Welcome to Gaia! ::

Name: Zayn
Age: Ieldi equivalent of 23
Race: Ieldi, Flame Bowerbird
Class: Rogue (Thief)
Occupation: Wandering Artisan
Current Home: Wherever the road takes him, though he does own the inn Phoenix Rest in a pocket realm of Sabilasi, accessible from the top of Durem Tower.

Eyes: Bright red, edged in black markings due to his Flame Bowerbird heritage as an Ieldi.
Hair: Bright red and casually messy. It is long in the front than it is at the back, though even then his bangs only reach around chin level.

Interesting Features: Two large wings rise from his back, mainly red, but tipped in gold and black. Small feathers expand from his wings to cover his shoulders and the area around the wings themselves with a downy-like substance. The same effect takes place around his tail, though to a slightly lesser degree. The down gives way to dark gold skin, which fades into black at his hands and feet.

His bones are hollow, meaning he can easily glide with his wings, though not actually fly.

Clothing: Zayn wears sturdy clothing fit for travel and all manner of art. He prefers tunics or shirts, worn over long pants. He tends to favour drab colours such as brown when travelling - anything else stains too easily. Splotches of paint and art materials can often be found on his clothes. He always carries at least one bag and a pouch or two, which always include a sketchbook and some pencils.

Zayn isn't much of a flyer, so when he is at home, he is mostly found in robes. He has two main sets of clothes - work/art clothes and social clothes. His social clothes are generally bright and festive, in colours designed to set off his red-and-gold plumage. As an artist, he ensures that nothing clashes or looks garish. His work clothes are more simple in cut and are made from rougher fabrics in subdued colours. Zayn is well aware of how messy his art can be and several tongue-lashings from his mother at a young age impressed on him the need to wear less expensive clothes when painting or sculpting.

Zayn's home clothing tends to be almost toga-like, though sometimes with loose pants on underneath and shorter togas, and sometimes just the long robes themselves. When painting, he will often go without a shirt and just wear pants, or wear a loose mid-length toga to allow for movement when rushing back and forth between his art materials.


Likes: Art, travelling, beautiful things.
Dislikes: Heights, cities, Deities of Chaos, certain rules of society (such as "thou shalt not steal")
Strengths: Creative, caring, determined
Weaknesses: Absent-minded, prone to panicking/worrying, physically weak


General Persona: He is rather solitary if left to himself - a bit absentminded, able to get caught up in his work and forget he should be eating, cleaning, going outside and meeting others. He's not shy by nature but is a bit reticent until you get onto a subject he feels passionately about. If he decides he wants something, he'll do just about anything to get it. He'd be very demonstrative when courting, or trying to sway people to his point of view.

He can be very messy at times, leaving his art supplies lying around his house and forgetting to clean paint off his hands or face before it dries. He's the kind of person who makes you think someone really ought to be looking after him.

He loves beautiful things, especially creating them or capturing them in an artistic manner (although he can sometimes also have light-fingered tendencies ^^;; ) Zayn's sense of beauty is more attuned to his art and nature, more than any sort of material wealth or possessions. His kleptomania seems more an inborn instinct than any true desire for the objects themselves.


Weaponry: Carries a dagger or two for protection when travelling, but isn't the warrior-sort, so he won't use anything larger than that.

Kali: Zayn's mother, who spent months luring and reassuring Zayn's spirit form before he agreed to be reborn into Gaia. An amateur bird watcher from an early age, Kali leapt at the chance to attract and raise an Ieldi. She was also an amateur artist, so her use of artistic materials as a lure resulted in attracting an artistic spirit like Zayn.

She was a traveller, saying she wanted to see the world while she was young. It is likely Zayn inherited his wandering nature from all the traveling they did while he was young, as he certainly wasn't the type to travel in his previous life.

What she hadn't revealed to her son until it was too late was that Kali had leukemia. Her adventurous spirit wouldn't allow her to waste away in hospital, so she was spending her last years traversing the world instead. She lived to see Zayn grown to a young adult, before finally succumbing in her sleep one night at Phoenix Rest Inn. She was buried next to the inn, and over the years Zayn made a small grove as a memorial around her burial site.




Chronos: (originally played by Youkochilde, presently played by Sosiqui)
It was thanks to this member of the Kyendi Pantheon that Kali and Zayn's relic made it out of the tree alive when Valesti attacked. Even within his relic, Zayn could sense to presence of one of his gods. Chronos' reassurances that the ground was safe meant a lot, added with Kali's. Without Chronos, it is doubtful as to whether Kali alone could have convinced Zayn that ground was a safe thing. So not only was Chronos the first other Kyendi being that Zayn encountered, Chronos also had an important impact on his life and development.

If the first Tree had not been destroyed, and the Kyendi all fleeing to different ends of the world, it is likely that Zayn would have taken Chronos as his patron god.




Odilen: (played by Sosiqui)
This graceful dancer and storyteller was one of the first Ieldi to be reborn into Gaia. Unlike Zayn, she was born before the first Tree was destroyed by Neruheru, and so had reason to enjoy life among the branches and retain the Ieldi's inborn fear of the ground. Odilen and Zayn met as children, when Zayn was only newborn, but were then taken separate ways by their respective mothers.

Zayn met Odilen once again when both were caught up during a quest for the Crystals of Gaia. They spent much time together in a tiny inn/tavern that the Elysian action seemed centered around. They even attained mooching moogles at the same time.

Odilen is the kindest, prettiest person Zayn knows. The fact that both are Kin means he is automatically at ease around her. As fellow artisans and wanderers, they formed close bonds and travelled together for a time. Despite eventually parting ways, they still meet when both visit the pocket-realm of Sabilasi on top of Durem Tower. Zayn always looks forward to meeting Odilen again, for reasons he has yet to admit to himself...




Imriel: (played by Paperghost)
The first of the Ieldi to be reborn, Imriel has led a solitary life. Her mother, La Karasu, died when she was young, and although Karasu's ghost remained, Paperghost had lost her memories of her daughter, leaving Imriel by herself.

It is only recently that Zayn has met Imriel once more, after he and Odilen discovered that Imriel was butchering the souls of the Kin into making Pala. Zayn's worry dissolved after learning Imriel was simply trying to create more Ieldi to ease her loneliness. His heart goes out to the solitary Ieldi. Even if she can be stubborn, sulky and standoff-ish, Zayn believes that the six existing Ieldi should be there for one another. He's resolved to keep in close contact with Imriel.

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Kyunru, Ieldi, Kyuria (c) Paperghost.
Zayn's design and character (c) Kalindara.
All character art (c) Paperghost unless otherwise specified.
Elderspark (c) Paperghost.
Elysians & "Crystals of Gaia" (c) to Paperghost and Kheleksul.

Journal layout (c) Sosiqui. Used with permission.