Arathos Denheim
Appearance
Human form - Pale skinned with average build and height. Unkempt medium-length black hair and dark brown eyes with a slight yellowish glint when in total darkness.
Monstrous Form - Antlered head, which greatly resembles the skull of a bovine creature, though its face ending in incredibly sharp teeth. Near-skeletal body, like an emaciated man, an appearance that belies the true power of this form. Long, bony fingers, and bestial hind legs - both ending in four-inch long claws.
Monstrous Form - Antlered head, which greatly resembles the skull of a bovine creature, though its face ending in incredibly sharp teeth. Near-skeletal body, like an emaciated man, an appearance that belies the true power of this form. Long, bony fingers, and bestial hind legs - both ending in four-inch long claws.
Skills and Abilities
Arathos is a highly proficient assassin, with an expert proficiency when handling daggers and short swords. Though he prefers not to use the long sword - or large weapons in general - he does possess a novice proficiency at a variety of weapons such as the spear, the mace, or the long sword. His vampiric physique grants him inhuman physical abilities that allow him to move faster and lift heavier than any person ever could without magical enchantments. Drinking blood also heals wounds he might receive during battle; the more blood he drinks, the faster his wounds heal. He can also see perfectly in pitch darkness.
As a vampire, Arathos is capable of transforming his body into a cloud of bats (requires vitae) and enthrall weakminded NPCs (requires vitae). His greatest and most powerful ability, however, is the power to transform into a monstrous form, which greatly bolsters his already powerful body - an ability granted to him by his incredibly rare strain of vampirism.
In his 'Wendigo' form, Arathos moves much faster than the human eye can follow and has the ability to climb any surface, leap incredibly long distances to pounce on unwary prey, rip apart steel armor and weapons with ease using his incredibly sharp claws and fangs. He can also use an ability called 'shadow meld', which allows him to become invisible for an entire minute, and another ability called 'blood clone', which allows him to summon an illusory copy of himself for five seconds - the clone itself is incapable of harming anything and would become a puddle of blood should anyone attack it. Both abilities cost him vitae, which he must then recover by drinking more.
However, Arathos must revert back to his human form within ten minutes lest he loses himself in the bloodlust and becomes a raging monster that devours both the flesh and blood of every living thing he sees. Only when both his hunger and thirst are sated - or when he's killed - does Arathos revert back to his human form.
His strain of vampirism allows him to survive the sunlight if - and only if - he eats a pound of flesh. Eating a pound of mortal flesh means he gets to stay under the sun for a minute, and another pound for another minute and so on.
As a vampire, Arathos is capable of transforming his body into a cloud of bats (requires vitae) and enthrall weakminded NPCs (requires vitae). His greatest and most powerful ability, however, is the power to transform into a monstrous form, which greatly bolsters his already powerful body - an ability granted to him by his incredibly rare strain of vampirism.
In his 'Wendigo' form, Arathos moves much faster than the human eye can follow and has the ability to climb any surface, leap incredibly long distances to pounce on unwary prey, rip apart steel armor and weapons with ease using his incredibly sharp claws and fangs. He can also use an ability called 'shadow meld', which allows him to become invisible for an entire minute, and another ability called 'blood clone', which allows him to summon an illusory copy of himself for five seconds - the clone itself is incapable of harming anything and would become a puddle of blood should anyone attack it. Both abilities cost him vitae, which he must then recover by drinking more.
However, Arathos must revert back to his human form within ten minutes lest he loses himself in the bloodlust and becomes a raging monster that devours both the flesh and blood of every living thing he sees. Only when both his hunger and thirst are sated - or when he's killed - does Arathos revert back to his human form.
His strain of vampirism allows him to survive the sunlight if - and only if - he eats a pound of flesh. Eating a pound of mortal flesh means he gets to stay under the sun for a minute, and another pound for another minute and so on.
Personality
Despite his incurable thirst for mortal vitae, Arathos is actually quite the easygoing fellow when he's sated. He enjoys attending feasts and festivals, watching and listening to the bards as they perform in town squares, and even reading in his spare time. Not a vampire by choice, Arathos prefers to feed without killing as a means to preserve whatever humanity is left in him, but also to cover his tracks as he knows from prior experience that killing one's prey all the time led to mobs of peasants with torches and pitchforks. He generally avoids combat whenever possible, especially when outside the bounds of a contract, and prefers to settle conflicts by diplomacy.
Biography & Lore
Long ago, Arathos was a simple spice merchant - a wandering salesman with no real home, or family, to return to. His travels eventually brought him to an unnamed village somewhere in the Spine, where he met and befriended a vampire woman - the progeny of the Wendigo strain, Narida, who was a wanderer much like him. Over time, their bond developed into something more than friendship, and Arathos - a lonely merchant - fell in love with Narida, who - not wishing to lie to Arathos - told him of her curse. Despite this, Arathos accepted her and they soon married under the light of the full moon. Unknown to Arathos, however, Narida had been starving herself since she met Arathos - stubbornly refusing to drink human blood, because she was afraid that her lover might shun her. As their lips met in a passionate kiss to seal their wedding vows, Narida transformed into her monstrous form and vigorously drank Arathos' vitae until only a few droplets remained in his body.
Whether by her love or luck, Narida was able to pull herself from her blood-fueled trance just before Arathos died of bloodloss. To her eternal shame, Narida - not wishing to be rid of the one man, who'd come to accept her despite her curse - transformed Arathos into a vampire. Arathos, upon discovering Narida's actions, was overcome with sorrow and rage, and he cursed and screamed at her - calling her a monster and a she-devil. Narida's grief and guilt was too much to bear, and she hurled herself from the highest peak of the Spine, never to be seen again.
To this day - 400 years later - Arathos still searches for his lost love, to beg for her forgiveness and to be with her once more, this time in immortality.
The Wendigo strain of vampirism allows the bearer to maintain a human form that allows them to interact with other mortal races without fear of discovery. They cannot, however, walk under the light of the sun as it burns their skin and would turn them to ash should they stay for too long. A Wendigo vampire is considerably faster and stronger than mortals, capable of outrunning horses and lifting a carriage filled with people with a single hand. However, their strain of vampirism makes them particularly weak to the effects of heat - fire is far deadlier to them than it otherwise should be.
Perhaps, the greatest strength of a Wendigo vampire is the ability to transform into a monstrous form that is far stronger and faster than their humanoid form. Should they stay in this form for more than ten minutes, however, they will lose themselves to the bloodlust and become little more than mindless, blood-crazed, beasts.
Whether by her love or luck, Narida was able to pull herself from her blood-fueled trance just before Arathos died of bloodloss. To her eternal shame, Narida - not wishing to be rid of the one man, who'd come to accept her despite her curse - transformed Arathos into a vampire. Arathos, upon discovering Narida's actions, was overcome with sorrow and rage, and he cursed and screamed at her - calling her a monster and a she-devil. Narida's grief and guilt was too much to bear, and she hurled herself from the highest peak of the Spine, never to be seen again.
To this day - 400 years later - Arathos still searches for his lost love, to beg for her forgiveness and to be with her once more, this time in immortality.
The Wendigo strain of vampirism allows the bearer to maintain a human form that allows them to interact with other mortal races without fear of discovery. They cannot, however, walk under the light of the sun as it burns their skin and would turn them to ash should they stay for too long. A Wendigo vampire is considerably faster and stronger than mortals, capable of outrunning horses and lifting a carriage filled with people with a single hand. However, their strain of vampirism makes them particularly weak to the effects of heat - fire is far deadlier to them than it otherwise should be.
Perhaps, the greatest strength of a Wendigo vampire is the ability to transform into a monstrous form that is far stronger and faster than their humanoid form. Should they stay in this form for more than ten minutes, however, they will lose themselves to the bloodlust and become little more than mindless, blood-crazed, beasts.
