Cindia Tharn

The youngest child of Grand Chancellor Abnur Tharn and his seventh wife, Pulasia, Cindia made her mark on the family quickly. She looked very different from her immediate family, with blonde hair and green eyes against the typical auburn-brown hair and blue - for a while, she was suspected to have not been Abnur's child at all, though it was simply a vicious rumor based on nothing more than her appearance. As she grew, it became clearer and clearer - if anything, she was more like her father than her older siblings, and she seemed to prefer him to her mother, which Pulasia never minded. Cindia always had a fondness for dogs - since she was young, she helped raise Wolfhounds imported from Skyrim.

She wasn't even ten when she lost her eye. Cindia was out riding when her pony was attacked by wolves and, the naive, innocent child she was, she tried to get them away - it only ended with her being attacked by one, though she managed to kill it with her father's dagger before she passed out from her injuries. She was found by the future Emperor Leovic, who brought her back to the Imperial City where she was cared for. After losing her eye, she became more withdrawn - noble children were not kind, and she went as far as to practically turn a stick into a sword and whack one boy several times before she was stopped by her father. This started her swordfighting training with the Argonian Shadowscale Walks-Through-Flames as a way to direct her frustration toward something more productive.

Her mother passed away when she was ten, and she put more of her emotions into combat, trying to deal with the loss in the only way she felt she could. After all, as time went on, her magical studies went... no where. In fact, it seemed Cindia wasn't even capable of using magic, not even in the form of scrolls or staves. It was as if her very being was a vacuum toward magicka. Instead, she focused on physical combat and politics, sucking in everything she could. After all, her sister was now destined to be Empress-Consort beside Emperor Leovic - a marriage that went through when Cindia was twelve. She underwent some of her studies with the young Calvatto Livius, son of an Imperial general. The two were always close - Calvatto being one of Cindia's few friends.

Cindia failed to enter the Imperial Legion twice, once at 16 and once at 18. Both times were for similar reasons - she was headstrong and didn't like listening to orders she thought were too conservative; she was often considered a risk taker, which didn't do well when mixed with the Legion. After her second denial, her father once more turned her back toward Imperial politics, though she didn't seem to have much patience for it. The truth, though, was that she felt worthless compared to her siblings. Her sister was Empress-Consort, and her brother was rising in the ranks of the Legion faster than most. However, she was able to sit in on less confidential meetings of the Elder Council, and much of her life had already been spent learning how to survive Nibenese politics - "Never show your hand," as her father often said.

When Varen's Rebellion began, Cindia was sent to an Aquilarios estate to keep her out of the conflict - mostly because Abnur was sure she'd try and throw herself into the war if she knew what was happening. However, near the end of the rebellion, Cindia finally caught wind of it all and rushed back to the Imperial City, arriving right after Varen Aquilarios killed Emperor Leovic. While she and Varen got along well, Cindia felt lied to by everyone involved, pushed away from the battle because she would've wanted to help. Her sister married Varen soon after he was crowned Emperor, and Cindia returned to her usual routine - but it wouldn't last long.

It wasn't long after Varen's crowning that he and his so-called "Five Companions" went off to search for the Amulet of Kings. Cindia was not close with any of the others - especially not her own father - but one of them, Mannimarco, made her anxious, though she could never explain why. She was in charge of the Nibenay estates while they were all gone, with her brother, Zohnir, busy with his work in the Legion, and Clivia taking the role of Empress-Regent while her husband was gone. When they returned, it didn't seem like much would change beyond whatever it was Varen wished to accomplish.

Cindia couldn't have been further from the truth. When the world shook and magicka rushed through Cyrodiil, she knew something had gone wrong. Her father came back to inform Cindia and Clivia that Varen was dead, and it soon became clear who had orchestrated it all; Mannimarco came in to speak with Abnur alone. Cindia, however, listened in, horrified when Mannimarco showed his true motives to help Molag Bal's plans for Tamriel - and Cindia's father showed his weakness, in her eyes, as he pledged the Tharns' loyalty to Mannimarco.

Cindia ran, stealing Varen's mount, a black Destrier named Alias, as she escaped the Imperial City, bypassing Nibenay and making her way toward Skyrim. Two Worms died in her wake, but she escaped.

She had made it to Ivarstead several days into her flight, planning to spend the night in the warm tavern instead of amongst the cold again, when Calvatto found her. What should've been a quiet, happy reunion quickly turned sour as Calvatto spoke of his sisters and mother, how Mannimarco held their safety over his head. He was going to drag Cindia back to Cyrodiil. In the ensuing struggle, Cindia accidentally killed him, leaving her to run from Ivarstead - and starting one of the darkest moments of her life.

Cindia survived off of whatever she could find, stealing clothes from dead travelers and eating whatever she could get her hands on. She was sick more often than not, but she endured - perhaps it was pure spite to survive. It was during one of her bouts of sickness and exhaustion that a raven crashed into her camp, having succumb to wounds from a hawk. The bird was strange from the start, and Cindia felt... odd around it.

And then, somehow, she brought it back to life.

As it turned out, Cindia Tharn was capable of magic - of necromancy, an odd innate talent that she had never properly used until now. Despite her attempt to kill the Raven once more, it flew off, leaving Cindia to consider what she had just done. And, with the Worms still searching for her, it didn't take long for her to turn her necromancy against them, fighting fire with fire, as it were.

Cindia made her way to the Gold Coast, an area she knew but where she herself was relatively unknown. The few who did know of her seemed to keep quiet - the Pirate Queen, who Cindia had once been somewhat akin to friends with when they were teens, had seen her, and yet did not speak. Within Anvil, though, another waited for her: Amelie Crowe, who seemed to just know that Cindia, at the very least, was capable of killing. She herself was, after all - she was waiting for the Dark Brotherhood to notice her, and spoke of such to Cindia herself. Despite her misgivings, Cindia didn't turn Amelie in right then and there - after all, making a scene was a perfect way for the Worms to find her. And with the Tharns being spoken of more and more in curses and hushed whispers, perhaps the rest of Tamriel would start to see her as a monster by association.

However, Cindia was brought to kill again when her lack of money, torn clothes, and hungry stomach got to her. Every time she took a life, it weighed heavily on her, but she had convinced herself this was the only way she could survive. She wanted to survive. However, that single kill in Anvil had been enough.

Speaker Terenus of the Dark Brotherhood called for her the next day. He fed her and spoke of the Brotherhood, and the moment Cindia spoke of not being a murderer, he turned her crimes against her - what did she call what she did, if not murder? Was it justice? Did the Argonian she killed the night before deserve to die?

And so, Cindia found herself in the Brotherhood, rising through the ranks through blood and her capabilities with necromancy. Not even the Black Dragon could tear her down when the followers of Akatosh in Kvatch began to threaten the Brotherhood, and the death of the Black Dragon at Cindia's hands felt like a final death knell for the woman who had run from the Imperial City years ago. She was something else now, despite how her sins strangled her soul.

Until Stros M'Kai, at least.

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