Scythe and Nyght
Appearance
* Brown hair on each, though styled differently; Nyght's being longer and kept in a messy bun, Scythe's being shorter and trimmed. Black eyes, fair skin, 5'11" for Scythe and 5'8" for Nyght. As twins, they appear to be the male and female versions of the same person, with only some minor differences.
* They usually wear their expensive gray hooded coats, stylish vests, and fine white clothes, the mark of a certain level of prestige for sellswords. They tend not to wear heavy armor, and own no pieces of such.
* Armed with light crossbows, throwing knives, and single-edged razor swords with saw teeth on the opposing edge.
* They usually wear their expensive gray hooded coats, stylish vests, and fine white clothes, the mark of a certain level of prestige for sellswords. They tend not to wear heavy armor, and own no pieces of such.
* Armed with light crossbows, throwing knives, and single-edged razor swords with saw teeth on the opposing edge.
Skills and Abilities
Mind-merged: The final gift of an old enchanter, the minds of Samuel and Samantha Blair are linked as one. A single consciousness born of two. They can act in perfect tandem, and the senses of their twin bodies are all "shared". Should their bodies be physically distanced over ~200 meters, weakness and disorientation sets in, leading to a coma and eventually death if the distance becomes too great. And the death of one body means the death of the other.
Combat experience: Their raider background and mercenary occupation has given them practical experience in the use of their crossbows, swords, throwing knives, and potions of the trade. Minor first-aid techniques as well.
Tracking/Foraging: The life of the sellsword often dips into bounty hunting, or searching for someone more generally. Scythe and Nyght have grown attentive to the art of tracking their quarry through the wilds, and resupplying their food stock as they go.
Combat experience: Their raider background and mercenary occupation has given them practical experience in the use of their crossbows, swords, throwing knives, and potions of the trade. Minor first-aid techniques as well.
Tracking/Foraging: The life of the sellsword often dips into bounty hunting, or searching for someone more generally. Scythe and Nyght have grown attentive to the art of tracking their quarry through the wilds, and resupplying their food stock as they go.
Personality
* With their minds merged, there is only one experiencer. Not merely Scythe, not merely Nyght, but Scythe and Nyght. All is shared, none is secret, and two now live and act as one. The ultimate intimacy.
* A cruel and ruthless world revealed itself to them early in life. They have come to rely solely on one another to survive. Others be damned.
* Born to mercenaries, raised by raiders, they tend to harbor no lasting loyalties.
* Jolly pessimism pervades in their interactions with others. A brutal realism has teased out a "let the world burn" sense of humor.
* Their brand of honesty is often blunt, as they care little for tact.
* They are fearless together, with an infectious synchronicity about their actions. But, should their bodies become distanced, a growing distress, anxiety, and fear mounts. A single hand doesn't grip a two-handed sword effectively.
* Sympathy is extended for siblings, children, and certain outcasts and lovers. They hold each other's memories of being them all.
* Will often act and speak in a sophisticated manner in an effort to mask their lowly origins. Increasingly more so as time goes on, even when it is not strictly necessary. Perhaps the deception is more alluring than the truth.
+ They engage in practical jokes and other silliness when bored.
+ They hate lawmen and bounty hunters.
+ Purposefully get into awkward, funny, and dangerous situations to have a good story to tell later.
+ Prefer doing the least amount of work to get a job done. Hence, favoring ambush and hit-and-run tactics instead of pitched battles.
* A cruel and ruthless world revealed itself to them early in life. They have come to rely solely on one another to survive. Others be damned.
* Born to mercenaries, raised by raiders, they tend to harbor no lasting loyalties.
* Jolly pessimism pervades in their interactions with others. A brutal realism has teased out a "let the world burn" sense of humor.
* Their brand of honesty is often blunt, as they care little for tact.
* They are fearless together, with an infectious synchronicity about their actions. But, should their bodies become distanced, a growing distress, anxiety, and fear mounts. A single hand doesn't grip a two-handed sword effectively.
* Sympathy is extended for siblings, children, and certain outcasts and lovers. They hold each other's memories of being them all.
* Will often act and speak in a sophisticated manner in an effort to mask their lowly origins. Increasingly more so as time goes on, even when it is not strictly necessary. Perhaps the deception is more alluring than the truth.
+ They engage in practical jokes and other silliness when bored.
+ They hate lawmen and bounty hunters.
+ Purposefully get into awkward, funny, and dangerous situations to have a good story to tell later.
+ Prefer doing the least amount of work to get a job done. Hence, favoring ambush and hit-and-run tactics instead of pitched battles.
Biography & Lore
In the womb, one became two. Then they fused. A portent of what would come. Two halves becoming whole. Brief fulfillment, but they soon split again.
Twins. The bastard children of a mercenary captain and a fresh recruit with a pretty face. His wife and second-in-command, Leona, bided her time. Gained allies and sympathizers in the company. A growing fracture, awaiting the opportunity to quake. When the company was hired to take on a band of raiders of equal size, half of them stopped mid-charge on her command. And they watched as their former mates were slaughtered to a man. She paid off the raiders, drove a dagger into the chests of little Samuel and Samantha, and left them for dead on the field of battle beside their father.
The raiders camped there overnight. And when the morning came, both Samuel and Samantha were still clinging to life. Impressed, and with some growing pity, they decided to take them in. See what they were worth. It started small; fire support with bows and crossbows on small caravan raids between Falwood, Elbion, and Alliria. As they came into their teenage years, they were allowed swords and access to bigger, bolder raids. Samuel and Samantha, having gained the nicknames Scythe and Nyght, knew their fellow raiders well. Humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, outcasts all, banished from their homes or down on their luck and driven to desperation. A family of the unwanted, taking what they would never have gotten: a chance.
But the band's luck would run out. They had escaped the justice of bounty hunters, soldiers, and mercenaries before, but, as fate would have it, Leona, in charge of her own company of sellswords now, was contracted to destroy them.
And destroy she did.
Samuel and Samantha were among the few raiders to survive the battle. A fleeting glance at their step-mother as they fled. A primal bloodlust in her eyes. A seething rage as they outran her mercenaries. Escaped her wrath.
* * * * *
The only family they knew dead and gone, Samuel and Samantha learned to survive without them, and it was as they always had--by the sword. They started as a young pair of sellswords, with worn leather and chain armor and chipped and dented weapons, taking on small tasks or supplementing larger forces. Within ten years, and with no small amount of luck and careful decisions, they had garnered enough success to afford fine clothes and mastercrafted weapons.
And through it all, they still had each other. The only constant. With the gift of the mind-merging bestowed on them, it would be permanent.
But renown is its own double-edged sword.
And a new hunt may yet begin.
References
Not Worth the Price
Supersledge
Vampires in the House up the Way
Cults of Calamity
Vintage Dwarven Wine