Chayeen is born to the misbegotten tribe known as the fallen. Inhabitants of the lands around Cliffhold City, their ancestors were decimated by the explosion of the power plant in their ‘palace’, which killed thousands, and poisoned all with radiation, as well as a lethal cocktail of chemical pollutants.
The Fallen changed, and the changes did not dissipate over time. The poisoning of their lands led to generations of mutated, genetically damaged, sick and dying citizens, and they grew a hateful distrust of those they saw as human, forming a belief as the fight for survival erased history from their popular memory that they were true natives of Farthrow, and not human like those elsewhere. Those who appeared too human were exiled or killed, such was this distrust, a dangerous situation given that these were the healthiest and most fertile of the fallen. As such, their numbers did not blossom like the humans in the other cities.
Due to this particular local prejudice, Chayeen was exiled, chased away by her own family, due to her mostly human form, and warned that if she returned, she would be killed. In fact the self styled militia that regularly targeted children and young people like her went as far as to threaten harm to her loved ones as well, should she curse the city by returning.
So it was that Kevin, Anelle and Sally came upon the child, wandering alone on a mountain trail. She was accepted into their party, and later into the order of the shades itself, having proved herself valuable in the conducting of the vital mission on which Kevin’s group had been sent.
Finding acceptance with these strangers, albeit after some reluctance from Kevin, where only derision and fear were given by her own people, Chayeen develops a fierce loyalty to the shades, remaining with them even after the opportunity to return home is presented. Chayeen has a bright future ahead with the order, in spite of her troubled past.