Kyriani Agrivar

Kyriani Agrivar was a half-drow wizard of Waterdeep. She was a member of the Moonstars, a Lord of Waterdeep, and the third Blackstaff.

Cybriana & Kilili
Kyriani's origins were most unusual, beginning in a powerful artifact and two separate yet inextricably linked women, Cybriana and Kilili.

Cybriana was the daughter of a powerful wizard, Ostus Agrivar, and a drow sorceress. Shortly after her birth, her mother took her to an elf village near Shadowdale and abandoned her to their care. Cybriana was a typical half-elf baby, marred only by a strange dark birthmark that, as she grew older, developed into a horrid growth bearing an evil face, seeming to contain a dark spirit. When Cybriana was a little girl, the growth caused a sickness that threatened to kill her. To save the girl's life, the elves performed a shamanic rite to extract the growth and trap the dark spirit within a crystal sphere. Cybriana was cured and freed, but the spirit escaped. The dark spirit flew over the countryside, absorbing life energy and taking the form of a drow elf woman named Kilili.

Meanwhile, the monstrous being Imgig Zu, trapped within the enchanted gem known as Selûne's Eye, observed this and forged a magical link with Kilili, allowing him to escape into the Realms. However, he needed Cybriana and Kilili together to release the rest of his people. Kilili fell in with Imgig, and together they hatched their scheme. Somehow, Cybriana, now grown to adulthood, learned that this "sister" had gone missing or been kidnapped. She learned that they were but fragments of one being and, unless they were reunited, her life and many other lives could be lost. She feared what her dark half might do if left unchecked.

Thus, in the Year of the Prince, 1357 DR, Cybriana left Shadowdale and journeyed to Waterdeep in search of one who she believed could help her—the paladin Priam Agrivar, not knowing him to be her half-brother, the son of her unknown father, Ostus Agrivar. Meanwhile, Kilili was assisting Imgig Zu in hunting out her sister. Imgig's chasme minions abducted Cybriana, but she was rescued by the centaur Timoth Eyesbright and the dwarf Onyx the Invincible. They escorted her to Waterdeep, where they searched for Priam, finally arriving at the Selûne's Smile tavern. The proprietress Luna introduced them to Vajra Valmeyjar, who led them to Priam Agrivar—now a drunken, crippled beggar. Nevertheless, Cybriana had faith in him. In their journeys to cure Priam, she told the companions her story. When she mentioned Selûne's Eye, Priam realized they shared a father. But, just then, the group heard Imgig's chasme pursuing new victims and raced to the rescue.

Imgig Zu observed Selûne's Eye glow like the moon, meaning that Kilili's sister was near his tower and had been found. Kilili visited Cybriana lured her close to Imgig's tower. Imgig's gargoyles snatched up Cybriana and she was taken into their lair. In the caverns beneath Imgig's tower, the proximity of Cybriana and Kilili, both to each other and to Selûne's Eye, caused the gem to glow even more brightly and to swell in size. Imgig Zu used their combined powers to open the Eye and release his long-imprisoned people to overrun and conquer the Realms. Cybriana's companions fought their way in, but too late, as Imgig's people escaped, and the heroes were subdued. An exultant Imgig taunted Priam and threatened to kill him as he had killed Ostus Agrivar. But the roof of the cavern tore open and the brilliant light of the full moon shone through, blinding the ogres. Cybriana urged her brother Priam to strike, and he slew Imgig Zu in the name of their father.

Cybriana escaped and grabbed Kilili, and when they touched, they merged into one being, part good and part evil, and the living key to Selûne's Eye. The Cybriana-half gained dominance over the Kilili-half, and the merged being vanished inside the gem, drawing all of Imgig's people back within, saving the Realms from devastation at the cost of her unique identity. A merged being levitated down, bearing the shrunken Selûne's Eye, and wearing the shredded remains of Cybriana's dress and the earrings of both women. Part Cybriana and part Kilili, she combined their names and named herself "Kyriani". Kyriani and her companions returned to the Selûne's Smile where Luna rewarded them. Luna was, in truth, an avatar of Selûne, the goddess of the moon, who was living in Waterdeep as a humble innkeeper.

The first Kyriani
After bounty hunters kidnapped Vajra from the Smile, and Timoth and Conner went after them, more bounty hunters and a mage came. Their spells and a potion in the drinks left all the patrons unconscious, including Kyriani, and they kidnapped the cat child. When Vajra, Timoth, and Conner returned and awoke her, Kyriani told them what had happened. Kyriani stayed behind as Vajra, Conner, and Salabak went after the kidnappers, and celebrated Vajra's return.

In the, Kyriani was again called on to aid in closing an extraplanar gate, the Great Door built by her father and Parwyyd Hanifar. Hanifar lured her and Onyx to the site with a false message plate from Priam and, after they fought over a misunderstanding of his intent, explained that he needed one of the blood of Agrivar to control and close it. Hanifar observed her unusual make-up and aura, and Kyriani told him of her creation from Cybriana and Kilili, but Hanifar felt the merger was incomplete, that Kyriani could not attain her potential without knowing her true self. Kenkus emerged from the Door, but Kyriani refused to let Onyx face them alone whilst she and Parwyyd commanded the Door. Regardless, the Door protected itself with a bolt of magic that separated Kyriani back into Cybriana and Kilili. Parwyyd divined that this was possible because Kyriani had never fully accepted her evil half, and therefore was not whole. Once Cybriana accepted that she, like her father, had both good and evil inside, she was able to merge with Kilili for the second and final time, and a new Kyriani was born. She combined her powers with Parwyyd's to close the Door, and the one who waits behind it was slain. Kyriani thanked Parwyyd for giving her the truth of her nature and the courage to accept it. Kyriani felt that she was not the same Kyriani as before, but in fact the Kyriani she was meant to have been all along, accepting both sides of her nature and able to forge her own destiny. Onyx bemoaned that she acted "strange" after this.

The second Kyriani
During the Time of Troubles of 1358 DR, Kyriani's magic went awry, and she inadvertently unleashed magic missiles in Timoth's stall. She later tried a simple bloom, but also created a monstrous flower monster that tried to swallow her, before she was rescued by Vajra and Timoth. When Onyx told the group of the appearance of an avatar of Selûne in Waterdeep, Kyriani admitted she'd worked out that Luna was really Selûne soon after they'd met, thinking it better not to mention it. Luna was later defeated and captured by the false avatar. Kyriani investigated by attending a party at Castle Waterdeep where the avatar was guest of honor, using her relationship with Fenn Estelmer to get in, though she got him out of her hair with a kiss and a sleep spell. She spoke with Lord Piergeiron and Khelben Arunsun, sharing news and concerns over the divine turmoil and Ao, the avatar's identity, and Luna's imprisonment at the House of the Moon. After the Dark Army of the Night attempted to kidnap the false avatar, Kyriani confronted her in the kitchens, declaring she would expose her and save Luna. The avatar attacked Kyriani with minute meteors, lightning bolt, and magic missiles, while Kyriani fought back with her ring of telekinesis. Lord Piergeiron intervened and, though Kyriani was overcome, she'd revealed the avatar's reckless temper, sowing doubts among the nobility. Piergeiron ordered Kyriani arrested by Rathnar of the City Guard, but then Khelben secretly let her go. Dramatically, she leaped out of the cliff-side castle and was caught by her lover Rellamyn on his flying horse. Dodging flaming arrows, he returned her to the Smile, where the heroes vowed to rescue Luna from the House of the Moon.

A dozen days after Luna's capture, while Onyx and Timoth searched the temple, Kyriani and Vajra met with another of her lovers, Thestus Thongolir, a former priest of the dark goddess Shar, for some insight; he warned Shar was present in the city. Kyriani and Vajra went to the House of the Moon and rescued Timoth and Onyx from the Lunatics; Kyriani's magic missiles produced blooms instead. They unmasked one of Lunatics, expecting Shar but finding instead a brainwashed Luna! The maddened Luna briefly got away, her magical defenses blowing away Kyriani's glitterdust, before Vajra tackled her and convinced her of the truth, realizing that the false Selûne was in fact Shar. They escaped Shar and the temple, found the streets wrecked, tangled with night riders, and observed the Celestial Stairway rising from Mount Waterdeep. Returning to Selûne's Smile, they found the inn in ruins and were ambushed by the avatar of Shar, armed with the Rod of Oblivion, determined to revenge herself on the heroes and slay Selûne. Powerless, Luna fell victim to the rod. Kyriani pleaded with Shar to leave Luna alone, and hurled an ice storm at the goddess when she would not. Kyriani valiantly held Shar off while Timoth, Vajra, and Onyx struggled to open the dimensional doorway to Luna's inner room, where her godly power was stored, and released Selûne's godly power to Luna. She transformed into the true avatar of Selûne and with her light blasted away Shar's darkness. Shar vanished, and Selûne became Luna once more. The companions reunited, Luna vowed to rebuild her inn.

After the Smile's brief destruction, Kyriani aided Khelben Arunsun in driving lawyers out of the city. Using Onyx as an unwitting patsy, while he distracted by Drusilla, Kyriani disguised herself as an old woman and got his autograph—on a marriage contract. In the Lord's Court, the lawyers got Lord Piergeiron to rule the contract valid and the marriage official. Afterward, Khelben took the lead lawyer to meet Onyx and his alleged wife on their court-appointed wedding night, claiming Onyx had to fulfill a dwarf marriage custom, the "Bedchamber Trek", or else the marriage would be invalid. The lawyer had to escort Onyx to the bed to enforce the ruling. However, Khelben created a nightmarish illusion for this trek and the terrified lawyer fled in horror, abandoning Onyx and thus reneging on the lawyers' contract with the city, rendering it void as Khelben had planned. Kyriani revealed herself, but the two were now apparently officially married.

On the hottest day of summer, in the, Vajra and Timoth arm-wrestled in the Smile as Kyriani watched on with her beau Fenn. Little did they know that their contest was magically enhanced, releasing Aviss and Fellandar from their extra-dimensional prison to wreak a path of destruction in the city. Kyriani and Onyx pursued and fought them. Finally, Khelben Arunsun hurled the villains back into their prison. Fell was impressed with Kyriani's prowess.

When Luna left Waterdeep and the others traveled south to fight in the Reclamation Wars in Tethyr, Kyriani was given ownership of Selûne's Smile and became a high-ranking member of Selûne's faith. She began an apprenticeship under Lady Alathene Moonstar and found she had a gift for magic.

In the, Kyriani became a Lord of Waterdeep after the resignation of Danilo Thann.

Moonstar
After working with Khelben for years, Kyriani began acting as an independent and highly skilled agent of the Moonstars, the organization headed by Khelben. Thanks to her own divided (often literally) heritage, she appreciated the Tel'Teukiira's aims to unify humans and elves. Her area of operation was Waterdeep and the cities along the Dessarin River.

Late on the night of Greengrass in the Year of the Tankard, 1370 DR, two wizards engaged in a massive spell-battle around Piergeiron's Palace in Waterdeep. Kyriani and Laeral Silverhand made an effort to stop the battle, ending in one palace tower being destroyed and both mages slain, one of them a Manshoon.

Blackstaff
When Khelben Arunsun died, Kyriani continued as a friend and advisor to the second Blackstaff, Tsarra Chasdren. In the Year of Fallen Friends, 1399 DR, Tsarra was killed in battle against a group of vampire wizards. Kyriani retrieved Tsarra's blackstaff, and returned it to Blackstaff Tower for safekeeping. Upon her arrival, she was named as the third Blackstaff with Caladorn Cassalanter at her side atop Blackstaff Tower. The same year, she wrote a book titled A Life Relentless.

After Kyriani's death, her spirit remained in Blackstaff Tower to guide and advise future Blackstaffs. This was due to her wearing the kiira N'Vaelhar.

Personality
The first Kyriani was a wholly good person, denying the natural dark side of her being. Kyriani didn't like to see her friends get hurt, nor would she leave them to face danger, even if there was a greater need.

However, the second Kyriani was more accepting of her dark side, and felt able to choose her destiny. She said her two previously warring halves had at last been properly merged into one complete person.

Description
Around 1357 DR, Kyriani appeared to be a tall and slender half-elf woman, quite beautiful, with pointed ears and pale skin, despite her drow heritage. Other details of her appearance varied with her incarnation. The first incarnation of Kyriani had a large mane of long, curly, light-brown hair, with violet or blue eyes. The second had even longer hair, night black and filled with stars, with a streak of white hair in front. Her eyes were blue.

By 1372 DR, Kyriani had darker-hued skin and gray eyes and was considered very attractive. She had long silver-white hair that she generally wore pulled away from her face. By 1479 DR, her eyes were reported as purple in color.

Abilities
As a mage, Kyriani knew the spells black tentacles, bloom, clairaudience, dimension door, dispel magic, feather fall, fireball, magic missile, glitterdust, ice storm, minute meteors, phantasmal force, shield, stoneskin, wall of fog, and web. She could sense magic, such as when she felt evil magic before the opening of an extra-dimensional prison holding Aviss and Fellandar.

Relationships
Kyriani had a half-brother, Priam Agrivar the paladin.

She became allied with the first Blackstaff, Khelben Arunsun. On a number of occasions she would provide him with information (such as the presence of Selûne in Waterdeep, or actively spy on noted figures&mdash;including having an affair with the crime lord and masked Lord of Waterdeep, Carrill). In return, Khelben would use his magic to aid her in escaping from the city watch and secretly protect her from both enemies and the authorities.

Kyriani was notorious for the many lovers she maintained, and was cryptic when asked how many. Among them were Fenn Estelmer, whom she thought a twit but a good romancer, and ignored or disposed of when he was in the way; Rellamyn, a roguish barbarian adventurer who was good for a ride on his asperii; and Thestus Thongolir, a wealthy aged priest of many gods.

Appearances

 * Comics
 * Advanced Dungeons &amp; Dragons


 * Novels
 * Blackstaff Tower


 * Sourcebooks
 * Cloak & Dagger
 * For Duty & Deity
 * City of Splendors: Waterdeep