[hider=Callina] [b]NAME[/b] Callina venenum publicly. Matriarch / Void mistresses her cultists. [b]AGE[/b] 28 [b]RING[/b] 3rd / 4th [b]ROLE[/b] Matriarch to the cult of shadows. The Cult of shadows is a death cult, assasins ply their trade and its members can be found to bring death in all forms. She is its leader. And its influence is rising higher and extending their tendrils…slowly. On surface she is a mistress of a web of establishments who deal in the vices of men and women. They do not have Judge as long as you have the coin to pay for it. [b]DESCRIPTION[/b] White haired, slender, and lithe. Her skin is pale yet also full of life and a strong hint of danger. In her public persona she is seen as a mistress of a wide number of less morally reputable establishments that serve the desires of those with the coin to pay for them. Dressed in garments that would scandalise an upper ring she presents a rather hedonistic front. Her cult attire is no less provocative, though her face is always masked. One near albino is quite like another in the lower tiers. The leather mask artfully merges the bones of its predecessor as a warning to those who may think to repeat it. Make no mistake, however she dresses to distract and detract… She is deadly. The rumour of her drinking blood and vampirism is potentially not always a rumour. Men and women have not returned from her bed or bath chambers. Her choice of attire can be interesting….but is pragmatic. Whatever works. Works. [hider=My Hider] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1136641321864540202/1136641694260011068/70969850.png[/img] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1136641321864540202/1136641693177876490/71189486.png[/img] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1136641321864540202/1136641693685395497/55866920.png[/img] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1136641321864540202/1136641692657791066/37109116.png[/img] [/hider] [b]PERSONALITY[/b] Ruthless, you do not rise to lead a death cult by being nice. A lady who can charm one minute and flirt but also kill you 30 seconds later without mercy. Her front is not a lie, she has no shame, no qualms and her hedonistic rumours are often somewhat true if later exaggerated. Very few things phase her. Her loyalty to gold. Herself and own interests thus her cult. They may have ties to rebels. But that's far from their only customers. [b]SKILLS[/b] Assassin Knife fighting Poisoning and trickery Charm…when needed Matriarch at centre of a spider's Web. Can heal but needs to regularly drink blood to live. Blood must be "Live" to heal straight from the source. Charismatic cult leader. [b]BACKGROUND[/b] Her true parentage is unknown, maybe 5th ring refugees, maybe an upper rings bastad or an unwanted child of nobility. No one knows. An orphan was left on the cults doorstep and found, taking her in, she was raised slowly by them becoming her twisted but also loyal family as much as they could be. Callina was trained by the cult along with other found children who wandered their way into its clutches. Toys were wooden daggers, play was combat training, the cult was no such easy childhood. Most had killed before they reached their teens and already taken their first contracts before their 15th name day. The cult was brutal, darwinian, many died or failed but those few who survived were some of the best killers in the group. Trained from a young age, they could Infiltrate, evade, and specialise in all manner of weapons. Some from a distance, some up close, others in their own beds, kitchens and more. There was many ways and the cult brought death to every flavour. Callina was ambitious, dangerously so but also dangerously smart. Gathering allies and slowly cultivating her position by expanding their surface interests to hide and fund their activities even into the 3rd ring. Having footholds in 4th and 3rd rings of the nameless city. One day. It all boiled down to one day. A poisoned dagger to the heart. Years of secret planning…was over in seconds. Callina became the matriarch. [b]MISC[/b] Mostly concentrated near the 3rd and 4th ring gate and making inroads into the 3rd. The cult's influence has bled over the borders. [b]CURSE[/b] Vampirism. The curse is not entirely obvious physically unlike some though one who pays particularly close may find something amiss. It has affected her mind more than body. Her fangs cannot be hidden though. Drinks blood, her restraint and such are reduced. Fixed fangs and blood lust if deprived. Has limited or no ability to balance her own blood thus must consume it to live. They can however consume normal food. Prefers the night but can function in the sunlight. It's just uncomfortable and harsher. Bright light is uncomfortable. [b]Wardina / MAGIC[/b] Taught in the underground by the cult in basic magic. The education was haphazard but functional. Mostly practical skills and those to hide, survive, evade and such skills. They were heavy on practical and not academic. [b] The Cult[/b] The cult has existed for a long time, it has waned, risen, fallen and happened to exist for a long time in various forms. Its exact history is unknown having been lost in the Chaos and storms. It has grown since the storms and Rebellion era more into a stricter and more organised form. They have taken their obsession with death into a business, more mercantile, mercenary to survive what has plagued the 4th district. Callina and her sect who eventually rose to power in recent times have seen the pragmatism the zealots do not possess. To survive they had to evolve, to spread, to gain strength and become more than fanatics. They have sought ways to make money, to build influence and use that to spread the direction of the 3rd ring knowing eventually 4th will be swallowed too. They must find ways to survive and move inwards. The regular, storm touch, outcast and damaged are found, offering a place to belong, loyalty, and protection. Those that survive the training, challenges and battles are hardened and skilled in the arts of death and survival. Death is everywhere waiting for everyone. The Cults ethos has shifted at current to more of an Assassin ethos, worshipping death by being its deliverer. Many who join through reason of whatever whim life have are often the orphan, abandoned or those who have nothing else. Those who fail die. Those who succeed are brothers and sisters of the Void. It's a place where judgement is based on.what you bring and nothing else. A favourite of the cult is a now semi slum area near the gates, only once it was not they have found their way into old ruins below. Over time, scavenging, repairing the chambers, even making the now underground bathhouse fill from what seems to be an intact spring that so far defies the effects of the storm. There is space enough to shelter, store and use the ruined sewers and such to ply their trade. Though it has its downsides, it is best they manage for now. Others are probing into other ruins. The earth and stone provides some protection from the harsh reality of conditions in the 4th zone. Earth keeps the cold out and the stone means Beasts cannot just smash through weak rot ridden walls without warning. [hider=Janus] [b]Notable NPC Janus[/b] Janus is someone who she trained with, worked, plotted and slipped the very knife she used to slay the previous matriarch. As close to a … lover, friend, lieutenant and almost family at same time. In both forms. Callina is not fussy or hung up on such issues or labels. One watches the light, the other the shadow. Janus is a fairly normal looking person, until you take into the corruption they possess, the one that saw them orphaned and abandoned to the Shadow cult. Janus is many people. Possessing the ability to shift from male to female, to change their very face and voice. They were very much hunted as anyone who has no true form. They are constantly changing, in flux and unable to control it. Only they can direct it with effort. This has had ruinous effects on their sense of self and mentality. They have no self. Because they are never the same.. And Callina is only too happy to have such a person at her back. Broken people seem to attract. [/hider] [/hider]