Acantha/BlackIceShadow

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Black Ice Shadow

Black Ice Shadow, the Sidereal on a mission.

From what, he's not quite sure.

That's what makes him great.

Black Ice Shadow is my favorite Sidereal, which is quite a feat, considering how I generally dislike Sidereals as a group. The fact that he is sympathetic and a bit more human than the other Sidereals (ironic, considering his upbringing) makes me like him. That, and death ninjas are badass.

General Outlines

• Endings, loyal to whatever faction his masters are.
• Nature: Follower. He seems incapable of making a decision on his own.
• Interesting: in the chapter fiction, he almost acknowledges that he may be wrong. Is he breaking free of the Sidereal curse because of his connection with Malfeas or the Void? Could be an interesting sidepoint...
• Attributes: primary Physical, secondary Mental, tertiary Social.
• Abilities
  • Caste: Athetics, Awareness, Bureaucracy, Martial Arts, Medicine
  • Favored: Stealth (ninja), Occult (necromancer?), Lore (tutored in Underworld and Malfean knowledge), Dodge (ninja, again). Other possibilities: Melee (depending on his style), Thrown (again, dependent on weapon)
• Uses Martial Arts or Melee - paired short swords or wave swords
• Backgrounds
  • Allies - Wayang, the Black Puppet Mask (from chapter fiction)
  • Salary - low for Sidereal (in disfavor, plus could be Gold Faction)
  • Whispers - his connection with the Void manifesting?

Comments

If I may be so bold as to put a comments section on this page? In the chapter fiction, it's mentioned that his masters "educated him in martial-arts techniques learned from study of a Deathlord's battle manners", which sounds very much like Hungry Ghost Style. Of course, that style isn't compatible with the twin short swords he's depicted with. -- Stanoje

Eep, you caught me on a half-finished page! Sorry about the lack of comment section! I hadn't even begun to think of martial arts styles for him yet, but you're definitely right about Hungry Ghost Style. Though, it's possible that they created a new style just for him, made to work against the Deathlords' weaknesses. Allowing him to learn Hungry Ghost Style could cripple him in that his opponents will know exactly what he can and can't do. Though, that's only if his masters intended him to fight the Deathlords and their servants... -- Acantha

No worries. Anyway, it seems to me that BIS was created to understand the deathlords, not combat them directly. Learning their iconic MA would be a very appropriate way for a Sidereal to gain further insight into their nature. -- Stanoje

That's very true... I think I prefer to think of him with a style that's a little more...unique. He is the first and only one of his kind, and Hungry Ghost, to me, seems a little too widespread amongst the servants of the Deathlords to fit with his inherent loneliness. Something more cobbled-together, taught by mentors who didn't really understand what they were getting into seems more appropriate for him. Unless his teachers were intimately involved with the Underworld (which I'm assuming they aren't, hence the need for Black Ice Shadow in the first place), something Sidereal-created in imitation of the Deathlords seems more right than something Deathlord-created. But, I could be wrong. I admit that I have weird ways of interpreting canon :) -- Acantha

Yeah, but, as a Sidereal, it's highly possible, indeed, likely, that he knows more than one Style... - nikink