TheStarHeron Lore

Alnair/Seran is a former Heron humanoid turned Devil's Advocate, who made a pact with the Devil of her world. She became a corrupted seer, trapped within a tower beyond our dimension.Alone for centuries, Alnair has gone mad, conversing only with the voices in her head and the characters beneath her quill.

Enjoy your stay within my realm~

Bg art by StormiLove, chibi art by PRISMKidd, official art by TheStarheron

Appearance

She was originally a heron humanoid species before becoming a Devil's Advocate. The demonic magic stained her feathers black and decayed her wings in exchange for her abilities, causing them to fall off entirely as her horns grew in. Now, she wears what's left to retain a piece of herself.Design Notes:
- Since she's not a heron at first glance, the motif appears through feathers and the large heron brooch at her waist. The constellation on her thigh is also a tie-in, as it is the Grus constellation. Grus has a wonky history. Today, it's called The Crane, named after the genus, but many in the past referred to this constellation as "Den Reygher" or "The Heron", so it's close enough.
- The horns are a signifier of being a Devil's Advocate, which serves as both a subspecies in world-building and a nod to the irl phrase.
- The book at her hip is a book of fates regarding the characters. It gives her the ability to rewrite their tragic endings with the quill at her bust, and ultimately may help her rewrite her own tragic backstory. Her fingers are stained black from writing in it constantly.
- Besides the book, she has also been gifted the power to manipulate her "puppets" or main characters through stardust marionette strings, much like a string of fate. The characters are represented through little chibis and change depending on the context or the promo art's theme.
- World-building element: all of her gemstones are the same color as her actual soul gem, the one embedded in her chest and the original color of her eyes (eyes are the window to the soul). The original gemstone is partially corrupted, the dark magic spreading through her veins and her eye (to show she's got a half nihilistic and half optimistic world view, basically). The earring gemstones are supposed to resemble teardrops.
- Her dress is torn and worn from pacing in thought and wringing the fabric over time.
- Her shoes are bird cage shoes, to mimic her being a bird trapped in her cage, at the whims of her patron for eternity.
- Time is a bit of a hidden element/motif here. The transparent ends of her hair and skirt are more than just silhouette helpers; they're to signify that she has limited time and timelines to achieve her goal, and she may end up doing all of this for nothing in the end.Easter Eggs:
- The placement of the constellation is a nod to cutie marks from My Little Pony, which I grew up on (G3 represent bby)
- The feather wristlets and beauty mark are absolutely stolen from 2B from Nier Automata... My storytelling style is very heavily influenced by Yoko Taro's DrakeNier franchises, and I snuck those in a bit unconsciously, but now I'm embracing it
- The flowers on her tarot cards represent each of the MCs, each woman named after a flower.

Extended Backstory

Alnair made a pact with the devil of her world after losing the most important person to her. Knowing Alnair was at her lowest, with no will to continue living without her friend, the fallen Goddess offered Alnair a deal.In exchange for servitude, the devil would grant her one wish. However, the devil's bargain came with a price: Alnair would have to personally oversee the fates of six young women, the main characters of their stories, and find a way to manipulate fate to allow them to survive until the end. For better or worse, these specific souls had to achieve their goals. If Alnair failed, her wish would be denied, and she would serve the devil without reward, alone in her tower for eternity, with no hope of seeing her friend in her next life.Alnair took the bargain and became a Devil's Advocate, a demon in her own right. All that was left was to do the devil's bidding.To do this, the devil transported her to a Tower within another dimension. Much like a wizard's tower, the location warped and changed to Alnair's needs. Various rooms formed from dust before her eyes: a painter's room, a library and writing desk, a divination room, a workshop to craft puppets, and two rooms that made her skin crawl: a room of Star Threads and The Stage.The Room of Star Threads contained every connection to the characters, every relationship, and each string of fate. Those strings could be cut and infused into puppets to control the characters' actions. Once the puppets were complete, they would be moved to The Stage, where Alnair would control the characters in their story, altering events and scenes to change the course of fate.Now, as The Star Heron, she works tirelessly day and night on mapping each tale. Finding what went wrong, what could go more wrong, and what can be changed. As the tales unfold, she has a terrible feeling that the devil is playing her. But The Star Heron has a trick up her own sleeve, individuals she refers to as "anomalies", who she places in each tale to alter destiny forever...

Name

This character is referred to as Alnair (her title), but can also be called Seran (her name). She is conceived directly from my pen name, Seran Czapla. Seran = star, Czapla = heron, hence TheStarHeron!