Zoskir
Born in darkness with no House nor allies. A childhood of constant battle produced a strong fighter. But the dark caverns and their shadows taught him how to get the edge. Fleeing to the surface as soon as he was able, he left the underground world and began to make a name for himself in the light of the world above.
Appearance
He stands only as tall as the shortest humans. But he is still much bigger than a dwarf. Well muscled grey skin fills out the proportions of a strong and agile warrior. And yet for a warrior, his form is lithe and deceptive. Elven features and a devious expression mark his countenance. Firey eyes scan his surroundings carefully. And long white hair like strands of spider's silk frame a face full of mischief and pride as it regards you for but a moment.
He certainly isn't dressed like a warrior. More like a thief. Dark fabric. Mostly black. Possibly concealing light armor. A hood ready to be donned. A small traveling purse, ideal for carrying tools of larceny is strapped to his side. And a very sharp dagger of Drow design appears to be his only weapon. (It's not.)
He certainly isn't dressed like a warrior. More like a thief. Dark fabric. Mostly black. Possibly concealing light armor. A hood ready to be donned. A small traveling purse, ideal for carrying tools of larceny is strapped to his side. And a very sharp dagger of Drow design appears to be his only weapon. (It's not.)
Skills and Abilities
Physical prowess and combat skills
Agile parkour and graceful dancing
Stealth and sleight of hand
Acting, persuasion and haggling
Hunting, tracking and investigation
Cooking
Agile parkour and graceful dancing
Stealth and sleight of hand
Acting, persuasion and haggling
Hunting, tracking and investigation
Cooking
Personality and Quirks
* Apparently stoic, Zoskir is a drow of many, many, many thoughts, but comparatively few words. A true schemer who often evaluates and reevaluates the circumstances around him trying to find ways to utilize people and places to his utmost advantage.
* Doesn't like to express genuine emotions in front of others. But he will be quite happy to put on an act and express false emotions. A carry over from drow culture where to be overly emotional is to be weak and easily exploited, a horrible weakness. But to be deceitful and difficult to appraise are virtues of fine leaders.
* Often seemingly given to random acts or apparently desperate gambles, he is in fact more of an apathetic pragmatist. Truly neutral in almost any situation with no personal stakes for him, and even quite a few situations WITH personal stakes.
* Courage born of not giving a damn. It's not so much that he has a death wish as he's lived through enough near death experiences that he can be numb to danger at times.
* Can become extremely freaked out by seemingly normal occurrences. Usually involving things reminiscent of his childhood. When this happens he usually takes a small amount of time to "come back to reality."
* The greatest exceptions to his neutrality manifests in an extreme intolerance and hatred of demonic entities, dark magic and the undead.
* Likes fresh cheap wine and considers fine, vintage wine disgusting.
* Has a love and appreciation for spiders that borders on obsession.
* Still learning the common trade language, he occasionally slips back into his native dialect.
* Doesn't like to express genuine emotions in front of others. But he will be quite happy to put on an act and express false emotions. A carry over from drow culture where to be overly emotional is to be weak and easily exploited, a horrible weakness. But to be deceitful and difficult to appraise are virtues of fine leaders.
* Often seemingly given to random acts or apparently desperate gambles, he is in fact more of an apathetic pragmatist. Truly neutral in almost any situation with no personal stakes for him, and even quite a few situations WITH personal stakes.
* Courage born of not giving a damn. It's not so much that he has a death wish as he's lived through enough near death experiences that he can be numb to danger at times.
* Can become extremely freaked out by seemingly normal occurrences. Usually involving things reminiscent of his childhood. When this happens he usually takes a small amount of time to "come back to reality."
* The greatest exceptions to his neutrality manifests in an extreme intolerance and hatred of demonic entities, dark magic and the undead.
* Likes fresh cheap wine and considers fine, vintage wine disgusting.
* Has a love and appreciation for spiders that borders on obsession.
* Still learning the common trade language, he occasionally slips back into his native dialect.
Biography & Lore
Zoskir was born in Revash Qelnoth, the city of bridges. Built by the duergar, and having gained a significant drow population in a huge exodus from Zar'Ahal literal ages ago. They city which hangs like a great and glorious spider in her web of titanic bridges, amdst a completely massive underground canyon called the Ravine.
Born to a mother and father who were losers, outcasts and scapegoats. His father Indreth was a mushroom addict, who worked as a barkeep in a tavern called The Bloated Deep Slug. And his mother Kriyalis was a power addictid witch, always off on a new scheme trying to make herself and the dark entities she drew her magic from more prolific in the underrealm. But it never seemed to work.
He had a younger sister Viamri, and a sister a year older, Kozatra. And elder triplets his brother Mordrigal, brother Arlyle and sister Ephis. The triplets had left to make a name for themselves in some drow settlement near Zar'Ahal before he was born. Basically raised by his sister Kozatra, because his parents never had much time to take care of their kids. They were essentially paupers after all. And much too concerned with fulfilling their own needs and desires.
Once when he was still very young, maybe seven years old, he and his sisters were running around on one of the many gargantuan bridges of Revash Qelnoth. And Zoskir nearly fell off the edge. He would have fallen for hours into a deadly abyss below if his foot hadn't been caught between two stones at just the right angle. Terrified, he cried out.
Soon the voice of Kozatra, his older sister by one year, came into his awareness.
"Give me all your toys and training weapons, and clean my room for a year. Swear it and live." Kozatra's voice was cold and determined. He looked up at her and saw the face of cruelty. A smile forming slowly on her face and evil mischief loomed in her eyes. "Or keep waiting ...and I'll just get you unstuck and let go."
"Kazi! What are you doing!?" Came his younger sister's voice from a little bit further away. Kozatra turned back and acknowledged her.
"Shut the fuck up Via! I'm the oldest, so what I say goes. Besides he's just a boy. Everyone knows they don't matter." Then she turned back around to look down on her dangling brother. She smiled like a demon at him and said with a sing-song voice. "Alriiiight. It looks like you wanna diiiie."
So far all that the young male had done was grunt and try to will himself back up to the bridge somehow. But that wasn't helping. And he knew Kazi would do it. She'd watch him fall to his death and be happy about it. His pride broke. And he heard his own voice like it was someone else.
"FINE! FINE, I SWEAR IT!"
From that day forward, his life was war. Him vs his older sister, Him vs his father, him vs his mother, him vs other drow, him vs duergar. But he still took care of his little sister Viamri, and looked after her. In return she only sometimes took advantage of this. Not like Kozatra. She was a terror to him ever since he was born. But it all escalated on the day he nearly fell into the Ravine.
That day he had sworn to never be in that position again. That he would get to where he would never be a victim to someone like his sister ever again. And even though he gave away his training weapons, he trained harder than ever from that day on. And not just in combat. He taught himself to climb. To grip. To hold on. To look all the way down the Ravine without fear. Before long not only was he strong and athletic, but also agile, graceful, and acrobatic.
As he grew older he began to associate with a grey dwarf named Din. Kozatra hated Din. But Kozatra was made of hatred, it seemed. She certainly had enough for everyone. Very often it was Zoskir, Din, and Viamri just hanging out together. It was Din's idea to start breaking, entering, stealing, and leaving. But it took all three of them to make it work. They were a team. A real force to be reckoned with.
Soon he and Via left home and with Din moved into a nice place in the commons. They could afford it thanks to their success in burglary. And they planned to become the greatest thieves in the city until they could afford to move into the rich neighborhoods.
But Kozatra was incensed to by deprived of her two favorite candidates for abuse. So she went to the House of The Magisters and enrolled in the military academy, joining the standing army of Revash Qelnoth which also acts as the city guard. Some years later when Zoskir and his team had almost made it out of the commons and Via and Din had become a couple, Kozatra began playing a dirty game of cat and mouse with the trio. She raided their home with a patrol of armed soldiers. They barely escaped but they did escape. Kozatra never let up however. After that Revash Qelnoth was no longer safe for them.
Viamri and Din decided to flee to the Duergar city of Arradum. They asked Zoskir to come with them but he couldn't. He hated everything about living in the underrealm and he couldn't shake the feeling that His big sister would come for them in Arradum. So he told them to flee, and he went on a rampage in the city of his birth. He broke in to places. He killed people. He lured his sister's best soldiers under her command to grisly deaths. And then he went after her. He knew she would never give up the chase, never stop trying to ruin his life as long as she still had hers.
So Zoskir stalked Kozatra and watched her. He stole from her home and did everything he could to find her and ambush her stealthily. But she trapped him and called him out, challenging him to single combat. And so they fought. They fought for hours. They fought for what felt like days. At first they seemed evenly matched, trading blows for blow, dodge for dodge. Until finally Kozatra got the edge and beat her brother down til he was bloody and bruised. Then she picked him up by the throat, went to the edge of the platform they were on and dropped him into the Ravine.
But this time he was ready. He hadn't trained himself for nothing. And his hands and feet were able to connect with the stone, and he quickly climbed back up and rolled onto the solid ground before hopping up and sprinting away. His sister pursued him through the gates of Revash Qelnoth that day.
And Zoskir just kept running. He knew his only chance to escape her for good was on the surface. So he made his way up and out of the depths of the subterranean world, eventually finding himself in Elbion.
Born to a mother and father who were losers, outcasts and scapegoats. His father Indreth was a mushroom addict, who worked as a barkeep in a tavern called The Bloated Deep Slug. And his mother Kriyalis was a power addictid witch, always off on a new scheme trying to make herself and the dark entities she drew her magic from more prolific in the underrealm. But it never seemed to work.
He had a younger sister Viamri, and a sister a year older, Kozatra. And elder triplets his brother Mordrigal, brother Arlyle and sister Ephis. The triplets had left to make a name for themselves in some drow settlement near Zar'Ahal before he was born. Basically raised by his sister Kozatra, because his parents never had much time to take care of their kids. They were essentially paupers after all. And much too concerned with fulfilling their own needs and desires.
Once when he was still very young, maybe seven years old, he and his sisters were running around on one of the many gargantuan bridges of Revash Qelnoth. And Zoskir nearly fell off the edge. He would have fallen for hours into a deadly abyss below if his foot hadn't been caught between two stones at just the right angle. Terrified, he cried out.
Soon the voice of Kozatra, his older sister by one year, came into his awareness.
"Give me all your toys and training weapons, and clean my room for a year. Swear it and live." Kozatra's voice was cold and determined. He looked up at her and saw the face of cruelty. A smile forming slowly on her face and evil mischief loomed in her eyes. "Or keep waiting ...and I'll just get you unstuck and let go."
"Kazi! What are you doing!?" Came his younger sister's voice from a little bit further away. Kozatra turned back and acknowledged her.
"Shut the fuck up Via! I'm the oldest, so what I say goes. Besides he's just a boy. Everyone knows they don't matter." Then she turned back around to look down on her dangling brother. She smiled like a demon at him and said with a sing-song voice. "Alriiiight. It looks like you wanna diiiie."
So far all that the young male had done was grunt and try to will himself back up to the bridge somehow. But that wasn't helping. And he knew Kazi would do it. She'd watch him fall to his death and be happy about it. His pride broke. And he heard his own voice like it was someone else.
"FINE! FINE, I SWEAR IT!"
From that day forward, his life was war. Him vs his older sister, Him vs his father, him vs his mother, him vs other drow, him vs duergar. But he still took care of his little sister Viamri, and looked after her. In return she only sometimes took advantage of this. Not like Kozatra. She was a terror to him ever since he was born. But it all escalated on the day he nearly fell into the Ravine.
That day he had sworn to never be in that position again. That he would get to where he would never be a victim to someone like his sister ever again. And even though he gave away his training weapons, he trained harder than ever from that day on. And not just in combat. He taught himself to climb. To grip. To hold on. To look all the way down the Ravine without fear. Before long not only was he strong and athletic, but also agile, graceful, and acrobatic.
As he grew older he began to associate with a grey dwarf named Din. Kozatra hated Din. But Kozatra was made of hatred, it seemed. She certainly had enough for everyone. Very often it was Zoskir, Din, and Viamri just hanging out together. It was Din's idea to start breaking, entering, stealing, and leaving. But it took all three of them to make it work. They were a team. A real force to be reckoned with.
Soon he and Via left home and with Din moved into a nice place in the commons. They could afford it thanks to their success in burglary. And they planned to become the greatest thieves in the city until they could afford to move into the rich neighborhoods.
But Kozatra was incensed to by deprived of her two favorite candidates for abuse. So she went to the House of The Magisters and enrolled in the military academy, joining the standing army of Revash Qelnoth which also acts as the city guard. Some years later when Zoskir and his team had almost made it out of the commons and Via and Din had become a couple, Kozatra began playing a dirty game of cat and mouse with the trio. She raided their home with a patrol of armed soldiers. They barely escaped but they did escape. Kozatra never let up however. After that Revash Qelnoth was no longer safe for them.
Viamri and Din decided to flee to the Duergar city of Arradum. They asked Zoskir to come with them but he couldn't. He hated everything about living in the underrealm and he couldn't shake the feeling that His big sister would come for them in Arradum. So he told them to flee, and he went on a rampage in the city of his birth. He broke in to places. He killed people. He lured his sister's best soldiers under her command to grisly deaths. And then he went after her. He knew she would never give up the chase, never stop trying to ruin his life as long as she still had hers.
So Zoskir stalked Kozatra and watched her. He stole from her home and did everything he could to find her and ambush her stealthily. But she trapped him and called him out, challenging him to single combat. And so they fought. They fought for hours. They fought for what felt like days. At first they seemed evenly matched, trading blows for blow, dodge for dodge. Until finally Kozatra got the edge and beat her brother down til he was bloody and bruised. Then she picked him up by the throat, went to the edge of the platform they were on and dropped him into the Ravine.
But this time he was ready. He hadn't trained himself for nothing. And his hands and feet were able to connect with the stone, and he quickly climbed back up and rolled onto the solid ground before hopping up and sprinting away. His sister pursued him through the gates of Revash Qelnoth that day.
And Zoskir just kept running. He knew his only chance to escape her for good was on the surface. So he made his way up and out of the depths of the subterranean world, eventually finding himself in Elbion.
