Kiris Horizt

Kiris Horizt is a wandering thief hailing from the state of Halicourt. She is written by Shining Light.

Life in Halicourt
Kiris Horizt is a Halicourt native and had a pretty peaceful childhood of thirteen years. Her father had the unfortunate distinction of being one of the peasants able to be knighted. As such, he was the target of a lot of unfair scorn despite his hard work and loyalty to his masters. Sadly, one day, he was “accidentally” left alone at his post during a bandit raid and...well, this tends to be the one moment Kiris often looks back on when she thinks about when exactly her life started to crumble.

Kiris’ mother didn’t take the news of her husband’s death well, becoming locked up in depression ever since. Unable to get a job (or rather, find anyone who would offer a peasant girl any viable means of making money), Kiris resorted to thievery to make the ends meet. She was lucky enough to come across a passing thief to lend her some knowledge, but after that, she was on her own. Kiris built up those skills on her own, more out of necessity of anything, and while she grew more and more successful over the months, she and her mother still found themselves struggling to stay afloat. In a thoughtless act of desperation, Kiris turned her attention towards the nobles – in particular, the one her father had worked for.

If her father’s death signalled the end of her peaceful life, then her decision to infiltrate her father’s employers’ mansion cemented the deal. Not only was she horribly underprepared and nearly jailed, but after being chased out, she was forced to hide for the remainder of that day as the guards hunted her down. It wasn’t until nightfall that she was able to return home – only to find it vacant. It turned out that the guards had tracked down her home and detained her mother while Kiris had been hiding. And in the absence of the real culprit, her mother had been summarily executed.

It was one thing to have had her father unfairly snatched from her, but to be indirectly responsible for her mother’s death was almost too much for young Kiris to handle. With nothing left for her there, she left the city, resorting to thievery to sustain herself as she moved from place to place. Despite knowing there was no peaceful future in store for her, Kiris kept her eyes forward and away from the tragedy of her past. Only the thrill of thieving and the sense of freedom and power it brought her kept her from simply succumbing to despair and dying. If she was going out, she was going out with a bang.

Battle at Alexshire
Three years later, either because of a bad twist of fate or a complete coincidence, Kiris was in Alexshire during the night of its invasion and subsequent destruction at the hands of the southern tribes. Only by making the decision to join Captain Grant Steele and his party was she able to get out with her life before the city was razed completely. The escape hit a snag when they emerged into a forest from a secret passage only to be met with an enemy force, but Kiris was lucky enough to survive the battle thanks to the timely intervention of Rin Baypointe and Ceyla Westlake, both of whom came to Kiris' aid when she sustained an arrow wound in the fight.

Arrival at Cantaras City
The very next morning, Captain Grant Steele led the survivors of Alexshire to the capital of Cantaras (appropriately named Cantaras City) where they gained a personal audience with the state's king, Caleb Avarius. Even Kiris found herself welcomed in the castle's dining hall where a banquet was arranged in order to discuss the attack on Alexshire. Throughout the dinner, the king relayed his suspicions: one, that the northern country of Terrathé and enemy of Cantaras, was slowly putting together a powerful army and two, that the southern tribes - the forces responsible for Alexshire's destruction - were being commanded by an unknown third party with the intent of invading Cantaras. With the states of Ascanthus caught between two forces of equal aggression, the king deemed it necessary to send an envoy to each state, hoping to bring them together and stand united against their enemies. This envoy would be made up of the survivors of Alexshire, the logic being that those who witnessed the southern tribes' ferocity firsthand would be best-suited for carrying the warning.

As the king also promised that each member would be paid upon the completion of the mission, Kiris accepted the task, thinking nothing of the survival of Ascanthus.

Sometime after the banquet, Kiris returned to the main city to pickpocket hapless bystanders for money. However, Rin Baypointe had been tailing her the entire time - after catching Kiris in the act, the noblewoman confronted her about her habits rather than call the city guards. Though she resisted at first, Kiris eventually spilled her entire past to her "captor" - the very first time Kiris had spoken of it in the three years of her wanderings. In the end, no arrests were made and the two Halicourt natives parted ways with a better understanding of each other.

Ambush at New Halstead
The entourage's first destination would be the capital of Halicourt, Aylesbury, but before that, they would pass through the Halian town of Halstead. Here, Kiris and the others found themselves under sudden attack by a peasant militia under the command of Trent Smithson, the self-proclaimed mayor who'd also renamed the town New Halstead. The battle was brief, but the mercenary Lia was abducted and taken to Smithson's manor before anyone could save her.

With direction from Rachel Baltnor, a rescue mission was formulated and mounted, with the entire entourage dividing into three groups to tackle each of the manor's three floors at once. It was the second floor group that got to Lia as she was being held captive by Smithson and his personal guards. While Kiris had momentarily snuck around the second floor on her own in search of valuables, she eventually rejoined her team in time to witness the results of the suffering that Lia had gone through at the hands of Smithson. While Kiris ended up leaving his fate to the others, she wounded him with a knife to the leg first before seeing that Lia was safely taken outside.

The exfiltration was momentarily disrupted, however, when a horde of undead intercepted the entourage as they regrouped. After a desperate fight, they managed to flee to their wagons where they were quick to depart with their tortured companion in tow. While the question of how the undead came to be in a lowly town like New Halstead lingered for some time, the entourage eventually continued towards the capital of Halicourt, returning their focus to the mission to unite Ascanthus.

Return to Halicourt (Day 1) - Aylesbury
The public execution of Sir Stephen of Coniston, traitor to the king of Halicourt, was only the first omen that the entourage encountered shortly after arriving in Aylesbury. Upon their attempt to enter the castle, the entourage was unable to meet with the king and was instead directed to one of his own inns - presumably so that he could keep a personal eye on them. Grant and Magus spread the warning to the rest of the entourage before giving the rest of the day to themselves. Kiris took the opportunity to wander the town herself in search of a merchant she could sell her stolen goods to, but it was Rin she encountered first. After a brief exchange, Kiris found herself asking Rin to teach her swordplay, hoping the lessons would improve her performance in combat. Though the noblewoman agreed, Kiris had to promise not to indulge in any form of thievery for as long as her apprenticeship lasted.

Physical Appearance
All told, Kiris is a very plain-looking girl, the kind of person stray gazes would skip right over. The 5”3 height doesn’t help matters any, making her very easy to dwarf. She has shoulder-length blonde hair, most of it wrapped in a ponytail and her bangs tucked behind her ears. She has a fair, slightly pale complexion, contrasting with her blue eyes. Her facial features are still a bit on the youthful side of things, and she’d had difficulty with people taking her seriously – particularly in her line of work.

Clothing-wise, Kiris prefers something simple in appearance and ease of movement. She wears a brown tunic vest, the material extending down to her knees, over a dark long-sleeved shirt, with loose slacks and worn travelling boots rounding out her bottom half. Depending on the weather, she may secure a hooded cloak, but she’ll leave it off for missions.

Personality
Kiris has had a lot happen to her in the past few years – losing her father in the line of duty, indirectly being responsible for the loss of her mother, and being forced on the run since then. Her innocence didn’t survive long after that, making her a lot more jaded than a girl her age should be. Her childishness, however, remained as she grew to enjoy the mischief she instigated and the freedom she gained from serving no master but her own desires. She delights in her line of work, and operates with confidence and sarcasm twenty-four-seven. Without a fear in the world, one might say. But she isn’t quite without morals, and understands when someone’s been unfairly wronged, sometimes undertaking some vigilante justice to set things right.

Equipment, Skills, and Powers
In terms of physical combat, Kiris never had the time to receive any formal combat training. As a result, much of the skill she accumulated was self-taught, and the rest gained from observing others, making her technique somewhat rough but efficient. Her main weapon is an iron dagger sheathed on a waist belt. It’s simple in construction and doesn’t require much taking care of. She also wears an assorted amount of throwing knives that are kept inside her vest, though she also has one in each sleeve for quick access. Rounding out her equipment is a grappling hook she uses to scale walls and reach rooftops, and a set of lock-picking tools, both of which are kept in an over-the-shoulder bag that she always keeps with her.

Skill-wise, Kiris is very, very agile. Of course, she’d have to be given what she is, and if she’s motivated, she can handle doing a full-on sprint without slowing for at least half an hour. Her hand-eye coordination is sufficient enough for her to hit a target dead-on from twenty meters if given time to aim, which unfortunately is a rare luxury more often than not. She has a knack for spotting irregular details in the environment around her, letting her spot traps or points of interest. However, this is a skill she hasn’t yet perfected, and she’s messed up almost as many times as she’s been successful. She has a strong sense of awareness, her ears trained to pick up those pesky floor creaks or the soft breaths of air of anyone in her proximity. While it’s saved her life countless times, it also tends to make her jumpy and jittery, even during times of safety. And finally, she’s adept at pick-pocketing and lock-picking, both of which are skills that come naturally to her as breathing. What does not is lying; not that she can’t keep her cool under duress, but for some reason, Kiris is completely unable to string up a passable web of lies in mid-conversation.

Lastly, Kiris has had the opportunity to briefly dabble in a few fields of magic. She knows enough about fire magic to send off a quick, small burst of flames which doesn’t cause much more than a surprise burn to human opponents, but does have enough juice to set things ablaze, a handy feat for when the situation demands a quick diversion. And what little shadow magic she knows is enough for her to blend in with shadows, making herself invisible as long as she is immobile. For the moment, that is about the extent of her magic abilities.

Relationships
Rin Baypointe - Because of her negative feelings against the nobles of Halicourt, Kiris had some initial difficulty in bonding with Rin after the latter's heritage came to light. However, it hadn't taken her long to realize that Rin was more kindhearted and personable compared to the nobles that were complicit in her parents' deaths three years ago. In Cantaras City, Kiris found herself telling Rin of these events, making Rin the only person in the world who knew her side of the story. While the two haven't known each other for more than a few days, Rin is slowly becoming the first real source of companionship for Kiris since leaving Halicourt.

Aric Marshall - While personal interaction has been minimal since their first meeting, Aric Marshall was responsible for saving her life during an ambush at the recently-proclaimed New Halstead, and Kiris is starting to recognize him as a trusted ally.

Ariem Shalott - Kiris' first encounter with Ariem Shalott was actually in Alexshire before its razing, where the young thief pickpocketed the paladin's money pouch. A few nights after the Cantarian entourage set out for Halicourt, Kiris later returned it to Ariem and was met with nothing but complete forgiveness. In fact, Ariem went as far as to appoint herself Kiris' surrogate elder sister, a gesture that still has Kiris baffled. Nevertheless, there exists some measure of trust between the two despite their places on opposite sides of the law.

Extra Notes
-Whenever Kiris gets arrested for her thievery, she stops being arrested and starts being awesome instead. True story.