Crux
When a man devotes himself to one cause for long enough, sometimes that cause overtakes him and becomes the entirety of who he is. The young man known as Crux is one such person, with a heart that burns only with the desire of vengeance, driven by hands and voice unseen. His target? The creatures of the night, those of darkness and shadow who prey under the cover of moonlight.
Living in Vel Anir, he is rarely actually found there. More often he wanders the land of Arethil hunting beast and horror mercilessly, with a relentless lust for the blood of the unholy. He is aided in his conquest by the unique gift he was born with, the power that runs through his veins, casting doubt on what he truly is.
Appearance
Crux is usually a dirty but fair skinned man, with short stubble on his face and shoulder length ebony hair and sunken, piercing blue eyes. He'd be handsome if he wasn't unstable and aggressive, his barbed personality usually detracting from his above-average looks. When in his home city of Vel Anir, Crux wears an old white cotton vest with a matching scarf, black cloth trousers wrapped in a bright scarlet 'skirt' around his waist, that goes down to his knees.
When out travelling or in battle, Crux wears sleeveless iron armor with silver buckles running down the center, as well as steel bands around his forearms and iron armor on his legs, with long boots that run up to the back of his knees. He wears a red cloth tucked into his waistband, perhaps the same one he wears around his waist in his time of rest.
When using his Channeling power, his appearance changes dramatically. Crux's skin turns to an ashen black color, and his eyes glow with a burning orange light. His body may deform or change in shape depending on the amount and type of the magic coursing through his system, and bright orange lines similar to those of his eyes line the expanse of his body, growing in number and complexity as more and more energy is siphoned into him.
When out travelling or in battle, Crux wears sleeveless iron armor with silver buckles running down the center, as well as steel bands around his forearms and iron armor on his legs, with long boots that run up to the back of his knees. He wears a red cloth tucked into his waistband, perhaps the same one he wears around his waist in his time of rest.
When using his Channeling power, his appearance changes dramatically. Crux's skin turns to an ashen black color, and his eyes glow with a burning orange light. His body may deform or change in shape depending on the amount and type of the magic coursing through his system, and bright orange lines similar to those of his eyes line the expanse of his body, growing in number and complexity as more and more energy is siphoned into him.
Skills and Abilities
From infancy, Crux has had the innate ability to siphon magical energies from the world around him. Any person or thing that holds even a trivial amount of arcane energy is a viable target for him to extract from, so long as Crux is allowed to focus long enough to do so. Channeling these energies through his body allows him to use the magic of others for his own needs.
This gift is far from flawless, however; interrupting the flow of magic from a target to Crux himself is as simple as distracting him, making the process easy to stop. In addition, the toll that taking so much power into his body at once takes on his physical form is immense. Depending on how much he channels at once, the expulsion of the energy can leave him unconscious, or with severe injuries to his body. Indeed, there is an inherent risk that he will destroy his body without proper precaution.
Outside of Magic, Crux is skilled with blades and whips, and is very nimble on his feet. A life of battling has granted him excellent reflexes and a high pain tolerance that afford him the edge in a fight.
This gift is far from flawless, however; interrupting the flow of magic from a target to Crux himself is as simple as distracting him, making the process easy to stop. In addition, the toll that taking so much power into his body at once takes on his physical form is immense. Depending on how much he channels at once, the expulsion of the energy can leave him unconscious, or with severe injuries to his body. Indeed, there is an inherent risk that he will destroy his body without proper precaution.
Outside of Magic, Crux is skilled with blades and whips, and is very nimble on his feet. A life of battling has granted him excellent reflexes and a high pain tolerance that afford him the edge in a fight.
Personality
Crux is single-minded, with an almost inhuman dedication to his goal of killing any he deems to be evil or born of darkness. When he isn't sleeping or eating, he's hunting for the next kill or searching for somebody who can pay him to do anything else.. Though his motives behind the unnatural thirst for unholy blood are mysterious and vague at best, he seems to have a very personal vendetta driving his actions.
Despite his tunnel vision, Crux does exhibit some moral compass. He will not harm a defenseless creature, nor will he allow innocents to be killed if he is able to prevent such an occurrence. Crux is also quite knowledgeable about the species and regions of Arethil, having studied whenever he wasn't being worked in the mines as a youth.
Despite his tunnel vision, Crux does exhibit some moral compass. He will not harm a defenseless creature, nor will he allow innocents to be killed if he is able to prevent such an occurrence. Crux is also quite knowledgeable about the species and regions of Arethil, having studied whenever he wasn't being worked in the mines as a youth.
Biography & Lore
To call Crux a human may be generous. Born to two human slaves under the ownership of Orcish slavers in the heart of The Blightlands, his life was originally meant to be nothing more than one of toil and endless suffering for the gain of others. The bearing of children by slaves was forbidden within the group that owned his parents, and they were both put to death in short order, leaving the young boy very much alone in a very terrifying part of the world.
The boy himself was to be slain as well, and he likely would have been if he hadn't grabbed onto one of the slaver's arms, crying and wailing as he sucked the energy out from his executioner. It was an act that saved his live; In a harsh place like The Blightlands, one needed all the protection they could garner. The Orcish Slavers raised the boy, training him to use his powers when they weren't forcing him to work his body half to death in the mines.
He would not be a mine worker for long. Once he had sufficiently learned his craft, the slavers took to using him as a weapon, force-feeding him magical energy from other slaves and old artifacts that they could no longer use, before sending him into battles they would have had no chance of winning otherwise to conquer other groups of slavers to steal their slaves and profit for themselves.
This worked quite well for the slavers, and they were quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. It was until their secret weapon was given an artifact to absorb that contained a deal more than magic within it that their plan began to fall apart. No, within this last artifact was the spirit of a long dormant Demon, forgotten to time until it was awoken within the mind of the boy they'd relied upon for everything.
He went berserk, his power running out of control as he began to mercilessly slaughter every living thing within the slaver's camp; Orcs, Slaves, it mattered not. Whatever had entered his mind had set off a chain of events that would lead to the death of the innocent slave with an unfortunate gift, and the birth of Crux.
When the Demon became too much to bear, the boy made a last ditch effort to save himself, expelling every bit of energy he had within his body in a massive explosion that leveled his camp to the ground. And when the dust settled, the boy lived. He was different though, not the same young man whom he'd been just moments earlier. There was something he'd seen when that unholy spirit had lingered in his mind, something he'd heard that had changed everything for him.
He dubbed himself Crux as he left the Blightlands to find a new home; He vowed that he would become the most decisive obstacle that any creature of the dark would have to overcome if they wished to cause destruction or mayhem. Crux would wander the land of Arethil, and slaughter those who'd brought the horrifying visions and premonitions to his mind, so that the future he saw may never come to fruition.
The boy himself was to be slain as well, and he likely would have been if he hadn't grabbed onto one of the slaver's arms, crying and wailing as he sucked the energy out from his executioner. It was an act that saved his live; In a harsh place like The Blightlands, one needed all the protection they could garner. The Orcish Slavers raised the boy, training him to use his powers when they weren't forcing him to work his body half to death in the mines.
He would not be a mine worker for long. Once he had sufficiently learned his craft, the slavers took to using him as a weapon, force-feeding him magical energy from other slaves and old artifacts that they could no longer use, before sending him into battles they would have had no chance of winning otherwise to conquer other groups of slavers to steal their slaves and profit for themselves.
This worked quite well for the slavers, and they were quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. It was until their secret weapon was given an artifact to absorb that contained a deal more than magic within it that their plan began to fall apart. No, within this last artifact was the spirit of a long dormant Demon, forgotten to time until it was awoken within the mind of the boy they'd relied upon for everything.
He went berserk, his power running out of control as he began to mercilessly slaughter every living thing within the slaver's camp; Orcs, Slaves, it mattered not. Whatever had entered his mind had set off a chain of events that would lead to the death of the innocent slave with an unfortunate gift, and the birth of Crux.
When the Demon became too much to bear, the boy made a last ditch effort to save himself, expelling every bit of energy he had within his body in a massive explosion that leveled his camp to the ground. And when the dust settled, the boy lived. He was different though, not the same young man whom he'd been just moments earlier. There was something he'd seen when that unholy spirit had lingered in his mind, something he'd heard that had changed everything for him.
He dubbed himself Crux as he left the Blightlands to find a new home; He vowed that he would become the most decisive obstacle that any creature of the dark would have to overcome if they wished to cause destruction or mayhem. Crux would wander the land of Arethil, and slaughter those who'd brought the horrifying visions and premonitions to his mind, so that the future he saw may never come to fruition.
