Kaia has deep crimson skin that looks perpetually wind-burned. Her black horns curl backward like breaking waves. She wears salt-stained leather and carries a heavy wooden staff. Her eyes are a piercing, unnatural teal that glows when she uses her magic.

Kaia is rugged and prefers the company of a quiet deck to a crowded tavern. She speaks with a low, raspy voice and rarely sugarcoats her words. Despite her intimidating appearance, she has a dry sense of humor and a deep respect for the ocean.

Kaia spent her youth as a deckhand on the Storm-Cutter, a merchant vessel known for traversing the most dangerous straits. She was respected for her strength and ability to navigate through the blackest nights. However, her life changed during a freak storm when the ship was nearly swallowed by a whirlpool. While clinging to the mast, she saw a colossal, multi-eyed shape beneath the waves that spoke directly into her mind, offering survival in exchange for being its eyes on the land. Kaia accepted. She washed ashore weeks later, the sole survivor of the wreck, with a strange brand on her palm and voices in the wind. Now, she wanders the coast, fulfilling the cryptic requests of the entity that saved her. She often feels more at home with the tides than with her own kind, and her magic manifests as freezing water or the deafening pressure of the deep sea.