Mithzes Moonstar

Sacrificial lamb of Selûne.

Wary yet desperate to trust, distant yet devoted, polite yet petty, Mithzes is a woman of many contradictions. One thing remains steadfast, however: there is a deep-rooted paranoia and fear of emotional intimacy present in her, eclipsed by a dubiously coquettish mask.

“Heed these words, my dearest lamb: you'll only have yourself in the end.”

Life hasn't been kind to her, and so she developed skills for survival early on. Her demeanor around strangers can only be described as a honeypot. She'll play the part of the helpless, endearingly flirtatious maiden if it means her next meal is free. Appearances are everything. A well-timed bat of the eyelashes can get you most things in a tavern, and Mithzes knows this well. Her prey tend to make themselves known the moment they catch sight of her. Small dogs bark the loudest after all.

Most aren't kept around long enough to see its truer self begin to shine through. For starters, its demure façade isn't entirely false; its mannerisms tend to be dainty and delicate, and it does truly struggle to open most containers (unless they're locked. It’s embarrassingly eager to show off its lock-picking abilities). It's also incredibly skittish, like it’s preparing to dash away at the first sign of danger. A hint towards its more frightened inner self. Despite this, it does believe it is Selûne’s gift to mortals, and enters each room as such.

Hy is surprisingly nonchalant about the activities of hys close companions. Hy will fraternize with criminals, thugs, frauds, the works, as long as they respect hym and pass hys personal judgement. Once someone wins hys trust, hy is entirely devoted to them and their cause.
Hys life up until this point has been one of uncertainty, hys days doubtful, in fear of the future. Hy clings to hys faith as a way to survive. After all, Selûne surely has a plan for hym. Mithzes refuses to think about what hy’ll do if she doesn’t.

Early Life

Growing up, Nynette did not want for any material thing, however its emotional needs were far from met. It spent its days in a single room with a single window, mainly interacting with servants, and on the rare occasion they weren’t busy, its parents. Because it was born into a family of extremely devout Selûne worshippers, it was raised on her ideals, sowing the seed for its fixation on the goddess later in life. It was not taught anything about its tiefling heritage as nobody around it had the knowledge to share. However, it came to find it knew how to speak in a tongue that frightened the servants and its parents alike. It would later find out this was Infernal, the language of devils, and it somehow knew how to speak it on instinct. It wouldn’t use it until adulthood though, of course, as it didn’t want those around it to be more frightened of it than they already were.

Aside from the servants and her parents, there was another entity that paid her the occasional visit: Lady Alathene Moonstar, her ancestor turned archlich in her obsession with defeating her twin brother, Vanrak Moonstar, who had turned to worshipping Shar. In her immortality, Alathene took on the task of keeping things the family did not want public under wraps, especially after she had completed her goal. Nynette fell under that list of things. Alathene had a small soft spot for the young tiefling despite everything, however she would not voice this to anyone. Nynette found the archlich fascinating, and her sparse visits became a highlight in her otherwise bleak life.

Nynette’s existence was not as well-kept of a secret as its parents would have liked, however. Servants talk, and word of a tiefling daughter soon reached extended family’s ears. Some were superstitious, believing that their family was cursed by Shar from the feud spanning centuries, and its existence was simply proof of that. Some went further than idle gossip and worries expressed amongst themselves. Some obsessed over it to the point where they believed that the only way to relieve their bloodline of this curse was to sacrifice the tiefling to Shar in a desperate attempt to appease her. They arranged a kidnapping of Nynette on its 10th birthday, Moonfest, while the majority of people were out enjoying the festivities. Thankfully, the people hired for the task did not get very far under Alathene’s watchful eye. While no harm befell it that night, this event reinforced a deep seated fear of the world already instilled in Nynette by the people around it, as well as the budding notion that it could be considered a burden on its family.

That budding notion soon bloomed and withered any chance for her to thrive in her current environment. As she grew older her caretakers visited less, spent less time with her. She was approaching adulthood when she steeled herself for her first real act of rebellion. She packed some essential belongings in secret, along with a few precious items she hoped to sell for gold to keep her going until she figured everything out. Her plan was not calculated by any means, but she had to leave, she had to get out. She didn’t want to be an unwanted secret anymore.

She fled on her 18th birthday, again, during festivities, when she was most alone in the world.

Wanderer

Nynette became Mithzes very soon after its escape. No one would recognise it by its birth name, but it didn’t want to leave a trail regardless. It chose Mithzes to honour the part of it that it tried so hard to suppress its entire life. Moonstar was dropped completely, of course. It was simply Mithzes.

She was naturally terrified at first. She had been fed stories of how nasty and cruel the outside world was. She would come to find it could be unbelievably awful, but it could be wonderful as well. Her aimless wandering allowed her to see so many beautiful sights, observe others and take in so much culture she could have gone her whole life without witnessing. She was a chaotic blend of naive and cautious to the point of paranoia, wanting to trust others so badly but overanalysing their every move and fearing for her life instead. This lead her to be quite flighty, never staying in one place for too long, never getting attached to others. She found herself developing a fear of companionship. It was difficult to pinpoint exactly what exactly she was afraid of, but when she found herself growing fond of people, she fled.

One peculiar way it procures resources for itself is through beguiling vulnerable men in taverns who deserved to be taken down a peg. It would keep an eye out for the ones who were desperate enough to harass the women serving them, take a seat beside them, push its chest out a little, and simply smile and nods at whatever they say. It refuses to go further than simply chatting with them, although it admires anyone who has the resolve to go that far. If it plays its cards right it can get a free meal or drink, or if its extra lucky, some pocket change. If they aren’t coughing anything up by the hour, it takes its leave. It carries a knife for if they get handsy, especially after an encounter that lead to the scar on its lip. That was also the first time someone was slain by her hand. It was not an enjoyable experience. Its methods are very hit or miss, some men see a tiefling approaching and jeer, but at the very least it provides a distraction from the poor serving girls.

During her travels, she had a chance encounter with a lesser angel on the brink of death. Although she was stunned she immediately rushed to their side to see if she could help them in any way. Through shaky breath, they suggested a symbiotic pact of sorts. They attach themself to her to heal overtime, she gains some of their power in return. The power of a lesser angel was extremely appealing to Mithzes, especially as she was traveling alone. A part of her knew she would appreciate the company as well. She accepted and they bonded. It left her notably fatigued for the first while, but after a few months it was like they were barely there. They didn’t communicate much, but their most substantial exchanges occurred in Mithzes’s dreams. Rarely would the angel speak directly into her mind while she was awake.