Zahaqiel/AlternateSignatureCharacters

Thought I'd join in the Alternate Signature Characters Challenge, but go with Abyssal signature characters.

Description

The King of Desecration Robed in Blood appears a slim man, wearing Soulsteel superheavy plate with a sword strapped to his back that is almost as tall as he is, and significantly broader.

Although highly intelligent, the King prefers not to talk; primarily because he has the disturbing tendency to understand people too well. His insight into others tend to scare more than his sword... but only just.

Style

The King of Desecration is a supreme master of all things Melee. Generally he prefers to kill as efficiently as possible - meaning the more opponents he can hit in one go, the better... especially if he winds up being showered in his opponents' blood.

Backstory

The King of Desecration Robed in Blood was once a highly sought-after mercenary of the north, because his penchant for desecrating the bodies of his fallen foes could make entire nations surrender to whichever army he led.

Even he, however, has the facts wrong about his death. He believes he was slain by the Bull of the North's archers. The truth is that his bloodthirsty nature so impressed one of the Eye and Seven Despairs' Abyssals, that his death was staged just to recruit him.

However, as the Eye and Seven Despairs never actually used him, the King eventually left and pledged his allegiance to the First and Forsaken Lion - believing the Lion more likely to give him the army he truly deserves.

The Eye and Seven Despairs does not actually care, and waved the King's desertion off as a gift to the First and Forsaken.

Goals

The King of Desecration Robed in Blood has only one goal. Figuring out how to turn a corpse inside out and use its gory web of entrails as a standard that won't slip off its poles. Outside of that, he's quite happy to murder, maim and dismember as much as the Lion needs him to.

Artifacts

The King never goes anywhere without his Soulsteel Celestial Battle Armour and Grand Diaklave.

Description

The Arrow Fired in Silence a striking figure; clad in black and carrying what appears to be either an oversized wheelbow or an undersized ballista bow

He differs from most of his Abyssal peers in that he doesn't care for the thrill of watching a man die. Instead he believes that there is no power greater than the ability to kill those who cannot even see you.

Style

The Arrow Fired in Silence, unsurprisingly, focuses upon his skill in Archery; to the point that some have called him a walking siege weapon.

Artifacts

The Arrow Fired in Silence has a custom-made Soulsteel powerbow. Incorporating the pulley-system of a Lookshy Strongbow and scaled up to near siege-weapon size, it is possibly the most powerful Soulsteel bow in any Exalt's hands.

The Thieving Raiton - Moonshadow

Description

The Thieving Raiton is distinctive for being mummified, head to foot, in white bandages and swathed in white robes. Unlike most of his Abyssal companions, he bears no visible Soulsteel artifacts whatsoever.

He is quite conversational should anyone attempt to engage him... in fact, other Abyssals even consider him morbidly chipper. He willingly tells anyone who asks his personal philosophy of death: "The end is inevitable, so why not enjoy the inbetween?".

Many would say that this is fair enough - after all, it's a perfectly standard philosophy for a follower of the Lover Clad in a Raiment of Tears - if it weren't for the fact that his Deathlord is The First and Forsaken Lion.

Style

The Thieving Raiton is skilled in both Melee and Martial Arts. He earned his name primarily from his trademark combo; fighting armed opponents while completely unarmed, and employing Thieving Raiton Claws to snatch their weapons out of their hands and stab them with it before activating Summoning the Loyal Steel (a charm he tricked a Solar into teaching him) to make it disappear into thin air.

One can never be certain of just how many weapons he is carrying at any one time - it is rumoured that in the past the Raiton used this combination to carry an entire talon's worth of weapons back to his master, although how he managed this feat is anyone's guess.

Backstory

The Thieving Raiton is strangely reticent about his history. It is known that he was once a Southern noble and a well-known duelist, but the details around his death are shrouded in mystery - which is how the Raiton likes it.

The truth is that the Raiton's death was a little embarrassing. He simply aimed a little too high one day by challenging a Dragon-Blood to a duel. The Dragon-Blood would have beaten him senseless for the presumption if it weren't for two facts - the first being the Raiton's other secret, that he was (and still is) stunningly handsome, and the second being that the duel was also a marriage proposition.

Goals

The Thieving Raiton has no particular goals (although he wouldn't mind finding his Dragon-Blood to re-proposition her) and is primarily used by The First and Forsaken Lion as an infiltrator, spy and thief.

Artifacts

Although the Thieving Raiton doesn't appear to have any Soulsteel artifacts on his person, this is one of his many misdirections. His mummification bandages are actually inscribed with Soulsteel ink and act as a form of armour. The words written on them only become visible when he takes an impact.

Similarly, he keeps a pair of Soulsteel hookswords and an oversized Soulsteel kopesh void-sheathed at all times, just in case.

Finally, he has a Soulsteel skin-mount amulet over his heart, which is hidden by his bandages. What hearthstone he keeps in it is unknown.