SPOILERS - Zutiria's Background and History (Patreon)

This one is even more full of spoilers than Sam's. Read at own risk. Zutiria is seeing a number of large changes in the reboot, but they are all in the name of tightening her character and her theme to create a more refined version of the character you already know and love.

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Zutiria Syndaline

Zutiria is a thirty year old Mage who lives in a tower of Castle Lundreame, on paper working as a sort of unofficial court mage but in actuality she is more of a NEET. She has lived in the castle ever since she was eight years old.

She has two sides to her personality. On one hand she is depressive, quiet, anxious, clingy, and on the other she is caring, mature, dedicated, not to mention surprisingly humorous. Due to her sheltered nature she has a complete lack of social graces which manifests as all sorts of quirks that inconvenience or embarrass those around her. As she starts becoming less of a wallflower thanks to the Guild Master's influence, Zutiria gains interest in things like interpersonal drama, minor pranks, and playing up her social ineptitude if it means making things amusingly awkward.

Zutiria was born in the small seaside village of Arkha, on the rainy, eastern coast of the Tior Province. Her father, Albertus Syndaline, ran a generational bookstore by the name of Pages for the Ages. Her mother, Sybil, met Albertus when she was hired as clerk and she eventually went on to marry him. Before Zutiria, the pair had one other daughter- Elianora Syndaline- who was the only Mage in the family.

Elianora showed promise as a child and started off studying magic from the shelves of their bookstore, which led to them sending her off to Mithimere's Magicademy at the age of 10. She dropped out at 16 and returned home because of all the stress that her education put on her, and two years later, her parents blessed her with a little sister.

Unlike Elianora, Zutiria showcased her immense potential in the arcane arts before she was even born. Some believed her to be a miracle child, as strange things would happen during the pregnancy like Sybil's belly glowing from the inside or food that she was craving being levitated toward her, and these occurrences would persist after the birth. The child would often fly towards her mother's breasts when hungry, burp herself, or change her own diapers. What actually happened was that Zutiria had so much mana that her infant body couldn't even contain it, and every so often it would discharge resulting in some sort of miraculous effect.

Zutiria learned to speak much sooner than other children, and reading came as easy to her as swimming to a fish. By the time she was two, she was already being taught by her older sister while her parents spoiled her by ordering rare magic tomes for their young daughter's perusal. In these earlier years Zutiria was a happy child. There wasn't a moment that passed where she wasn't running her mouth about something or telling her parents all about the new magic she learned, and she loved to spend her days running around the village looking for knowledge. Even back then she had little in the way of tact, as she was very direct and asked people personal questions to sate her curiosity, but everyone seemed to be amused by the local 'little scholar' as they called her.

When she turned five, Zutiria had already absorbed just about everything her elder sister could teach her, and the books her parents would procure started presenting less and less new knowledge. Her parents considered sending her to the Magicademy, but Elianora's experiences there painted a less than flattering picture and they decided against it. Thus, Zutiria hit a low point and was desperate to find some new way to learn.

They first spoke to her from the beach.

Voices from across the waves, the black void, and the stars called out to her. They were subtle at first, mere tickles on her mind that she couldn't comprehend. The child became enraptured by the sensation and spent a lot of time in meditation trying to establish a connection with whoever was reaching out to her. After putting in the work, Zutiria was rewarded with a host of new friends who were eager to cultivate a new relationship. These beings explained to Zutiria how she was special- how rare it is for the magically inclined to be able to hear their words without succumbing to insanity. Being a child, Zutiria was eager to trust these things at face value and was ecstatic when they expressed a desire to begin teaching her arcane secrets which couldn't be found in any book.

Her parents paid little mind to the strangeness Zutiria was developing. She was already an odd girl who did things at her own pace, so when she started talking about voices that were teaching her new magic they assumed she was indulging in imaginary friends. Elianora wasn't as convinced. She'd studied such phenomena during her schooling and believed that these might be demons trying to gain a foothold in Karnalle, and so the elder sister put a lot of work in to try and deter Zutiria from pursuing a relationship with these entities. Zutiria regrets not listening to her to this very day.

The entities guided Zutiria and she grew stronger under their guidance until she reached a point where the focus of her education was abruptly shifted. Her friends started expressing interest in seeing Zutiria for themselves in person, an idea which the young girl was eager to come to light. They had done so much for her, so it was only fair to help them out, didn't it? Zutiria worked harder than ever to learn all the incantations and elements of the necessary rituals, oblivious to the world growing darker around her. Already the influence of these entities could be felt around Arkha the more she dabbled in their magic. People would go missing, only to come back changed. Pets disappeared. Things were seen in the shadows in the unholy hours of night. An air of unrest covered Arkha as it awaited the fateful day where Zutiria would at last meet her friends.

It was raining heavily the day it happened, but aside from that it was just like any other day. Zutiria was deep in the basement, drawing runes upon the floor and then her body. She performed the rituals exactly as she was told, she made the appropriate sacrifices, and in her mind the voices chanted 'speak the words' like an endless cacophony. Once she opened her mouth and spoke them, her world ended.

All the mana in her body concentrated in her throat, creating a stinging spiral of darkness that felt like a whirlwind of razor blades. She couldn't breath, and they were coming. Beings of unknown horror wrenched themselves from her mouth and into the Realm of Karnalle, bursting out of the basement and into the village. Zutiria had a connection to these creatures, and she could see horrific images of what they were doing to everyone she knew and loved. She saw how her parents died, how her sister was fighting tooth and nail to survive the onslaught.

Her friends congratulated her, telling Zutiria that the first of them was going to come through the portal soon and that these were all just their minions. Her mind was close to collapsing- she couldn't handle this and she had to stop it somehow. Zutiria tried choking herself with the last strength she had, but it didn't work and the entities were confused, unable to comprehend why any of this was a big deal or why their friend would try and stop the ritual. Given that she couldn't talk, she spoke with actions and started crawling toward a ritual dagger she'd used in the ceremony.

Zutiria was urged not to be so hasty while the major entities scrambled to make it out of the portal before the girl did what must be done, and she just as Zutiria slit her throat, one such major being did manage to make it to Karnalle. Her house exploded as it is, and Zutiria saw the creature vaguely before she blacked out, and it's haunted her ever since.

Because this is a comprehensive overview, we will be discussing what happened to Zutiria when she was blacked out. Everything in this section is 100% a spoiler and is meant to be a significant plot twist greatly down the road.

The King of Karnalle himself, Theostus Lundreame, happened to be in the area as part of his journey to avoid picking a Queen. He sensed everything that happened and showed up, responding to the tragedy by slaying horror after horror with his blade. The town was dead, save for Elianora who was barely hanging on after the explosion. Theo rushed in and saved her and was just in time to see the monster or whatever it was as it lifted Zutiria up in the air with its tentacles and healed her wound before she could die.

It completely ignored Theo's attempts at calling out to it, instead speaking to her unconscious 'friend' about how they can be together now- hinting at some sort of fusion between the two as more of her tentacles wrapped around the child. Theo had seen enough, and he attacked. The being vastly underestimated the King's power, and he saved Zutiria from her fate.

Elianora was not as lucky.

She followed after the King to try and help save her little sister, only to see Theo had already damaged the unthinkable entity to the point where it seemed on death's door. It wasn't a one-sided fight- his armor was in pieces and he was covered in blood- but he was clearly winning. Rather than allowing him to inflict the finishing blow, the being detached a small parasite 'core' from its body at the same time as his sword struck the now soulless husk. It exploded into murky, sticky ink, coating the King and slowing him down. He was powerless to stop the parasite from jumping onto the nearest host- Elianora- and forcing itself down her throat, transforming the Mage into a substitute vessel.

It wasn't ideal, but the being fled knowing that Zutiria was tainted by their influence and they could always find her again in the future.

Theo freed himself and attempted to chase after her, but she sank into the darkness and disappeared. Only a few minutes later and a bunch of Archsages and Mages from Mithimere appeared, intent on investigating. Knowing better than to trust these self-interested scholars as far as he could throw them, Theo gave them only the relevant details while insisting that the only survivor, Zutiria, had nothing to do with the incident. Theo was full aware they would either dissect this girl and put her in a bunch of jars, brainwash and make use of her as a weapon, or abuse her in some way to benefit their own end. The specifics weren't his concern, all that mattered was denying the Mages anything to do with Zutiria.

Thus, the King took her home.

The ordeal left Zutiria comatose for months, and when she awoke, she was was belligerent and intent on self-harm. Luckily, there was always maids stationed to look after her and they alerted Theostus, who was sticking around in the hopes that she might recover. At this point in his life Theo had many illegitimate children but had never looked after one, but something about Zutiria awoke a dormant paternal instinct in him and he helped her through the earliest stages of her recovery. He sat by her bed and talked to her even as her eyes were lifeless and devoid of hope, he bought her expensive presents and toys, and little by little Theostus gave Zutiria enough love and attention for her to make the first steps of self improvement.

It is important to note that Zutiria was obviously never told that her sister is still 'alive.' She'd been through enough and didn't need that false hope weighing her down.

Zutiria's condition compared to the original webnovel version of RotGM will be somewhat different. Her throat was a portal for unspeakable horrors, and slashing it with a knife instead of allowing the ritual to end naturally ended up trapping all that concentrated evil there and made her incapable of speech. It is entirely out of the possibility of any healer to even hope of curing- she's a full on mute and there will be no getting better. Further, her troubles with mana are the same but the source is different. It wasn't because she wasn't using her mana and it deteriorated, but the interrupted ritual essentially short-circuited her mana circuits again to the point where recovery seemed impossible. Doctors told her there was a chance she might regain more of her mana capacity if she frequently exercised her magic, making the circuits re-expand, but it wasn't guaranteed.

It didn't matter to Zutiria. She wasn't interested in magic anymore, anyway, not after what happened.

Post-recovery, Zutiria was granted her request for a place to live where no one would bother her. She was given a tower in the upper levels of Castle Lundreame, and even as Theostus returned to his adventurers and his kingly duties, he made sure that the girl would want for nothing. He set up a monthly allowance for Zutiria so high that there was no chance of her reaching the cap(at his own expense, he didn't put the Realm in debt to spoil his adopted daughter or anything), a legion of maids who saw to her every desire, and just about anything else he could've thought to give her.

Theostus couldn't always be there for her, and although she grew close with Vandalton as well, neither were able to get Zutiria to express any interest in ever leaving her tower. Every day was the same. She would wake up after a poor night of sleep to a bed covered in the sweat of nightmares, read books, amuse herself with alchemy, and gaze down at the city below all as she ignored the voices which still called out to her every so often begging her to return to magic and converse with them once again.

Zutiria spent many years like this, locked away from the world, and she would have continued this path of self isolation if it wasn't for the appearance of an unexpected visitor when she was seventeen. Although she'd been informed that Theo had gotten married and she'd even met Silviana multiple times, she had purposefully avoided interacting with any of her saviors children. She preferred her lonely life, but an adventurous five year old gremlin burst into her tower one day.

Sam, being an outgoing child with a prideful personality and an inability to listen to what she was told, ignored the mute girl's pleas to leave her alone. Every time one of the maids dragged the Princess off, she'd just find another way back in somehow or another ready to ask the weird tower dwelling girl all sorts of private questions, rant about her problems, or mess with all of Zutiria's possessions. It got to the point where after several weeks of enduring Sam's presence, Zutiria left her tower to go and demand that the child be kept away from her. Sam ambushed her before it could happen, though, and Zutiria ended up snapping at Sam to the point where she started crying and ran away. Mission accomplished, or so she thought.

Zutiria felt unexpectedly lonely in the following days, and the memory of Sam crying left her increasingly guilty. She wondered if Sam was really so bad, or if she was just a bad person. The worst part was when Zutiria started recalling long repressed memories of herself as a child, and she realized Sam reminded her a little of how she used to act. Furthermore, she remembered Elianora and how she tolerated all of Zutiria's antics with a smile on her face. Knowing what her older sister would've done in this situation was what inspired her to try and open up and apologize.

Zutiria had a maid make sure it would be ok for her to pay a visit to Sam, and of course Theo approved, so she was led to the young girl's bedroom that evening where she found Sam in a sad, angry mood. She gave Zutiria some shit over it, but eventually she was able to work up the nerve to apologize and explain that she has a lot of issues and having someone around isn't something she's used to. Sam then reveals that this was obvious, even to a kid like her. Sam kept visiting her so often because Zutiria looked lonely and sad, and she wanted to help.

Zutiria's guilt deepened, and she could tell for the first time that this really was Theo's little girl. She felt that there was nothing else she could do in this situation and relented, admitting that she would enjoy it if the girl wanted to visit her more often. Like a brat, Sam said not until she apologized. This amused Zutiria, who was starting to see more charm in the Princess. It took some effort but eventually she caved in, apologized, and the rest was history.

Sam began making routine visits to Zutiria's tower several times a week, sometimes even daily. Zutiria became her older sister and Sam proved a tremendously good influence on the troubled young woman. Every interaction seemed to return a little light to her life and she was even inspired to start leaving her tower more often. Sometimes Sam would drag Zutiria to dinner, sometimes she would get roped into exploring the city with the Princess, and other times they would hang out with Sam's siblings. Given that Zutiria was mentally stunted since her childhood, having a younger friend like this was exactly what she needed to break out of her shell.

As Sam grew older, Zutiria continued to watch over and help her through her increasing amount of problems. Zutiria wasn't told the entire story about why Theo was so hard on Sam, as the hardass King and Queen Sam painted her parents as didn't match up with her own experiences. She tried confronting Theo about it, but was only told that things were difficult regarding Sam's future and that they were trying to think of a way out of it. Zutiria volunteered to get involved, but Theo told her merely to remain Sam's friend and to be with her when she needed it most.

Despite Sam's positive effect on Zutiria's life, she is far from cured of all her issues. She remains tortured by the events of that day, her body and mana supply are still mangled, and she has a fear of both the dark and of opening her mouth for even the most basic of activities. One thing I plan on changing is Zutiria refuses to eat anything that requires chewing, living off of soup, pudding, and not much else. It goes without saying that in the new continuity she's going to have to work past her trauma a little bit before she's ok with putting certain things in her mouth- be they tongues or more.

The entities who plagued her psyche during her childhood have called out to her every now and then, most noticeably in her dreams, and they even now tell her to return to magic and that she could regain what was lost if only she worked with them again.