Caedes Oleander
Aug 31, 2022 21:05:59 GMT -5
Post by Caedes Oleander on Aug 31, 2022 21:05:59 GMT -5
> Caedes Oleander <
>> The Last Shadow Crawler <<
Gender: Male | He/Him, They/Them
Age: 24 Years Old
Race: Changeling ( Dhampir )
Nationality: Darkveil
Worshiped Deity: None
Age: 24 Years Old
Race: Changeling ( Dhampir )
Nationality: Darkveil
Worshiped Deity: None
Appearance: A Changeling who stands at roughly 5' 10"; Caedes can still stand as a fairly imposing figure when met within the shadows. With stark white skin and hair, the young man presumably should not be able to blend into the darkness as well as he does, but he manages. He has a lithe, but well-toned frame hidden beneath a billowing black cloak and hood, and eyes which are stark and pale; with irises dotted with red. The pale of his skin, as a changeling, would mask the fact that he appears similar to the undead, if not for the fangs visible when he speaks. He may occasionally wear a mask when in public, split black and white in contrast.
History: Caedes was born the youngest son of the Oleander family, a middle class family involved with The Shadow Crawlers, a specialized criminal organization in service to The Crimson Hand, a crime family located in the underbelly of Darkveil. For the first few years of his life, he lived as any normal child in Darkveil might— mischievous and carefree under the watchful gaze of his parents and elder siblings: blissfully unaware and blissfully compliant to their whims.
The shrines honourings; the late nights; the prayers to a thing that wasn't a deity, were all normal. The loyalty to the family; the loyalty to close friends; the loyalty to the business were all normal. His everyday was spent growing desensitized to death; to the grave; and to the taking of life. His everyday was spent causing trouble, learning to keep to the dark, and learning to play his hands close to his chest.
The Shadow Crawlers would turn out to be a hitman's syndicate operating beneath, and for, The Crimson Hand. It was his family who originally headed up the organization; specialized in operating in the dark, or bringing the darkness with them, beneath the watchful eye of something which was not one of Charon's pantheon. The entity from the shrines in Caedes' home, and others, offered gifts to the family— to members of the organization— at a blood price.
One which they were most always willing to give, because it was never asking for theirs in the first place.
So long as the members of the syndicate were willing to keep their pledge, the entity was willing to keep its. It was a symbiotic relationship; a blessing of shadows, grave, and darkness in return for the simple and ongoing price of a life. Caedes learned to respect death; to respect the grave; and to be ready to pay the ultimate price. But that, too, was normal; and so, he was prepared and trained like his siblings before him, to become one of those who lurked in the shadows.
And he did.
He undertook the same ritual as the many before him, and pledged himself to a creature of darkness he could never fully understand. He learned all he needed to become an assassin like those who came before his family, and who he thought would come after. The Crimson Hand held the reigns, and the The Shadow Crawlers did their bidding as was requested. The families thrived, and so too, did the entity that thrived amongst the assassin syndicate.
The chaos of the syndicate life was his to behold for several years, before it was compromised.
The Shadow Crawlers fell in silence— eviscerated in the dead of the night, as they had done to so many before by their own hands. Yet, no one in Darkveil familiar with the underbelly batted an eye to their disappearance, as it is not abnormal in the life of a criminal, for the tables to turn so quickly. And under the impression that the assassins beneath them were growing too independent and headstrong, The Crimson Hand, who had benefited for so many years with their service, were the ones to put them down. Caedes was among those who were killed that night, struck down with his family in the brutal fight between syndicates.
And he would wake up, days later, half-submerged in an ash-laden river in the Deadwood.
The thing that The Shadow Crawlers had so revered those many years refused to die with them; and so, it took shelter in the nearest body: his own. The presence of an entity so strong, paired with the necromantic runes carved into his back from a ritual so many years ago, would bring him back. Dead and yet not, Caedes drug himself out of the ashen river, holding a vendetta and grief against those who had wronged him— with the heart-wrenching knowledge that there is nothing he can do against The Crimson Hand alone.
... Not yet.
Personality:
Caedes is not quite as cold as one might think him to be based on the way he was raised; he proves to be a somewhat charismatic sort despite it all. With many idle nights spent in the Dancer's Den back home, he can work a room or charm his way into a conversation with the right amount of effort. (Although, this admittedly proves to be somewhat harder after his undeath.) He does not necessarily believe in killing indiscriminately, despite the position he once held: as The Shadow Crawlers held a creed in not laying harm to the more innocent citizens of Darkveil.
Their targets exclusively lurked amongst the underbellies, with missions carried out through multiple regions.
Alternatively, Caedes believes quite heavily in the concept similar to karma: punishment should— and will— come for those of the most despicable sort who may deserve it.
Including himself, one day.
He does not shy away from the catch-all of: an eye for an eye. Those in his ire, will catch his ire: and those who do not, will maintain his good graces— and perhaps earn two loyal allies.
protect him at all cost. (can’t use discord anymore so making use of this here)
