Alay Alianza

Alay Alianza

The curse of Lycanthropy comes in many forms, but none are so as strange and uncommon as that of the wereshark. A rare curse birthed by the cruelty of Umberlee, most of the few weresharks that exist serve her purposes. Alay Alianza does not.

Shark Tale

Most fishing settlements along the coasts of Wythe pay tribute to Umberlee out of basic necessity, but Alay’s hometown bent both knee and spirit to the goddess. Alay was a child when a ship crashed upon the breakers near her home. The local priests declared the shipwreck as Umberlee’s tribute; however, Alay’s parents and eldest siblings committed the sin of rescuing the survivors from the treacherous wave-battered rocks. Upon refusing to hand over the survivors to the church, the priests declared Alay’s family as unforgivable heathens who would dare plunder from Umberlee’s pockets.

The goddess’ punishment came in the form of a hulking gray beast with knives for teeth in the middle of a stormy night: a wereshark. The creature slew Alay’s entire family as well as the surviving crew, leaving only her alive with grievous bite wounds, placing the curse of lycanthropy on the little Alay.

The church snatched up Alay and hid her in an isolated location. There they attacked her heart and mind, bending her to the will of Umberlee. They told her that she had been spared because she possessed greater purpose than her disobedient family. Torture became a tool to deliberately provoke her transformations. Pain, starvation, and blood rituals were often employed. Alay was told she was special and given Umberlee’s favor, but she was treated like a dangerous wild animal. Her part in the church’s operations was to use her cursed sense for blood to hunt down other so-called heathens, fugitives, and other unfortunate souls tangled in the webs of the church and its allied factions.

Open Water

Years later, Alay’s life shifted again when the Fallen Daughter’s followers raided the refuge to destroy the church’s local leadership. Alay was initially encountered as an enemy tasked with slaying the intruders, but one of Theron’s students saw the girl for the stringed puppet she was, incapacitated Alay, and stole her away to Daughters’ Isle.

Alay was at first terrified at what she believed would become a repeat of her initiation into Umberlee’s servitude. But Theron did not call Alay’s curse a blessing, nor did she treat Alay as an abomination. She had the power to remove Alay’s curse, but convinced Alay instead to master her own abilities and twist Umberlee’s “gift” into a weapon against the goddess, just as Theron had done with her own talents. Alay now proudly uses her lycanthropic abilities to better serve the her fellow Salt Daughters and the Emerald Reach, with the personal mission to liberate others cursed, controlled, or terrorized by the Church of Umberlee.