Odette Cosswain

"The demon queen of the ninth circle"

Odette Cosswain (a.k.a. Curiosity)

Odette, or "Odd," was born to human parents, twenty eight years ago, in the frontier town of Hardishold. Like some other "doomed" or "cursed" children born after the Sundering, Odd came into this world bearing the "marks of the devil," in the form of tiny horns on her forehead, purplish-grey skin and a long, serpent-like tail. Her parents were devout followers of The Zenithal, and, as far as they were concerned, there could not have been a worse fate for their child.
They kept the baby hidden for as long as they could, but it's hard to fend off questions in a small settlement. Eventually, they resorted to more drastic means to "cure" their infant daughter. Her father, Fenton, took the baby to the woods where, through remorseful tears, he cut off Odd's tail in a desperate hope that this would hide her curse enough to grant her a normal life. It wasn't enough.
Soon after the tail incident, Odd's parents made the most difficult decision of their entire lives. As noted members of the church, neither could withstand the scrutiny of their parish priest. So they decided to take their infant daughter north, to a place where she might have the chance at some semblance of a normal life.
Fenton crossed The Wastes of Veric, and eventually made it to the burgeoning city of Nix. Nix is "where the monsters go." Fearing for his life in the bizarre settlement, Fenton quickly located what he determined to be a church dedicated to Prix o' Preyuss, the trickster god, known to take in the misfits and accursed of the world. Here, upon the steps of the temple, Fenton abandoned his child, never to see her again. She wasn't even left with a name...
Fortunately for the infant Odette, she was indeed taken in by the priests of the temple. Here, she spent her early, formative years, working in the church and learning from its brethren. Here, she was for all intents adopted by several of the nuns, who named her Odette (but who failed to give her a surname). The young Odette was happy, for a time at the temple, where she was at least surrounded by somewhat accepting faces. However, she was always made aware that since she carried the devil's mark, it would be rather difficult for her to fit in.
The temple of Prix o' Preyuss was amongst the most accepting of daemistral (the term for those bearing the "mark of the devil"), yet they still sought to rid the world of their "affliction." In her darkest moments, she was occasionally brought before the High Septon, who would attempt to rid her of her accursed "malady," to no avail. Thankfully, the church didn't believe in punishing sinners or those branded as such, so the worst Odd ever felt was a growing sense of not belonging. Though the nuns did their best to make her feel at home, it's difficult to keep the influences of the outside world from a precocious child, and at the age of ten, Odd ran away from her foster home to see the "big city."
It didn't take long before Odd fell in with a small band of thieves and assorted thugs, assisting them in their criminal activities throughout Nix. By the age of 12, Odd was already a master of lifting purses and quite good at "second story" work. She was off to an ignoble start, with no signs of slowing down. In fact, it was her ambition that eventually saved her.
On her fifteenth birthday, Odd decided to give herself a gift. She wanted to see the world, and Nix was beginning to look awfully small in her eyes. So, without even saying goodbye to her fellow miscreants, she took off for the fabled city of Varuumae Corona, where it's said that "all one's dreams most certainly come true." This may be the case, but only if one dreams rather small (or has a lot of money). Odd arrived in the bustling city without a copper to her name, starving and desperate for change. She immediately found it far more difficult to find "her people," or to fall in with a gang of thieves. In Varuumae Corona, thieving activities were (and still are) strongly controlled by the guild.
Soon she found herself as an initiate of the Thieves Guild of Zanzakkar, the local leader of which branded her face with arcane markings (tattoos, just below her eyes) meant to aid her in the stealth required by her ignoble guild tasks, as well as strike fear in others. A branded demon is a powerful demon, some say.
In fact, it was during her initiation rites, undertaken to join one of the top thieves' guilds in Varuumae Corona, that she was discovered by a former Knight of the Spear named Hardring Cossswain. The grizzled veteran caught Odd attempting to lift his purse, but instead of turning her over to the city watch, he decided to take her under his wing, having seen something special in her eyes. Odette, feeling without much choice, accepted his charge.
It seemed that Hardring was on a bit of a mission himself, having cultivated a small glade just outside of the city where he set about the worship of the original spirits of nature. He was formerly a hunter for the crown. One who sought out aberrations and demonic forces in the north and destroyed them in the name of the king. He was taught nothing but absolutes. Demons and their offspring, even those simply marked by some infernal bloodline, were evil to the core, and it was the greatest duty and honor to eradicate them. He'd killed many like Odette in his day, only to live long enough to become more learned. Eventually, he began to see his enemy as his fellow man, and finally renounced his duty and retired to Hariel Minuta, where he sought to atone for his crimes.
Hardring forsook the new gods, the Zenithal, and found solace with the mostly forgotten gods of nature, specifically the one spirit known as 'The Lady of the Grove." In service to his new master, Hardring brought new life to a faltering grove of his own, found not far from the city's borders. It's here that he brought Odette, to train her in the ways of a protector of nature. He changed her life.
By the time Odette entered adulthood, she had already taken up the mantle of "The Lady's Protector," sworn to protect all living things found within the nature spirit's grove (which encompasses all wooded lands on the border of faerie). No longer compelled to steal or live off the misery of others, she was essentially reborn. This is not to say her station required her to be a dour servitor. On the contrary, those in service to the Lady of the Grove are expected to celebrate life in all its intricacies.
For over ten years did Odette serve alongside her now adoptive father Hardring. She had no desire greater than to make him proud of the woman she'd become. All seemed right with the world, until a fateful trip into the city changed everything...
On one of many routine trips into Varuumae Corona, for the purpose of trade (to keep the grove flush), Hardring and Odette came across a strange man. A retired knight, formerly under Hardring's command. This knight came to the city seeking out Odette's mentor, to deliver news of Hardring's errant brother, Walvyrn. Apparently, in his self-imposed exile, Hardring's younger brother had brought shame to the family name, having joined a blood cult determined to gain power through dark magic. Walvyrn was operating with this cult out of The Isle of Mitluvia, so it seemed. Hardring ordered Odette to stay behind and protect the grove, while he would travel abroad to deal with his brother. She would know of his success upon either his return, or that of his family shield (a precious heirloom bearing the family crest of Cosswain). And with that, he was gone.
Several years passed with no word of Hardring. Odette reached the point where her concern for her father outweighed her sense of duty to the spirit of the woods. She decided to seek him out, chartering a ship out of Varuumae Corona to Mitluvia. She happened upon the ship known as "The Doubtful," captained by Dreeva Vaeless. Though she could not pay her way, her passage was subsidized through labor aboard the vessel. As the crew soon took a shine to the young "knight" (and vice versa), she soon became a de facto member of The Doubtful's crew.
Her quest to find her father ended, sadly, in defeat. She tracked him to an abandoned temple founded in the middle of the jungles of Mitluvia. Here, it was obvious that her "uncle's" cult had squatted to perform their unholy rites. Whatever had occurred there, however, she was too late to influence. The only thing she found, besides the mortal remains of what she assumed to be human cultists, was the Cosswain family shield. The proof her father promised to send of his victory over his brother.
Odette returned to The Doubtful not knowing where to search next. The crew decided to aid her in her quest, and they followed the coastline south from Mitluvia, searching for answers. Eventually, this voyage led them to be attacked by Inner Sea pirates, who boarded the modest vessel in search of plunder. A fight began, and during the tumult, something beyond strange occurred. As the first mate Altious Khaza Eeris fought alongside Odd, she simply vanished into thin air. No warning. No remains. Just gone. She was there one moment, and gone the next.
After fighting back the pirates (who eventually fled), the crew set about determining what happened to Odd, but to no avail. It was as if she never even existed. It was only when they docked in Varuumae Corona again that they received a tiny clue. After seeking out a soothsayer, Dreeva learned that those touched with "the devil's mark" could allegedly be summoned by dark magic, much in the way one would summon a demon. One need only know the right ritual... and the "demon's" true name. If this were to occur, the victim would simply vanish... into thin air. But who would take her? And where?
For her part, Odette woke in a strange room, black on all sides with no source of light. She was captured, though she had no idea who her captors were. And this is where we pick up her story...

Physical Description

Body Features

Purple-grey skin tone

Identifying Characteristics

Light facial tattoos just below eyes.

Current Location

Angleport

Species

Tieflings

Year of Birth

1414 A.W. 28 Years old

Circumstances of Birth

Born "different," with the mark of the devil. The baby Odette had horns, a tail, and purple-grey skin.

Gender

Female

Eyes

Silver with a hint of blue

Hair

Alternates between shoulder-length and slightly longer. Her hair is an extremely dark shade of purple, nearly black.

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Purple-Grey

Height

5'8"

Weight

120 lbs