Brahnamin's Characters: Knightsbane

Kish, the Mad

AKA: Windchime
Heritage: Gnoll [F]
Class: Deadwalker
Calling: Heartsong
Active Beats:
(Minor) See something from your dreams in the real world.
(Minor) Let your curiosity lead you into danger.
Appearance:
Bas was an Aelfir by birth, though it is all but impossible to see that now. He has been transformed by the Heart into something else. Or perhaps into what he truly was all along.

His skin is a mottled bruise of midnight blue and dark purple, littered with boils that weep black tar. His eyes are as dark as the abyss itself and seem to suck in light and hope in equal measure. His ears... well, he he hacked the points off years ago. They were too painful a reminder of his old life, so now they are no larger than a human ear, though mangled at the top. His teeth are steel replacements, practically fangs. They were a first 'gift' from his captors, and a reminder that he was little more than an animal to them.

The Cleaver dresses light, wearing cast-off scraps of dark clothing and armor. He is dangerous but knows that unspeakable dangers prowl the lower reaches of the Heart. Speed and stealth are his greatest tools.

Resistances	Stress	Protections	Fallout
Blood
Echo		+2
Mind
Fortune
Supplies

Resources

Bag of interesting teeth D6 Desolate

Equipment

Bootleg Ambrosia: Mend Mind D6, Potent, Expensive
Ritual Blade: Kill d6

Skills, Domains and Abilities

Skills	Knacks	Domains	Knacks
Compel		Cursed
Delve		Desolate
Discern		Haven
Endure		Occult
Evade		Religion
Hunt		Technology
Kill		Warren
Mend		Wild
Sneak

CORE

In the Blood: You move through the Heart as if blessed. +1 Echo Protection. Once per situation, when you take stress to any resistance other than Echo, allocate it to Echo.

Death Follows Close: You never knew anyone could love you as much as your own death. You are followed around by a manifestation of your death that is invisible and intangible to everyone but you – although when you are on the verge of dying, or in places that resonate heavily with death and sorrow, it might be visible to others. The exact appearance of it is up to you. The first time each session you suffer Major Blood, Mind or Fortune fallout, your death manifests to protect you and inflicts D8 stress on whatever caused the fallout.

Enter the Grey: You know the trick of stepping sideways into the Grey: the space between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead. Roll Delve+Religion to enact this ritual. It takes around ten minutes of preparation, e.g. donning ritual garb, inhaling sacred smoke, communing with your death and so on. On a success, the smoke clears, and you (and anyone you bring with you) are in the Grey. Within the Grey, the world is a shadowy echo of its living counterpart. Some souls linger here, awaiting their eternal reward, but for the most part it is grim, empty and monochrome. (For more information on travelling and surviving the Grey, see p. 169.) Exiting the Grey is a simple enough task for a Deadwalker and those they ferry across; it’s a Delve+Religion roll for anyone else.

MAJOR

Sudden Death Your soul is so poorly attached to your bodythat you can dive headlong into the Grey without warning. ENTER THE GREY no longer takes ten minutes to cast – it is instantaneous. Bringing others along with you when you cast it in this manner makes the action Risky.

MINOR

Last Rites: You know enough about death rituals to be sworn in as a priest in three major faiths. Gain the Religion domain. When you touch the brow of a recently dead person, you can ask their spirit a single question before it fades away.

Tattered Soul: Your eternal spirit has been warped and torn by your experiences, leaving you with an affinity with the not-quite-real. Gain the Cursed domain and +1 Echo protection

Grim Reaper: Your death has long whispered to you about the proper methods of execution; on occasion, it helps directly. Gain the Kill skill. Your death’s attentions now function as the following weapon: (D8, Ranged, One-Shot).

Background, Bonds, and Notes

• His masters are Bas's own House. At least his former one. Bask-Under-Radiant-Sky once mercilessly ruled his extended family as the head of his House. He brought them to new heights of power by using them like pawns on a chessboard. They eventually rebelled and staged a coup. Bask-Under-Radiant-Sky's own guards turned against him and he was brought low. After what seemed like months of torture, Bas finally broke in order to save the life of his wife and child.

• Bas was to be their tool, and they would use Bas as he used them. He has a subjugation sliver implanted in his neck. He feels pain when he is being summoned, and the pain increases the longer he ignores it. Once the faithful 'pet' returns to his masters, they give him a new task and send him on his way. The one time he ignored the summons, tried to forget his old life altogether, his masters killed his wife and gave him her head as a gift. He's complied... grudgingly... ever since.

• Choose another player character. They have history with your masters too. What’s their relationship?