Hyacinth Elestae
Profile
Basic Information
Name:
Hyacinth Elestae
Nickname(s):
Age:
78
Birth Date:
21st Frost, 8217
Height:
5'6" (167cm)
Gender:
NB
Race:
Light Elf
Class:
Conjurer
Occupation:
Cardinal Vitivier, Prefect of Rites
Guild(s):
Enhancement(s):
Likes
Dimension diving, being praised, idle wandering, doodling patterns, silent companionship, storybook legends, big engulfing hugs, lemons (i.e. will consume a whole lemon like a nice orange)
Dislikes
Failure, disrespect, being underestimated, unnecessary awkward conversations, people watching them eat, getting dirty, bread crusts, liars and having to lie
Personality
Prickly | Arrogant | Zealous | Sharp-tongued | Insecure | Controlling | Earnest | Cares about little things
Hyacinth's name has long been defined the label 'prodigy'. That means a lot of different things to a lot of different people - for their family it's the arrival of grand ancestral dreams; for their peers it's a towering pedestal; for their nation it's the power and hope vested in 'Delverne's greatest weapon'. For Hyacinth themself, it means a lifetime of knowing they're elite, different, meant for something special. At their best they're dignified and noble - more aloof than friendly, but genuinely devoted to the highest Delvan ideals. At their worst they're an arrogant little tyrant - self-important, demanding and foul-tempered with an insult for every occasion. While there are certainly more who fear or dislike them than who really like them, they satisfy themself that few would dare reproach them either way. Because most importantly of all: they are exactly as extraordinary as their big reputation, and the respect that commands is all that really matters. Or so they think.
Yet their blessed life with all its special attention and exceptionalism has stunted as much as it's spoiled them. At heart they're like a tower of cards - high and mighty to the eye, but built on a fragile sense of self-worth from being loved and valued for their summoning talent alone. Their special status twists interactions - on the one hand they're allowed to act out in ways others would be tarred for; on the other their walls are sky-high for all the ulterior motives and expectations of 'strength' placed on them. With so much to guard, they test and snap and try to squeeze the world into safe little boxes - i.e. the Delverne-centric worldview they were raised into, and their summoner conception of relationships as contracts.
They scoff at sentimental beliefs like 'unconditional love' and 'intrinsic value' as naïve comforts for the unimportant - but their disdain comes from a place of envy and in truth they crave all the basic kindnesses they've come to consider beneath them. They treasure time spent without purpose and little things done without thought. They hate deception and want simplicity despite their baggage muddying things anyway. And their feelings for the people in their life are convoluted - because even if they're prickly and cryptic about it, they think a lot more about those people than they realise. Not that they have the emotional awareness to understand any of this, let alone submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known.
History
Since Delverne’s nascence, the Elestae family has stood at its top as the bearers of one of its greatest weapons - the ‘Tears of Aurith’ or ‘Slumbering King’, a bloodline familiar so powerful that it has single-handedly ended wars. Yet within the family it’s believed that none have actually managed to tap its full potential, that it’s truly S-class, and that their true mission is not only to continue the line of wielders but to one day produce a hero who can unleash that full potential.
It was into this family mission that Hyacinth was born. Their mother Daphne, a daughter of Elestae branch family, and father Azarias, a professor of summoning magics, won the genetic lottery with their firstborn. The pair started to realise Hyacinth was special when they summoned their first familiar Iris at a shockingly young age. The fact then cemented when it was discovered that she was a juvenile B-class and that they’d been secretly hacking up ways to do magic far above their level (badly but against all odds successfully) out of excitement. Azarias put them through an intensive screening normally used on much older subjects, to receive the holy grail result - real potential to eventually handle S-class levels of power. The news was rushed to family head Leandre, who immediately issued a request for adoption; Daphne and Azarias agreed eagerly. At the time Leandre had been grooming a talented older niece, Mersa, to become heir once she reached Conjurer - but the love and grand promises for her future evaporated overnight and, devastated, she turned the blame on Hyacinth.
Hyacinth, on the other hand, was suddenly yanked from a normal childhood into the position of the family’s golden goose. They were moved to Leandre’s palace, told to call him ‘father’ and smothered with fawning attention. But alongside enjoying all the eager spoiling, they grew tense and lonely as the sudden changes and expectations took their toll, and what used to be love turned into manipulation. Only Iris stayed pure and simple, so they turned to her more and more for companionship - which seemed to please everyone as it meant they buried themself in summoning magic. Leandre happily gathered them a flock of tutors and they advanced to Conjurer in their late teens... at the cost of socialisation. The huge emphasis on their ‘prodigy’ status became enmeshed with their pride, identity and growing insecurities to make them defensive, arrogant and self-centred - yet none of this bothered Leandre until Daphne and Azarias had a second child, and all of Hyacinth’s confused, unprocessed feelings of betrayal burst out as jealousy towards the baby. The new parents quickly removed themselves while Leandre put Hyacinth on intervention, but either way they decided then that they were better off keeping to themself and closed up. It was only when Zefiel became their bodyguard a decade later that things started to mend. Despite huge resistance at first, his dauntless insistence on ‘meeting the real Hyacinth’ eventually broke through their spikes. After three arduous years they began to open up to him, and from there a genuinely loving uncle-nibling relationship bloomed. Slowly, they grew kinder to others too.
At age 60 Leandre deemed them ready to inherit the Slumbering King. The contracting ritual started smoothly, but halfway through they faltered and the legendary familiar went wild. It destroyed the building almost instantly, and in the ensuing chaos it struck Zefiel down as he rushed the main family out - transforming his legs to solid gold from the thigh down. Leandre finally regained control and cancelled the ritual but it was too late - Zefiel had no choice but to retire as a paraplegic. Hyacinth, who was not used to failure, took it extremely hard. The incident turned into a huge mental block, and even though they tried again many times, they repeatedly lost nerve mid-ritual. By the 10th year of this Leandre returned to Mersa in desperation and began intensively training her up as a real backup for the Slumbering King - igniting a vicious rivalry between them.
Then, Leandre Ascended without warning. With neither Hyacinth nor Mersa having contracted the Slumbering King yet, a crucial piece of Delverne’s defense had become inaccessible - but a new head still had to be chosen so the family pinned their hopes on ‘special’ Hyacinth, to Mersa’s chagrin. As part of the family privilege they were also appointed to a Cardinal’s seat as Prefect of Rites, the first duty of which was to organise the Heroes’ Feast. They tackled the task seriously in an attempt to quell their crushing self-doubts, but of course it was little more than distraction - until a chance encounter and confession of worries with novelist ‘Faust’. His encouragement was on some level not new, but hearing it from a perfect stranger - i.e. someone completely divorced from the family baggage - finally made the words real. It was the final push they needed; when the moment of need arrived soon after with Miras’ surprise attack, they at long last bound the Slumbering King and called it into Alva with their own strength. Doing both so close together plunged them into a deep coma - but not forever as many feared. And when they did wake, it was with new confidence that they could wield it fully.`
Current Story
Now that they’ve overcome the big hurdle of acquiring the Slumbering King, they spend much of their time getting accustomed to its power. Next time they need it - and there will most certainly be a next time given the Delvans’ situation - they’ll be ready to use it at full strength.
Additional Info
Family:
The Elestae family is of Eparque rank and given special treatment because the Slumbering King is so important. They also have a stable of other powerful heirloom familiars. The family head is always appointed to a Cardinal seat, and they are expected to procreate to continue the familiar’s line of inheritance. Leandre actually had several children of his own, but none were truly top-tier summoners and the competitive atmosphere versus their cousins drove them all out of home long before Hyacinth arrived. Politically, they are hard-line patriots.
The Sarabrea family are old friends and long-standing allies of the Elestae, hence why Leandre helped Zefiel move to the Templars of the Palace - and into his employ - after he was cast out of the Templars Foreign.
The Lugier family is the branch family Hyacinth was originally born into, ranked as gentry under the Elestae. Their status shot up after Hyacinth was adopted as heir. The ones of marriageable age are now considered hot property by genetic proximity, even if none are nearly so over-specced.
Summoning:
The Slumbering King is their main familiar, a supposed S-class which takes the form of liquid gold encased in ice. It has the power to transmute things to gold, making it an anomaly that grants access to a lost magic (transmutation). At ‘normal’ power level (around high A-class), it looks like a long looping stream and can transform items that it touches. At higher levels of power, it starts to take more of a four-legged form and can transform chunks of landscape. What it looks like or can do at ‘full power’ is unknown. At baseline it’s trapped in a deep slumber; to summon it requires waking it, where more wakefulness means more power. Keeping it awake is a constant effort that feels like fighting heavy fatigue, and can cause the summoner to fall comatose - possibly forever. Contracting it requires a freshly cut sigil at the head (‘crown’ position), chest (‘medallion’ position) or shoulder (‘mantle’ position). When the contract is accepted, the cuts then scab over with green-blue ice and turn gold underneath. The summoner should kneel while they summon - a practicality not a condition, but it certainly contributes to the optics.
Iris is their companion familiar, a B-class siren salamander with a very squishy body and high magic ability. Because they got her so early, her contract is full of childish and very permissive terms - e.g. kissy quotas, ‘playtime’, right to request being summoned. She’s the only living thing Hyacinth is prepared to love without restraint because she predates all of their baggage. She’s also a lot stronger than Hyacinth ever uses her for, because they can’t bear to put her in danger - a textbook example of why summoners shouldn’t get too emotionally invested in their familiars. Leandre hated it all and used to call her ‘the most disgustingly spoiled familiar this side of Alva’ - until Hyacinth threatened to run away like all his other kids (a critical hit).
Their specialties are ultimatums (for the Slumbering King) and reverse summoning (to visit Iris).
Other:
Heavily indoctrinated by their family. They believe unquestioningly in elvish supremacy and the divine right of the Delvan Church, and have a pretty extreme idea of what duty and rightful sacrifice mean. They’ve never been exposed to any other worldview as their family tightly guards their social circle.
Has a reputation for being pretty mean - mostly from their younger years when they were deliberately nasty, but renewed in the last decade because the ordeal with the Slumbering King was so stressful. They're aware they have a terrible personality and try to make an effort not to be too awful - but they still easily get defensive and snap hard when they lose their temper.
Very cuddly but no-one will ever know because they get 100% of their needs from Iris.
Pockets are always full of raisins. People think they love raisins but really they just collect them because Iris loves raisins - in the same way that a lactose intolerant person might love ice-cream.
Makes an effort to look androgynous. They present as gender neutral; in reality they're gender fluid and would like to express the full range but won't because of internalised Delvan mores.
Relations
Leandre Elestae
Father in the sense of patriarch rather than dad. They weren’t very close but they did - and still do - respect him deeply as a mentor and role model. Despite being the origin of their worries, they appreciated that he was reliable, tried his best and gave them space for the most part. It worked out well for him in the end, as Hyacinth did come to consider him their primary loyalty after falling out with their parents.
Mersa Elestae
Rival cousin, the daughter of one of Leandre’s younger siblings. Their relationship was antagonistic from the start, which they never liked but it’s far too late to make peace. At least the rivalry has cooled down now that Hyacinth has ‘won’, meaning they can go back to treating each other like unsavoury distant relatives.
Zefiel Sarabrea
Their former bodyguard who they regard more like a favourite uncle. When he was first hired Hyacinth thought he was the worst and really made him suffer through the process of befriending them - but he survived the test and his unwavering warmth was in fact something they desperately needed. It’s really Zefiel who gives them all of their Dad™ experiences, from heartful confidences to affectionate public embarrassment. They’re very unhappy with his banishment, but hold out hope that it can be reversed.
Daphne & Azarias Lugier
Biological parents. They don’t have a meaningful relationship any more despite repeated attempts from the Lugiers to reconcile. Even though Hyacinth has come to terms with what happened and even accepts it as the 'right' choice, they can't help resenting being sold up. Ironically, Daphne originally thought the family 'breeding project' was immoral and wanted no part in it - but once the winner fell into her lap, the internalised desire for family approval was too great. Azarias never saw issue with it. Both now have a happy family with new kids - none of whom are genius summoners of any interest to the main family. They all escaped to Alesse when Delverne fell.
Leo Binici
Someone who they wanted to befriend, but now feel very conflicted about after finding out his involvement with the destruction of Delverne. They still want a chance to confront him personally - because he helped them in a way that mattered very much to them even so, and resolving that with his role in the destruction is difficult. They only know him by his fake name ‘Faust’.
