HEART AND MIND - WHO YOU WERE BEFORE
Name: Savannah Morgan
Sobriquets: None.Concept: A spiteful wanderer in pursuit of celestial blood.
Origin: Of the few ways to make a living in the outback of Elatreis, the sword is the easiest one. Savannah's father and brother were conscripted, assigned to escort merchants throughout the woods to keep their family fed. Because her mother was of poor health, the family could not afford to leave her alone, nor to leave their income to the whims of the markets. It was decided their daughter would be assigned to the home-post.
With both father and brother in the mercenary army, Savannah developed traditionally masculine skills in their absence. She hunted, chucked wood and did repairs around the house. Sometimes, she would raise an axe or sword to bandits who strayed from their roads. Although she had few friends her age, Savannah got along well with hunters and craftsmen. Her stoicism and dedication to her mother would also garner her the sympathy from older women. Savannah her life was somewhat unconventional, but she was content.
By her sixteenth birthday, it was common for Savannah to spend it at work. Previous years her father had sent small gifts, but it was not unheard of packages would arrive late. What was uncommon was that she had not received word or money for months – to the detriment of her ailing mother. Savvy to learn what had happened, she'd began to venture out to the roads in her spare time to inquire for news from her father's last expedition. It took months before she heard – but when she did, Savannah knew it was all over.
Her father and brother's company had been accused of aiding the a sorcerer of the Black Knives and the Circle had dispatched a force to execute the company to its last member... However, a certain young man by the name of Peter, her brother, had escaped. Though Savannah's heart throbbed in her throat, if this news had reached her it would most certainly reach the witches; the most fanatical about destroying all known ties to sorcery. Savannah knew it was only a matter of time before they would be on her doorstep; the consequences of which coiled her stomach. She knew her brother to be clever enough not to return home, but her mother was in no condition to travel... And so, to spare the woman the possibility of witchcraft and torture – Savannah cut her own mother's throat in her sleep.
Though her swift actions had kept her safe, Savannah's heart filled with resentment. She knew neither her father nor her brother were sorcerers, yet the Circle had condemned them all for mere (possibly false or unaware) association. Without a mother to take care of or a father to wait for, she felt a loss of purpose in life. The thought of having been forced to kill her own mother and her brother being driven to the wilderness for fear of his life attracted the attention of an unclean spirit. It offered Savannah a goal she never before thought possible; vengeance.
Appearance: Savannah is a relatively tall woman for her origins; standing one seventy-five. Though thin in build she possesses clear working muscle. The contrast between her dishevelled ash blonde hair and pale and flawless skin is unnatural (quite literally) and though one would believe she doesn't look a day over eighteen, Savannah is a decade and a half older. Her auburn eyes hardly ever fixate on a single point, often wandering off to subtle movements in either musculature or the environment, rather than maintaining consistent eye-contact.
Notable about Savannah's movement is that she is absurdly strong and balanced to the point of commonly not needing to pay heed to form. While she makes conscious efforts to act in a way reminiscent of human motion, extended periods of isolation make her sometimes act before remembering; resulting in odd and somewhat disturbing posture.
Skills and FlawsHuntress: Tracking, stalking and killing prey quite literally puts Savannah's meat on the table. She is relatively in tune with nature.
The Elatreis Way: Because of the constant threat of brigands to a household of two women, Savannah's father taught her to fight. Savannah is trained in the ways of the sword and axe, whereas her hunting skill translates into proficiency with the bow as well.
Carpentry: Perhaps not so special or unique, but Savannah has some basic woodworking skills. She won't be designing ships anytime soon, but has a knack for small repairs.
Illiteracy: Having never been taught, Savannah cannot read or write.
Hooks:- Savannah knows not if she will ever see her brother again, but has not given up hope to find him... And his story...
- Savannah resents the establishment and influence of the Circle. She would see it dismantled if not utterly destroyed.
- Upon contacting the unclean, Savannah has learned many of the truths she once knew are nothing but falsehoods. She possesses but anecdotal fragments, which may or may not be the conjectures of a madman, but what she does know is that the Exile is not who She is claimed to be.
SOUL - WHAT YOU ARE BENEATH THE SKIN
Initiation: The unclean shared Savannah's wrath. They made a pact that changed her life and body forever. She has been taught and physically transformed over the course of thirteen years.
WeirdsThe Queen: Savannah´s Weird asserts dominion over a species of insectoid beasts, similar in shape to tiny flying beetles with large mandibles – but more akin an ant colony in terms of behaviour. These insects become part of her hivemind and provided they are nearby, they can be controlled as if an extension of her own body. The beetles may be small in size, but their bite is incredibly potent. They can lay siege to another person's body and (if en masse) eat their way through flesh in a matter of seconds. The range of the hivemind is unlimited, but becomes less flexible at a distance. Beetles can be given commands, such as to retrieve an item or guard a passage, but once out of optimal reach; they become simplistic and unwavering in their approach. When ordered to retrieve a ring they will simply walk up to it and snatch it, regardless of it is lying about in a street-corner or on the finger of a notorious, axe-happy brigand – and return without taking detours.
Her Castle: A rather wicked and literal twist on the expression 'my body is my temple;' if Savannah is the Queen - then her body is the castle. Her beetles have become an integral part of her physiology, living underneath her skin and becoming interwoven with her blood, bones and muscles. The insects take great care of the body. Her servants are functionally an internal surgeon who can glue her skin and bones back together, harvest and rebuild another's organs, or circulate any kind of available medicine through her body most efficiently. Injuries that would last months if not years can be healed within a matter of days; granted the hive has sufficient resources. Over the years, the beetles also greatly reinforced her body's very own structure. This gives Savannah unnatural strength. She is capable of lifting horses or crushing plate armour with her bare hands. Savannah can still be cut or tossed around, but because of the reinforcement to her body in order to achieve these feat, blunt force is far less effective.
Her Artisans: With a little instruction, her insects can harvest materials to build their own structures. Be that casts made out of clay or reinforcing and repairing human structures, although they do so very roughly. However, they are also capable of engineering plant- or animal corpses. For example, they can mount vines around Savannah's arms which they then inhabit and man it for Savannah to use as her own. However, the insects do not actively maintain these machinations of nature and so they all have expiry dates.
BLOOD AND BONE - THE NEPHILIM
Nephilim: Insatiable Truth
Sobriquets: InnesConcept: Mad judges, zealous juries and feral executioners.
Form: A hulking feature- and headless woman. It's skin is grey as ash, but has many slits that bulge from the body. When opened, these can form either eyes or mouths filled with razorsharp fangs.
Further Detail: Rather than a single conscious, Innes (as the Nephilim was named by Savannah) counts a community of over a hundred imps sharing one body. This makes talking to Innes akin interacting with a Twitch-chat. They consider themselves inquisitors, preachers and hangmen - and always on the side of their perceived justice. Innes shares a number of communal values; they loathe falsehoods and demand retribution if harm comes to them or their sorcerer, be it in the present or past. As a result they bear many grudges and hold strange superstitions. For example, Savannah still does not know why Innes insists she kills every rat within arm's length or cringe were she to touch silverware, but the voices make sure she remembers.
AbominationsThose Who See: There is not a part of the Nephilim's body that cannot spawn an eye. This gives Innes omnidirectional vision.
Those Who Preach: Like eyes, Innes possesses an ungodly amount of mouths. Capable of speech, but more importantly; devouring. They can inflict debilitating wounds even upon short contact, or lock down an opponent.
Those Who Follow: An ability that stems from those who it bonds with rather than the Nephilim itself. In Savannah's case, Innes can possess their (non- or lesser sentient) surroundings and create a 'husk'. These husks allow Innes to augment their body – be that with stone plating robbed from a cathedral, mounting a wooden stake carved from a nearby tree, etc. Or perhaps it takes the claws and tail of a defeated beast. However, these husks do not possess any of the Nephilim's other powers and may even obstruct them by the simple act of covering skin and thereby potential spawn-points for eyes or mouths.
Shared Anathma: Innes imposes their selves quite strongly even when only telepathically linked. Due to the nature it speaks to Savannah, their will seems as to come from the insects that share in her hivemind; a part she views as distinctly her own. This makes her instinctively dislike the same things Innes dislikes while they remain separated, but makes her prone to bouts of blind rage when piloting the Nephilim.
