed to an eternal slumber that she had no way of breaking, not as young as she was. She acquired a host of wounds that should've killed him, the hero that he was, always rushing into things like an idiot.

Cayenne's first friend, Hestia? Gone.

She said she'd always be her friend, the shallow liar. Taunting her with their shared affection for plants and their uses, Cayenne learned not to let her walls down when Hestia vanished without a word.

Cayenne's first love, Peri? Gone.

That girl was always falling in love with the wrong people, but never spared a glance for dark, bitter Cayenne. Not even when she tried to keep ahold of her with thorned walls.

Cayenne's second obsession, Dierdre? Gone.

A fellow apothecary, lured by the cursed plants Cayenne had planted along the river. Her husband took offense when Cayenne tried to keep her, and their shared grave still haunts her.

Allaine, Rin, Kasienka, Saniago, gone gone gone gone.

She's tired of this twisted dance of characters entering and disappearing from her life for one reason or another, all making the same promise to stay over and over, and it’s left Cayenne morally bankrupt.

If no one will stay, she’ll make them stay.

A Witch's Deal