Cylostra Direfin
Cylostra Direfin, also known as the Siren of the Storm, was an Bretonnian singer who died at sea, only to rise again as a fearsome spirit who haunted the Sea of Serpents.
Description
Cylostra is a gluttonous-looking ethereal spirit, retaining her large frame that she had in life. Her voice is at once beautiful and terrifying.[1]
History
According to legend, the King of Bretonnia sent Cylostra as part of a delegation to sign an important treaty with the Phoenix King of Ulthuan. The High Elves were known to value art - particularly song - as much as they valued precious stones and metals, and Cylostra was the Bretonnian King's favourite singer. Cylostra's already sizeable ego was greatly bolstered by the opportunity to perform for elven royalty, and once she had boarded the ship that would take her to Ulthuan, the Lamprey, she bullied the captain, and demanded to be waited upon in a manner she felt befitting a personage of such great importance, ordering any who disobeyed her demands to be flogged.[1]
Once they were well away across the Great Ocean, the crew spotted a tempest in the way of their course. The captain, being an experienced sailor, said that they'd have to sail around it, but that it would mean a delay in reaching the island of the elves. Cylostra was having none of any talk of delays, and when the captain tried to overrule her, she threw the man overboard, maintaining the Lamprey's original course. Into the storm they went, the crew struggling to keep the Lamprey from capsizing. In her mania, Cylostra came to believe that if she could out-sing the squalls of the tempest, that she would somehow defeat it. She was wrong, of course, and ruined her vocal chords in the attempt, drowning as the ship sank with all hands.[1]
As her mouth filled with seawater though, she swore that she would return to sing her greatest performance ever. Her oath was heard by Stromfels who said that he would not only grant her immortality, but would also teach her sea magic, in exchange for becoming his emissary.[1]
Undeath
Cylostra rose in undeath as a syreen, becoming something of a terror to shipping, and even pirates traversing the Sea of Serpents. Those who had heard of her and the Lamprey avoided her ship when they could, lest they be drowned and raised as part of her undead crew.[1] She was sometimes served by the spirits of Bretonnian knights, assigned to be her bodyguards in life, having been disgraced for some reason, but not to the point of requiring their service to the Kingdom being prematurely ended. These men failed to protect her, drowning with her on the Lamprey, allowing her to summon their ghosts to serve her once more. The most prominent of these spirits was Robert Barthelemy.[2] Cylostra still intended to sing for the Phoenix King, but now she would so do even if it meant sinking Ulthuan into the ocean.[2]
Weapons and Equipment
- The Bordeleaux Flabellum: A razor sharp[1] enchanted fan that, despite her undead nature, Cylostra uses to cool herself in the heat.[2]
Gallery
Trivia
- Cylostra is the very first canonical Warhammer Fantasy Battles character that Games Workshop gave permission for Creative Assembly to design for their Total War series of video games, opening the door for them to create more such characters in Total War Warhammer III.
- Cylostra's character is (very) loosely based upon that of Hyacinth Bucket, a snobby middle-class housewife whose ego and ambitions outweighed her reality, from the 90s British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.[3]
Sources
- 1: The Siren of the Storm by Andy Hall
- 2: Total War Warhammer II
- 3: Bringing the Undead to Life with Audio in Total War: WARHAMMER II
