Cjianni, Bookkeeper of Rena

Cjianni is as alluring as she is formidable, a being who dances the line between fey whimsy and fiendish power. Her role as M'Drolth's bookkeeper places her at the heart of Rena’s brutal machinations, but her heritage and ambitions reveal her as something more than a mere minion. Her fey essence, blended with fiendish charm, has made her popular among the powerful patrons of Rena. Though her surface exudes confidence and allure, her past harbors a secret yearning for freedom from M’Drolth's schemes and a return to the chaotic grace of her Feywild origins.

Cjianni’s appearance is as fluid as her motives, embodying a blend of the sensual and the dangerous. Her most common form is that of a midnight-skinned drow-tiefling with arching raven’s wings and spiraling ram’s horns—a nod to both her drow heritage and fiendish roots. Her luminous white hair is usually kept cropped close, contrasting with her dark skin and the opalescent shimmer of her eyes. In her other forms, she appears as a chestnut-skinned succubus with small, curled goat horns and leathery wings, or as an ethereal, blue-skinned astral elf with sweeping eagle’s wings. No matter the form, her robes are intricately embroidered with Celtic-inspired feywild images that depict ancient tales, glowing faintly with a moonlit aura when viewed in darkness.

Cjianni is an enigma even to those who think they know her. She is charming and sharp, wielding her charisma as deftly as her blade. Beneath her easy confidence, though, lies an ever-simmering resentment toward the machinations of beings like her current patron, M'Drolth. While she holds great power as the bookkeeper and recruiter for Rena’s violent spectacles, her own plans run deep; she is driven by a yearning to reclaim her freedom and chart her path, just as she had once been free to dance and hunt under the open skies of Ysgard.

Backstory

Born from the unique union of the drow goddess Eilistraee and Dolly, a chaotic neutral succubus, Cjianni’s life began within the warmth of Svartlefheim’s caverns, surrounded by the love and artistry of her goddess mother. Her childhood was one of mythic proportions: mastering blade and spell, reveling in music and dance, and exploring the bright chaos of Ysgardian lands. Her fiendish heritage manifested subtly, lending her a set of ram-like horns and a raven’s wings, making her an object of fascination and, occasionally, unease.

The tranquility of Cjianni’s world shattered when Dolly was stolen away by an archfiend and sold to the Abyssal demon lord M’Drolth. Cjianni grew restless, wandering the layers of Ysgard and nurturing a fierce independence that soon led her into the realm of Pandemonium. There, she entered the Queen of Air and Darkness’s court, becoming fully fey and even outshining other courtiers with her raw magic and boundless charm.

Though she thrived in the Queen’s court, curiosity eventually drew Cjianni down into the Abyss on a harrowing journey through the layers of the Demonweb Pits, hoping to meet her grandmother, Lolth. Yet, her encounter with Lolth left her disillusioned and homesick. Her love affair with Jacob, a monk who had wandered into the pits, became tainted with suspicion as Cjianni sensed Lolth’s influence, making her feel ensnared in a web of lies.

After a grueling ascent through the Abyss, she reached the top, where M’Drolth was waiting, claiming this entire ordeal was part of his plan to recruit her. He promised her a place of power: she would serve as his bookkeeper, an agent of death and spectacle with her own moon on which she could make her domain. She accepted, weaving her own plans for revenge and redemption into her role as she recruited patrons, from demon lords to gods, to fuel M’Drolth’s arena of Rena.

Now, 300 years later, Cjianni is both feared and revered. She has cultivated a persona of poise and menace, respected by the demonic patrons she entertains yet aloof enough to keep them guessing. Though she remains bound to her duties, her mind is ever calculating, seeking a way to outmaneuver M’Drolth and, perhaps one day, liberate her mother from the depths of the Abyss.

Cjianni’s Moon

Cjianni’s lair is a wondrous expanse situated on a moon that straddles the Feywild and Abyss, tethered to the realms of both light and shadow. The landscape shifts between surreal, verdant woodlands and otherworldly, abyssal landscapes, as though each patch of land is trying to outdo the other in a chaotic, beautiful war of colors and forms. In the moonlit glades, trees with silver and violet bark rise against a sky perpetually aglow with auroras and distant stars. Wild fey creatures and abyssal spirits roam freely, their forms often half-seen in the eerie light, adding a sense of quiet menace to the moon’s strange beauty.

In the center of this domain lies Cjianni’s fey palace, a sprawling pagoda woven from silverwood, giant raven feathers, and veins of crystalline obsidian. The palace grounds are littered with statues, tapestries, and relics that seem to shift their expressions and colors as if alive. There is an open amphitheater where enchanted duels are held for M'Drolth’s most distinguished guests, often at Cjianni’s command.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Cjianni takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; she can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

1. Whispers of Pandemonium. Cjianni invokes an aura of discordant whispers in a 30-foot radius. Each creature of her choice within this area must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or become confused until the end of its next turn, as the whispers distort their perception and memory.

2. Summon Fey Companions. Cjianni calls forth 1d4 Fey entities to her aid (Alseid, Lampad, Naiad, or Oread) to an unoccupied space within 60 feet of her. These creatures remain until dismissed or slain, and each shares a telepathic bond with Cjianni, obeying her commands without hesitation.

3. Portal of Shadows. She creates a portal of shadowy energy on any solid surface within her line of sight. Any creature of her choice within 30 feet of this portal must succeed on a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw or be teleported up to 40 feet to an unoccupied location of her choice. Creatures teleported in this way are considered disoriented and have disadvantage on their next attack or ability check.

Regional Effects

The region surrounding Cjianni’s moon lair is influenced by her fey powers and her link to the abyssal energies of the Demonweb Pits, creating the following effects:

• Shifting Landscape: Within a 6-mile radius of her lair, the terrain subtly shifts, alternating between lush, dreamlike Feywild forests and twisted, dark Abyssal landscapes. Paths and landmarks seem to relocate slightly from one moment to the next, making navigation disorienting and challenging without magical assistance.

• Veil of Shadows: The air within 3 miles of her lair is filled with soft, drifting shadow that dims natural light and reduces bright light to dim light. During combat, creatures within this shadow are perpetually cloaked as if under the effects of the blur spell.

• Fey-Charmed Beasts: Ordinary animals within this radius, including wolves, ravens, and foxes, are unnaturally intelligent and possess fey-like qualities. They will often watch or even follow travelers, sometimes leading them to places of safety or, in darker cases, into traps or dense fogs that reveal visions of the fey and abyssal planes.

If Cjianni dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days, as the boundary between the Feywild and the Abyss reasserts itself, and her moon stabilizes into a more neutral, if still surreal, realm.