𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐏𝐘
the most beautiful.
Kalliste appears to be in her late twenties, or early thirties, yet she is in fact a 90-year-old, cisgendered female whose pronouns are she/her.
Who are you?
Many, many moons ago, Anemos Gennisi, one of the several islands in Critha, was said to be the birthplace to an entire flock of Harpies. Legend dictates that these harpies were born from great eggs, and are the daughters of the God of Wonder, Thaumas, and his oceanid wife Electra. This is according to the cult like community on the island who devote their lives to caring for the various island born harpies. Raised in beautiful temples, waited on hand and foot by islanders, Kalliste spent very little time as a child, and quickly began to experience visions as soon as she reached maturity.
Though the harpy sisters vary in their tasks and roles, they all shared one gift; a supposed connection to the God of wonder, their father, which showed them in the form of dreams, what their divine purposes were. Though the harpy sisters were raised, and lived together, they all kept their sacred undertakings secret from one another. The veil of secrecy amongst the harpies perpetuated a hierarchical arrangement that alienated them from one another, as well as from their followers.
Kalliste spent the better part of five decades as a harbinger to those that the God’s deemed guilty, and the latter half of her life escorting select spirits to the underworld. Though she missed holding enemies of the Gods accountable, she also relished and was grateful for the sense of purpose, acting as an escort gave her.
The people of Anemos Gennisi devote their lives to serving the harpies, whom they worshipped as almost celestial proxies for the God of wonder. By the fruits of their labour, Kalliste’s stomach was never empty, her throat was never dry, and her soft feet barely touched the ground. Islanders waited on the Harpies hand and foot with deep reverence, devoting their lives and their hearts to them.
One morning, as glorious and luxurious as any other, Kalliste awoke with no vision of the guilty in her minds eye. Shock was quickly superseded by fear, when the following morning Kalliste again awoke with no vision. When she launched into the sky, she found the wind did not call her this way or that. The wind was loud, screaming even, yet in a language she seemed to no longer speak.
Kalliste searched in her sisters, for any sign of a similar change, and at first, Kalliste thought she might be alone in her suffering, her abandonment, but there were indications over time that suggested otherwise. Anxious expressions, nails chewed and picked, and a sudden lack of direction was visible when the harpies one by one stopped leaving the temples. Though no one said anything for some time, tensions rose when the islanders began to vocalise their concerns for their beloved harpies. The followers worried the harpies were growing sick, and perhaps they were. Kalliste wondered if they had all been struck down by the same illness, or curse.
To ensure absolute privacy, even from their own followers, the harpies converged atop the highest mountain in Crirtha. There, the sisters shared their fears, their loss, and pooled together theories, and solution ideas, but with so many voices and so many conjectures, it was only a matter of time before the hundred or so began to fall apart, splitting into groups. The harpies had never had to think for themselves, or plan for anything beyond the guidance given to them, supposedly by divine Gods. Chaos descended. Suspicion began to run rampant, and when the harpies returned to their temple, all that had come from their conference was group alliances, division and further spread panic.
Some harpies chose to stay on the island, they endeavoured to live on as before, cared for by the islanders, creating the illusion that they still enjoyed visionary dreams, and a divine purpose. A lot of the harpies however could no longer stand to accept the devotion of the islanders, not now that they were sure their divine parents had turned their back on them. They saw themselves more as fallen angels now, than the divine heralds of justice they had been. Kalliste was among those who left the island, and like many of her sisters who spread across the kingdoms, Kalliste endeavoured to find a new home, and a new purpose.
When the town of Destarin declares its independence, Kalliste will find herself working at the Destarin Library, taking great pains to care for the books – which she desperately hoped would provide insight into her plight, or perhaps guidance. Kalliste lives in a tiny, low ceiling, rented room above a tea house and more often than not can be found on the window sill reading from a book, or enjoying the view of the town.
what are you?
species: harpy weaknesses: reduced protection from injury/disease/illness, divine weaponry can damage wings, death of deity/connection from deity breaing. strengths: flight, wings shield magics and weapons, immortal, enhanced senses, access to another plane through transporation of souls. physical description: broad, tawny and bronze feathery wings, with a wingspan of 7 metres when extended. Though Kalliste prefers to extend her wings often for comforts sake, she can retract them for the sake of accommodating tight spaces. . additional notes: the islanders of anemos gennisi believe that the harpies derived from their god of wonder, and as such believe their dreams and their tasks are sacred. however, non-believers have theorised that kalliste, and her feathery winged sisters are simply avian humanoids, as far as those on the island are aware they are rare species, but not born of divine creation. the source of the eggs from which these harpies hatch, is a secret so fiercely protected by the islanders, that even their harpies themselves have no knowledge of how they came to be born. essentially, kalliste’s and her sisters’ existence is shrouded in mythology, and secrecy. by nature, these harpies are a suspicious species, always on alert for hidden enemies and are consequently not particularly forthcoming with details pertaining to their species and biology. kalliste has no idea whether she lost her vision like dreams because she displeased their god of wonder, and the more time goes by, the less she remembers of how that connection worked, if it ever truly had. She has come to question most of what she had been told by her followers, and even her senior sisters. kalliste is lost, ashamed, afraid, and most of all she is curious as to who she is, where she came from, and where she should now be going...
kalliste is played by rosa and their fc is ana de armas.
