| “ | We cannot, much for the same reason you wouldn't let a murderer go free. Criminals simply deserve to die. | ” |
— Zicterna to the Chosen of Y'ffre, trying to convince them to leave Earendil to his fate.
|
Zicterna is a Maormer spellsword, mercenary, and pirate. She was initially an antagonist to the Chosen to Y'ffre, hunting down the renegade Maormer Earendil Vokhiun, until her crew was massacred by Dringoth the Destroyer after which she joined the Chosen on their quest against the Oathbreakers.
History[]
Backstory[]
Zicterna was a Maormer pirate that came to Tamriel to try to ally some elves against the Aldmer. She eventually joined a group of Maormer mercenaries working for the King of Thormar to try to end the civil war and try to get some allies.
Of Frond And Leaf[]
Hunting the Deserter[]
Zicterna and Carvato, another Maormer mercenary, returned to an Ayleid fortress after a patrol just in time to see the Chosen. They were interested in the Maormer carrying their things and the mercenary group intercepted the other group to question him. They discovered he was a traitor and forced the group to leave without him. Afterwards, they went to talk to the Ayleid leader about getting a naval patrol so they could bring him to his captain, Prince Maseth.
Zicterna escorted the traitor to a cell with Carvato and they began to leave. While they were heading for the prince, the prisoner asked for some water and Zicterna gave him some. He tried to convince her to help him escape and informed her he was a wereshark, but she refused and informed her captain. That was when they noticed the prisoner had made a hole in the ship. She and Carvato headed down to stop the prisoner.
When they were at the bottom of the ship, they saw the wereshark as it was making a hole. Zicterna cast paralyze at the wereshark, but he blocked it with one of their supply crates before making the hole and escaping. When their captain came down, he fixed it with magic and sent Zicterna and Carvato after the wereshark.
They got on a rowboat and Carvato rowed them to a trading post, where they questioned the locals about Earendil and requested to have a look at a map. The locals answered questions about Earendil, but were rather hostile due to the Maormer reputation as pirates. They then left for Arenthia and found an inn to stay in. In the inn was a rather talkative Bosmer girl who informed the duo that Earendil's group was called the Chosen of Y'ffre and they were going to Arenthia. The two waited for then to show up and learned they had gotten an audience with Queen Sylnia so they retreated to the inn as it would be risky to go after them in the palace. Meanwhile, the Bosmer girl snuck in.
In the morning, they found the Chosen heading towards their inn and they left their room. Zicterna tried to convince the group to leave Earendil to his fate and revealed he was a wereshark, but they wouldn't budge. With little choice, they left Arenthia and tailed the Chosen. When the Chosen reached the Ayleid city where the Eldenbark Shield was, they met up with their crew and fought against the Daedraphiles. When the battle was over, they were dismissed by the King of Thormar and tried to get ahead of the Chosen.
Demon and Destroyer[]
Once the crew arrived at the Grahtwood they encountered a strange raven-haired elf that was walking straight for them. The captain warned the stranger to stay away, but he was ignored and so the Maormer attacked him. The stranger fought back, showing himself capable of shapeshifting as he systematically took out each of the pirates. Zicterna was lucky to survive.
She tried to follow the trail of the shapeshifter when she awoke, but was unable and instead headed for the city of Haven which was close to her location. Once in Haven she came across the Chosen once more, finding Earendil, the Bosmer girl Kaaail and the Orcs among the northern district. She explained what happened to her crew and now sought aid from the Chosen to defeat the shapeshifter. When she finished her explanation they realized that Earendil had disappeared from the group. They went searching for the Maormer, afraid that he might cause a scene. They found him in a restaurant having a meal, but before they could get him they were interrupted by a group of Bosmeri nomads whom seemed to really hate the orcs. They were quick to anger and drew their blades, with Earendil coming to their rescue but inadvertently causing the first blow to be struck. A fight broke out where the nomads and the Chosen dueled in the middle of the city. Bura and Kaaail fought off a couple nomad wildlings. Zicterna joined them in battle, killing the nomad mage, while Earendil tore through a couple nomads with his bear hands. Lubruk stood back, providing supporting fire with his bow. When it was over, the mutilated corpses of the nomads - caused by Earendil's brutality - led to public outrage and the guards were called against them. Earendil had been riled by the fight, nearly transforming into his wereshark form if not for Zicterna's intervention. Bura urged them to flee, grabbing hold of Earendil and dragging him through the streets. They fled outside the city, hiding atop a hill overlooking it. Zicterna followed the group outside the city.
They were soon confronted by their allies once Eplear and the others returned. Oronin demanded an explanation for their murder of the Nomads. Kaaail argued that the Nomads had started the fight, but that was not enough to convince them. Lubruk pushed the blame for the gruesome deaths on Earendil. The Maormer tried to justify his murders by saying that he was defending the Orcs. Oronin, nevertheless, chastised him for his brutality. Gwen blamed the Orcs, despite Lubruk's retorts. Bura took responsibility for what happened, trying to defuse the situation. Oronin's comment of fixing Earendil caused the situation to escalate and Gwen threatened the Maormer when he became uncooperative. Eplear was able to calm him down, striking a deal that Zicterna would keep Earendil in check and he would continue the stay with the group. Eplear and Oronin set off for Haven to speak to the Kinlord and attempt to resolve the situation, while Zicterna and the others remained behind.
While they awaited for the two Bosmer to return, Gwendaridh suddenly disappeared from the group. Bura suspected that Valmerion had something to do with it, but the priest proclaimed his innocence. The Orcs began to suspect that Gwen had gone to seek out the Nomads to betray them and tensions began to rise again in the group until Eplear's arrival. He explained that Oronin had gone to meet with the nomad tribe to which the deceased belonged to resolve the issue. Thankfully the healer had managed to negotiate with the nomads' Elder, who promised to forgive the deaths of his clansmen so long as the Chosen defeated Goradir - the Demon changeling that was terrorizing the Grahtwood.
For the next couple days the group prepared for their upcoming expedition against Goradir. Besides Zicterna, the group also had a new compatriot, the Khajiit Mazaro who was an old friend of Oronin. Kinlord Trallon, the leader of Haven, had promised them the help of his elite Red Spear bodyguards, their leader Battlereeve Alwesse was pressuring the group to come up with a strategy to deal with the Oathbreaker. Oronin had taken it upon himself to determine how to defeat Goradir but he was having trouble. The stress of all the recent events was getting to him.
The whole group was feeling the stress and it boiled over when Earendil humiliated Oronin for his unsuccessful attempts to court Gwendaridh. Mazaro defended Oronin and insulted Earendil, driving the Maormer to lash out in anger. He transformed into a Wereshark and attacked the Khajiit with the intent to kill. When Earendil transformed, most of the group came to Mazaro's aid. However, they were unprepared for the strength of the wereshark and he quickly dispatched some of them. Gwen attempted to grapple the beast and shank him with her dagger, but he caught her, broke her arm and tossed her aside with ease. Her injury sparked a fury in Oronin and so he was able to overwhelm Earendil with his magic and allow Zicterna to put an end of the rampage before the magic vines drained him of his strength and rendered the Maormer unconscious. While they decided what to do with Earendil, a stranger approached their camp - seemingly drawn by the violent fight. He was shooed away by Oronin, just before Earendil awoke and had an episode. He was clearly mentally unwell and so the group took pity on the Maormer and bound him to a tree so he could not harm himself or them.
As they recovered from the incident, they suddenly spotted flames coming from the city and heard the distant echoes of screams. They had took too long to act and so Goradir seemingly made the first move. The Chosen quickly made their way to Haven and confirmed that it was indeed under attack by the Oathbreaker. Leaving the city guard to take care of the panicking populace, the group made their way to the Kinlord's Keep where the chaos seemed to originate. Once they arrived they found the Red Spears fighting against Goradir in the courtyard. The keep was damaged and it and several surrounding buildings were aflame. Several corpses lay in the Demon's wake and the Red Spears seemed at the end of their rope. Eplear took charge of the group and they engaged the beast.
The group split up, some heading into the keep to check on the Kinlord and the Blade while the rest remained outside to fight Goradir. Zicterna stayed to fight Goradir. Bura served as bait as soon as Goradir noticed her and the Shield that she wielded. Eplear and Areanae tried to shoot him down, with Zicterna using her lightning magic to help, but it did nothing against his scales which were further reinforced by magic. Bura led him to the battlements and got him to land, giving her and the others a brief opportunity to attack. Zicterna's lightning broke Goradir's defenses. Areanae landed a hit on one of Goradir's eyes, which greatly angered the Changeling. Using this distraction, Bura stabbed him through the chest but was unable to land a fatal blow. He retaliated against them at the gatehouse, sucking the air out of the room with magic and suffocating the women. The Red Spear Battlereeve Alwesse, scaled the Demon and stabbed him with her spear. This allowed the women to survive, though the Battlereeve was burned when Goradir set his scales ablaze in reaction. He flew and torched the nearby streets, throwing Alwesse off before returning to attack the recovered Chosen. While Goradir was rampaging, Oronin managed to heal the women. When it seemed like they had managed to finally turn the tide of battle by wearing Goradir down, he healed himself in safety outside of the keep and returned to the fighting in better shape.
Their luck did not improve from there as the keep began to collapse from the inside, following the emergence of Mazaro, Gwen, Valmerion and a wounded Kaaail. It was revealed that two other Changelings were there - with one of them having seemingly possessed the Kinlord - and the other having claimed the Blade. Now faced with three opponents, the tide of battle quickly turned against them. Zicterna focused on Goradir, continuing to attack him with her magic. While she was chasing after the Demon, she was intercepted by the stranger Lurmaanon. He offered to help out, but she was dismissive. They Chosen learned that the sword-bearer Fay was Dringoth the Destroyer and it became evident that they could not defeat the three Fey. After healing Gwen, who had been wounded by Dringoth, Oronin called for the group to retreat. Eplear echoed the order and they escaped the burning keep. Outside they were reunited with Lurmaanon and he led them to the city barracks where Areanae and him managed to get them horses with which to escape their pursuers. In the escape, Kaaail was possessed by a Fay spirit and lost to them. Earendil appeared and momentarily stopped Goradir, allowing the group to leave Haven. They did not see what happened to the Maormer, instead continuing to flee westward away from the city as Dringoth pursued them.
Personality[]
Dutiful and confident. Not too friendly. Hates most Aldmer.
Powers and Abilities[]
Zicterna is quite a powerful spellsword; her mastery of one handed blades, expertise in destruction, illusion, and alteration, and skill in restoration make her rather difficult to take down. She uses her speed and wit to take down opponents that try to engage in melee, and can employ a number of spells to keep the fight in her favor; paralyze; close wounds; ebony flesh, thunderbolt, and possibly chain lightning, if being dueled by multiple opponents. For each strike she lands, she gains more magicka to fuel the spells she uses against them. At range she tends to use thunderbolt or chain lightning, perhaps a ward if there is an enemy mage, and lightning rune.
Enemy mages will find her particularly annoying, as she is immune to silence and has a large magicka pool. If she needs to catch her opponents off guard, she is capable of silencing her footsteps and going invisible. If the situation calls for it, she has a set of secondary eyelids to see underwater or in dust storms. She can speak and understand Aldmeris, though it isn't a skill she uses unless necessary.
Statistics[]
- Attributes: speed and willpower.
- Major skills: Master one handed (blades), expert destruction (shock), expert illusion, expert alteration, adept restoration and adept athletics.
- Minor skills: sneak, block (parry), and unarmored.
- Spells: ebony flesh, invisibility, muffle, close wounds, greater ward, thunderbolt, chain lightning, paralyze, and lightning rune.
- Powers: 50% larger magicka pool, secondary eyelids, and silence immunity.
- Equipment: steel sword of absorb magic, maormer robes enchanted with lower alteration cost, and soul gems.