• basic stats.
• history.
• personality.
• abilities.
• summary.

name: Lysandra ("Evangeline St. Lawrence")
canon: Original (Cycles)
age: Unknown. Can pass for 17, actually hundreds and hundreds of years old.
d.o.b.: May 12. (TAURUS)
appearance: (civilian persona, battle outfit)
role in canon: The Prophet of Chaos, servant of the goddess Eris.

Once upon a time, in the land of ancient Greece, there was a girl who was born blissfully ignorant of the fact that she would one day lose everything she had ever known or loved. That her destiny would grow from a seed of grief, loss, and revenge into something unspeakably painful: that, as the mortal vessel of the goddess Eris, she would become a living, breathing instrument of strife and destruction.

But before her fate took such a tragic twist, Lysandra was content. Her home life was warm and stable: her middle-class, merchant family was able to provide for themselves quite comfortably in the small village where they had chosen to settle. Lysandra herself was beautiful and well-liked, and so never wanted for friends or affection. Her childhood was a happy one, her teenaged years pockmarked with the usual turbulence of puberty but otherwise just as cheerful. Perhaps her life wasn't terribly exciting, situated as she was only on the outskirts of a large and bustling city, but it was peaceful. Times were good in the village, and Lysandra felt no ambition to leave. A short while after she turned seventeen, however, a young noble from that very same city happened to notice her while passing through on some important business or other. A man of great wealth and privilege, he quickly decided that he wanted to claim Lysandra as his own. But not, as it turned out, as a wife; upon finding out where Lysandra lived, he met with her father and offered to purchase her as a slave.

While this was a common enough practice among poor or struggling families, Lysandra's father politely refused the young noble. He had neither the need nor desire to sell his daughter into bondage, and mistakenly assumed that the other man would allow the matter to drop after being turned down. After all, one could buy a slave pretty much anywhere in Greece - they weren't exactly hard to find, in short supply, or expensive. Unfortunately, Lysandra's father would prove to be mistaken in his belief that things were settled. The next day brought the return of the young noble, who then slaughtered the entire family except for his "prize": Lysandra, who was spared in order to be taken as property.

Terrified out of her mind, Lysandra desperately prayed to the gods for help. Overwhelmed with anger, she offered everything she could give to be able to avenge her murdered kin. Devastated by grief, she did neither of these things with a clear and rational mind and so accepted the first deity to answer her: Eris, the goddess of Chaos. A contract was quickly made, and before the young noble could touch her, Lysandra struck him down with her newly-granted powers.

From there, Lysandra's destiny narrowed to a single and inescapable line. As part of their contract, she had sworn to obey Eris for as long as she lived - to do whatever was ordered of her, no matter what. And so when Lysandra began her new life as a Chaos Prophet, she believed that those terms would be upheld. The world she had known was gone, and the path before her was one of loneliness and hardship....but her debt would be paid, eventually, and she'd perhaps see her avenged family again in the afterlife. But it wasn't to be; Eris instead gleefully exploited the literal wording of the pact she had made with her chosen mortal. She extended Lysandra's lifespan into the realm of perpetual immortality and bolstered the Greek woman's regenerative abilities until it was all but impossible for Lysandra to die (and so be freed) by either natural or external causes. Resistance or refusal was repaid with unbearable agony - there was no escape from this cursed existence. In a twist of bitter irony, Lysandra had become a slave to an even worse master.

Time marched on. Her duties as a Chaos Prophet sent Lysandra all over the world, where she would manipulate persons of power and influence in order to orchestrate famine, war, and general strife and misery. And, when it was commanded of her, Lysandra would personally instigate destruction and instability with her own sword. As a Chaos Prophet, she excelled, having repeatedly learned the harsh lesson that rebellion on her part was futile and would result only in pain and crushed hope. So it went, on and on for centuries, the years blurring into each other until the time came to plant the seeds of discord among the Sun and Moon Prophets - Akiko Suzuki and Mirai Takatsukasa, respectively. As both of them were enrolled at the prestigious Conservatory of St. Helena, Lysandra donned yet another alias in order to infiltrate the school and grow close to the girls: that of Evangeline St. Lawrence, the only daughter of a wealthy English family.

The centuries of bloodshed and betrayal wrought by her own hands have, by all appearances, chewed up the innocent girl that first contracted with Eris and spat her out. Yet what remains is not someone broken, but distorted: a woman that's calloused, cynical and cruel. Lysandra is aloof and perpetually bad-tempered when on the warpath, a self-contained ball of rage seemingly resigned to carrying out the malicious intentions of Eris. She's abrasive in word, venomous in thought, and malignant in deed. Lies, threats and violence are carried out without hesitation; concepts like honor, love and justice are worthy only of her bitterest scorn. Twisted by time and the weight of her misdeeds, Lysandra has been warped into an unpleasant and dangerous individual that appears to value other souls only as means to an end.

So it's no wonder that she finds it in her best interest to present a much more appealing face to the world when she needs to manipulate rather than destroy. Outside of appropriate situations, the fury and brutality she demonstrates as a Prophet never surfaces. As Evangeline St. Lawrence, that inner ugliness is carefully hidden beneath illusions of kindness and patience, masterfully obscured by the veneer of a thoughtful young lady who seems nothing but sincere in the concern and goodwill she displays toward others. This mask is one of maturity and gentleness, of empathy and composure. Able to maneuver social matters with ease, Lysandra has a way of winning people over because she's gotten very, very good at playing the part of someone admirable and trustworthy. She's adept at making others feel valued, as though their feelings and opinions matter; as a result of this, people tend to gravitate to her and regard her, if not as a friend, then as a good and worthwhile person.

For innumerable reasons, it's unsurprising that it never comes to light just how lonely and self-hating she is beneath both the ruthless anger and the charming professionalism. These traits are the soft, vulnerable underbelly of Lysandra's outwardly-irredeemable character, and are thus locked away and hidden. Lysandra herself refuses to acknowledge them, except in moments of weakness, and would rather beat herself into a coma with her own severed arm rather than admit their existence. A shame, because while Lysandra considers herself a monster, the anguish that she so steadfastly denies makes her unquestionably human. As mentioned before, she's lonely - her role as a Chaos Prophet is a solitary one where all attachments are doomed to be superficial, temporary, and purely instrumental in nature. The reasons for her self-loathing are perhaps almost embarrassingly evident, given that she's purposefully orchestrated countless tragedies and has also personally carried out just as many atrocities. She's also an intensely jealous individual. She envies not just normal humans for being able to die, but also the Sun and Moon Prophets for their comparatively happier lives and benevolent patrons. This naturally forms the basis for a good chunk of her bitterness, which often crosses over into spite.

But if one thing can be said for Lysandra, it's this: her ties to Eris are that of a hateful, reluctant slave. She's wholly opposed to the goddess and all she represents, a contradiction to her outward self that is perhaps Lysandra's saving grace. This is because, outside of her single act of vengeance all those years ago, Lysandra's never wanted to be the instrument of another's destruction. While it's true that she's tried, from time to time, to take some vindictive joy in ruining the lives of others, it's always those selfish moments that she regrets the most - the pleasure has always proven to be hollow and worthless, and that alone is a sign that Lysandra isn't as evil or heartless as she pretends to be. Her life would be a lot easier, even happier, if she was the sort to actually enjoy the misfortune of innocents, the sight of them driven before her sword and the sound of their lamentations. Or, at least, the sort who truly didn't care about all the suffering she routinely causes.

It's true that none of these hidden qualities (whether one considers them sympathetic or not) automatically makes her good, much less a hero. But neither is she a villain or an apathetic machine. She's more damaged than anything, a person tormented not just by her fate but by her inability to simply let go of the feelings that, although unspeakably painful, keep her from being just a puppet controlled by Eris.

Through her connection to Eris, Lysandra is granted abilities far beyond that of a normal human. All Prophets are functionally immortal in that they don't age or suffer from disease, and will only die if grievously wounded. Thus, they can go without food, water or sleep indefinitely. Stronger, faster, and more durable than the average mortal, they're capable of acrobatics that seemingly defy gravity - not quite flight, but close. Though they can certainly be injured, their rate of regeneration is much, much higher than that of a typical person.

↪ ( THE VEIL OF OBSCURITY. )

Both an active and a passive power, the Veil of Obscurity is meant to confuse others as to the true intentions of the Chaos Prophet. It's primary use is to aid Lysandra in obscuring the truth through infusing her words with an aura of suggestion (active/deliberate), but it also prevents an immediate and easy linking together of Lysandra's real identity and whatever alias she's taken on (passive/unconscious).

The former application is less like brainwashing and more like...well, suggestion. When she exerts this power, Lysandra can persuade individuals to believe her as long as certain conditions are met. For one, the target must have little or no reason to strongly mistrust her; it's for this reason that the weak-minded or gullible, the naive or otherwise overly trusting, and the ones who simply want to believe what they're being told are all especially susceptible to Lysandra's influence. This mental coercion is reliant on verbalization - she has to be able to speak in order to use this power, as eye contact or the written word are functionally irrelevant. What Lysandra says also cannot contradict knowledge the target already holds and firmly believes to be true, such as trying to convince them that their eyes are blue instead of brown. Suggestions of a fantastic nature with little to no basis in truth or evidence ("your brother is a vampire") are much, much less likely to succeed than a lie that seems plausible enough ("your boyfriend has become distant because he's found someone else").

The latter application, on the other hand, more or less evokes a severe disassociation between Lysandra's dual personas, a mental distance purposefully amplified by the vast differences in behavior each one displays. Despite her face and voice remaining the same whether as Evangeline St. Lawrence or as a Chaos Prophet, those who deal with both of Lysandra's identities separately without knowledge of the truth will not be able to put two and two together; the epiphany that "Evangeline" and "Lysandra" are one and the same never happens.

Those with a resistance to magic or the ability to "see" through illusions or spells can nullify both applications of this influence to a certain degree. How much, and how quickly, varies from person to person: someone with strong magical resistance can dispel the Veil's effect entirely, while someone that can only dispel lesser illusions might only be able to dilute or diminish it over time and through repeated exposure. The average human will remain utterly clueless as to Lysandra's true identity and intentions unless they witness her transforming or she breaks one of the conditions mentioned above.

↪ ( THE CHAOS EDGE. )

Lysandra's sword, it possesses various magical properties. She's able to materialize this weapon at will once she's transformed; if thrown or knocked away, it will return to her hand. The blade is razor-sharp and emits a faint aura of Lysandra's unique magical energy. The sword is also more or less unable to be permanently broken - if destroyed, it will simply regenerate itself or reappear fully intact in Lysandra's possession.

↪ ( THE JAVELINS OF DISCORD. )

Another asset that Lysandra can materialize at will, these weapons are carried in a quiver and never run out. Like the Chaos Edge, the javelins will regenerate if destroyed or broken and each one also emits an aura of Lysandra's magical energy. She can throw them with excellent accuracy and is equally experienced in using them as lances.

↪ ( THE BEASTS OF STRIFE. )

This is Lysandra's ability to summon forth the various creatures of Greek mythology to do her bidding, whether for combat or espionage. However, there's a built-in limit to this power: Lysandra can only evoke and sustain so many of these mythical beasts at once before her energy runs out and they vanish. The "expense" of summoning varies based on both the number and type of creature, forcing Lysandra to choose wisely on a situational basis.

↪ ( SOUL BIND. )

As part of her contract with Eris in exchange for vengeance on behalf of her family, Lysandra vowed to serve Eris for as long as she lived. She was unaware of Eris' ability and intention to extend her life as she pleased, even beyond the functional immortality normally granted Prophets. Lysandra can therefore survive wounds that would kill other Prophets, such as decapitation and impalement. She is healed from these injuries through her contract with Eris, known as the Soul Bind. The Soul Bind functions as a link between Lysandra's body and Eris' power, and can be used to turn Lysandra into a nigh-unstoppable killing machine - or reduce her to a sobbing, tortured mess if she refuses to fight.

↪ ( WAR DRIVE. )

Eris funnels her power directly into Lysandra's body via the Soul Bind. In this form, Lysandra has virtually no limits on her physical and magical abilities. The tattoos that mark Lysandra's body as a sign of her bondage become visible when this power is activated. In addition, her eyes take on an eerie glow, and since Eris and Lysandra speak as one when this ability is utilized, "her" voice also becomes noticeably distorted.

↪ ( GIFT OF TONGUES. )

As a Chaos Prophet, Lysandra's been sent all over the world to manipulate people of power and influence into making decisions that would bring about strife. Therefore, it necessarily follows that she has to be able to communicate with such individuals - especially in their native language. This is largely handled by Eris through a magic spell that grants Lysandra excellent fluency. The downside is that this is a power inherent only to the goddess, not her vessel; should the divine connection with Eris be severed, the spell will break, and Lysandra will immediately lose this knowledge in its entirety. The only exceptions are the languages that she's learned through her own efforts: Greek, English, Japanese and French.

Lysandra is a character in the Directors universe series Cycles. She is the centuries old Prophet of Chaos, mortal vessel of the goddess Eris, who wields the Chaos Edge and Javelins of Discord in combat as well as having the ability to summon the mythological Beasts of Strife. She is the youngest daughter of a long-dead Greek family, slaughtered by the son of a noble house who wished to purchase her as a slave when her father refused his offer. She takes on the guise of Evangeline St. Lawrence, the seventeen-year-old only child of England's wealthy St. Lawrence family, to infiltrate the Conservatory of St. Helena. There, she befriends Akiko Suzuki and manipulates her relationship with Mirai Takatsukasa, sowing the seeds of discord between the Prophets of Sun and Moon.