23rd of Saun 721
Shortly Before Ruin's Dawn
Shortly Before Ruin's Dawn
The strange lights coming from the Ruins of Anox's Folly was as a flame to a moth, as Chalus drew closer to it on the wing. The sun burned and seared his blackened wings as he drew closer to that strange source of energy. He had spent the better part of the Cycle scavenging from old treasures of battlefields long forgotten, scavenging what food he could from hapless travelers, and making use of what resources he could intimidate and rob people of as he roamed like a savage over the Hotlands.
Yet that source of energy drew him in. There was something undefinably alluring about it, that spoke to a desire within his soul. As he drew near, a shadow of a cloud blocked the sun, casting the ruin in shadow. He drew closer, and with a rough landing alighted to the stones of that ruin, his feet touching the ground and lightly stumbling as he made the landing.
The ruins were amazing in their immensity. Rurmored to be the last stronghold of a grand power, long forgotten, they rose halfway to the sky, even as ruins. The stones were impossibly large, to have been moved or put in place by mortal hands. For a moment, Chalus merely contemplated their mighty size, and wondered.
His meanderings and ruminations were interrupted soon, by a shadowy whisper from one of the pillars dotting the place. His eyes flew toward the sight and sound of that whisper, and he turned. He saw a ragged man, looking wounded and devastated by some horrible ordeal. Chalus's lips curved into a cruel sneer as he beheld what appeared to be a human at the end of his rope.
The avriel approached nonetheless, and looked down on the human where he crept.
"Please, you must help me escape this place... She's gone mad!" The man shuddered, and looked around, paranoid, "Well she's always been mad, but something has gotten into her. She means to... Consume my power."
"Power?" Chalus asked. Wondering how a human came to know the language of Lorien, so far from Athart. "What power?"
"You like power, I can hear it in your voice." The beggar said, and held out his hands, palms upward, "I can grant you power, if you'll only fly me out of here. Please..."
"You are a... Immortal." Chalus said, realization dawning on him suddenly, as well as disgust.
Presently, Chalus became aware of footsteps echoing on the air. He saw a group of others about, followed by a woman with red hair who looked very much a wild mess. He quirked a brow, as if he meant to aid this beggar, he looked to the Immortal and pointed his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the woman. "That's who you're running from."
With a sneer of malice, he realized he could end the existence of an Immortal here and now. He shouted out to the woman, who was Kata, "He's over here, woman! Come before he escapes!"
Mastes, who was the beggar and trickster, cried in dismay, as Kata and her retinue descended upon the two. The Avriel was apprehended lightly, pulled aside from the Immortal Mastes. Then, with Mastes apprehended by Kata, she turned her malice on Chalus. "You've done well, Avriel. But for betraying my love, that is a privilege I reserve for myself... And that means..."
She reached out a shadowy tendril from her arm, and slashed at his upper thigh, before he could even shake off the guards and fly free. He did get away with some effort, but not before receiving the festering wound of her curse. There, it would linger, paining him as he went along.
From then on, he felt no need for food, drink, sleep. Only vice could sustain him, his worst vice. The vice of sadism and torture. Only the pain and suffering of others would maintain his existence.
In truth, as he returned to become a jailer for his people in the Pit of Reflection the next season, he barely noticed the downsides of the curse of Kasyni.
Hello, here's my sovereign magic set up for this character, once he hits Competent. Thanks for taking a look.
Theme: Scars
Persona: The Scourgelord
The Scourgelord has seized upon the Curse of Kasyni that Chalus possesses. The same festering darkness that surrounds the scar on his leg seems to trail across his kinetic movements. Mutations will tend to leave their mark on the path that his sadism takes him. Whether inflicted upon himself in pain, showing on his own scars, or on trails left in the wake of his limbs' movements. It will try to leave its scars on the world. The Persona is much like Chalus a sadistic spark, interested in enforcing its will upon reality by way of dominance and leaving marks on it.
Competent Mutation: The Scourgelord has taken the first steps to leaving its mark upon the world, by affecting the way that wounds and scars show on its host's body. Wounds and scars will radiate a dark red energy, that blankets the area in a vague shadowy miasma. The size and severity of the wound will determine how noticeable the energy's radiation is.
Hello, here's my abrogation magic set up for this character, once he hits Competent. Thanks for taking a look.
Theme: Wickedness
Persona: The Strangler
The Strangler has taken inspiration from the curse laid upon Chalus. Yet instead of enacting its sadism upon other beings, it prefers to strangle the energies of other sparks and magics. It has taken special interest in snuffing out magic-users wherever they dwell, in as painful a way as possible. It will present itself in mutations as warping Chalus' form to appear more wicked. With elongated claws, a narrow bone-structure, spindly and condensed musculature, and so on. It will also tend to enact its changes on the host's magic to make the disruption of magical energies more painful. Whether through techniques such as Backlash, or Reactive barriers.
Competent Mutation: The first change the Strangler has forced upon its host, is to make the fingers of his hands slightly longer, with sharper nails/claws. This makes it a slight adjustment to hold any weapon with a short handle, but isn't too disruptive toward that end, as it only requires an adjustment of grip.