08-31-2019, 12:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-31-2019, 01:05 PM by Khamsin.
Edit Reason: Added previous world info and updated backstory accordingly
)
Discord Id - Rancho_Cucamunga#8317 but I updated my display name on the server to Khamsin Easifa for ease of reference.
Backstory - More than anything, Khamsin despises stupidity and incompetence. An ignoramus is as ugly to him as a pustule. He was praised by his mother for learning to read and write at a young age. The art of pen and paper came naturally to him which was a blessing for there were not many gifts in his sad adolescence. His father succumbed to the Plague when Khamsin was just 8 years old, forcing his mother into poverty. There were rumors that his father had been seeking a dark mystery in the ruins of the desert and that was how he had come to contract the Plague, but people always maligned the Plaguebearers with false narratives, so it likely wasn't true. Facing homelessness after the loss of his father, Khamsin took to reading letters to illiterate commoners and offered his services as a scribe for those who wished to send information by the written word. It was a meager living, but it was enough to keep his mother and himself alive.
When he came of age, he was able to secure study with a local scribe who taught him how to research in scrolls and artifacts extracted from raids in the ruins of the old world. It was during this period learning that Khamsin stumbled upon some basic words of power. Magic was forbidden and cause for the deepest suspicions, but suddenly he knew how to bend the elements themselves to his will. The power was intoxicating and he found himself unable to resist further study. As a half-starved, frail young man, Khamsin was amazed to find that he could gain power and influence simply with knowledge and willpower. Though he was enamoured of this new gift, he had to master it in shadows lest he be slain for his crime. These were lessons he has never forgotten, and the sorrow and want of his youth he has vowed nevermore to encounter.
One black night, in the midst of a ferocious sandstorm, Khamsin began a ritual to conjure a lesser daemon and bind it to his will with a contract. The scorching desert winds howled outside while the ritual commenced. Alas, at a critical moment in the binding of the daemon, the desert winds blew so forcefully that the windows opened and the candles around the ring of power were extinguished. Seizing on the opportunity at once, the daemon lunged at the bewildered mage and pulled it through a tear in the fabric of space into a strange new land. The beast grinned wickedly at Khamsin before stepping through the rift and vanishing.
Previous Characters - No previous characters.
Character Name - Khamsin Easifa, but typically he introduces himself as Zaid if he gives a name at all.
Character Race & Sub-Race- Just a plain Jane human. If you want to talk human race, Khamsin specifically looks to be of Arabic extraction, but that's in .look.
Alternate Graphic - For now I'm good with just standard avatar. At some point in the future if the storyline allows me to progress toward progressively darker pursuits, I may want to take on liche form or some similarly evil appearance. Could definitely be the result of a necromantic experiment gone very wrong (or very right).
Character Description - Around 6'5", imposing demeanor and appearance despite being rather slight and thin. Hair jet black, eyes are burning coals. Skin is of light brown color and well groomed. Thick eyebrows crown a face that is often furrowed in thought. His smile reveals a bit too much tooth and has almost a predatory aspect. He is handsome, but aloof. Prolonged, direct eye contact tends to make people uncomfortable resulting in a good bit of awkwardness in his presence. How your character chooses to respond to that is up to you. What would your character do if they felt mildly uncomfortable from someone's presence in the room?
Shard Plot Line - My intention is to seek out a position working under the spymaster of the House of Andus, may the shifting sands guide her steps. Khamsin has ulterior motives without any question at all. He is seeking his own consolidation of power pursuant to a lawful evil-disposition. He is not feckless or overreaching, nor is he cloying or obnoxious when currying favor with his superiors. He knows how to keep a secret and do the work of a spy.
Ideally, I would like to have him discover ancient knowledge or dark secrets locked away either in Andus or in one of her political rivals. A long, slow spiral into greater and greater obsession with that knowledge (this could progress over weeks, months, or years depending on what best fits the overall plot) would lead him into necromancy and an attempt to gain power from beyond the world to bring one of the houses to its knees. This could be done as a coup within Andus itself or it could be done to conquer and enslave part or all of another kingdom, or it could take another form altogether. I want to play within the scope and breadth of the whole shard's storyline and am not seeking to be a god or anything of the sort. I am rather seeking to be an antagonist as a means to drive plot development through agitation.
Note: As a Lawful Evil character, Khamsin would never (intentionally, anyway) create an anarchic scenario. If he moves to strike against the king/sultan/emperor/etc. it is because he has determined that ruler to be incompetent, within the context of the story and the personalities of the characters themselves, and is seeking either to usurp them or supplant them and place a more fitting puppet in the seat of power.
Special Role-play Ability- This is not something I would use frequently, but I would like to have the ability to intimidate my fellow players if the odds are not completely overwhelming against me. What I mean is, I'm not saying I would be able to intimidate, say, a standing army. But if 3 or 4 players come at me in a plot critical moment, I want to be able to use my character's appearance to stun them briefly so as to turn the tables. This could take the form of a murderous glimmer in my eyes and smile, the ability to issue a barrage of verbal threats resulting from high intelligence and wisdom stats, or just brandishing the power and influence my character has acquired over time.
As I said, I am not interested in using this kind of mechanic on the regular as it is lazy to do so. This would be used in situations, for example, where if a few heroes learn of my plot to bring down a Ruling House and they move to kill me, I can make their blood run cold and their courage flag within them, seizing upon the moment's pause to either flee to safety or spring a trap and brutalize my would-be assailants.
Previous World - Khamsin comes from the world of the now defunct Requiem shard. For those not familiar, it was a hardcore roleplaying shard where the world had been thrown into chaos by a Plague that turned any who were infected into the undead in a manner of just a few days.
Backstory - More than anything, Khamsin despises stupidity and incompetence. An ignoramus is as ugly to him as a pustule. He was praised by his mother for learning to read and write at a young age. The art of pen and paper came naturally to him which was a blessing for there were not many gifts in his sad adolescence. His father succumbed to the Plague when Khamsin was just 8 years old, forcing his mother into poverty. There were rumors that his father had been seeking a dark mystery in the ruins of the desert and that was how he had come to contract the Plague, but people always maligned the Plaguebearers with false narratives, so it likely wasn't true. Facing homelessness after the loss of his father, Khamsin took to reading letters to illiterate commoners and offered his services as a scribe for those who wished to send information by the written word. It was a meager living, but it was enough to keep his mother and himself alive.
When he came of age, he was able to secure study with a local scribe who taught him how to research in scrolls and artifacts extracted from raids in the ruins of the old world. It was during this period learning that Khamsin stumbled upon some basic words of power. Magic was forbidden and cause for the deepest suspicions, but suddenly he knew how to bend the elements themselves to his will. The power was intoxicating and he found himself unable to resist further study. As a half-starved, frail young man, Khamsin was amazed to find that he could gain power and influence simply with knowledge and willpower. Though he was enamoured of this new gift, he had to master it in shadows lest he be slain for his crime. These were lessons he has never forgotten, and the sorrow and want of his youth he has vowed nevermore to encounter.
One black night, in the midst of a ferocious sandstorm, Khamsin began a ritual to conjure a lesser daemon and bind it to his will with a contract. The scorching desert winds howled outside while the ritual commenced. Alas, at a critical moment in the binding of the daemon, the desert winds blew so forcefully that the windows opened and the candles around the ring of power were extinguished. Seizing on the opportunity at once, the daemon lunged at the bewildered mage and pulled it through a tear in the fabric of space into a strange new land. The beast grinned wickedly at Khamsin before stepping through the rift and vanishing.
![[Image: Dali-Signature-3.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/BsVPPHZ/Dali-Signature-3.jpg)