"We lose our own innocence to make sure that others will not."Name
Asychis Nefer
Appearance
Asychis sports a sharp, defined jawline which gives him a strong and gruff appearance alongside his almond-sized emerald eyes. A number of scars run across his lips, almost as if something had stitched his mouth shut. He stands at a mediocre 5'8, but as if making up for his height, the young lad of twenty-four sports a rather sinewy muscular physique. His brown skin tone is somewhat expected from someone who hails from Ibzya, as his sun-beaten appearance and jet-black hair always gives his nationality away. Although he wears the traditional uniform of the Monks of Sun, avid worshippers of the sun god, he has made alterations to the white garment that covers him from head to toe. Lightweight leather covers his torso as well as his shoulders and greaves, just to protect his body. However, the most distinguishing feature of Asychis are the six large orbs that are strung around his neck, almost like prayer beads. These orbs glow a faint red due to his magical energy already stored inside for use. An ornate, steel flute hangs from his waist as it is tied to a belt. Asychis' fingers are heavily calloused due to his time travelling the sands of Ibzya, as such, he covers his hands with a wrapping layer of gauze. All around his torso, distinct lashes are found which have healed into permanent reminders of the torture he endured.Biography
Water was scarce in the areas outside of the capital city of Qaithus. In fact, between a piece of meat that could be considered luxury in the other kingdoms and a jug of muddy water, a lot of people would bid more for the jug than the tasty piece of food. In other words, water was the liquid gold for the places who were not rich at all to begin with. However, those in power didn't see the suffering of the people. Rather, they saw an opportunity to get what they wanted. The gnolls who controlled the underground lakes in Ibzya had been the bane of the dervishes, not only because they control the water supply, but also because they have their own religious cult that is spreading all around the land. Thus, the priests rallied the commoners into fighting against the gnolls, throwing them into a hapless war between unarmed peasants and skilled gnolls. While the priests and the rich sat at a distance like puppeteers, never once getting dirty; countless footmen were slain in a war that only the puppet masters would benefit from.
But, as fate would place it, even foreigners and traders capitalized on the ibzyan's desperate need for water. They brought with them sparkling and refreshing drinks that the people would flock to, scalping them at outrageous prices that would often leave a family poorer though slightly quenched. This is where Asychis' parents met: a foreign trader from a distant land spending a night with a poor though hardworking ibzyan woman. The father's hasty departure was expected, and even ibzyan women were just as hardy and tough as their male counterparts. So, Anhkta, Asychis' mother, in order to have a higher stipend, joined the militia that was sent to one of the caves of Imhotep in order to drive the gnolls away. The young Asychis waited for his mother to return, but after two weeks of futile waiting, the sixteen year-old boy joined the next militia expedition to Imhotep in hopes of finding her.
The battle at the caves was intense. The militia was first to be deployed and slaughtered while the trained troops swept up the remains. Asychis, himself, was one of the survivors who reached the inner caves before being ambushed by another group of gnolls. The combined battalion of militiamen and soldiers held off for a few days, emboldened by reports that another group was being dispatched as their reinforcements. During this time Asychis befriended a girl his age, Miane, who was forced to join the militias in order to provide for her brothers. The two teenagers quickly established a rather intimate bond which would soon be severed when the promised reinforcements never came. Apparently, the battalion inside Imhotep was used as a bait in order to allow the generals and other officers to escape from the battlefield. As the gnolls surrounded them from all sides, the ibzyans had no choice but to surrender. But, while they were in chains as prisoners of the gnolls, they were all subjected to horrific torture. Fingernails pulled from the cuticles, scourged and beaten, and violated in more ways than one, the prisoners slowly died one after the other. As Asychis and Miane dangled from their chains, the young lad saw a familiar, emaciated figure across him: his mother. What was once a muscular, strong woman was nothing more than a bag of bones whose only purpose was to count her ribs until she died. It was a sad reunion, especially for the mother who did what she had to do so her son would not be in the same predicament as she was now.
The days passed into weeks as the tortures intensified to the point that Asychis' mother died in front of him after the gnolls had branded her skin using a white-hot seal. And, while his sanity dangled upon a thread, the one thing that snapped Asychis' mind was when Miane was killed just beside him, her eyes pleading with him to end her pain. Hot flashes of their last kiss together burned into his psyche as the only thing he remembered was the lesson on pyromancy that one of the veteran soldiers taught him and Miane. His eyes saw red before he could only feel a burning, searing sensation up his spine that cascaded into a violent explosion that shook the cave of Imhotep. As the rocks fell into disarray, and the gnolls burned into embers, Asychis waited for his burial death when a pair of soft arms took him to safety before he lost consciousness.
It was only after a few days that Asychis awakened from his dreamless slumber that he was informed that a pair of hunters from the Order of Cinders had taken him to a small sanctuary in a nearby city where they nursed the orphan back to health. And, without much to go back to in Ibzya, Asychis agreed to be trained by the hunters where he was taken to the main headquarters outside of Ibzya. Soon, his hate was harnessed into the deadly weapon that it had become now. And, when he had become a full-fledged member of the order at twenty-one, he went back to Ibzya to reenact his long-awaited vengeance. However, the young Asychis defied orders from the Order, enacting his own personal vendetta not against the undead, but against the gnolls. His insubordination cost him his membership in the Order, but the vengeance-ridden hunter was too far into fury to care.
With but a few friends to aid him, Asychis laid waste to a good number of caves before he was ultimately left on the brink death when an expedition to the caves of Bastet left him cornered by the gnolls. In an utter refusal to be tortured again by the fiends who cost him his innocence, Asychis pressed himself against his limit, producing deadly flames which surged out in a caustic explosion. The gnolls were reduced to ashes as the ex-hunter fell to the ground in a twitching heap. He had exhausted his strength; he gambled too high, and lost against the draw. He clutched at straws, and ultimately drew the shortest one. He would have died if it weren't for a group of monks who saved him, took him to their home in the barren desert, and nursed him back to health.
The monks, who sensed his great rage, told him that the reason why he still was weak was because his source of strength was hate and vengeance: motivation without purpose. And, that, if one was to become stronger, he had to channel his own rage into something that is meaningful. The monks served as his teachers until the present, ultimately reforming the lad into a believer of restraint and control. Though, he still attacks gnoll camps, he is now driven with another purpose rather than just enacting his own vendetta. A purpose to give water and life to the people of Ibzya who waltzed upon the leyline of thirst and death.
Asychis was never the same since. While somewhat magically crippled, he still is a powerful hunter in his own right. Although, every night, he regrets the loss of his family in the Order, he always wished that someday he would meet them again, if only to say his apologies. And, his prayers would soon be answered. A few weeks passed when another injured person was brought to the monks' care. Asychis personally headed the restoration when he recognized the injured hunter: the same man who brought him to the Order. It was Lydic Arun. Though Asychis and the monks tried their best to cure his injuries, the gnolls had done too much damage to Lydic. But, before the older man could have the final kiss of death, he gave a letter to Asychis, telling him to try to go in his stead to Isamanca. Even though he was ejected from the Order, Lydic believed that once a hunter, always a hunter.
As Lydic died in his arms, Asychis clenched the blood-stained letter before tucking it in his pockets. He would fulfill Lydic's last wishes, if only to repay his debt to him. Asychis packed his belongings before saying his farewells to the monks. And, by dawn, he left for the first ship towards Isamanca, excited and nervous to meet the family that he once had abandoned due to a rage that went out of control.
Personality
Asychis radiates a very pleasant, calm, and cheerful atmosphere. He always greets people with a smile, accompanied by his gentle and soothing baritone voice. He rarely raises his tone, and is rarely seen irritated or angry due to the teachings of the hermits who saved him. He is quite a touchy person, often placing his hand on the shoulder of another or holding the hand of someone in need. In turn, he's also quite the hugger, giving a solid hug to the friends he would meet. He's also very generous when it comes to giving to others due to the gratuity he feels from knowing that he once had less. However, when it comes to his duty as a hunter, Asychis is a firm believer in his mission. The undead and everything that stands for evil must be slain, not because of any hatred or vengeance, but because they are the ones responsible for the losses of innocence that many experience everyday. Still, seeing others in pain is something that makes Asychis' heart wrench in fifty different ways; he cannot stand the sight of someone in pain, and thus, he does his best to help those in need. However, this comes with his annoying habit of always getting into others' businesses, even if he is not a part of it. He rarely leaves a damaged soul alone, if only because he is just as damaged as them.
Important Notes
1. The Six Beads of Enlightenment - The large beads that Asychis wears around his neck functions as a storage for magical energy, which allows Asychis to draw magic from it instead of a leyline where most hunters would channel their energies from. This enables Asychis to have an easier and faster time to use his spells, albeit on a weaker level compared to others. The reason is for this is because due to him pushing himself to the limit two times that, somehow, his ability to draw form leylines was impaired. Asychis could still channel magic from the leyline, but doing so would be like trying to move a fractured leg: he can do it, but at an excruciating pain. Severe pains wrack through his body should he try to do so.
2. Expulsion from the Order - Due to his defiance in pursuit of his vendetta against the gnolls, Asychis was expelled from the Order. Though he still cares for the people he knew, he knows that they do not feel the same way for him. As of the moment, his current affiliation is with the Monks of the Midnight Sun, a group of dervishes who lived as hermits in the desert. Unlike their elite counter parts, the monks are more hands-on in terms of their involvement with the plight of the people.