To speak of Mahaki in terms of physical characteristics would not be an accurate characterization of this man. He always wears a mask, as depicted, that serves as his primary identifier. It is monochromatic, of black and white, and covers the entire face. However, he goes to great lengths to keep the actual features of his body concealed. The rest of his body is wrapped in dark, sleek clothing, with various buckles, pockets, and ornaments. Typically, he does not carry weapons, but if he does, his weapon of choice is a long, slender rod as dark as his clothes. The rod possesses rounded ends, which make it ineffective as a piercing weapon. He has never had to use this lance, preferring to avoid combat with stealth techniques. He is also known to carry daggers as a method of insurance when traveling casually.

Mahaki is a magic user before anything else. He is pledged to his patron deity, Niphas, who grants him the affinity of obscurity in return. As such, it is rare to see him use flashy magicks, such as loud explosions or bright lightning. This gift of affinity as granted by Niphas allows him to much more easily cast stealth/illusory magic and with less toll (there is still a toll upon Mahaki himself). To channel the magical energy of this primordial deity, Mahaki must sacrifice human Identity, which Niphas consumes. This can be flesh (from others or himself), crafted objects (e.g. architecture, paintings), or soul. The more Identity a sacrifice has, the more magic can be channeled. Thus, Mahaki is relatively powerless in natural environments such as caves, wilderness, or mountains. He can still make minor invocations for brief periods of time using his clothes or blood. If he is truly desperate, he can invoke by using sacrifices of his own flesh or soul (sacrifices of flesh are obviously weaker than sacrifices of soul). Invocations are brought about typically through a method involving three components: an intent, which gives form to the magic; a sacrifice, which serves as the conduit for the magic of Niphas (requires Identity) OR, if he is in bad standing with Niphas, serves up its own energy (invocations of Niphas are stronger per sacrificial content than just sacrificial content); and a trigger, which initiates the interaction. Mahaki is incapable of speech, so he cannot chant as a trigger. Instead, he often uses hand movements, which are convenient and efficient. He has also been known to use rune magic for more long-term, more powerful enchantments.

Below is a list of abilities that the Shadow of Elbion has been known to exhibit:

Prognostication: although this literally is comparative to prophesying or foretelling, Mahaki's prognostication is more a channel of communication that he established with his patron deity, Niphas. Mahaki was the one who discovered this entity, and thus he has a special bond with the deity that no one else has. He is able to communicate the basic will of Niphas. This ability is a product of countless hours of poring over ancient tomes.

Illusory Magic: perhaps Mahaki's staple, he is a frequent user of the Illusory Arts. Invisibility is common for him. Due to his living style, he has also grown adept at creating entrances that are hidden by magic. In dire circumstances, he can utilize this magic to disorient adversaries (e.g. creating entirely new environments). This magic involves the exertion of one's will over light and sound. However, illusory magic is NOT conjuring; that is, it cannot create physical objects. If someone becomes aware of an illusion, they are simply able to walk through it.

Alchemy: Mahaki is able to create potions and mixtures with magical properties or use. He will commonly carry alchemical mixtures to fuel his spells. However, he is relatively understudied in this subject and requires reference material to create specific potions.

Spatial Alteration: this is a talent that Mahaki has trained for years to achieve, and requires much more sacrificial content than his other skills. He has specialized in a form of spatial alteration that allows him to 'store' objects inside of the paper of his journal. Structured rituals are required to store an object, but retrieval is comparatively easier. The object is then confined to the dimensions of the paper. Since this is such an exhaustive process, he only uses this to store significant items.

Not many are able to converse with Mahaki, given that he is mute (cannot speak). However, he is neither hostile nor emotionless, as his appearance may imply. To those that can bear to get past his appearance, he is known to be quite affable and intelligent. His circle of close friends, however, is extremely limited due to his inability to speak; most people that interact with Mahaki are well-intentioned strangers. With his friends, Mahaki does open up a little, but no one has ever gazed behind the mask, and it is doubtful that one ever will. To him, it is an incredibly sacred symbol.

Despite this likability with his close circle of friends, he is apt to solve disputes through violence, and commonly murder. Most issues appear to him as very black-and-white; that is, if it is within his power to bring about a desirable solution or outcome, he will exert that power regardless of the consequences. Some would say that he is equal parts "bad" as "good", but such concepts are of little consequence to him. His motivations are often unknown, preferring to work alone, but several conjectures have been made as to his nature.

To overcome his muteness, Mahaki prefers nonverbal cues such as nodding, shaking of the head, thumbs up/down/sideways, shrugs, etc. However, if the message that he is intending to communicate is too complex to be communicated without language, he will write in a journal that he keeps with him and then display the writing to the person he is trying to communicate with. However, this still is often impractical. The last and least common way that Mahaki is seen communicating is through magical objects, although this is rare.

Although Mahaki is Kavoshian, he cannot speak Ozkavosh since it is a dead language. He does, however, speak the Common and Trade tongues. He is also proficient in several ancient languages since he has needed to translate ancient tomes, but only their written form. He cannot understand the spoken version of ancient languages.

Even to himself, Mahaki's early life is fairly unknown. He does not know his parents, nor can he recall the place of his birth. As an infant, he was left on the doorstep of a wealthy merchant woman with a name and date of birth. This woman, Kirash, became his adoptive mother in Elbion. However, due to her wealth, she never married, and remained single for his entire life. Kirash was also Kavoshian, though her blood was extremely diluted, so her physical features were only slightly influenced by her Kavoshian genes. She never tried to develop her own magical abilities, but encouraged Mahaki to do so. She noticed that he is of purer blood, and was originally terrified to take the child in. She knew of the infant mortality rate in pureblooded Kavoshians and was worried that she might fall victim to the uncontrolled magic within him.

Mahaki still does not know why she decided to take him in, but has often attributed it to her loneliness. She wasn't interested in dating, and she was distant from all of her friends. A child helped to ease her loneliness. However, Mahaki was a very tame baby. He never fell victim to the fatal emotional fits that many Kavoshians do during infancy. Kirash thought that this was a blessing from the Gods, that she was blessed with a well-tempered Kavoshian baby. She raised him in secrecy, for if anyone else in Elbion found out, they could turn hostile to her and her child.

When Mahaki was old enough to begin speaking was when Kirash felt truly happy. He was such a sweet child, and felt nothing but gratitude towards his mother for taking him in. They became very close, and Kirash began to serve as his teacher as well as his mother. She taught him language, economics, magic, and many other things. One day, the curious adolescent Mahaki gained an interest in religion. He did not believe in the same religion as his mother, often to her disappointment. Nonetheless, Kirash encouraged Mahaki to explore that field further if it interested him. However, the religious tomes that Kirash had purchased for him were all of little interest to him. They all felt fabricated. So, one day in his late teens, he left home to explore in the hopes that he would find what he was looking for. He had told Kirash where he was going, but she still couldn't help but feel worried.

As a full grown Kavoshian, Mahaki encountered little trouble when walking down busy streets. When he interacted with shop or innkeepers, he found that they were overwhelmingly cautious of him. It was a mixture of both fear and anger that he read on those faces. He was never denied service as his mother was generous enough to purchase him basic armor and to give him a bag of gold coins.

He continued on his search for several years before finally getting a clue that seemed interesting. He had heard from a fellow adventurer in a tavern that there was an old ruin on one of the Isles of Sheketh. This ruin was entirely unexplored, and the adventurer was too afraid to enter. He was out for gold where Mahaki was out for knowledge.

He assembled a team of six adventurers including himself: a well-built battle Orc, an Elven mage, and a group of three average humans. They all demanded pay to go into the ruins and a share of the riches if they found any. Mahaki agreed, of course, knowing that it would be a battle to the death should they find treasure.

The six frightened adventurers set out on an expedition to locate the ruin. They knew only the island on which it was runored to be on, and several times did the humans want to quit. The Orc bullied them back into shape. Eventually, they came across a cave, lined with stone arches and sparsely lit torches on the outside. This was the only sign of civilized life that they had found, so they assumed it to be the ruin. They descended cautiously.

Mahaki cannot remember anything other than his employees being torn to shreds by the monsters of the night that had come to live in this ruin. One by one, they were picked off violently. However, these monsters seemed to entirely ignore Mahaki. Even if he attacked them, they would lay there and be slain. This is, obviously, a very peculiar behavior, but encouraged him to continue into the depths.

After hours of walking, he eventually came to what looked like a ritual room. There were intricate drawings on the floor, the walls, and the cieling, not to mention decaying human bodies. They appear to have been sacrificed to bring about some kind of magic.

"You are of great interest to me, you curious body of Identity."

A whisper sounded from the walls of the ritual room, but there was nothing. The whisper appeared to be coming from nowhere.

"Unlike those deluded persons that you brought with you, you are motivated to find Truth. I shall show it to you, for you are the first entity with which I have ever interacted with on this plane."

The bodiless voice explained how it ended up here, and why there were bodies on the floor. Apparently, an ancient sect believed in a great God of Unmaking, and constructed a ritual to summon him. However, none were left to commune with the summoned deity.

"What is your name?" asked Mahaki.

"I do not possess a name or form. I only have a rudimentary will, and that is to unmake. I despise identity, as it is what separates entities from one another. Even now, you seek to identify me, even though I have no identity. I am beyond Identity."

"How may I best serve you?" asked Mahaki.

"Sacrifice identity to me, so that I may unmake and return it to nothingness. If you wish to become my mouthpiece in this plane, sacrifice your voice to me. Wear this mask, so that you can become more like me."

A mask suddenly caught the light in the corner of the room, grabbing Mahaki's attention. He swore then to give up his voice and face to serve this deity.

"Good. I shall grant you a small boon of my power so that you may continue to exist here as long as you please. You shall be the envoy of the unmaking. Bring more of your kind here to strike the same deal as you and I have. Sacrifice more Identity to me so that I may eventually unmake this world which profanes my purpose."

That was the last message that the entity had for Mahaki. He later named it Niphas, the great primordial deity of unmaking. The entity despised having to speak, and also despised being given a name, but it still acknowledged its necessity. It does not communicate with Mahaki outside of that ruin. And, since it despises speaking, it will communicate often through feeling.

Since that day, Mahaki has returned to Elbion to study this entity that he discovered further. He reintroduced himself to his mother, who was absolutely distraught by what her son has become: a faceless, voiceless body. As a result, he only visits her occasionally. He has become obsessed with magic and its true nature, and has become an avid scholar in his hideout. He has begun to meticulously record his discoveries and experiences in journals. Throughout the years, he has learned several magical practices. He is also a collector of magical artifacts. True to his deal with Niphas, he has begun to seek out others in the hope that they will know the grand Truth of the world.

"Have you ever seen the Shadow of Elbion? I once had the pleasure to meet him. He came to my shop one day and asked if I could tailor him a new suit of armor. He paid a generous down payment, so of course I said yes. He had a very detailed description of what he wanted to have made, and I told him that it would take me weeks to finish. Then, he nodded and left. I didn't see him for another month. He returned, paid me the rest of the money agreed upon, and left. Throughout the entire process, he was respectful and warm. I think that he gets a bad wrap for being violent, but my interaction with him was very pleasant."
Conversation between a tailor and a stranger in a tavern

"By the Six! You haven't heard what happened in the town square yesterday?! I can't quite explain what I saw, but I can try. The famed Shadow of Elbion was walking down the street with a partner, a teenager, for once. I have no idea who she was though. A very intimidating Orc man bumped into her and knocked her over without turning his head. The Shadow helped her to her feet, and then she said, 'Hey, big green ugly! Watch where you're going! Don't you know who this is?!' To which the Orc replied, 'I don't, and if we are going to have a problem here, I will gladly take it up with whichever one of you has the balls to do it.' The Shadow then placed one hand on the outside wall of a nearby shop. I couldn't tell quite what he was doing with his other hand, but afterwards, the Orc man began screaming and crying for help. He couldn't hear nor see, no doubt a product of the Shadow's magic. There was a black veil around the Orc's eyes and ears. While the Orc screamed for help, the Shadow and his companion continued onward. The shop that the Shadow had touched, however, suddenly looked - I don't know how to put it - older? It was originally a very ornate building with tons of decorations, but such decoration was now absent from that wall. It was one of the most badass things I have seen to date!"
Women at a tea shop, gossipping about events from the previous day