Anyanka

"It may be that there is such a thing as a tool that can’t be used as a weapon, but I’ve never met one."

{{Switch infobox {{Infobox }} Lorelei Amaranth is an Elven necromancer roleplayed by "Lorelei". She is known to be a rather zealous "scholar" by some and a former mass murderer by others.
 * item1= Lor.png
 * Box title = [[file: The Godless Symbol.png|25px]]Lorelei Amaranth[[file: The Godless Symbol.png|25px]]
 * image = File:Lorelei Amaranth.png
 * imagewidth = 350
 * caption = "Sillis was wrong - everything I touch comes to life."
 * Row 1 title = Origin
 * Row 1 info = Yanille
 * Row 2 title = Race
 * Row 2 info = Elf
 * Row 3 title = Clan
 * Row 3 info = Hefin
 * Row 4 title = Age
 * Row 4 info = ≤ 700?
 * Row 5 title = Gender
 * Row 5 info = Female
 * Row 6 title = Alignment
 * Row 6 info = Neutral Evil
 * Row 7 title = Residence
 * Row 7 info = Taverley
 * Row 8 title = Epiphet
 * Row 8 info = The Kingsbane
 * Row 9 title = Position in society
 * Row 9 info = Nobility
 * Row 10 title = Occupation
 * Row 10 info = Esoteric scholar

Obsessed with progression and the prospect of immortality like most of the other Amaranth, she is constantly reading in and researching. There have been rumors of her purchasing slaves and low-lives picked off the streets only for them to become victims to her gruesome tests.

Personality
"A powerful enough metaphor grows its own truth."

Cunning, manipulative and paranoid, Lorelei's long years of being susceptible to blackmail, being pushed around or manipulated into doing things have ensured that she is perpetually belligerent and suspicious. Difficult to the core, reasoning with her is something of a feat and she seldom falls in line when people expect her to. Should there be a single misstep in a plan to manipulate herself or someone she cares for, Lorelei is quick to step in and quick to capitalize on the weaknesses of others.

Her reactions to situations seem to vary a great deal on how they are presented and who brings them to her attention. Her emotions and reactions to events are recommended to be taken at face value. Never one to get involved with anything without a plan and fall-back plans for her potential screw-ups, she is an obsessive control freak.

Extremely protective and occasionally too much so, she offers little mercy or remorse to those that stand in her way. In recent years, much of her outward violence and readiness to engage in physical violence has warped, leaving her somewhat calmer, though she is nonetheless difficult to treat with. Attempting to pry information out of her typically results in her offering false intel to sabotage others.

While an arguably bad person, Lorelei is nonetheless both eternally loving and eternally loyal to her friends, ready to fight until the grim, bitter end.

Appearance
Bodily

Unimpressive in both stature and figure, she stands at 5'8" and gleans a lithe, willowy figure. Her most distinguishable marks are a small cluster of Amaranth flowers tattooed along her upper left arm that frame an ornate branding of an "A" and the large quantity of self-inflicted wounds and scars that adorn the outer part of her right forearm.

Tall and fair, she's deceptively non-threatening.

Facial

Lorelei's countenance is ageless, features unmarked by the passage of time. To compensate for it, the Elf seems to be permanently exhausted, worn out both physically and spiritually. Ominous dark rings loom below her eyes.

Seldom seen without a pair of frame-less spectacles that lend her a very scholarly air.

Clothing and equipment

She is generally clad in rather simply, her usual attire one fit for traveling, usually with long sleeves to hide the goetic markings snaked along her arms and likely covering most of her body; they seem to have been originally carved into her skin only to later be linked over. Her cloak disguises an elegant dagger bearing the Caedo's marks that is sheathed at the base of her back.

Garrote

Testament to her former profession, Lorelei still carries a double-wired garrote tucked away in one of the pockets stitched into her cloak. As it is double-wired, as opposed to typical garrotes, the weapon is meant to kill via massive intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) as opposed to relying on slicing the throat like traditional garrotes do. While it does not cut the jugular veins, it squeezes them shut but leaves the carotid arteries untouched and unaffected, resulting in the blood flowing up to the brain to become trapped there.

Those that survive it typically find themselves with a permanent disability and brain and nerve damage. Physical disabilities often include loss of vision, seizures, delirium, cognitive dysfunction, impaired language skills, paralysis (sometimes only on one side) or swelling in the brain.

Caedo dagger

Enchanted for resilience so that the fragile obsidian blade will not break, it's an ornate piece most often used for the blood-letting demanded by some of the spells Lorelei uses, though it can be used as a weapon. The fine filigree betrays that it is a difficult weapon to clean and is likely used for ceremonial purposes alone.

Items of interest in Lorelei's possession
The Never-ending Flask of Cherry Vodka

A fairly self-explanatory artifact. It happens to be a polished metal flask with the etchings of the Caedo Brotherhood and depictions of the other three Lords engraved into it. It is nigh-indestructible, resistant to dragon-fire and the only way to destroy it seems to be to unmake it. Seeing as the spell that ensures it is impervious to just about everything that anyone might come up with was devised by Lorelei, it's unlikely that it could be reversed back into being a normal, boring flask containing cherry vodka. Several other flasks of the sort were created and gifted to friends of hers. John Traven himself owns the Flask of Never-ending Screwdrivers which contains a perfect blend of vodka and orange juice. Such flasks have been described as "mythical". They are the ideal for those trying to kill themselves by alcohol poisoning, as it always seems comfortably 3/4 full.

Tome of the Void

The tome has taken on several different outward appearances but one constant remains: the metal latch and lock adorning it. The book, while small, never runs out of pages. Should one that may have gotten their hands on it come to read it and try to flip to the end, they would always be met with a blank page that waits expectantly to be filled. The book contains a number of goetic symbols and is an extensive resource for a large number of spells and prayers. Many of the chants contained in the book are written in Elven, though the rest of the tome happens to be written in Infernal.

While not impossible to open, the tome happens to spew obscenities at anyone that does not happen to be Lorelei and seems to have the passive enchantment of discouraging positive emotions from possible readers by constantly putting them down and trying to get them to kill themselves or give up opening up the tome.

Charged with power-thoughts and spells, the spells are cast when spoken in Freneskaen.

Known background
Of real name Llawryf "Saer", the Elf's clan name has gotten lost or was never a part of archives in the first place and her history is incomplete or entirely undocumented in some areas. Asking the woman herself seems to be as unfruitful as it is dangerous.

What records there are of the woman are mostly linked with her tyrannical and temporary rule of Falador. The Amaranth name itself bears a history steeped with blood and foul magicks with a hidden, butcher's influence. The name has been previously attached to Yanille, Falador, Varrock, Ardougne and a few minor, outlying villages.

Lorelei's history is filled with in-accuracies that suggest it has been heavily tampered with. Her files found in Ardougne list her as an arcanist and apothecary with no record at all and stipulate that she is married to the former Kinshra baron Xandres Zarco.

In Falador and Varrock's records, her last name is stated to be "Cross" and mentions of having been officially adopted by Corvus Cross when its House came into power. Anything illegal linked to her name seems to have been either removed or pardoned entirely both by the White Knights and in the eyes of the law. Her adoption ensured that she is now recorded as of true noble blood despite of being of a now largely defunct royal house.

What little is entirely certain about the woman is that she was once accused of witchcraft and mass murder. In the eyes of the law, these two severe crimes seem to have either seen their respective penances carried out or she has disappeared for lengths of time until they were forgotten.

As of the Sixth Age, Lorelei has revealed herself to be a scholar born into the Hefin Clan, only to have married into the Iorwerth Clan. She began to reintegrate society, though not as a criminal but as a physicker and an esoteric scholar. She has since been living in Asgarnia once more, often serving as a diplomat and has returned to Taverley; her home away from home.

Skills-set
Herein is a list of skills that Lorelei is known to be adept in.

Magical
Self-explanatory.

Elemental magic
"Fire is easy. Extinguishing is trickier."

Adept in all forms of elemental magic, Lorelei sustains that someone with a destroyer mindset will find certain schools of magic easier and others more difficult. In consequence of this, she is most skilled in fire magic.

Blood magic
Few of the still living know the extent of how prolific Lorelei is in weaponized blood magic. However, her method of healing with it is as gruesome and painful as it is well-known. It is noted to be the only form of magical healing that she is capable of.

Exorcism
While in more recent years Lorelei has not been known to use it often, she has exorcised a handful of people on request in the past.

Necromancy
Thoroughly a witch, necromancy used to be rather blatantly Lorelei's primary field of study. While she no longer makes use of it often, it is known that the subject she has applied herself most to studying happens to be resurrection - the act of bringing the person back from the dead.

Medical
A skilled traditional doctor, Lorelei is known to have served in several courts as a physician or surgeon. During the Cleeves reign of Ardougne, she was known under the name "Lei Zarco" and worked as an herbalist, apothecary and occasional doctor. She has been known to offer free medical assistance for those in need of it and she prefers using traditional methods instead of healing by way of blood magic unless it is absolutely required.

Combat
Formerly a combatant, Lorelei used to be known as a hand to hand combatant capable of killing with her bare hands. She has been noted to be a striker. Having since retired, she has been noted to not have trained since her last kill and is completely out of practice.

Languages spoken

 * Kharidian. Strongly accented. Uses a lot of slang that betrays that she learned it in Pollnivneach.
 * Elvish, obviously.
 * Common tongue. She speaks like a native speaker and without an accent.
 * Infernal

Affiliations/Loyalties

 * House Cross
 * House Amaranth
 * The Grey Knight Order
 * Thorvald the Soul-eater
 * Sillis Grey/Varis Grey and co
 * The Caedo Brotherhood and allies
 * The Sliskean faction (suspected)

Enemies

 * White Knight Order
 * The Ryder family

Sub-pages

 * Compilation resource of Lorelei's notes, essays and journals. Only some of it is IC information.

Trivia

 * Lorelei named herself such after the story of a Siren by the same name that she once heard.
 * She's a former soldier, though there are no records of her being associated to any currently known military. It is possible that she was training to be a soldier when she was still functioning under her real name.
 * Sillis Grey was her first husband and she once stated that, while she loves him in a way that she will never love anyone else in, that they just weren't meant to be happy together.
 * Lorelei is an unrepentant alcoholic.
 * She has two sons, one of Sillis Grey and the other of Xandres Zarco.


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Anyanka is a rarely seen and seldom heard of devious Mahjarrat and a powerful necromancer that accidentally lost herself under alternate forms for at least six thousand years.

Personality
Machiavellian to the core, Anyanka is ruthless in war, politics and in the pursuit of knowledge. Brutal and adept at prying information from people she is nonetheless a skilled bureaucrat of sorts after having spent a certain amount of time interacting with various kinds of demons over the years. While talkative and expressive in hand-motion, it's difficult to determine at any given time what she might be thinking about or feeling. She is best described as placid unless her ire is drawn and always seems vaguely amused due to some joke that she's not keen on sharing with anyone.

A renown hedonist in her own right, she is prone to choosing the more entertaining road to the easier one. While arguably a risk taker, she has no intention of truly risking her own skin and will only embark in dangerous ventures if she is confident that they can be tackled.

Interactions with Dreams of Mah
Anyanka ascribes to the notion that there are few reasons to kill another Dream of Mah outside of ritual sacrifice. Instead, she promotes the alternative of studying the cases of Dreams of Mah that put the entire group of them present on Gielinor in danger and advocates that they should be put into forceful hibernation instead of killed. From there, she believes that they should pass a certain amount of time asleep and eventually awoken and allowed to roam during a "trial period" before their case is re-evaluated and their fate decided from there.

Interations with "lesser races"
She takes a certain amount of interest in the goings-on of humans involved with her kin and in their respective skill sets. While not outwardly aggressive concerning them, she has no real regard for the value of their lives.

Languages spoken

 * Freneskaen
 * Infernal
 * Common tongue
 * Kharidian
 * Menaphosian
 * Elvish

Known haunts
Your character may know Anyanka if:


 * They used to frequent the shows that Sliske put on in Sennstisten for a short period of time.
 * They were associated in any way with Senntisten's secret police-force. She served as a Praetorian under Sliske and Trindine.
 * They fought on the forward line in the Kharidian-Zarosian war.
 * They were born on Freneskae.
 * They spend a lot of time in the Shadow Realm chilling out and spying on people.

Appearance
Bodily Standing at 7'9" of full height, Anyanka is a creature of Olympian proportion and boasting a build of hard, compact muscle. Much of her strength seems concentrated in her upper-body and, rather appropriately, her weapon of choice happens to be the spear. Ashen-skinned, a number of crimson tribal markings run along the length of her arms and down her back.

Clothing and equipment

Much as the rest of her kin, she favors split robes and shirks armor exempting the bare minimum; a pair of enchanted metal bracers, a pair of gauntlets and a pair of metal-capped boots. Fond of color, it contrasts somewhat with her skin-tone. She is usually portrayed wearing a hood or a mask that follows the theme of her attire. From time to time, she has been known to tote around her spear which happens to be a monstrosity of incredible reach and bearing a sharp, tempered blade and ending with a sharp spike.

Her split-robes allow her the freedom of movement that she needs while also adhering to the traditional attire of her kin. Magicked for resilience, the garments protect her from the elements and the treacherous bite of weaponry to some extent.

Anyanka's attire is said to have been made from raharni wildcat fur because it conducts enchantments best, is durable and can sustain more wear while remaining functional than other materials known to Gielinor.

Facial

Crimson war paints adorn her features and accentuate the ridges along her skull. A red gem is embedded into her forehead, right between where her brows would be and a few more adorn her forehead. Whenever she speaks, she showcases a mouth full of unnaturally sharp, jagged teeth. Her amber eyes burn with an everlasting fire, her sceleras happening to be black. Much like Kharshai, having been lost under another form for so long altered her own somewhat and Anyanka's ears happen to be a bit longer than those of most of her kin.

Brief background
One of the many Mahjarrat to convert to Zarosianism following the troubles the Mahjarrat encountered with Itchlarin during the Second Age, Anyanka was later recruited to join the Praetorian's ranks. Prior to that, the female had always been fairly reserved. It's very likely that Sliske's ways rubbed off on her at some point or another, heralding a change in her that throttled her very nature. The change in the way of life of the Mahjarrat presumably affected her deeply, leading to her eventual corruption and subsequent fall into necromancy.

Fighting alongside of Zarosian forces in the Battle for the Ritual Site, she helped repel the Saradominists only to eventually be trapped in a cave with Nex and the others. Once Sliske manipulated a group of Saradominist priests into releasing Saradomin's seal upon the cave, Anyanka fought once more, only to eventually disappear into the Shadow Realm, dozens of her allies in tow.

Gravely wounded and needing to recover her strength, Anyanka lapses into sleep and begins to dream of Llawryf Saer of the Hefin clan, who eventually became Lorelei Amaranth. Lost, she lives out several decades as an Elf, warping her natural features as a Mahjarrat in the process.

As of the Sixth Age, she has recovered much of her memory and has become a staunch opposer of the gods. Wishing for the Mahjarrat to become the masters of their own fate, she sets off to gather allies and supporters.

Freneskae
Born to the ruined world of Freneskae as the child of two warriors shortly after the second Ritual of Enervation, Anyanka was raised and trained to become an efficient killer in her own right. As a child, she was known for her roughness and her tendency to take even the simplest of fights and arguments further then needed. When her petty ire lacked outlet, she would often turn her aggression on herself, becoming incredibly self-destructive and withdrawn.

Enchanted with the idea of going to war with enemy tribes, she was obsessed with becoming stronger for the sole purpose of glory and eventually forced herself to calm so that she wouldn't trouble her elders. Once under the wing of her betters, the young Mahjarrat began to integrate her tribe, taking great and immediate interest in the Shadow Realm and those that could improve her proficiency in accessing it.

Spying on her comrades and playmates became commonplace so that she could take on a more dominant position in the war games that they played together. While only moderately successful in that endeavor, a valuable lesson was learned in warfare: knowledge was not enough. When allowed to do so, she started to attend or even simply spy on the gatherings that occurred between the elders of her tribe so that she could learn how proper alliances were made.

Gradually, as Rituals of Enervation and Rejuvenation came and went, the youth came to harbor resentment for Mother Mah, the Creator. While grateful for her existence, she slowly began to see the creator-god of their people as an increasingly large burden.

Icthlarin's arrival on Freneskae heralded change in the constant of war with the Chelon-Mah and the warrior was eager to leave to set foot on a new, unknown world and to leave Mah behind.

Overall, Anyanka boasted an average childhood for one of her kin and while her years on Freneskae were marked with perpetual warfare, what she remembers of her childhood is something that she still thinks of fondly.

Second Age
As battles came and went while fighting beneath the banner of Icthlarin as a Stern Judge and Faceless One, Anyanka's ruthlessness and brutality returned in full force and she rapidly grew bored of humankind, believing them to be weak and inferior and rapidly coming to understand why the desert god was so desperate to find warriors to fight for him. Becoming arrogant and lax, she began submitting enemy forces to gruesome and random bouts of psychological torture by forcing them to turn on their allies and loved ones by using blood magic against them.

Previously, war had always been waged for simple survival but now thrust into a new world in which the risk on her life had greatly diminished, Anyanka reveled in the new power of her position by becoming something of a tyrant. Her sharp mind turned its attention to learning new shock tactics to subject her enemies to. She rapidly built a name for herself through her mastery of blood magic and applied herself to studying the Shadow Realm of Gielinor as well. While distinctly unfamiliar, she intended to make this new, green world her home and to make herself comfortable.

Years later, when the war came to an end and Sliske's wights were taken away by Icthlarin, she was one of the first and most vocal supporters of Sliske's idea to join the growing Zarosian Empire's ranks. A few months before Nazutakkaaik Dao Rummattagar Elu Pettikaar Dizhrati Pelshragikk was formed and she began to research an alternative to the Ritual of Rejuvenation.

Recruited to become a part of Senntisten's secret police early on in the creation of the force, presumably by Trindine, her talents for torture and psychological warfare were applied to draw information out of prisoners of war and suspected traitors. Pleased but not yet satisfied with an even more prominent position in society, Anyanka integrated the multi-racial culture with relative ease, eager to experience everything all at once.

When Sliske's plays came to their inevitable end and torturing prisoners was no longer as entertaining, she began framing political figures for crimes or plotting them against each-other, only to quickly grow bored of that as well and to begin roaming Gielinor in search of something new to do. As a skilled shape-shifter, she integrated various communities and went about pitting families against themselves, throwing a number of lavish parties, hosting orgies and generally being a nuisance, she was largely disregarded as a threat by the increasingly popular Zamorakian faction.

Displeased by the rift forming in her tribe because of the events set in motion by Zamorak and his supporters, Anyanka returned to Markejjik, the Amaranth's base of operations, only for the Amaranth to eventually find themselves on the receiving end of the hostilities between the Zarosians and the temporary Zaramokian-Saradominist alliance. Markejjik being newly suspected of being a Zarosian outpost or harboring Zarosians, the members of the order reunited and eventually agreed that relocating the Fortress would be the best course of action.

Along with the other more powerful members of the order, they uprooted Markejjik and relocated it into the sky, rendering it into a small, floating city island.

Third Age
Hearing of the Zarosian army led by Nex attempting to defend the Mahjarrat Ritual Site from the Saradominists, Anyanka left Markejjik with the other warriors and assisted her former allies in its defense. When the Saradominist forces realized that they would be unable to defeat their opponents in open field, they routed them to a cave south of the Ritual Site, near Trollheim. Anyanka and most of the others become trapped in the cave, only to fall victims to enchanted sleep.

Stuck in the stasis of sleep, she was only released when Sliske tricked a group of Saradominist priests into releasing Saradomin's seal upon the cave. The army waking suddenly, Anyanka stood alongside of the others to fight against the followers of all of the other gods, who had all gathered to oppose them. Upon realizing that it was a losing battle and they would simply be sealed away again after sustaining heavy losses, she lapses into the Shadow Realm, rescuing several of the present Amaranth in the process and disappeared.

Gravely wounded from the battle and exhausted from transporting and guiding dozens of other people through the Shadow Realm, the Mahjarrat returns to Markejjik beaten and requests to be left alone to regenerate and regain her strength.

Left alone, Anyanka eventually lapses into sleep once more and begins to dream of Llawryf Saer of the Hefin Clan, unbeknownst to her allies. During her sleep, she eventually leaves Markejjik without any knowledge of who she is and integrates Elvish society.

Fourth Age
Inactive period of Lorelei's youth.

Fifth Age
After meeting Sillis Grey, Lorelei is formally introduced to the world of magic, only to later make the acquaintance of a necromancer by the name of Zaox Sicarius. The descent into the worst case scenario is rapid and unmistakable, marked with alcoholism and grief.

Using her knowledge of necromancy, Lorelei begins siphoning creatures and even people in her pursuit for power. As a direct effect of this, she eventually gathered enough energy at some point shortly before Guthix' death that she was able to dream herself out of her previously occupied Elven form. Confused and disoriented, the Mahjarrat becomes angered, suspecting foul play and searches for answers.

Once Anyanka came to the conclusion that she was the only one to blame for her condition, she started struggling to piece her life together through the memories that others have of her.

Sixth Age
Slowly but surely, the Mahjarrat settled back in on herself, returning to her old antics of undermining people, causing general chaos, ruining plans and making futile attempts to reunite her fractured tribe.

Fields of study
Necromancy Skilled necromancer in her own right, necromancy is Anyanka's primary field of study. Weaponized, she has used it to siphon energy from various people and as a method of empowerment. Most of those she has slain in battle over the years have been reanimated and put to use in her army, the most powerful among them used as personal guards or Generals and Lieutenants.

She is known to have applied her knowledge of necromancy for other, more mundane things such as securing the long, prosperous life of crops during the Second Age and for medical purposes.

Blood magic Rightfully dubbed the blood witch on several occasions, there have been rumors of her signature trademark spell pertaining to this school of magic due to her very particular and extreme proficiency with it.

Alignment
Neutral Evil with Chaotic tendencies.

Individualist first and last, Anyanka is an unmistakable pragmatist. Courage is not a survival trait. Lacking moral grounding, scruples or notions of mercy, innocent people are often crushed in her pursuit for power or simple entertainment.

So long as she comes out on top, she cares little for the implications of her actions and places no importance in maintained alliances and loyalties, seeking instead the highest bidder and strongest party to rally herself alongside of. She is far from squeamish when it comes to violence and lashing out at those that would stand against her. Above herself, Anyanka honors no authority and her refusal to acknowledge them is potent and constant.

While not a great maintainer of alliances, she is willing to invest into subordinates and colleagues that hold similar interests and aspirations so that they can remain on top and mutually support each-other if needed. Still, she places no trust in those allies and would kill them without remorse should they turn on her.

Sub-pages

 * Compilation resource of Anyanka's notes, essays and journals. Only some of it is IC information.
 * Anyanka's memories

Trivia

 * "Anya" in Sanskrit is either a word meaning "inexhaustibly" or a pronoun meaning "other". The word is of the same origin as Mahārāja from which the word "Mahjarrat" is derived.
 * The name Anyanka is a tribute to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer character "Anyanka" who happens to be a vengeance demon and the patron saint of Women Scorned.

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