Drisella DiAmonicia's page

Sarlucius DiAmonicia's voice was like a hammer the way it was wielded. Drisella never forgot the sting of his tone, or the sting of his hand. Within the dark, damp confines of a solitary confinement cell, she has these memories to cling to. It isn't the darkness of the lightless cell that bothers her, but the isolation. Being alone is tantamount to being dead, and humans are such social creatures; even miserable ones like Drisella.

"Do you understand me!?"

Drisella never felt Sarlucius' hand in violence after that day, years ago, but violence to a child that young leaves deep, unforgiving scars. It was not the first time she had felt his hand strike her, but it was the last. Sarlucius DiAmonicia wasn't her father, though she had known him longer than she had known either of her parents. Drisella was born out of passion and alcohol, an illigitimate bastard of indeterminate blood. That she thinks she remembers the scent of her mother's hair and her father's embrace is an illusion of the mind, for Drisella was given up by them not long after she was born.

The DiAmonicia family accepted this orphan child into their arms as a favor to old friends, and while Drisella was raised knowing that Sarlucius and his wife Kaera were not her birth parents, they were never spoken of by name to her. The Sarlucius' did not want Drisella to grow up resenting her parents for abandoning her, but instead grew up the DiAmonicia's for taking her from them.

Drisella's adoptive family were not fully prepared for the bloodline the child had inherited. Drisella was touched by the supernatural ata young age; moving small objects around the estate, her appearance seemingly shifting to something hideous for a moment when she felt unattended or ignored, all the tempestuous outbursts of any child's growth backed by powers she could not control. Drisella's intuitive magical lineage meant that traditional tutelage was difficult and the girl obstinently refused to practice or hone her inborn abilities in the direction that her adoptive parents wanted her to. Drisella resisted all attempts at control, at reigning in her wild spirit. Eventually, Sarlucius' patience wore thin.

Corporal punishment had an effect that coddling and patience did not and the results were almost too immediate to be believable. Sarlucius took to the admonishment slowly, but with each misbehavior and beating that would follow, Drisella's wild spirit was broken in much the way Sarlucius broke the horses he bred. It was a simple enough comparison for him to make. Drisella's resentment gradually curdled with fear and her once outgoing -- if wild -- nature was crushed, forced inward and stuffed down. With the outbursts the supernatural goings on also stopped, appearing as though either Drisella had gained a measure of control over her powers or perhaps that they were fleeting and exhausted. However, the slippery slope of cruelty was one Sarlucius found himself falling down.

When Sarlucius' wife was killed in a horseback riding accident, Drisella was blamed. Her presence, he said, spooked the horse and caused it to throw Kaera to her death. Soon both Drisella and Sarlucius resented one another equally. By the time Drisella was a proper young woman, any perceived slight was responded to violently, but always out of public sight. At the age of twelve, Drisella faced daily beatings that often left her bedridden or housebound so that her adoptive father would not need to explain away the injuries. But no matter how many times he hit her, no matter how withdrawn and introverted she became, Drisella's spirit of curiosity could not be crushed.

Fate had conspired to free Drisella of her life. One of Sarlucius' clients was a traveling diplomat from foreign lands attempting to make headway in court and frequently rented steeds for riding across the countryside and through town. On one visit, this diplomat gifted Sarlucius with an unusual gift, a Chelish crux. The diplomat told Sarlucius that his dealings in Talingarde had come to a close, and that the crux was a gift to represent his appreciation, and that should Sarlucius' figure out how to open it, he would find himself "born anew" and all his wishes granted.

Failing to open it twice and burning himself both times, Sarlucius stowed the crux away in his basement workshop to keep it out of prying eyes until he could figure out what to do with it. Drisella stumbled upon the crux's resting place accidentally the first time, exploring the leatherworking tools in the basement where Sarlucius repaired saddles. Nearly discovering the box, Sarlucius' timely emergence into the basement stayed her exploration and resulted in further 'discipline' to be administered.

The second time Drisella ventured to the basement would be a year later. By now sixteen years old she had begun to become her own woman, less fearful of Sarlucius inwardly but affecting a cowed demeanor in his presence. Try as he might, he simply could not break her spirit fully. It was this stubbornness that pushed Drisella back to that forbidden place, simply to answer a single question: why? This time, Drisella found what Sarlucius has been trying to hide from her, the six-sided wooden puzzlebox gifted from that pale, foreign diplomat.

Drisella's precocious nature and knowledge beyond her years was what allowed her to solve the riddle of the puzzlebox, to find out which series of symbols needed to be touched in order to open it successfully. Sarlucius' arrival was too late this time, and his angered protesting was cut short when he witnessed the crux open, and nothing like wishes emerged.

To both Drisella and Sarlucius' horror a creature emerged from the box. Tall, pale, wrapped in barbed chains and wearing the phantasmal countenance of Sarlucius' dead wife Kaera the creature was a living nightmare. It spoke to Sarlucius in a language of lies and deceit slathered with honeyed syllables, then visited a pain on him that was both enlightening and fatal. Drisella watched from the corner of the basement where she cowered as the cretaure flayed Sarlucius alive with agnonizing precision and patience. Every beating he ever visited on Drisella repeated in her mind, but none of them scarred her as much as witnessing the work of a kyton. Perhaps, somehow, this was fulfilling Drisella's wishes. It certainly was transformative for Sarlucius.

When the Kyton was done, it turned to Drisella and spoke as it had to Sarlucius. The transformation it had in mind for her was different, much as an artist has different paintings in mind when it first sees a blank canvas. It did not leave the room until she had finished eating the meat from Sarlucius' hands. By the time the kyton deemed himself ready to depart, Drisella was in catatonic shock of the event. Whispered, though, were words her subconscious could hear.

"In darkness, you will find us."

That's why the dark doesn't scare her, only the isolation, only abandonment. But in the darkness she isn't alone.

Or so has been said.

1) Drisella DiAmonicia is a young orphan left in the care of an increaisngly abusive adoptive father who claimed to know her parents. A traveling diplomat from nidal attempting to make a foothold in Talingarde bequeathed a Chelish crux on her adoptive father that contained a kyton as his "parting gift" to the country. Drisella opened that crux and unleashed the kyton, which killed her adoptive father and emotionally tortured her before departing. When authorities arrived they found Kera bloodied and hunched over her adoptive father's corpse having eaten both of his hands and had started to eat his face. The crux that contained the kyton was nearby, open, and when questioned Drisella openly admitted to calling forth a "chained devil" to kill her adoptive father. She was charged with consorting with dark powers and arrested, but not before brutally savaging two of the constables attempting to apprehend her, costing one a finger and the other an ear. Trait: Witchcraft
2) Drisella is remarkably strong of will despite her adoptive father's persistant admonishment and corporal punishment. She maintains a powerful sense of self and the same precocious cunning that followed her from childhood. Her adoptive father's beatings and frequent indoor confinement left her physique untrained and her appearance frail. Therefore her intelligence of 12, wisdom of 16 and charisma of 18.
3) Drisella is strongly afraid of being abandoned or left alone and will use anything at her disposal to remain in contact with others that she can see as caretakers or capable of protecting/providing for her despite her fierce independent streak. It is a personality trait she loathes when she recognizes it.
4) Despite her innate gift, Drisella has never had any formal training in her summoner's art. She does not understand or know magic and uses all her spells reflexively and intuitively. Therefore, after 1st level I will not be picking her spells and will leave her selection of spells known up to the GM, unless she eventually gains some magical tutelage.
5) Somewhere in Drisella's lineage lies supernatural power that manifested early in her childhood. Strange happenings in her youth were caused by those powers emerging for the first time, and she still has access to them today, though under better control. Trait: Magical Talent (haunted fey aspect)

Two goals that are important to Drisella.

1) As Drisella becomes more aware of her gift as a summoner and the Eidolon she controls, she is going to become more and more attached to it as a protector and become dependant on its company and presence. Furthermore, there will be idolization of the Eidolon to an extent that Drisella will believe it to be an extension of deity that had protected her throughout her life. She will seek to encompass this hungry god's will, without realizing that she is acting on her own dark impulses. Unfortunately, she has the charisma to convince others of her insane beliefs as well, and will eventually try to rally a cult around this false god. Archetype: blood god disciple
2) Deep down Drisella wants to find her parents, but at the same time she is afraid that they will be repulsed by her and horrified of what she's become. While she wants nothing more than to be reunited with them, the fear of rejection (and her present imprisonment) keep her from acting on it. But knowledg eof who they are and how it has shaped her is something she would desire to find.

Two secrets about Drisella, one that she knows, and one that she is not yet aware of.

1) Drisella knows that the kyton was acting on its own when it killed her adoptive father and tormented her, but she told the constabulatory that found her that it was her own plan all along. However, not even Drisella is aware of where the crux even came from or what it is. Somewhere inside, she wanted to be punished for what happened.
2) The Nidalese diplomat that gifted the crux to Sarlucius intended it for Drisella. He had become incresingly aware of her potential as a summoner and may even know more baout her heritage. The entire reason he maintained business relations with her adoptive father was to keep a closer eye on her until she was ready to "sculpt" into the person he saw her becoming -- a servant of Zon-Kuthon.

Four people that are tied to Drisella, three are friends and one is an enemy.

1) Aleesa Montclaire: One of the few childhood friends Drisella had before her arrest. Aleesa's father worked with Sarlucius smithing horseshoes for the steeds Sarlucius bred. Aleesa and Drisella met under these circumstances, but became fast friends. Aleesa is one of the few people who Drisella confided in about how her adoptive father abused her. The two were once quite close.
2) Timius Dasare: Seven years Drisella's senior, Timius is a courier who was often employed by Sarlucius. While Drisella and he never spoke much, Drisella was remarkably fond of the handsome young man and would go out of her way to be around when he arrived to deliver packages to her adoptive father.
3) Morgan Courtland: Proprieter of a small bookshop just down the road from where Drisella lived, Morgan would often let Drisella come stay in the shop and read during the day when she would risk being underfoot with Sarlucius. Morgan was aware of Sarlucius' abuse, but never mustered up the courage to confont him regarding it. He considered offering to take Drisella from him and tutor her full time, but his busy life often got in the way. He genuinely cared for her.
4) Marshall Dominic Tarlucci: First to arrive on the scene when reports of screams echoed from the DiAmonicia farmstead, Marshall Tarlucci witnessed first-hand the horror of a kyton's visit and has been scarred for life since bot emotionally, and thanks to Drisella's teeth, physically. She bit off his right inex finger from the second knuckle when he tried to shackle her after her confession. Dominic personally escorted Drisella to prison and handed her over to Sir Balin of Karfeld for delivery to Branderscar due to his expertise. If he had things his way, Marshall Tarlucci would have eviscerated the girl on the spot.

Three memories, mannerisms or quirks Drisella possess.

1) Drisella hates shoes. She has always hated wearing shoes and would go barefoot whenever the opportunity arose. When Sarlucius would punish her for "loking unladylike" she would relent and wear them but always feel uncomfortable. Now, at least, no one in prison is making her wear them.
2) Drisella has a natural knack for rhymimg and was fond of reciting poetry and rhymes when spending time at the bookstore. To amuse herself, she often maintains iambic pentameter when speaking at length.
3) Thanks to her association of them with Sarlucius, Drisella is afraid of horses and uncomfortable around them.