Radu Basarab
"Vae victis--woe to the conquered!"
Appearance
"I set these lines down while the image is still sharp in my mind.
He stood on a hill of skulls as if on a dais, weight planted, chin lifted, the point of a long sword resting between bleached crowns. The armor caught the eye first—a burnished gold like hammered sunlight, shaped close to the body so that every plate read as tendon and muscle over metal bone. The breastplate rose to a round medallion at the sternum; the waist was cinched by a narrow girdle from which fell a red battle-skirt, black slashed and fastened with neat brass tabs. From his shoulders flared great sunburst pauldrons, each ridged with spines that swept back like the vanes of a predatory bird. The forearms ended in bristling guards that suggested claws more than cuffs. Greaves and sabatons were seamless, the feet narrow and predatory, a hooked heel lifting him a fraction higher than any mortal stance.
His left hand was a fist, pale knuckles hard as chalk. The right, relaxed around the hilt, showed the ease of long practice. The sword itself was austere and ceremonial all at once—broad, bright, and perfectly kept, with a gilt guard that formed a sharp, angular cross.
But the face was the seal upon the impression. Skin winter-pale, cheekbones cut like facets, eyes the color of hoarfrost and just as merciless. His hair, silver and pulled back, left nothing to soften him. The mouth—black-lipped as if inked—opened on rows of close-set, piranha-like teeth, each fine and serried, poised for tearing flesh. When he smiled (it was not a kind thing) the expression looked engineered for rending rather than mirth."
He stood on a hill of skulls as if on a dais, weight planted, chin lifted, the point of a long sword resting between bleached crowns. The armor caught the eye first—a burnished gold like hammered sunlight, shaped close to the body so that every plate read as tendon and muscle over metal bone. The breastplate rose to a round medallion at the sternum; the waist was cinched by a narrow girdle from which fell a red battle-skirt, black slashed and fastened with neat brass tabs. From his shoulders flared great sunburst pauldrons, each ridged with spines that swept back like the vanes of a predatory bird. The forearms ended in bristling guards that suggested claws more than cuffs. Greaves and sabatons were seamless, the feet narrow and predatory, a hooked heel lifting him a fraction higher than any mortal stance.
His left hand was a fist, pale knuckles hard as chalk. The right, relaxed around the hilt, showed the ease of long practice. The sword itself was austere and ceremonial all at once—broad, bright, and perfectly kept, with a gilt guard that formed a sharp, angular cross.
But the face was the seal upon the impression. Skin winter-pale, cheekbones cut like facets, eyes the color of hoarfrost and just as merciless. His hair, silver and pulled back, left nothing to soften him. The mouth—black-lipped as if inked—opened on rows of close-set, piranha-like teeth, each fine and serried, poised for tearing flesh. When he smiled (it was not a kind thing) the expression looked engineered for rending rather than mirth."
Skills and Abilities
"Aye, the dead-walkers... they ain't like other foes. Fought 'em plenty, and they put a chill in a man's bones that no living enemy can. Something about those rotting corpses coming at you that turns even the stoutest heart to water. Fear's what kills you in battle, and the undead - they know how to bring it."
-Unknown
-Unknown
✥ Supernaturally enhanced physical attributes, courtesy of his transformation at the hands of dark ones.
✥ Heightened resilience to damage, rendering him hard to kill. His unique physiology makes it so that he's highly resistant, if not outright immune to toxins and microbial pathogens.
✥ Lore of Undeath: He's an adept necromancer and knows just about everything there is to know about death magic. This sorcery is a versatile tool, but comes with a terrible cost of either destroying or corrupting all it comes into contact with. It is, by all accounts, an anathema to life itself.
✥Satisfactory level of knowledge partaining to alchemy and other esoteric sciences. Well versed in anatomy and biology.
-Anything harmful to the dark ones and their spawn, since he counts as one of the latter.
-He must consume vast quantities of fresh meat to sustain himself, never stopping at the flesh alone but gnawing through bone and cartilage as well. Just as vital is his appetite for magic, which he draws in through his skin or by ingesting the vital organs of magical creatures. This nourishment is no mere indulgence, it is the lifeblood that sustains the supernatural machinery of his body, keeping the otherworldly parts of his being from collapsing into ruin. As long as these two criteria are met, he can neither grow old or sick.
-He's naturally attracted to places where the basest of emotions have been scorched into the fabric of reality by terrible suffering: on battlefields where ancient hatreds are remembered; in plague pits, where horror and fear cloak the ground; in abandoned graveyards, where the mourning of forgotten spirits is borne by chill winds. It is there that Radu can tap into the residual dark magic and use it to raise the dead to life.
Equipment
↘His sword.
↘ Twin axes called "Fester & Reek".
↘The clothes on his back.
↘A complete copies of the following books: "The Lesser Known Magical Facets and the Danger they Pose", "The Barrow-King’s Gospel" and "Noctis Psalterium".
↘ Twin axes called "Fester & Reek".
↘The clothes on his back.
↘A complete copies of the following books: "The Lesser Known Magical Facets and the Danger they Pose", "The Barrow-King’s Gospel" and "Noctis Psalterium".
Personality
"Surrender and serve me in life, or Die and slave to me in death; it is immaterial to me, for I am immortal and intend to live forever."
↘Cunning, cynical and thoroughly defiant.
↘Prone to violence and being cruel and unusual when slighted, in short, vindictive.
↘Will stop at nothing to ensure his own survival.
↘Operates on a tit-for-tat system of values, meaning that he's willing to ally himself with just about anyone or anything in return for something that he deems valuable.
↘Unusually honorable when it comes to paying back his debts.
↘Gravitates towards self-centered, often megalomaniacal goals.
Overall Alignment: Neutral evil.
References
mouth thin and unsmiling. In a closer view I later studied, a smear of fresh blood clung to one corner of his lips, as if the body had been fed before the armor. His teeth were fine and cruelly pointed; the eyes, pale as frost, held the fixed attention of a hawk. Ears tapered to slight points beneath a sweep of silver hair, drawn back from the brow and tied so that nothing softened the severity of his features.
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