Ashur-Kan Luana

Ashur-Kan Luana

Ashur-Kan Kasaad al'Luana

Biographical information
Vel'Anir 29 Vel'Anir
Physical description
Human Male 6'3 190lb Black Blue Black
Political information
Dreadlord
Out-of-character information
Henrique Dld


Ashur-Kan Kasaad Al'Luana, Ashur as he is otherwise known, is the current heir and successor of the Anirian house, Luana. As well as this, he retains the designation of 'Fourth-Level' Dreadlord due to a lack of offensive capability.

Appearance


Ashur is a relatively handsome individual, cutting a very memorable and imposing figure. His body is packed with muscle and he moves much like a predator on the prowl, his Dreadlord training embedded deeply into his core. Appearance-wise, Ashur prefers to keep his hair shaved back and his face cleanly shaven, drawing the focus of peoples attention instead towards his rich blue eyes. Equally, his face remains incredibly youthful as a result of his magical talent.

In following Luana family tradition, Ashur clothes himself in very basic - yet well, made - clothes. Depending on the circumstance he either wears a simple inelegant, masterwork, set of plate armour. Alternatively, on roaming the streets of Vel'Anir, he wears rich cotton and cloth dyed in simple whites with very few adornments or decorations. Whatever the circumstance, however, he is never seen without a vicious Khopesh hanging loosely at his side.

Skills and Abilities

Ashur possesses the skills and abilities required for a Dreadlord to graduate successfully from the academy and subsequent years as an apprentice. Despite his classification as a Fourth-Level, he gained significant knowledge and exposure towards martial and hand-to-hand combat. Preferring to avoid combat altogether, or let others do his bidding if he is forced to fight an opponent he displays significant skill in wielding his Khopesh, using the general unfamiliarity of the weapon to confound and confuse his enemies before striking a deadly blow. Furthermore, while not his favoured method of combat, he possesses some skill at ranged fighting and is quite a steady hand with a bow.

His greatest skill, however, would be his magic. It had been said that had his powers been anything but healing and life he would have immediate graduated into the upper echelons of the Dreadlord ranks. Thankfully for him, this was not the case and he was deemed to be a non-combatant. His magic focuses almost entirely on healing and regenerative spells, granting him the ability to heal significant wounds and cure terrible ailments at a touch.

His magic, as do all, comes with a price. While most mages are born naturally with their talent, Ashur had his grafted onto him through a painful secretive ritual. The potential and magical ability of the victim was imbued into Ashur. Consequently, while most mages recover their magic natural, Ashur requires an occasional sacrifice to refuel his talent. Usually, he will take this tithe by magically snuffing out the life of a vulnerable target within one of the many Anirian hospitals he frequents.

Personality


Ashur is a man of two parts, his outward self and his private self. Both of these have been carefully constructed and instilled into him, as with all Luana family members, to create the perfect representative for their family.

With the aid of his magic, Ashur has cultivated an image of caring, humility and kindness that he frequently flaunts and displays publicly to his many fans and Anirians. In public, he strives to be the paragon of the house and actively socialises with those from every stratum of the city. Overall, he is sociable, charming, funny, kind and eager to go out of his way to help the lowliest of folk. Ashur takes particular care to come across as modest and makes a point of never flagrantly displaying or flaunting his wealth.

In the confines of his own home or safe within his head, however, Ashur is a completely different man. Cunning, and full of guile, he is a duplicitous individual who seeks nothing short of total control. Every move he makes, he does so with a plan or aim. He possesses an acerbic wit and will be quick to punish those who displease or fail him. He cares little for Vel'Anir, its citizens, or his 'fellow' Dreadlords and, instead, seeks only to gain more power for House Luana - whatever the cost.

Biography & Lore


Ashur is a uniquely privileged child. The firstborn in the House Luana, with a mother who doted on him, and a father who desired nothing more than to shape him into the perfect Luana. His formative years were spent in the tutilage of the best scholars and politickers of the age and his exposure to all levels of Anirian society left him with a unique understanding of the city.

When his training was complete, a second, replacement, child - his brother - was born should anything happen to Ashur. With the back-up in place, Ashur was taken under the blade. An ancient and cruel form of necromancy that has been exploited by the family from their very inception. Once every generation, when a suitable heir is identified, it begins. Using their extensive connections and spies, they search and find a child before the Dreadlord's have even realised they existed and return it to a secret location. A soul-knife, a powerful artefact use to siphon a person's being, hacks away at the victim and implants it deep into the chosen heir.

Ashur's experiences in the ritual were not pleasant, he was sick for weeks, constant wracking pain. He begged for death, an end to this suffering. Eventually, it ran its course and the experience was complete. He soon found himself capable of magic, although he had been told to expect as much, and he was swiftly inducted into the Dreadlord academy.

His training at home had prepared him... to an extent. The academy was lawless and while the proctors made sure to treat him well, the fellow students were under no such allusion. He received relentless torture, beatings and mocking for his status, but it presented a challenge to him and he loved a challenge.

Years passed and, one by one, those who made him suffer in the academy either disappeared or become devout followers of House Luana. There was no in-between, you either fell in-line or you fell permanently. His apprenticeship was easy in comparison, his family had chosen one of their most skilled and popular Dreadlords as his teacher. Life was easy.

His selection as a Fourth-Level, too, had been arranged - to an extent. His martial skills warranted a low-third, but his lack of offensive magic would see him never truly rise above this and, so as to save face, he was deemed a non-combatant. Yet, in reality, this pleased Ashur and had given him the ultimate freedom whilst still retaining his Dreadlord name.

In the years that have followed, Ashur works closely with his family, continuously improving the House Luana name and paving the way for their long walk to power.

References