Nikink/BeggarInDraconicGlory

Beggar In Draconic Glory

Cynis Caranon was born to powerful Dragon-blooded parents attached to the main branch of the family bloodline. The young boy had all the hallmarks of Exaltation at a young age, continuing the family line, as his six elder siblings (four sisters, two brothers) had Exalted. His parents began his education, teaching him the basics of the skills required for dynastic survival. The young Cynis had a natural aptitude for physical discipline, quickly mastering sports, games and the unseen arts. His parents rubbed their hands together eagerly in anticipation for a new masterful Cynis spy to increase their prestige and power within the Dynasty and the house.

As the years progressed Caranon became a teenager and it became clearer that Caranon was not going to Exalt. The fire burning in his blood was not strong enough to attract the power of the Dragons. With disappointed hearts, Caranon’s parents turned their attention to their new daughter, Cynis Arana. They turned Caranon to the care of the house’s spymasters, hoping to gain something for their investment.

Caranon was bitter at what he saw as his parent’s betrayal and at the superior attitudes of his siblings, but he suppressed his grief like a true Dynast and threw himself into his studies with vigour. He found that the life of learning the arts of stealth, mobility and secrecy was enthralling to him, and his mortality removed him from much of the scrutiny reserved for his Dragon-blooded siblings. By the time of his sixteenth birthday Caranon had become an accomplished scout and spy, successfully completing the tests required by his spymasters and being assigned to house Cynis’ diplomatic corp. His new tutors polished Caranon’s social skills and natural likeability. The combination of years of double-dealing and concealing his true motives and thoughts forged Caranon into a remorseless agent who would do what needed doing for the good of his house. House Cynis used the gifted mortal to gain access to many secrets denied them through other means. His parents even began subtly searching for a marriage for their well-bred but mortal son, a marriage that would place him in a position to learn information or to spread disinformation.

On his seventeenth birthday however, Caranon made a fatal mistake. He had been sent with his brothers Joran and Beran and his sister Helon as a diplomatic clerk to a post-Empress discussion between several houses, hosted by the Mouth of Peace in the Palace Sublime. During the discussions Caranon was to learn everything he could about the plans of the other houses that were not being discussed out loud. He discovered instead Joran engaging in a series of dalliances with a member of House Cathak. At first Caranon dismissed the romantic entanglements of the Dragon-blooded but followed Cathak Lanula back to her chambers. The following day while she was at the discussions Caranon entered her rooms and searched them. He discovered detailed letters talking of the mission to gain the trust of a Cynis and to use that dupe as a foil for future political manoeuvres. Caranon removed the documents to the chambers of the Cynis diplomatic spies and ensured that the scribes made perfect copies, then returned to Lanula’s bedroom and returned the letters to their locked box. Caranon warned his brother against meeting with the female Cathak but was angrily rebuffed and physically reminded of his inferiority to the Dragon-blooded. Nursing his bruises, Caranon swallowed his fury and began feeding misinformation to his brother in an attempt to minimise the damage and capitalise on the connection.

At the completion of the discussions the Cynis party moved back to the house palace. Caranon revealed what he had learned to the spymasters, including the elder Dragon-blooded spies of the house. They were well pleased with the efforts of the mortal but extremely displeased with Joran’s lack of political acumen. Joran was privately rebuked for his idiocy within the house and publicly praised for his bravery and martial skills and was transferred by the Cynis elders to a remote Legion that was being sent to the Threshold in the north. It was an insult that Caranon’s siblings would not forget.

For several years his life progressed and he kept himself largely out of his sibling’s paths. His brothers and sisters spent this time infecting his parents with falsehoods and rumours. Finally a Wyld Hunt was assembled to travel to the Scavenger Lands to deal with Anathema prophesied to soon rise. The hunt was assembled around Joran’s Legion with several of Caranon’s siblings at the helm. They specifically requested Caranon’s presence within the hunt as a scout and he was powerless to resist. Even his allies and contacts within the House could not reasonably prevent his transfer, specifically they would not put their necks on the line for an unexalted mortal, however talented. For two years the hunt patrolled the lands beyond the Realm, with Caranon being placed into increasingly dangerous and pointless assignments. Nevertheless, he kept his head down and avoided drawing his sibling’s wrath.

This ended when the hunt crossed the borders of a shadowland, tracking a wounded Solar Anathema. Caranon and his small band of scouts were sent ahead to determine when the Anathema went to ground. As expected, he performed his duty and sent a rider back to inform the hunt. As Caranon waited, hidden from the Solar, his vengeful brother sent an elemental messenger to inform him that help was soon to arrive. The messenger was manifest, unsubtle and loud, specially chosen for such a duty. The Solar heard the spirit and then saw Caranon’s hiding place. Caranon fought bravely but was cut down before the might of the Anathema. The Wyld Hunt arrived as he lay dying on the bleak dirt of the shadowlands. The weakened and Essence-depleted Solar died under the blades of the hunt. Caranon’s thoughts turned to salvation that his brothers would use healing charms to save his life. His hopes were dashed as his elder siblings stood before his dying eyes and laughed and taunted him. His eyes closed, his lifeblood ebbed away and Caranon died.

That was when the Deathlord Resplendent Vision of the Perfection of Oblivion arrived. She had been watching the plight of the Solar exalted and the Wyld Hunt with amusement, and was particularly enamoured with this bitter yet resourceful young soldier. The spoke at length with Caranon, showing him visions of the past, of the Usurpation and the betrayal of the Dragon-blooded, the construction of the Realm and their false religion. Caranon was offered the chance for power and revenge and would be given a perfect opportunity to use his skills for a lord who appreciated his talents. The conversation took hours but occurred in the space of Caranon’s last heartbeat. Caranon accepted the bargain, promising loyalty and devotion. The Deathlord appeared in a puff of brimstone with the sound of thousands of voices shouting her praises. She tenderly picked Caranon from the ground before his stunned siblings. If she acknowledged the presence of the Dragon-blooded she gave no sign. An instant later she was gone again, but in her place stood the massed ranks of risen dead and war ghosts, ready to fall upon the enemies of their mistress. With the cry of death they fell upon the hunt.

Within the Labyrinth Caranon sold his name to the Malfeans and accepted the Black Exaltation, in the process gaining power greater than his parents could ever dream. He discarded his former identity and took the title Beggar in Draconic Glory with his Deathlord’s blessing. He trained at his Deathlord’s knee for two years, learning the power of Charms and Essence at her instruction. He increased his skills within the darkness of the underworld, honing them to the point of perfection. Once he had mastered his powers, the Deathlord Perfection gave him his greatest gift. His eldest sister, Cynis Boroga, had been captured by the forces of death and dragged to the citadel of Dathnor. Here she had been subjected to torture and torment for two years. The new Deathknight was given the gift of his once-sister, to do with as he liked.

The new Abyssal ignored his sister’s pleas and killed her over the course of seven nights, the Deathlord Perfection casting powerful sorceries to bind the Dragon-blooded ghost to the Underworld. The higher soul and the hungry ghost of Boroga were taken screaming in soulsteel chains to the soulforges of Dathnor. Both ghosts were smelted down and mixed with Labyrinth ore and the blood of Beggar and forged into artefacts to match the Daywalker’s fighting style. The higher soul became the Daiklave Whispering Truth, the hungy ghost was forged into the supple chain armour Thousand Resentful Links. Both artefacts know their ties of spirit and blood to Beggar and Whispering Truth will fly unerringly back to Beggar at his call.

Beggar in Draconic Glory now serves Resplendent Vision of the Perfection of Oblivion faithfully, doing what must be done and biding his time until he can reap his revenge on the rest of his family at his Deathlord’s command. He lives in a luxurious serious of apartments within Perfection’s citadel in the centre of Dathnor, furnished and appointed as a favour from his generous Deathlord. When not on missions, he spends his days in the military compound of Dathnor, in the secret headquarters of the Deathlord’s intelligence network. There he sorts through records and reports and plans expeditions and incursions into enemy territory. Beggar works with a small personal staff of mortals in planning the operations. He works with ghosts as operatives, but believes that the dead are too stagnant and predictable to be allowed to plan significant operations. The single exception to this is an ancient ghost known only as the Archivist, having forgotten his name centuries before. This ghost was old when the Deathlords appeared. He is slow to rouse and very set in his ways, but remembers every facet of detail regarding the peculiarities of the mannerisms of the various ghostly kingdoms, making infiltration and blending in much easier.

Beggar is a handsome youth of around 20 years of age, bearing the fine features of Dynastic breeding. He wears the funeral garments of the Realm, the finest black silks and silver jewellery of skulls and mourning Dragons. His manner is friendly and open, but a lifetime of doing what must be done has burned the compassion from his soul. He will pursue his mission to the end, destroying all who stand in his way. He bares no guilt for those he destroys, his earliest tutors removed these emotions from him as soon as they could. Despite this Beggar is unfailingly polite, preferring to save malice for his actions and not his words. He is often used by Perfection as a fine accompaniment to the missions of her Moonshadow envoys.

His movements are precise and measured, every footfall deliberate, every gesture exact. He moves easily in the shadows and the world of the shady and has been given control of a large spy network by his Liege. When forced to exert his control of Essence, his anima is of five Elemental Dragons, one each of air, wood, fire, water and earth, shackled by heavy soulsteel chains and kept tightly leashed by their master. They writhe and snap in response to Beggar’s actions, casting their baleful glare over all in view and saving special spite for any lowly children of the Dragons.

Parents:

• Cynis Belar Godaal – 115 years old Male Wood Aspect
• Sesus Daras – 100 years old Female Earth Aspect

Siblings, in order of age (y/o = years old)

• Cynis Belar Boroga – Female Wood Aspect – 70 y/o, Deceased (Artefacts)
• Cynis Belar Joran – Male Wood Aspect – 62 y/o, Dragonlord of the 3rd Cynis Legion
• Cynis Belar Beran – Male Wood Aspect – 53 y/o, Junior Ambassador of House Cynis
• Cynis Belar Kalane – Female Air Aspect – 45 y/o, Sorcerer Graduate of the Heptagram
• Cynis Belar Helon – Female Wood Aspect – 35 y/o, Immaculate Monk (3rd Coil)
• Cynis Belar Gord – Female Earth Aspect – 28 y/o, Winglord of the 3rd Cynis Legion
• Cynis Belar Hokanis – Female Earth Aspect – 13 y/o, At school

Other notable people:

• The Archivist – Ancient ghost, member of Perfection’s intelligence network

See Nikink/YieldingWillowBladeStyle for a description of Beggar's style...

See Nikink/CommandingBeggars for the tale of how he attained his legions...