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Character Name: Senris Fragard
Species: Ystra (Shadow-Touched)
"Ystra" is a catch-all term for the scattered tribes which live in the Changing Lands, areas with exceptionally high levels of ambient magic typically located between cities and kingdoms. The abundant magic tends to affect people's perceptions and at extremely high concentrations of magic, similarities in its composition between different Changing Lands allow people to cross over. As a result, it is extremely easy to get lost in a Changing Land. Because of this, a significant percentage of the Ystra consists of escaped slaves, persecuted minorities and their descendants. Over the generations, the Ystra have acquired a resistance to magic, making them immune to any attempts to warp their bodies and slightly resistant to attempts to warp their minds. They are equally immune to healing spells, and all of the tribes have a detailed understanding of herbs and natural remedies as a result.
The high magic levels in their environment seem to have affected their own magical abilities. A notable percentage of the Ystra have the ability to sense the flow of magic, allowing them to predict magical opponents in combat by sensing the spells they will use; a much smaller number can redirect it as well. In others, it appears to have woken the darkness in their hearts and given it a voice, granting them control over darkness and shadow and a voice or voices which tempt them with evil thoughts. Strangely, their presence also negates most attempts to control their minds through magical means, though most tribes are uncertain why this is so.
Noteworthy Abilities / Limitations:
+Navigation: Senris is talented with a map and has an excellent sense of direction. He is also familiar with the locations of magical spots leading to other places in the Changing Lands.
+Botany: Senris has a comprehensive knowledge of edible and medicinal plants and how to gather them.
+Perfect night vision: an effect of his shadow-controlling powers
+Immunity to mind control: as a result of being Shadow-Touched.
=Shadow Control: limited to twisting shadows to better conceal himself.
="Many Voices": Even for the Shadow-Touched, Senris has an unusually high number of mental voices; around twenty or so. He can use them to augment his own speech, the combined effect of which is enough to momentarily stun most enemies. However, he is not completely immune to his own power, and a full-strength shout would almost certainly disable himself along with his opponent.
=Combat: He has had basic combat training, mainly in effectively wielding an axe and rudimentary strategy. He is also fairly competent with a bow and arrow.
–Bloodlust: As a result of the large number of mental voices he has, Senris has an unquenchable desire to kill. This makes him exceptionally ferocious in combat, but it also makes him reckless: his defence becomes sloppy, and a calmer opponent could easily take advantage of an opening. This loss of control distresses him more than the murderous urges themselves.
Background: Before he was born, his parents' tribe fifty miles south of the Ruins of Ahya and bordering the South Spires was conquered by the Lene, a large tribe located on the Eblistan Plains which sought to unify their neighbours against the city-dwellers. As a boy, Senris accompanied his father on hunting expeditions and helped his mother at the medicine women's hut, where he learned most of his skills in botany and archery. When he was ten his Shadow-Touched nature and bloodlust became apparent and he was sent to train as a warrior, raiding villages and warring with other tribes. His teachers wanted a fighter who commanded the darkness to enshroud their troops and broke their opponents' will by their viciousness and mental attacks. Instead, Senris's darkness-control was too slight to direct and his bloodlust was more to his own detriment than his opponents. At twenty, he was never able to rise higher than a foot soldier. During one war against another tribe he got separated from his group, ending up in an area unfamiliar to him.
Appearance: Senris is 5'10", which is slightly taller than average among the Lene.
Once there were two brothers. Many things about them are no longer clear and the entire truth about them cannot be spoken, but like most brothers, one was older and one younger. One was tall, with fire in his eyes and starlight in his hair; the other is not spoken of.
Together they shaped the world, though it is no longer clear which parts each brother created. This is unimportant.
Eventually one of them stepped back and surveyed all they had made. It was a beautiful world, populated with every manner of creature they could design. But, he felt, there was something missing.
The other said, there are none like us in this world we have created. We shall make it so.
Both felt it was good, and set about endowing a number of their creations with wisdom, though which brother awakened which race none can say. This is irrelevant.
When they had awakened all the intelligent races the fiery-eyed brother was satisfied, but the other was not. The intelligent races thought like the brothers did, he said, but they could not do all that the brothers could do. Only when they had power like theirs could they be considered equals.
The first brother objected. With such power the intelligent races might find a way to live forever, as they themselves did, and might in time create their own worlds with their own intelligent races. They would surpass him, and he could not abide that.
The other disagreed, and when his brother's mind turned to other matters, he gave a third of his power to the intelligent races, allowing them to shape their world themselves. When the first sibling saw this, he was filled with rage and cursed his brother. His anger gave his curse form and speech, and it wormed into his mind.
The brother who'd been cursed struggled for three days and nights, his essence bleeding out into the lands he passed. Though its voices tore into his being, they were of his brother, his other half, and he could not drive them away.
At the end of the third day, nearly overcome by the madness and anger of the curse, the cursed brother sundered himself with one last effort of will. His essence and parts of the curse scattered into the lands he'd passed, and they have remained there since.
Of course, what is torn may well be mended, given time and effort to gather the pieces.
Hope this doesn't clash with the established lore. I also had an idea for a healer who turned to necromancy, but I wanted to see if this was acceptable first.