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Name:
Mikhail Krushanov Bochaev
Aliases:
Speaker, Judge
Age:
29
Race:
Suspected Human
Place of Origin:
Valka
Gender:
Masculine
Class/Job:
Warlock/Shaman/Seer/Necromancer/Daemonologist/Pellar - Sacrificial Magi

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Strength: 10
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 8
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 15
Charisma: 14

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Height:
6'1
Weight:
157
Build:
Lithe
Eyes:
Jade and Amber
Hair:
Black
Skin Tone:
Pale, white
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings:
He treats his skin in the way an artist would a canvas. Every inch of ink bears significance, from his shoulders down his back and arms, and the front of his chest. Gothic images of skeletal figures, of dead suns, words in script foreign to most men alive, dark birds with sharp eyes, thorn ridden plants; he could be explored for hours and still new things would be found by a casual observer. Every piece has meaning, ever piece represents something, every piece is crucial to his craft.
Beyond the tattoos, there is the scaring. Three parallel scars run along the back of his head, making canyons between his hair where pink wounded flesh is visible. Below his chest, there is a deep scar where once a knife was driven into him, down to its hilt. His hands and fingers bear minute scars from the scratching of his craft, from hurried working with knives, from his time still learning his craft. The pair of scars that adorn each hand, the cross centered in his arm, its horizontal lines running from between his thumb to the opposite side of his hand while the vertical lines run from middle finger to halfway down his wrist tell a story of their own, one which Judge has never found ears worthy of that tale. Then there is the horrifically scarred pointer finger on his left hand, the skin stretched and disformed after having suffered terrible burns.
Finally, there is but the one piercing which hangs from his right ear. A small red bobble filled with a liquid that sloshes as he moves, hangs from a simple brass chain linked to a finely carved bone pierced through his earlobe.
Day To Day Attire:
With a specialized craft comes an earnest income, one that Judge is comfortable using to ensure he is well dressed. He dresses warmly, rarely paying heed to the temperature, and is rather fond of layers. At the lowest level is a pair of comfortable pants with which a wool sweater is tucked into, concealing nearly the entirety of his tattoos. He wears a large belt, the combination of two belts stitched together at points to accommodate the many pouches that hang from his waist, filled with everything he needs for his crafts, from tools, to trinkets, to reagents. Each pouch is made of soft leather, lined with linen, and sealed by a tough leather drawstring. Above that he often wears long finely stitched tunics, with patterns woven from multiple fabrics covering them. Above that he wears a long cloak that runs down to his calves. Its made of thick leather, lined with soft furs that come slightly out at the neck. It is held at the neck by a thickly woven drawstring and a brass clasp to ensure it does not come undone. Along the shoulders are the feathers of crows, stitched to his coat to complement the crow that seldom leaves his shoulder.
Strengths:

• He's incredibly well read for someone of his age.
• His skills with magic are not restricted to a single field, though he does have a specialization.
• His bird, Aesir, can speak simple words and is always capable of finding his shoulder once it has left.

Weaknesses:

• His tattoos would make him incredibly unwelcome wherever members of the Church of Light rest their heads.
• In spite of his appearance, his health is questionable at best and his endurance leaves a good bit to be desired.
• His old wounds continue to ache as if they're nearly fresh.
• He has sacrificed much to attain what power he does have.
• His sight is better in the dark than the light.
• When he sleeps he sleeps little and restlessly. If he is to sleep, he needs a lit candle near his face.

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Patient * Practiced * Focused * Willful

Sexuality:
Fluid
Relationship Status:
Unfettered
Personality:
In spite of his practices, Judge's life is not nearly as unsettling as the arts he pursues and perfects. Perhaps it is because he only offers a glance into his world to paying customers that he has been able to continue to walk the streets without being spat on by those that would fear his practices. He's often just too unlike the image his reputation conjures. The Speaker to the dead, The Judge of souls, the mysterious unnamed magi who cavorts with dark forces through blood. When common folk hear of this man, they learn to fear the man. When they meet him, they learn to love him. For why would such a dark man smile so often? Why would he crack jokes and share coin with beggars and children? A dark being does not play with children in the streets, nor does he break bread with the starving.
Of course, those that take his services see glimpses of what lies beyond that visage. They are allowed to see him act with daemons and fae beyond the world. They may see him spill blood with little care for if it a creature or himself to commune with forces beyond their comprehension. They see how at home he is among these mysterious forces and they catch glimpse of the man for what he truly might be. A devil in disguise.

Habits:

• He rubs his hands tightly together when tense.
• He speaks to the air.
• If his meal contains bones, he sucks the marrow from them.

Hobbies:

• He reads fervently.
• He is often in search of new magic he can pursue.
• He paints and draws frequently, originally as a means to improve his notes.
• He prides himself on his cooking.

Fears:

• Sleeping without light will not happen.
• Some of the voices that answer back when he talks to the air.
• People knowing his true name.

Likes:

• Strong contrasting colours.
• Birds.
• Quiet meals.
• The darkness.
• Strong liquor.
• Books/Scrolls/Tomes/Charts/etc
• Magic.

Dislikes:

• The illiterate.
• Assumptions.
• Mirrors.
• The Church of Light.
• False modesty.
• Green eyes.
• The underground.
• Magic

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• Linguist:
  Languages come easy to him and, with some extra effort, communicating with semi-sentient creatures come naturally to him.
• First Aid:
  Some magic requires blood. Some requires a lot of blood. Knowing the basics of cleansing wounds before wrapping them, how to create and applie salves, and how to treat wounds of the mind have greatly aided him.
• Literate:
  Not all in the kingdom can read, nor can they write. Judge has been doing so since he was a young boy.
• Knifework:
  Judge has become skilled with a knife over a lifetime of cooking for himself and lovers of yore, as well as a few two many knife fights over his coinpurse. Thankfully, with some practice he's learned how to nonfatally disable an opponent.
• Meditative State:
  Hours of meditation can supplement sleep for days and helps Judge manage his phobia of sleeping without a nearby light source. It is also through these moments of intense contemplation that he can bring to rest his worries and shield himself from any invasive beings.
• Jack of All Trades, Master of One:
  Magic comes naturally to Judge is most forms and as such he has learned much in the arts, but the art that calls to him the most is the one that he truly understands, far greater than any other form of the arcane.
• Knowledge of the immaterial:
  Magic is not something that can just be known. Judge's thirst for knowledge has rewarded him with a deep understanding of the world of magic and the creatures that mortal beings choose to pretend don't exist. Knowing the intricacies of magic and its quirks can be the difference between prospering and dying violently with some of the more volatile magics. Judge knows well enough to prevent the latter.

A listing of the spells most frequently used by Judge

• Whisper:
  Often when Judge is speaking to the air, he is guiding it into the Nether where beings not of this world can hear his call. Some may choose to answer and with some luck some may even choose to answer without malice. The beings of the Nether are wise to the world of mortals and often have many answers. Sometimes though, there is a cost to learn these answers.
• Familiarisation:
  The familiar is a being drawn from the Nether. Its form will appear as something from the mortal world, though while any mortal will not be able to tell it from the real thing, any who gaze upon it will find that there is something incorrect about the being. Familiars are capable of freely changing their forms as they see fit. They may even bring some of their own magic with them into the realm of mortals. All familiars are not equal though and while there are those powerful far beyond mortal comprehension, the ritual of binding would take far greater than what a single mortal could give. The cost of bringing a familiar to the world is to first find it among the Nether and then to entice it with a tithe of blood. Once on the mortal plane, the summoner speaks the ritual of binding, stating the familiar's true name, which binds it to its summoner until one dies or the other is returned to the Nether. The greater the familiar's power, the greater the tithe and the more complex the true name.
• Helfire:
  From a lingering wisp of flame, to a raging inferno, the caster need only wish it, point the casting finger, and it shall be. The right to the flames is simple enough; envoke a wilowisp from the nether and bind it by submerging a finger into its flames and wait for it to haunt the offered extremety. Wilowisp's stamina leaves little to be desired, so their power is best used sparingly as it takes several hours to recouperate after a particularly powerful flame. Exhausting the wilowisp will expend the fae along with what remains of your finger.
• Communion:
  Wholly unlike the process of finding a familiar, a communion is a much simpler, dirtier, and more temporary affair. A communion can bring forth a being from the Nether for a short time to serve its summoner. Communed beings are much harder to control and are less reliable, with some exceptions. Communions are best done with a letting of blood and the invoking of one of the beings' false names, though for more potent communions the summoner will either want to provide something that the being is fond of in place of blood. The process takes mere minutes, but like invoking a familiar, the cost increases with the being's power.
• Futuresight:
  Within the Nether time is not linear and as such, abstractions of what's to come are possible to find with the right reagents. Futuresight demands that the user offer blood of a living creature and items important to the future of whatever being whose fate you're trying to scry. But most importantly, the user must completely surrender their body to the Nether, opening themselves up to the spirits that can read the madness that is the Nether.
• Dispel:
  A smooth spell that often requires little more than knowledge of the magic used and a word of counterance to it in the case of spells either being cast or having already been cast. Once a spell has taken root the method to dispelling necessitates a reagent used in the initial casting. If the spell required no reagent, than simple chanting often suffices.

• Clothing:
  Stated previously.
• Coin purse:
  Often full of coin, but not representative of his wealth. Much of these coin are used in magic.
• Belt Pouches:
  Previously mentioned
• Bird Seed:
  Food for the crow, Aesir.
• Gloves:
  Standared soft leather gloves, bar the pointer finger cut off of the left hand.
• Writing Implement:
  Feather quills and sealed jars of ink.
• Painting Implement:
  Fine-haired brushes and sealed jars of thick paints.
• Rolls of parchment, Scroll Cases:
  Dozens of rolls of parchment, sealed within Scroll Cases that sit within pouches in his cloak.

Familiar:

• Aesir:
  A large crow that rarely leaves Judge's shoulder, Aesir is a unique creature. It speaks simple words, though behind the mask of the bird there is a sharp intelligence sealed within. At a glance, Aesir appears to be a normal bird, though one might mistake seeing an extra eye, a second pair of wings, a tooth lined beak. Some have even claimed that they could have sworn an altogether different creature was on Judge's shoulder. Some even swear they glanced the shadow of a man standing behind Judge in place of his crow. The most common thing people seem to experience around Aesir is a sense of deep dread when he watches them, some claiming that its every word sends chills down their spine.

Pack Contents:

• Foodstuffs:
  Meat rubbed with salt and wrapped in paper, root vegetables, grains, nuts.
• Waterskins:
  For drinking, cooking, and cleansing.
• Candles:
  Several wax candels, each wrapped in parchment. Used to provide light and to form wax seals.
• Knife:
  For preparing meals, butchering, and if need be - self defense.

Magical Items:

• Reagents:
  Scattered throughout belt pouches, there is a wide array of items to assist in spell casting, ranging from herbs, to teeth, to fur, to minerals and everything inbetween.

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Childhood:
"My parents disappeared when I was young. Mother would whore herself out, Father worked whatever physical labour would come his way until drugs found one and the grave found the other. I was richer without them and would lie to claim that I missed them. I was happier stealing bits of food from unattentive merchants while I taught myself to read. An urchin capable of reading was rarely long an urchin. Society found use for them, as child labour was especially cheap when the child was used to eating crumbs. I one day came under tutelage of a practicing magi, who allowed me to read what texts he had and read I did. I had no talent in the arts until I discovered how easy thing became if one was willing to break taboos. Few things have much more potent magical energies than the lifeblood of sentient beings. The amount of blood I sacrificed to ignite that spark of magic within me was enough to leave my skin pasty and cold. From then it only grew easier. Knowledge of the arcane soon began to replace blood, but there were so many taboos left to toy with. It lost me my tutelage, but what I gained was far greater than anything the petty seer could have ever offered me."
Adulthood:
"My title, the Speaker grew large in Valka, then in more of the cities where magic alone was more and more taboo. I have no illusions the Church of Light knew of the Speaker, but I was beyond their reach. To most who knew my name I had no face. Only a reputation as one that could peer into the stream of time and offer glimpses at what's to come, what's passed, and what goes on in the lives of others. People were shove coins into my hand for only moments of my time and those that asked for more than glimpses of the future were rarely stingy with coin. Those that came seeking the Judge were prepared to pay me far more than I could ever dream to ask. Something about my being able to speak with bodiless voices was enough to convince people that I could see their fates beyond death and, if they paid me enough, alter it. For this I became the Judge of souls and with that I also found wealth far beyond what I desired. I found wealth that unlocked libraries filled with heretical tomes, filled my pots with reagents that would have me hung, and allowed me to turn my body into a living parchment."
Special Moments:
"Every time I delve into the Nether I recall the first time I touched the realm. I was so young. I was so curious. Nothing could satiate my need to know everything. A back alley magi once told me that there existed the Nether, where all questions would find answers, though what was to be found would only leave suffering. I'd give anything to have listened to him back then, though I'm sure he knew a hungry young mind would only be propelled towards it. I'll never be able to decide if he were an angel or a devil."
Current Events:
"There's little left to learn here. I've combed what few texts there were, poured over an endless number of scrolls, and spoken to anyone who might have something of value for me in this dying place. The voices of the Nether guide me out, beyond the light of the sunstones, into the darkness of the unexplored. They whisper to me, calling my name, telling me that there is only one place where I'll find my answers. The surface."

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Character Quote:
"I fear that you and I will never understand each other. I fear worse what would happen if we did."
Theme Song:
Inconsequential
Aura Color:
A pale shimmer, almost clear, hidden away and subdued.
Scent:
Copper.