Description
A vaguely acrid, herbal scent assaults your nostrils, pervasive about this
undead creature. The Barrow-wight looks like a grotesquely old man, with
withered skin and extensive burn scars, that may or may not have been gotten
while it was still human. A mane of unkempt white hair frames the mess that
is its face, the nose broken, discolored eyes unblinking. Its deformed jaw
full of sharp teeth erases any chance of it passing for a living human, and
whenever the monster speaks, its voice is hollow and hissing.
There is clearly a mind behind this horrifying visage, though it's anyone's
guess as to the creature being willing to tolerate others in proximity, and
how much it can control its inherent rage against the living.
The clothing it wears is surprisingly human and not without adornment, much
like any adventuring mage would have. There is a wealth of wands, scrolls in
waterproof tubes, and for some reason, a seaman's luck charm and a wooden
tambourine. Several weapon hilts also peek from under the rugged fabric, the
beast's clawed hand never straying too far from one of them.
Role
Background
Added Sat Dec 19 02:00:15 2020 at level 13:
The seafaring necromancer named Jazhi Auverait was a soul forever damned.
Jazhi, oddly, kept no undead crew, instead relying on his six apprentices.
In port, posing as a jewelry merchant, he gathered rumors about shipwrecks,
then sailed away to find sunken ships. Only then would the undead be called,
and used to loot the wrecks for valuables. It was good business, although
Jazhi was rarely satisfied with mere treasure over magical artifacts.
His apprentices did not fail to note, that after every such voyage, Jazhi
would look worse for wear, almost as if becoming older. Perhaps it was the
extensive use of the dark arts that took such a toll on him.
And once every three years, a cloaked and hooded stranger would come to
speak with the necromancer. The apprentices were charged with loading cargo
and forbidden to look at the stranger's face, then after he left, the ship
would sail into the night to deliver it to a deserted island cave in the
middle of nowhere. Jazhi, frighteningly old and decrepit, barked at them
to hurry, and the crates were full of bones and skulls...
Then as they sailed back, inevitably a storm would happen, or some other
disaster, and one of the apprentices would die in what seemed an accident.
Next morning, their master showed no signs of old age, and told them to seek
out a new boy (always a boy) to take the deceased's place. And that's how
Arstan, a street orphan, came to be part of this vicious cycle.
That was nine years ago. Thrice the events unfolded in a similar fashion.
Some of the apprentices had tried to escape while in port, but whenever
they left the ship with any intent to do so, they would inevitably get lost
and somehow turn up at the dock again. The master's magic held them firmly.
Others have tried to avoid being chosen as a sacrifice, but the criteria of
choice were not known and impossible to discern.
Arstan approached the problem radically. Instead of waiting for a disaster,
he decided to create one. Apparently, alchemistic fire can solve a lot,
especially when you don't realize how unlikely you are to survive spilling
it all over a ship. The flasks were of Arstan's own make, and perhaps by a
hint of luck from being born under the Fire sphere, he escaped the burning
ship. His skin charred, he stands ashore, watching the horizon, and wonders
if he should celebrate this as his second birthday.
Personality
Added Sat Dec 19 02:01:48 2020 at level 13:
Arstan was heartless long before he came to be on Jazhi's ship. A street
bully, willing to live at others' expense and no stranger to a spot of
violence. With necromantic arsenal at his disposal, he is none the better.
His whole life so far has been spent escaping the clutches of death, so he
is a nihilist caring little for others' suffering.
However, being born under the sphere of Fire, he has a flaming, chaotic
personality that throws aback many of his guild peers. He delights in fine
meals, wine and women, and appreciates a good song or entertaining story -
perhaps after sensing death's breath behind for so long, he wants to cram as
much living as possible into the time he just won.
He combines many contrasts: being scholarly but unrefined in manners,
cautious but fierce when stakes are set, cheerful but without compassion.
Being so young, he has not yet begun considering undeath as the ultimate
pinnacle of a necromancer, but as years fly by, who knows...
Of swords and claws
Added Sun Dec 27 05:03:59 2020 at level 34:
Outgoing and gregarious as he is, Arstan is still a necromancer. A wizard,
no longer an apprentice, complete with a black robe and undead servants.
He has few non-zombie friends, fewer still now that many of his old pals
decided to take the Imperial oath. Although indifferent towards Empire, he
dislikes being constantly hounded about joining, so he cut off just as many
ties as he made over the years.
Life as a necromancer on the fringes of society is difficult, but Arstan
thinks he's doing well. Company and status would be nice, sure, but so is
not having anyone tell you what to do. He decided to amass wealth, judging
that money will both aid his survival and let him make useful allies without
compromising his independence or indulging cabals in their pointless wars.
His curious mind encourages him to pursue new things and consume knowledge
like a wildfire consumes a forest. His current interests are herbalism,
picked up initially as a means to fight off unpleasant odors so prevalent in
his primary craft, and martial training, owing to his long-held love for
punching or shanking people. He was dissatisfied with how little the guild
had to offer on weapon training, so he struck out on his own for a bit.
He has spent some time outdoors, looking for rare plants and interesting
animal specimens to raise as zombies, and it soon culminated in his first
dragon hunt. A real dragon, slain by Arstan's own army, its hide made to
be worn as is the true purpose of the dragons. And of course, the gold!
As he weighed a red dragon claw in his hand, he remembered his spat with
the guildmaster about swords, shields, and proper combat techniques.
Perhaps the claw would offer a viable alternative to the guild's lackluster
training? Following some crude attempts at a self-developed fighting style,
he likes it so much he has decided on a fitting moniker for himself.
Arstan Redclaw. Has a nice ring to it, yes?
Luxuries, denied
Added Wed Jan 20 04:54:28 2021 at level 37:
Nine years have passed since Arstan attained his freedom from Jazhi's ship.
Were they better than the nine he spent aboard?
Though vastly stronger than in his time of apprenticeship, he finds he also
has enemies far surpassing his old master. And like most bullies, he finds
himself intimidated by foes who show no weakness. Long past is the time when
a closed fist was enough to leave his opponent shaken, and today it is he
who must be wary of a punch to the face, delivered with deadly force.
Luckily, such challenges are not required to make progress in his craft.
This does, however, tend to drive him away from cities and civilization. One
would think it were easy to hide among the crowds of the city, but less so
when you're an adventurer of some repute *and* you want to keep practicing
actual necromancy. Instead, he lives abroad, between forgotten graveyards,
lost dungeons and moldy ruins, ever so starved of luxuries of moneyed life.
How ironic, then, that his first thoughts of undeath are fueled not by fear
of old age, nor by greed for power, but simply spring from his inability to
live the life he wants. Yes, he has plenty of gold now, but what's the point
since he can't spend it properly? If he feels he cannot have a comfortable,
civilized life as a mortal necromancer, then there's no loss in giving up
his ability to do so by becoming a Wight.
It's just a thought for now, but it lingers in his mind, and takes root.
King of refuse piles
Added Wed Sep 8 20:51:01 2021 at level 41:
Decades spent homeless, lurking in graveyards and sewers, scavenging in the
trash and bartering for ingredients in dubious circles, have left a serious
mark on Arstan's mind. His journey from being an escaped evil master's
apprentice, to a mage unable to find acceptance outside (or even within) his
guild, and then reduced to vagrancy, was always fraught with self-loathing.
He felt he was missing a key to his life.
But eventually, he realized that he enjoys the freedom of being his own
person and having no master, more than he could ever crave comforts,
luxuries, fame, dominance over others or academic acclaim among mages.
He is not averse to self-humor, calling himself 'king of refuse piles'.
There's no self-delusion about being powerful, not even once he attains an
undead form. To him, it's not a means to power, it's an escape, a promise of
true freedom. He is now looking forward, eagerly, to it happening.
Third chance at life
Added Sat Sep 18 16:45:54 2021 at level 41:
Diving into that well in Rarywey's shrine was one of the the most reckless
things Arstan ever did, second only to setting Jazhi's ship aflame.
As he suspected, the Goddess of Death would not favor him. In his visit,
he alluded to how he cheated death once and gained an opportunity to live
a normal life, an opportunity largely squandered when he chose to continue
learning necromancy. The accursed craft brought him scorn and bereavement,
even gold gave him no joy for it was only ever used to buy safety from
persecution. It's too late to change course now. Yet the idea that death
cleanses and allows one to start over just... resonates with his mind, in
a perverse understanding that existing he will soon die and be born anew.
In the safety of the graveyard, his mind is far away, daydreaming his
conversation with the abomination that is Wood-and-Bones. "You will not
have my remains yet... Not even undeath lasts forever, but it will be a
long new life, and one I intend to enjoy."
A new Spectre
Added Wed Sep 22 02:23:06 2021 at level 47:
As Arstan claims the rank of a Spectre, the highest a mortal necromancer can
attain in the guild, he suddenly finds himself under new scrutiny by the
adventurers of Thera, despite having spent decades as a hermit beneath
anyone's notice. People actually speak to him now, deal with him a little,
inquire about his plans and generally seem interested in knowing him.
Him! The charred, self-loathing wreck of a man. Not that menacing either.
So not used to being noticed other than by perennial enemies of his guild.
Nobody ever called him "esteemed death mage" before. It's awkward.
And they want to know what kind of undead he wants to Become.
So that's what apprehensiveness looks like from the other side...
Fascinating, and kind of disgusting too. But he'll play the part for a bit,
while he's still human and has time to think what to do with it.
The Golden Years
Added Sat Oct 2 15:07:06 2021 at level 47:
Recent years feel great to Arstan. Not too old to party with the Heralds,
yet old enough to have a wealth of past experiences to draw on. Calligraphy,
folk wisdom and study of symbols have replaced herbalism as his new hobby.
With his newfound habit of looking for hidden meaning, stories told by
tale-tellers and written in ancient books of the Lyceum may hold no less
answers to life than tomes of magical knowledge.
As a self-confessed disciple of Rarywey, whose religion is fraught in
mysticism and superstition, he especially values those books and texts that
have more than one layer of understanding.
At the same time, he might be an outlier among her followers, not just by
his guild choice, but by his straightforward thinking. He most values those
mysteries that are knowable, decipherable and explainable. He would never
accept fake air of inscrutability with no underlying substance.
Having dealt with death time and again, manifestations of the Great Cycle
are self-evident to him, but now he must know why it exists, in what other
ways it can manifest, and how knowing it can help lead a satisfying life.
What comes after
Added Wed Oct 6 09:16:43 2021 at level 47:
For years, he assumed his life was going to end on Jazhi's ship.
Then he thought it might end with a berserker chopping off his head.
That his fate may be to become just a zombie in the Dread Lord's army.
That he would die in a crypt, drained of life by angry specters.
Or, in a cruel twist of fate, perhaps even peacefully in his bed.
He was only right about one thing: he WAS going to die.
Now, after crawling out of his grave, he tries to collect his thoughts,
thinking to write them down. Still awkward with his clawed fingers, he
uncorks the ink bottle and reaches for the pen, but drops the damn thing
right away with an angry hiss. Accursed silver!
Having become undead, unsurprisingly, his personality has experienced a
radical shift. Less rational, less considerate of allies. More brooding,
more prone to rage. Definitely not fun at parties. He cannot appreciate many
things he used to, but the fire in his soul demands new experiences. Perhaps
he can still write, when he can find another pen: this is one of the few
possible ways for him to still express creatively.
He's not necessarily always murderous even now. That would be too simple.
But he'll be inclined to bring death unto life in inspiring ways, if he can,
and remind the still living just how fragile everything they have is.
Folly of Eternal Night
Added Wed Oct 13 00:57:41 2021 at level 51:
Ever since the demise of Arstan's old friend Haelior and the mad mummy
Itzenxilaatl, he had not seen Nightwalkers roam Thera. Yet he had drawn
attention from the shadows, hints that Scions of Eternal Night are dormant
but not defeated. And they have been trying to gain him as an ally.
Redclaw (he insists on using his new name now) can easily see what the
Nightwalkers would do to the world should they be unleashed en masse from
their home plane. Though he is unbothered by the death they cause, it is
still great folly to hope to achieve a pact with these creatures: once
numbers are on their side, they can easily overwhelm the mortal magi who
let them in, and devour Thera like they did Maethien.
Additionally, Redclaw dislikes the idea of pacts on principle. He is all
about "freedom", which in his case means no strings attached, whether they
take the form of duties and restrictions (Empire) or caveats and unwanted
consequences (Scion). Even to his Goddess, he only maintains one promise:
to live his undead life in a fulfilling way.
He does, however, think that the resurgence of a powerful faction will stir
the world from its complacent slumber, and that pleases him. He feels almost
compelled to fan this flame, so for the time being he may back the Scions
against his other foes, without throwing in his lot with the faction. He's
also completely open about this: intrigue and secrecy is not his way.
For similar reasons, he wants to see the Orcish clan prosper. To this end,
his old ally Yambul is the next promising Chieftain. And if anything, the
slaughter Shig-Ru leave in their wake provides plenty of bone to gnaw on,
now that the Herald cooking cannot satisfy him anymore.
All the world's a flame
Added Wed Oct 20 04:58:36 2021 at level 51:
...and all the men and women merely fuel.
Those still living would say, eating and scratching wants but a beginning.
Turns out, it applies to making conflict as well. Since Redclaw had allowed
himself to tangle in wars of the factions, if only to try and destabilize
things a bit, he finds he doesn't want to hold back from participating.
To give it some perspective: Redclaw has two major drives in his life.
The first is the curiosity of an experimenter. In a recent conversation,
he compared it with poking a stick at an anthill and watching what happens.
The second and newer one is a desire to enlighten others to his beliefs:
that everyone lives on borrowed time, and must make use of it in a way they
wouldn't regret at the end. He seeks to both preach the tenuousness of life
and also demonstrate it: when he hunts, it pleases him most not to destroy
a foe, but to deny them the feeling of safety, anywhere, at any time.
But both of these goals are held back by his lack of subtlety, and though
he can wield great magics now, wielding them like a sledgehammer only gets
him so far. The dead have no aptitude for mind games and bargaining... so
far he's begun to vaguely realize it as a shortcoming, and that only thanks
to his observations of the Scions. But now Alyce and Aritnaza are gone, and
Redclaw is left with a taste for more but without means to attain it.
Perhaps he should align with Scions in a more permanent way after all.
Meditating on Intrigue
Added Fri Nov 5 20:33:40 2021 at level 51:
Considering the covenant the Scions have with the Nightwalkers, one that
Redclaw had been skeptical of, has led to a little insight: the true secret
to intrigue lies not in the ability to bring about a desired outcome, but to
use any outcome towards your ends. Should the Nightwalkers remain allies,
the Scions will use that, but a betrayal can also be used in its own way.
Then he has wondered, why let Nightwalkers invade the Prime plane at all?
Why share Thera with these creatures when being among the most powerful magi
in existence means the world is already your oyster?
Well, it turns out some had their reasons. A mastery of shadow and death is
more applicable in a world where shadow and death rules supreme. Others saw
it as the means to ultimate destruction of forces of Light that hold sway.
Yet others, like Redclaw himself, simply accept that it may be one possible,
or perhaps inevitable (due to the prophecy) path for Thera to avoid falling
into stagnancy and evolve into a new, unstable world rife with conflict.
It makes sense to want to be along for the ride, to see that evolution
firsthand someday. He doesn't know which parts of the prophecy are true, and
to what extent. However, he has been unable to secure any further contact
with the Scions in order to learn more or discuss the Cabal's future. True
to the ideas described above, he was prepared to make the most of either his
success or failure to join them, but he had not foreseen... this silence.
Is the once-powerful Cabal really extinct, again? And for how long?
PK Wins
Jun 9, 2021 |Lv 41|V'Dramir's Cove|Drimbakka vs 2: [38] Quthrunal (69%, punch), [41] Arstan (30%)
Oct 8, 2021 |Lv 51|Enpolad's Game Garden|Mwauka vs 1: [51] Arstan (100%, punch)
Oct 9, 2021 |Lv 51|The North Road|Subhaloko vs 2: [50] Yambul (64%), [51] Arstan (35%, deathly touch)
Oct 14, 2021|Lv 51|The Outlander Refuge|Aritnaza vs 3: [51] Delkinen (61%), [51] Allavia (2%), [51] Arstan (36%, punch)
Oct 17, 2021|Lv 51|The Open Plains|Saqtoston vs 1: [51] Arstan (100%, smash)
Oct 25, 2021|Lv 51|Desert of Araile|Vlijerous vs 1: [51] Arstan (100%, smash)
Oct 26, 2021|Lv 51|The North Road|Meggaet vs 2: [51] Volzmer (43%, flurry), [51] Arstan (56%)
Oct 26, 2021|Lv 51|Mortorn|Tij vs 1: [51] Arstan (100%, pound)
Oct 29, 2021|Lv 51|East Sumner's Road|Meggaet vs 1: [51] Arstan (100%, punch)
Nov 5, 2021 |Lv 51|Coven of Dralkar Wood|Vlijerous vs 2: [51] Mastra (42%, bite), [51] Arstan (57%)
Nov 6, 2021 |Lv 51|The Oryx Steppes|Subhaloko vs 1: [51] Arstan (100%, pummeling blow)
Nov 27, 2021|Lv 51|The Ruins of Ostalagiah|Shakiniel vs 1: [51] Arstan (100%, claw)
Nov 30, 2021|Lv 51|The Dwarf Forest|Pazux vs 1: [51] Arstan (100%, KB)