Race: Gaian Human (for now)
Ability Scores:
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 13
Constitution: 9
Health Points (HP): 16
Perception: 11
Will: 9
Vigor Points (VP): 11
Special: For every mortal wound inflicted upon a target via melee or inflicted upon the self, restore 2 Vigor points. If restoration goes above max, vigor can artificially be raised to up to double the max until the end of combat, at which point it returns to normal levels.
Skills: (15 points):
Arcanism/Necromancy/Entropic: 2 (8 points)
Arcanism/Necromancy/Souls: 1 (4 points)
Intimidation: 1 (1 point)
Knives: 1 (1 point)
Experience Points: 3 (2+1 leftover from character creation)
Items:
Warded Clothing (tunic and pants with added bone plating): Magically reinforced to be like light armor.
Knife (metal blade but with a personalized grip): Yes
Nourishment: water, jerky and light edibles (dried roots and such): (3) days. Juice box: Grape flavor.
Current Food Supply: Quick-Discard High Nutrient Paste: (365) days. "Quick Discard" as in "this is for making people who won't be around for long healthy enough to work in a short amount of time." Side Effects include: infertility in men and women, an average of 15 years shaved off lifespan, increased risk of cervical cancer in women, mood swings, and lack of appetite. Khaiden would be dead within 2 decades anyway due to his weakened body, so this is to get him functional and keep him intact until he can afford to swap out most of his fleshy bits for machinery.
First Aid Kit: (1)
Coins (Assorted Gaian currency):
Knickknacks stolen from victims: A cloth doll, a carved wooden warrior doll, 3 cloth squares,
Physical Appearance: Khaiden is a gaunt, unnaturally pale man in his early 20s (exact age uncertain). He has short black hair, vivid green eyes, and feels slightly..."strange" to be around.
Personality: Khaiden is surprisingly extroverted for a man who has spent the last few years alone. He's affable, does his best to be polite, and tries to get along with those he works with. This both is and isn't a mask. Khaiden has a pathological need to be wanted, but people generally ran or attacked when they learned what he is. He will not give up Necromancy and won't even stop eating souls, so that's understandable. It's not that he doesn't understand that people find those things upsetting, it's that Khaiden Just. Doesn't. Care. If they can't accept him for what he does and wants to be that's their problem.
Akras is one of the best possible matches for him. They don't care what he does as long as he remains an useful asset, pay and equip him in order to send him out to do what he would do anyway (but with a team), and are willing to supply him with what he wants (knowledge, souls, and upgrades) as long as he can afford them.
Backstory: Khaiden's parents lived too close to the graveyard where a necromancer was improperly buried. "Improperly buried" in this case means his killers didn't burn the body and all his possessions, then purify the ashes and surrounding area. He's not coming back, but his affinity for death stuck around, and a fetus that would otherwise be stillborn was an excellent receptacle.
Khaiden did not die when he was born, but the life imbalance was taken out of his mother's soul. It didn't kill her, but it did leave her severely weakened. His father paid it no mind, since his wife had been prone to nag and the peace was nice. Khaiden did not have a very happy family.
His mother recovered and sought to exercise the same control over her son as her husband. That did not happen. Khaiden's mother's preferred method of punishment was denying food, so Khaiden suffered malnourishment. He grew into a gaunt teenager with unnaturally pale skin. One day he was torturing a beetle to feel some power in his life when he felt something. The moment the needle ended the insect's life, Khaiden felt a surge of something go through him. He felt alert and energized, as if molten silver were flowing through his veins, but in a good way. He had devoured the beetle's soul.
Khaiden experimented, and found that "higher" lifeforms gave him a larger hit than insects. He graduated to sapient souls after his secret was discovered by the village priest Jaread. Khaiden was just cutting a lamb's throat when Jaread happened upon him. Jaread called Khaiden an abomination against nature, hastily re-knotting his belt and backing away from the sheepfold. Khaiden pointed this out and sarcastically asked if Jaread was trying to create a horse/human hybrid. Jaread didn't even have time to say that using a word he didn't know was further proof of evil when Khaiden's knife cut through several rolls of neck fat and into his jugular.
It was Khaiden's laughter and the screaming of the animals that drew the rest of the villagers to the animal enclosure. There Khaiden stood, covered in blood and surrounded by bodies. Entropic Bolts cut down several villagers before they had time to react and Khaiden felt how right it was as their souls flowed into him. By the time the sun set, those who hadn't fled were dead. Except for one of the dogs. It ate the dead. Deal with it.
Flush with power and the feelings that come from being 19 and charged with profane energy, Khaiden looted what he could and left.
3 years later Khaiden's situation was dire. People were rightfully afraid of him even if they didn't know what he was and those who didn't flee attacked. Unable to obtain food directly, Khaiden was forced to resort to theft and murder to obtain sustenance. He did not get enough, and is malnourished as a result. If it weren't for the life energy from souls he'd likely have starved to death. Even though he's getting enough food now, he's been left permanently weakened.
Khaiden's greatest sin would be Envy. This translates into seeking to "upgrade" whatever he has, whether it's equipment, knowledge, or his body. He hates his weak body and seeks to find a way to either strengthen it or get a new one. He's already rejected grafting, since his weakened body couldn't handle the added strain and rebuilding is beyond his skill.
So when Khaiden sensed a huge magical buildup, he went to see what he could find. He ran into a squad of Akras scouts and watched from hiding. His usual plan when encountering the unknown and is to decide whether to watch from safe difference or flee. He avoids confrontation with anything he can't handle, and he counts unknowns as under that until it's proven otherwise. Khaiden instead maneuvers some schmucks to try to attack them and observes the results.
That didn't happen since the Akras scouts detected him and aimed what were obviously weapons at him. Khaiden surrendered. Khaiden has no loyalty beyond himself, so he offered information since he guessed his captors would not be offended by treachery if it benefited them. He admitted to being a Necromancer since what they said made it obvious they were looking to recruit local magi.
Khaiden is currently working on the squad as a probationary member. Having seen Akras' power, Khaiden wants to have at least part of it. Since Magi are relatively rare and their reactions to recruitment vary, Khaiden is a slightly more valuable employee. Of course that's like saying a piece of gravel with two gold flakes on it is more valuable than pieces of gravel with only one. He instinctively recognized the corporate structure and is trying to work his way up. That might have been the provided meal at orientation though. The meal in question had been a failing employee who made one last blunder. It served both to teach Khaiden who he was dealing with, give him a taste of the power offered, and fill his head with corporate buzzwords from the soul he devoured. The last one was accidental.
Since Khaiden already had what was considered "Basic Essential Gear," some of it made from his victims, the Requisitions Office saw no reason to add more until he's completed his first mission.
Khaiden's Short Term Goals: Complete Missions and get positive performance reviews. Devour souls and upgrade his gear.
Khaiden's Long Term Goals: Climb the corporate ladder and replace his weak mortal body with something better. At this point he's leaning towards Undeath, and he's looking into incorporating technology into the resulting vessel. Achieve Synergy while keeping the current Positive Paradigm in place and maximizing profit potential.
Poll
4 (66.7%)
Author
Topic: Castle: Fear for your Weakness OOC (Read 167111 times)