She twines her spines up slowly, toward the boiling sun...
Born under a portentous omen, Citlali’s life was all but written in the stars from the moment of her birth. Touched by spirits, born with a caul and blessed with great and terrible purpose, Citlali has done nothing to steer away from the portents of her destiny. Sometimes when a future is trying to land on you, you’ve just got to lean into it, and Citlali does it with style. She is an enigma in the way that most of her people covet, and does with breathless ease what many aspire to, and achieve only in dancing mockery; she is beautiful in a manner that is effortless, graceful in a way that is unintentional and cunning in a way that draws blood. A playful, mercurial nature hides something dark; to look at her is to see the trap of soft fur and beautiful features and overlook the danger of hidden claws, sharp and white as the crescent moon.
And when I touched her skin, my fingers ran with blood...
• Ola Brasileñas – Citlali (or Estella de Silva if you’re nasty) is from Brazil (she would insist that it is ‘Brasil’. She was born there, and although her accent in Portuguese is decidedly rural, her accent in English is definitely Portuguese, for all that that thought is hard to parse. She is mostly fluent in both languages, as well as a third secret one.
• Black magic woman – Citlali does not so much make a living as she makes an impression. She has carefully cultivated a reputation in the community for being the sort of person you go to when you need help with things that are of a mystical nature.
• We are beasts, and this is our consolation. – Born under the sign of the jaguar, in the form approaching that of the Night Mother herself – the great black jaguar who swallowed the moon, Citlali is a Balam and like all Balam, suffers from the foibles of her people. Born from the Nahuatl, she adheres to the old ways of sacrifice and blood.
• When the moon is round and full… – Like most shifters, Citlali is beholden to the moon, but unlike many, she is particularly beholden to the presence of the moon in the sky. During the full moon she finds herself compelled to shift, and when it is absent she finds herself incapable of doing so, like the skin-changers of old.
• Sweet baby, I need fresh blood... – Citlali tends toward the carnivorous end of the menu. It’s not that she won’t indulge in a coffee, or plantains but she goes a little bananas for meat, and the fresher the better.
• If blood and bones are what you want... – Citlali is, for better or worse, fully indoctrinated into the obscure and bloody religion of her people. All Balam are descended from those that hid from the rotted hearts in the shadows of the jungle, but her people truly kept the old ways of the proto indigenous people alive.
• Dripping like a saturated sunrise... – Citlali has a tendency to wear a lot of bright colors. Every color in the rainbow is her favorite color, and she goes out of her way to match colors and patterns so that her clothing is always on point, even if she occasionally chooses colors in eye-gouging neon.
• Did you forget you're in my fucking house... – Citlali is not territorial perse, but she has a very decided idea of what is and is not hers, and she is more than happy to make things very, very bad for anyone who forgets that their very existence in her claimed area is a courtesy.
The (Un)usual Suspects
Partners in Crime
Ku - "Open my hands and let them weave onto yours."
(Co)conspirators
Niccia - "As the sun bleeds down on all the tangled rivers and the loaded guns..."
Jack - "Little bird, little bird, fly through my window..."
River - "Let that fever make the water rise (and let the river run dry)..."
