She is a crisp winter evening alight with stars, wrapped up into a lithe little package of saddlebred mutt. Her black hide is marked with white speckles that resemble a starry night. She maintains a body weight that is just below the prime for one of her size: her mother convinced her that appearing slightly malnourished was a perfectly suitable defence mechanism. The vixen is also plagued by a horrendous cough, which she has her aunt to thank for.

Her eyes are as complicated a mixture as her mother's potions: some say they are gray like the sky before a storm, yet others claim they are akin to the murky green colors of swamp water. Despite such arguments, all who have met her can agree that she gives off quite the ominous presence for a rather small mare.

One of her dam's potent liqueurs caused her mane and tail to lose all pigment, resulting in the mare's milky white tresses. Her hair falls down to her knees but is typically kept in a messy knot or braid to prevent it from obscuring her view. The number and style of knots changes often, but not in any attempt to be vain: all that matters is that it isn't in Yana's way. It has remained in a single knot close to her crest since she has been travelling alone.

Yana frequents Tinea Swamp and her presence is often heralded by the putrid stench of swamp water. Twigs and other debris often get stuck in her hair -- she considers them to be gifts from her swamp and takes offense if someone tries to remove them .

Curious + Adaptable + Chaotic Neutral + Opportunistic + Imaginative+ Tender
Vengeful - Skeptical - Selfish - Manipulative - Unpredictable - Reserved

The witch takes pride in her intellect and, naturally hungry for knowledge, often performs experiments or observes others to glean what she can from them. Though she doesn’t enjoy social engagement, she never misses an opportunity to explain a subject she is well-versed in, such as herbal remedies or – better yet – poisons. Serious and untrusting, Yana prefers to rely on herself rather than waste time trying to explain her ideas to others to gain their support. Yana constantly reworks her constructions to achieve perfection, though she is reluctant to accept criticism from others.

Despite her flaws, the mare has a soft spot for the helpless and weak. She won't necessarily go out of her way to defend someone, but Yana tries to do what she can from afar. Rather than use might as her weapon she wields information, holding onto the ambitions and vulnerabilities of others to use as leverage later on. She is receptive to anyone who has not provoked her, and as long as there is something in it for her Yana will do her best to see any job through.

There aren’t many who would look at the mare and consider her a threat. Her small size and slight stature do not radiate ferocity or violence, but the little witch likes to think she gives off an ominous presence. In any dispute, Yana will pick the side where there is more for her to gain; she will always choose survival over a chance at a higher title.

Yana is a mare of few words, preferring to listen to others rather than give anything away about herself; talking often led to some form of punishment in her youth, and so she learned to embrace silence early on. Her eyes do not smile, nor are her gravelly tones cordial. She is a simple mare, and if you respect her she will respect you in turn.

Born to Umbra the Sea Witch, Yana was one of many in a scourge of children that the hag chose to raise. She knows naught of her mother’s reasoning behind it, but she figures it can’t be the fault of coincidence. The most likely story is that Umbra bore countless pregnancies until she finally had a child who possessed her dark power, for she wanted someone to keep the family line of hags intact. She cared little for the children she had before Yana: her mother referred to them as the Others whenever they were brought up. The little witch still doesn’t know whether to believe her aunt’s tales about the ease in which the tender flesh of a foal could be torn from the bone, or that they had known that Yana was the one they had been waiting for all due to her unnatural hide. Were glowing markings really enough evidence to convince her of that?

Yana’s “training” began early on; her mother and her aunt were two highly sought after Witches who sold their services to the public, and they weren't about to have their reputation downtrodden by a bumbling babe. Their fame was due in part to the swamp that surrounded their den, as it was a living thing with a mind of its own. Her mother claimed that that wasn’t the reason why they had so many customers, but that it was owed to the elixirs that could either heal a horse of any wound or melt the skin off your back with just a light sprinkle.

The pair embedded their knowledge into the starry mare through unconventional means; figuring that the best way for the vixen to learn was to endure, they forced her to drink concoctions and subjected her to their magic as often as they could. This treatment advanced with severity as Yana grew older until the merciful day that she grew into her powers. The Witches put a halt to forcing potions down her throat so that they could spend more time teaching her to utilize them, but the abuse never completely subsided.

Yana's aunt was never fond of her sister, and a fight broke out between the two during one of Yana’s lessons. Runann was obsessed with the art of the flame, and in a bout of anger she summoned a fiery torrent to teach her niece a lesson. The dried oak leaves coating the floor of their den were eager to sate its hunger. She seized the opportunity to escape her torturous kin, but not without repercussions: due to the nature of her aunt’s magic, the flames have a permanent effect on her and Yana is not yet a skilled enough witch to reverse it. Yana’s nasal passages, throat and lungs suffered from prolonged exposure to heat and smoke, and she suffers a chronic cough and poor respiration since the incident.

Inspired by her mother’s control over the bog from her childhood, Yana has struck a deal with the towering black obelisk at the heart of Tinea Swamp: if the witch is within 25 metres of it, she can ask the algae infested waters to fetch things for her… and sometimes they will listen. When on the outskirts of Tinea Swamp the monument pulls at her like a magnet, redirecting her path through the swamp until she finds herself close to it again.

As the witch’s familiarity with the wetland grows so too does the range of her control over it. Her requests scarcely go unfulfilled so long as she is within 500 metres of the obelisk, and the tasks involve more complexity than merely carrying her supplies… The murky depths are willing to hunt for her, too: a bird may be left at her doorstep by a mink, or the waters might engulf a specimen that escaped from her traps. Though the towering figure still draws her in, it seems to respect her now that they are familiar with each other; she is always aware of its position but is no longer inadvertently dragged off course by it.

Yana’s influence over the swamp now encompasses a 1 kilometre radius around the stone monolith. Creatures lurking in its depths are drawn to the wretch, though they will not attack her; objects may drift to her upon the water before she even has a chance to ask for them; and the obelisk will guide the girl towards items that she seeks within its territory. The intimacy of their pact has made the obelisk more sensitive to its mistress, reacting in a way that befits her mood: a deafening cacophony of toads or a ravenous swarm of mosquitoes might appear shortly after a fuming witch stomps past; when the starry girl is content, the emerald waters are quiet and still.

What was once merely a pact between mistress and servant has now become a powerful and intimate relationship. Whenever Yana sets foot in the swamp – even in a region that is not under her control – her mind is immediately set at ease. She converses with the mire frequently, considering it to have its own consciousness, and it alerts her of any trespassers within 5 kms of the black obelisk. Denizens of the swamp now heed the witch’s call, and they will carry out tasks for her so long as an offering is provided.

If Yana stands still for long enough the swamp will swallow her up - mists roll in, obscuring her small frame; mud clambers up her limbs to hide her dark coat; green waters envelope her, concealing the witch in their depths. This living camouflage will only hide its mistress if she is stationary; once mobile, the foliage drips off her slight frame to be reclaimed by the swamp once more.