Ciarda

Ciarda is an ancient lilin (first undead created by Lilith) and elite combat specialist for The Umbra supernatural hunting organization. Despite being one of the oldest and most powerful undead creatures, she has chosen to protect mortals from supernatural threats, making her one of the most unique figures in the Hidden World.

Physical Description

• Hair: Long silver hair that "snaps around her" during combat
• Build: Athletic warrior's physique optimized for combat
• Age Appearance: Unknown (appears to be in peak physical condition)
• Species: Ancient lilin (first generation undead)
• Distinguishing Features: Moves with fluid, predatory grace

Background & History

Ancient Origins

• Species: First generation lilin created by Lilith, the first wife of Adam
• Age: Uncertain due to memory loss - described as "not certain" of her exact age
• Memory Issues: Suffers from significant memory gaps about her past
• Historical Significance: Among the oldest supernatural beings still active
• Survival: One of the few ancient lilins to survive The Order's historical purges

Past as Mashisa the Mad Demon

• True Identity: Originally known as "Mashisa the Mad Demon" with silver hair
• Previous Weapon: Wielded the Hellblade - a black sword forged in Hell
• Dark Legacy: Left ruined cities and rivers of blood across many countries
• Egyptian Imprisonment: Subdued by a demon and witch, imprisoned in an Egyptian tomb
• Mass Destruction: Legends tell of her slaughtering thousands during her rampage
• Memory Loss: Awakened 4,000 years ago with no memory of her life before the curse

The Half Heart Curse

• Binding Curse: A witch removed half of her heart and cursed it with control magic
• Forced Servitude: Must obey commands of whoever possesses her half heart
• Current Controller: Adam Coleman of The Umbra holds her half heart
• Unwilling Member: "I am the only one in the team who has no choice"
• Debt Concept: Views her service as paying a debt until her heart is returned
• Freedom Quest: Seeks the Hellblade to reverse the curse and regain her freedom
• Constant Reminder: "Thank me when my debt is paid and my half heart returned"

Powers & Abilities

Lilin Heritage Powers

• Supernatural Strength: Type I strength (can lift cars, trucks, buses)
• Supersonic Speed: Enhanced movement and reaction time
• Enhanced Senses: Superior perception and awareness
• Regeneration: Advanced healing capabilities
• Hypnosis: Can influence others through eyes, voice, or touch
• Vampiric Links: Ability to create connections to prey (unused in current role)

Unique Abilities & Limitations

• Complete Dematerialization: Can phase in and out of physical existence
  • "She was completely dematerializing" - beyond normal vampire speed
  • Allows her to appear and disappear at will during combat
  • Can be blocked by magical barriers (as demonstrated by Andrus)
• Demonic Force Manipulation: Control over dark supernatural energies
• Demonic Transformation: Can partially transform (red/black skin, claws) to absorb magic
• Shape-Shifting: Can alter physical form and take on different identities
• Energy Absorption: Can absorb certain types of supernatural attacks, especially magic
• Speed Manipulation: Control over her own velocity and movement

Combat Expertise

• Master Swordswoman: Expert with various bladed weapons including daggers
• Supernatural Resilience: Silver causes only minor damage (faint smoke, hissing)
• Pain Tolerance: Can grip silver blades despite causing her discomfort
• Combat Assessment: Described as "the best fighter in our group" by Lucas Cole
• Tactical Fighting: Coordinates effectively with team members
• Weapon Shattering: Can destroy enchanted weapons with her bare hands

Unique Physiological Traits

• No Blood Dependency: Unlike other lilins/vampires, doesn't require blood to survive
  • "It has been a few hundred years since I fed on a human"
• Optional Blood Feeding: Can choose to feed for enhanced abilities but avoids it
• Dangerous Power Increase: Blood feeding dramatically increases abilities but unleashes dark side
• Self-Imposed Restraint: Fears the persona that emerges when she feeds on blood

Role in The Umbra

Forced Membership & Control

• Status: Only member serving against her will due to magical compulsion
• Controller: Adam Coleman (50-year-old leader) holds her half heart
• False Choice: "I simply asked for a favor you agreed to" vs "If you say otherwise then you're lying"
• Debt Servitude: "Thank me when my debt is paid and my half heart returned"
• No Refusal: Cannot decline missions or assignments unlike other team members
• Organizational Justification: Leaders believe they've achieved "a means to an end"

Position & Responsibilities

• Title: Primary Combat Specialist
• Role: Elite fighter and supernatural warfare expert
• Authority: Respected as the team's most skilled combatant despite forced membership
• Mission Types: Handles dangerous supernatural threats, rescue operations, elimination targets
• Stealth Operations: Utilizes dematerialization for covert missions

Adam Coleman & The Half Heart

• Adam Coleman: Graying fifty-year-old who founded The Umbra with others
• Heart Possession: Physically holds her half heart, enabling magical control
• False Narrative: Pretends her service is voluntary when both know it's compulsion
• Mission Assignment: Uses her for dangerous tasks requiring her unique abilities
• Safety Concern: "Make sure you don't have a heart attack before it is returned to me"
• Complex Dynamic: Professional relationship built on magical slavery disguised as cooperation

Protective Duties

• Sia's Guardian: Assigned to watch over Sia by her sister Kim
• Surveillance: Follows potential targets to assess threats
• Intervention: Steps in when team members or allies are endangered
• Experience: "I've been following you. I was expecting an attack as well"

Major Combat Encounters

Vs. Andrus Kallian (Second Encounter - Rooftop)

Setting: After vampire club massacre, confronted on rooftop

Revelation: Andrus discovered her identity as Mashisa the Mad Demon

• "You're Mashisa" / "My name is Ciarda. I am not Mashisa. Not anymore."
• Andrus researched the Hellblade and connected it to ancient legends

Combat Dynamics:

• Andrus used magical barriers to prevent her teleportation
• She chose to fight hand-to-hand rather than use weapons to avoid killing him
• Demonstrated superior combat skills against enhanced Aeon abilities
• Her demonic transformation absorbed his magical attacks

Key Moments:

• Shattered his enchanted machaira with her bare hands
• Absorbed his blue light magical attacks with her transformed forearms
• Used his own momentum against him repeatedly
• Knocked him unconscious with controlled force

Outcome:

• Defeated Andrus without killing him, maintaining her redemption path
• Left him alive despite him knowing her dangerous past
• Retrieved her weapons and escaped, showing restraint over vengeance

Sanguinoso Clan Investigation

Initial Contact: Infiltrated vampire club to investigate Phillip's connections

• Posed as 200-year-old elder vampire to blend in
• Met Seraphine (clan elder) and Lucian (Dracula's bride lineage)
• Gathered intelligence about vampire politics and Phillip's mate Amity

Club Massacre: When accosted by clan members:

• Killed six vampires with firearms in public vampire club
• Demonstrated lethal efficiency and supernatural combat skills
• Used incident to send message about her capabilities

Alley Ambush: Confronted by Amity (Phillip's mate) and thirty vampires

• Fought alongside Andrus against overwhelming odds
• Eliminated most attackers, though Amity and Lucian escaped
• Created public scene with 30+ vampire bodies, drawing attention

Dramatic Statement: Returned vampire heads to the clan's club

• Used teleportation to appear inside club with trash bin full of severed heads
• Sent clear message of retaliation and capability
• Demonstrated she wouldn't be intimidated by vampire clan politics

Phillip Confrontation:

• Faced vampire with hellforged sword and demonic enhancements
• Absorbed his dark energy attacks with her hands and forearms
• Underwent partial demonic transformation (claws, altered skin color)
• "Got your attention now" - challenged supremely powerful enemy

Relationships & Connections

Sia & Kim (Witch Sisters)

• Protection Detail: Assigned by Kim to guard Sia
• Professional Relationship: Works with witches despite species differences
• Mutual Respect: Sia trusts Ciarda's capabilities and judgment
• Family Dynamics: Understands protective instincts between sisters

Adam Coleman & The Umbra Leadership

• Adam Coleman: Fifty-year-old leader who holds her half heart
• Control Relationship: "I simply asked for a favor you agreed too" vs "If you say otherwise then you're lying"
• Organizational Debt: Forced to perform missions to "pay her debt"
• No True Choice: Unlike other team members, cannot refuse assignments
• Complex Dynamic: Adam claims it's voluntary; Ciarda knows it's compulsion

Andrus Kallian

• Initial Conflict: Fought as enemies during first encounter
• Growing Respect: Andrus acknowledged her superior combat skills
• Potential Alliance: Both warriors with similar protective instincts
• Understanding: Recognizes his grief and loss from personal experience

Personality & Psychology

Emotional Depth & Recognition of Loss

• Shared Sorrow: Recognizes something familiar in Andrus - "a reflection of her own past"
• Understanding Grief: "A sorrow that lingered from losing those close to you"
• Empathy: Despite her ancient status, retains deep emotional connection to loss and pain
• Heart for Others: Can identify with others who have experienced devastating personal losses

Core Traits

• Protective: Genuinely committed to safeguarding innocents
• Professional: Maintains focus on mission objectives
• Experienced: Ancient wisdom applied to modern supernatural threats
• Humble: Doesn't flaunt her superior abilities or ancient status
• Mysterious: Memory gaps create enigmatic personality
• Compassionate: Shows emotional understanding despite undead nature

Combat Philosophy

• Measured Response: Uses appropriate force for the situation
• Team Coordination: Prioritizes group success over individual glory
• Mercy When Possible: Avoided killing Andrus when she could have
• Strategic Thinking: Considers long-term consequences of actions

Moral Alignment

• Redemption Arc: Moved from potential darkness to protecting light
• Species Transcendence: Judges beings by actions, not nature
• Sacrifice: Uses dangerous powers to protect those weaker than herself
• Evolution: Demonstrates that ancient evils can choose good

Unique Position in Supernatural World

Lilin Among Hunters

• Species Exception: Ancient undead working with vampire hunters
• Bridge Figure: Connects supernatural and human worlds
• Living History: Repository of ancient knowledge about supernatural conflicts
• Proof of Concept: Demonstrates possibility of redemption for undead

Ancient Power in Modern Context

• Adaptation: Uses millennia-old abilities for contemporary threats
• Restraint: Capable of far more destruction than she employs
• Wisdom: Ancient experience guides tactical and strategic decisions
• Evolution: Shows how supernatural beings can grow beyond their origins

Current Status & Future

Active Missions & Constraints

• Forced Operations: Continues serving The Umbra under magical compulsion
• Double Life: Pursues personal freedom quest while fulfilling assigned duties
• Identity Management: Must use shape-shifting to continue vampire world investigation
• Enemy Status: Now known to vampire clans as the legendary Mashisa
• Exposure Risk: Her investigation methods have compromised her secret identity

The Freedom Campaign

• Primary Goal: Recover the Hellblade from Phillip to reverse her curse
• Methodology: Infiltrating vampire society to track Phillip's location
• Obstacles: Amity (Phillip's mate) and vampire clans now actively opposing her
• Time Pressure: Adam Coleman's mortality threatens permanent enslavement
• Moral Conflict: Must balance freedom quest with avoiding return to Mashisa persona

Relationship Dynamics

• Adam Coleman: Tense dynamic between controller and controlled
• Andrus Kallian: Dangerous adversary who knows her true identity
• The Umbra Team: Professional relationships complicated by her secret agenda
• Vampire World: Now viewed as dangerous threat rather than potential ally

Legacy Implications

• Model for Change: Proves ancient undead can choose protection over predation
• Bridge Building: Facilitates cooperation between species
• Combat Excellence: Sets standard for supernatural warrior capabilities
• Moral Leadership: Demonstrates that power can serve justice

Significance to The Hidden World

Ciarda represents one of the most complex moral paradoxes in the supernatural world - an ancient destroyer seeking redemption while magically enslaved to do good. Her story challenges fundamental questions about free will, redemption, and the nature of heroism.

Key Philosophical Elements:

• Forced Redemption: Can good deeds count as redemption if they're magically compelled?
• Identity vs. Actions: Is she defined by Mashisa's atrocities or Ciarda's current restraint?
• Power and Responsibility: How does someone with her destructive capability find moral balance?
• Freedom vs. Safety: Should someone capable of mass destruction ever be truly free?

Impact on The Hidden World:

• Living Legend: Embodies the most feared supernatural entity in recorded history
• Redemption Possibility: Proves even the most evil beings might find another path
• Power Balance: Her abilities could tip any supernatural conflict decisively
• Moral Complexity: Forces others to question simple good vs. evil paradigms

Her presence in The Umbra demonstrates that sometimes the most effective protection for humanity comes from controlling rather than destroying supernatural threats. Yet her quest for freedom raises the question: does anyone, regardless of their past, deserve permanent magical enslavement?

Ciarda's story is ultimately about the struggle between who we were, who we are, and who we choose to become - even when that choice is complicated by magical compulsion, ancient curses, and the weight of unforgivable history. She represents both the potential for redemption and the eternal question of whether some sins are too great to be forgiven, even by time itself.