Background
Cynthia Hawthorne is a classmate of Meryl at Eve's Meadow Academy. She is an albino with white hair and pinkish eyes, and suffers from poor vision as a result. She lives with her aunt and uncle in the Middle Clergy District and they are fairly well off.
Cynthia's parents were less than kind to her and would sell her hair to the wizarding community in Eltmur. Her parents, Marvell and Julia, were politicians that worked closely with the royal family and they were killed when the Silver King purged that country's royalty. Her father's brother and his wife took her in and settled in Alivast in hopes of a better life.
Cynthia with short hair fan art by @nikkitsquare
The Unexpectables meet her when she came to The Sweet Dragon to have lunch with Meryl and interview Greckles for a homework assignment.
Due to her unusual skin, hair and eye condition, Cynthia has been mistaken for an aasimar. At one point, a guard took her to Brorc Bronze-Fang who apologized profusely for the error.
Tragedy struck Cynthia when she was abducted by Eltmur royalists who beat her severely, cut off her hair, and carved out chunks of the skin on her upper arm and lower leg for unknown reasons. When her assailants took her down into the sewers, they were killed by Tiengo who killed them simply because they were trespassing in Avryman's domain. Cynthia, who was bound, gagged, blindfolded, and stuffed in a burlap sack, was taken by Tiengo and probably would have faced a grim fate if he had not encountered The Unexpectables. Tiengo literally dumped the teen at the party's feet, dislocating her shoulder, and 'traded' her for Greckles' Hat of Disguise. Panic wrapped his coat around the traumatized girl and the party carried her to the surface.
She has been growing out her hair again.
Personality
Cynthia is a well meaning and sweet young lady, though she appears to be somewhat gullible.
Relationships
Meryl
Cynthia and Meryl are good friends and share the background of coming from Eltmur. Meryl played a joke on her and told her that Greckles only spoke Avian. With the closure of Eve's Meadow Academy, Cynthia has been missing Meryl a lot.
The girls were able to reunite eventually and not only entered the Winter Sled Race, but were able to come in third place behind only a gnoll team that dominated the race until they were overtaken during the final leg by Remy and Borky's sled.
Greckles
Cynthia wanted to meet Greckles for a homework assignment that had the student fill out a worksheet with answers to interview questions about their culture. When she met him, she greeted him in horribly broken Avian and her best attempt at a culturally appropriate bow because Meryl had tricked her into thinking he didn't speak common. Her interview questions were general, but recalling his homeland brought a tear to Greckles' eye, and he had difficulty answering some of her questions. By the time she met Greckles when he came to her school, she had learned how to bow properly, indicating she still holds an interest in Eastern Isles culture.
Trivia
- Cynthia attended Task's archery class with Meryl, but was a little disappointed she wasn't in Greckles' class.
- Cynthia tells Greckles that women who tried to learn to read would be put to death in Eltmur in the pre-Silver King era.
- In Alivast, albinism is sometimes referred to as "the white curse". Greckles tells Cynthia that in the Eastern Isles it is called "the white blessing".
- Cynthia thinks Helga is cool. She is 100% right.
- She has a cat.