Soteria

So-Freakin-Teria Bitch

Intro
Soteria is a CG aasimar with a blend of both Celestial and Eldritch blood in her veins. While she glows with the light of the stars, she fights with the power of shadows, and seems determined to simultaneously save those around her while tearing the heavens down. Her unique circumstances make her a mystery to others, but most are too intimidated to seek far for answers.

(It's the arms. She has no arms, and people don't know how to react to that. Handshakes are a simple pleasure in Soteria's life, if only to freak people out.)

Appearance
Soteria's facial features are usually half-hidden beneath her short hair. She has 16 eyes total-- six on her face (one on the right side and five on the left), and ten on her wings. While her eyes are unnerving enough on their own, her long feathery ears and incredibly sharp teeth give an additional “inhuman” look to her that puts most people on edge. Her fangs are often visible when she talks, giving many of her expressions a “feral” appearance.

She has six wings- a large pair on her upper back with a slightly smaller pair below them, and a pair of tiny wings on her neck. She has a long tail that ends in a bunch of feathers, and most of her skin is lightly feathered as well. The patterns on her skin swirl in a mesmerizing pattern not unlike stars or paint, and the golden patterns on her body glimmer in the light.

Her wings are too small for flying, but they give her some lift and elegance to her movements. They are usually at least halfway unfurled, as it is uncomfortable for her to tuck them tightly against her body. The backs of her wings are a deep royal blue while the insides are a lighter blue that fade to golden tips.

Her hands look almost like gloves made of porcelain, with long, golden claws instead of fingers. They both have a small magic circle of runes tattooed on the palms. Her legs are long and slender, ending in golden claws similar to her hands, albeit somewhat smaller.

Soteria, while tall, barely weighs anything due to her celestial blood. She walks with an almost floating grace, and can easily run or jump for long periods of time. Her celestial blood also causes her voice to sound somewhat melodic at all times, and when injured she bleeds golden ichor. Additionally, she also has a halo and a crystal “core” visible on her chest. Both constantly glow, and the halo cannot be hidden by anything short of a disguise self spell (i.e., hats and hoods do nothing). The halo is barely visible in daylight, especially when not casting magic, though it is harder to hide indoors and much harder to hide at night.

While her magic is largely shadow-based, both her halo and her core flare with light when she uses magic or experiences high states of emotion, her halo sometimes even changing shape with her agitation. At times, if the magic she’s casting is strong enough, her eyes will glow as well. The eyes on her wings stay shut unless she’s casting magic or intentionally opens them, in which case she’ll flare her wings. Other times, depending on the magic cast, it can appear as if Soteria has physically cloaked herself in a tangible shadow. In this state, her glowing eyes, halo, and core become her only visible features, and the rest of her body seems to almost drip liquid shadows from a void silhouette. The shadows that fall are less like Henj'xe's “goo” shadows and more like liquid smoke, similar to fog from dry ice.Due to her feathered nature, Soteria does not prefer to wear clothes (similar to Mystique from X-Men) beyond a cloak of some sorts, although she always keeps a disguise kit on her person and will bundle up if needed to hide her identity. She does not feel uncomfortable in her true body unless she feels unsafe - usually around strangers with unknown intentions or in a new place - in which case she will opt to disguise herself as thoroughly as possible rather than reveal herself.

Personality
Soteria is a damaged soul fighting for a better life, and helping others to do the same. She has a will of absolute iron, and has made it obvious that she'll go to extreme lengths to make sure no one will endure unjust and inhumane hardships. She has a hard time trusting others, and an even harder time opening up, constantly suspicious of good intentions. While her trust comes slow, her loyalty is nigh unbreakable, and she will sacrifice anything- even herself- for her family. She is calm and calculating in battle, reliable in chaos inside and out, and when she takes things seriously there's not a being in existence that can doubt her resolve.

Everywhere she travels, Soteria looks for ways to help others who seem like they need it. Even if she doesn't trust others, she still wants to help them; she just won't allow herself to get hurt in the process. She's developed a sharp sense for picking up when things are wrong, and fights with teeth bared and a righteous anger against injustice and wrongdoing. While she always tries to do the right thing, sometimes the lengths she goes to can be harmful, especially to herself.

While not considering herself to be the "party leader", Soteria tends to take the lead in unfamiliar situations for the sake of her group, many of whom (in Soteria's opinion) have no idea what the "real" world is like. She doesn't have much experience in travelling, but she knows more than an amnestic bird and a minotaur who grew up on the sea floor, and her protective nature drives her to pave the way to keep her friends safe. Their naivety sometimes frustrates her, causing her distress born from fear for their (and her) safety.

Some of her favorite things include coastal lands, cool nights with a faint breeze, and various sweets and pastries (which she often keeps a stash of on her person).

She has severe phobias of being restrained and permanent loss of her freedom and/or sanity.

Skills
With a sharp eye and quick mind, Soteria is an incredible investigator, finding and solving mysteries and problems before most people realize there were any to begin with. She has a gut instinct that is rarely wrong, and can either draw the truth out through observation or some mild intimidation questioning. It can be hard to lie with sixteen otherworldly eyes staring at you with the intensity of a burning furnace, after all.

She also has a penchant for climbing trees (and buildings) to sleep in high areas, much to the amusement of her party. She mostly does this to get some space.

Background
Soteria hasn't mentioned much about who she was before meeting the party. When asked months ago, she curtly said that she was a refugee from Thenshath and had no intention of ever going back. No one has pressed for more information since then.

In a fight with Cycil in Pliche, Soteria mentioned that he would be surprised how long someone could survive "in conditions like that," in reference to a vision he had. In the vision, Cycil's boyfriend Zearod was chained in a dark room being tortured horrendously, almost to the brink of death. Soteria seemed to recognize the specific location Cycil described, and refuses to share further details with him.

Allie
Allie and Soteria are close friends, each valuing the other. Soteria considers herself closest to Allie out of all members of her party, and lets her guard down the most around her, actively keeping a close eye out for her. While she'd jump in to save any member of her party who might be in danger, she would leap to Allie's defense first, and seeks out her company the most often during travels and down time.

Cycil
Soteria considers Cycil a friend, but recent events have hurt her and made her somewhat wary around him. He broke her trust by stealing from her, and she's unsure if he'll do it again. While she unconsciously wants to trust him again, her instincts are getting in the way. Prior to this she had been quite fond of him and considered him her other close friend.

Mardax
Soteria and Mardax aren't close, but she still considers him a friend and ally. She thinks he's a bit dimwitted at times, but reliable, and she recognizes that he does his best (even if he isn't tactful about it). He's grown on her over time, and likely will keep doing so.

Nyx
Nyx is the most recent member of the party, and as such Soteria doesn't trust her. Her "convenient" amnesia makes it hard to tell what her motives are; if she's acting of her own volition or under instruction from someone else. While Soteria believes her emotions are genuine, it's very hard to tell what her goals are, or what unseen danger may follow her. Soteria invited her to join the party more to keep an eye on her than anything else-- keep your friends close and enemies closer, as they say.

Quests

 * Escape Thenshath
 * Years ago, Soteria fled Thenshath as a refugee. She still actively avoids the country and any mentions of it.
 * Dr. Weiss
 * Soteria has been in pursuit of letters penned by a "Dr. Weiss" for quite some time, before she even met the party. These letters hold precious information about the nature of Eldritch deities. Initially she sought them out to free herself from Henj'xe's "pact", but now she's looking for them out of habit more than anything else, hoping the author of these letters can help her fight Tenris instead (or at least help her develop a better grip on her own Eldritch abilities).
 * Freeing Henj'xe
 * Henj'xe has been bound by Tenris' power-- his memory is blocked and domain is limited. Soteria seeks a way to free him, and ultimately take down Tenris.

Attuned / Equipped Items

 * Hands of Holding
 * The tattoos on Soteria's palms have an interior space considerably larger than their outside dimensions, able to absorb items roughly 5 ft. by 5 ft. The tattoos can hold up to 500 lbs., not exceeding a volume of 64 cubic feet. The tattoos have no weight, regardless of their contents. Retrieving an item from the tattoos requires an action.
 * If the tattoos are overloaded, pierced, or torn, the enchantment on them is destroyed, and their contents are scattered in the Astral Plane. If Soteria is willing, she can cause the tattoos contents to spill forth, unharmed. Breathing creatures inside the tattoos can survive up to a number of minutes equal to 10 divided by the number of creatures (minimum 1 minute) after which time they begin to suffocate.
 * Attempting to activate the tattoos inside an extradimensional space such as a bag of holding, handy haversack, portable hole, or similar item instantly destroys both items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane, inflicting 10d6 Force damage upon Soteria. The gate originates where the tattoos were activated inside the extradimensional space. Any creature within 10 ft. of the gate is sucked through it to a random location on the Astral Plane. The gate then closes. The gate is one-way only and can't be reopened.


 * Cloak of Displacement
 * While you wear this cloak, it projects an Illusion that makes you appear to be standing in a place near your actual location, causing any creature to have disadvantage on Attack Rolls against you. If you take damage, the property ceases to function until the start of your next turn. This property is suppressed while you are Incapacitated, Restrained, or otherwise unable to move.


 * *Suit of Henj'xeSuit of Henj'xe.png
 * A special suit that Soteria acquired through her interactions with Henj'xe. It provides a base 12 AC in daylight, and 13 AC at nighttime.


 * Amulet of CON+1
 * Amulet of Nox's Successor
 * Tail ring of CON+2

Other Items

 * Amulet of Selune
 * Book of Eldritch Gods
 * Book to Henj'xe's Realm (Employee Handbook)
 * Book of Self-Care (for many humanoid species)
 * Book of Warlock Arts
 * Small Corn Crystal plant, purple in color
 * Cxdras' Calling Card (voicemail)
 * Disguise Kit
 * Documents of Identity for the Courier crew (Jace Krillback's is missing)
 * Feathers from Dr. Weiss (x2)
 * Letters from Dr. Weiss (x3)
 * Maps of charted courses (from the Courier)
 * Map of Tribidor, Pliche is filled out
 * Medusa magnifying glass (unidentified)
 * Thieves Tools
 * Wooden feather (from Allie)

Consumables

 * x2 bear claw pastries
 * x1 bagel

Healing Hands
As an action, you can touch a creature and cause it to regain a number of hit points equal to your level. Once you use this trait, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.

Light Bearer
You know the Light cantrip.

Radiant Consumption
Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing a searing light to radiate from you, pour out of your eyes and mouth, and threaten to char you.


 * Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, you shed bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet, and at the end of each of your turns, you and each creature within 10 feet of you take radiant damage equal to half your level (rounded up). In addition, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra radiant damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra radiant damage equals your level.
 * Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

City Secrets
You know the secret patterns and flow to cities and can find passages through the urban sprawl that others would miss. When you are not in combat, you (and companions you lead) can travel between any two locations in the city twice as fast as your speed would normally allow.

Awakened Mind
Your Celestial knowledge gives you the ability to touch the minds of other creatures. You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don't need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.

Mask of Many Faces
You can cast Disguise Self at will.

One with Shadows
When you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you can use your action to become invisible until you move or take an action or a reaction.

Trivia

 * Soteria's design was inspired by a mix of Van Goh's Starry Night, biblical descriptions of seraphim, Bayonetta angels, and Rayman.
 * Henj'xe loves the suit. Soteria does not. Soteria hates the suit. She has not told him yet. It is unknown if she ever will.
 * Soteria does not share her pastries with the party, ever. Unless they are stale.
 * Soteria's hands have extensive limits on what they can (and cannot) do due to her lack of arms. All of these limits were decided in the moment by Ray when the rest of the party grilled her about her decision to not have arms.
 * Soteria's hands cannot get farther away from her than an average “arm” would allow, although they can go in any direction. (The distance her hands can go is determined situationally and within reason by the DM and Ray.)
 * Objects, including people, can pass between her body and hands just fine, although when this happens Soteria experiences a strong tingling not unlike static. Other people also feel this static if they pass between her hands and body, and find it VERY unnerving.
 * Her hands (in theory) could be ripped off by a force strong enough, just like any other limb. It would be just as painful for Soteria as having a hand ripped off would be for anyone else.
 * Soteria cannot use her hands through a solid object (such as a chest or a wall). If the hands were to be locked in a chest but not taken too far away, she would not lose connection with them, although it would cause a great deal of pain (especially the farther away they were). If not separated for a long period of time, the connection between hand and body could be restored, but it would be conditional upon the situation and how extreme the disconnect was (distance, force, etc.)
 * Soteria can still hang from and climb with her hands. (Don't ask how- it just works.)