Ioxchen Soulripper, Emissary of the Honored Dead (e-oxc-hen)
Summary
Life in Jerhegn is far from easy; a quiet's night sleep is a luxury, and safety a covetable dream. Ioxchen, like so many others, lost her mother early in life. Her father worked endlessly as a courtesan to take care of her, her sister, and brother. She bounced around as a result, all sorts entering and leaving her life. Without the pay or prestige for apprenticeship, she ended up having to work menial jobs to help make ends meet. But menial in the jungle brings one face-to-face with death every day, in those dying, dead, or long departed. Ioxchen found no end to work in handling the deceased, a task few willfully took on and so left plenty to be done. Where all others found despair, Ioxchen discovered something different. A voice, in a way, that could reach the departed. Their whispers filled her big ears, and soon she struck up conversations with the lingering souls. Ambivalent to their deaths, they were not akin to the Forsaken, although they remain trapped in limbo. In time they found peace, passing on quietly as she wrapped their bodies and handed them off to the priestesses. Ioxchen labored for years in the deathly burrows of Kubuadac, hauling the dead from ignominy. The grateful departed in turn gave much to her; be it secret wealth they hid away, or knowledge they couldn't pass on. Sickness visited often, and for as much as she earned, most was burned up in medicine. Yet it was a living all the same, and one that proved fulfilling. That was, until new bodies started appearing. Murder victims are uncommon, and so many appearing close together stood out. They hungered for vengeance, and Ioxchen found them too hard to ignore. She stalked through the memories of the dead, piecing together their lives in their final moments. A pattern emerged, one of vile purposes and unspeakable intent. Her investigation went into the dark underbelly of her home, where abominable living Forsaken had taken root. They sought eternal life, a forever stagnation in sharp defiance to the teachings of Teohcxe. Worse, members of the city guard came to give patronage, a perverse cult that thrived on innocent sacrifices. Ioxchen was no fighter; a novelty in Kubuadac, and a great shame to bear. Uncertain how deep the corruption went, she retreated. If she couldn't trust the living, then she turned that much more toward the dead. Beseeching the many spirits around her, and even the city's ancestral guardians, Ioxchen trained hard. The greatest of warriors long past put her through grueling regiments any of the living would gawk at. Practice turned to purpose, and Ioxchen took to the dark streets and alleyways of the night. The dead guided her to the guilty, and she exacted Kubuadac's justice upon them. To prevent any from discovering her hunt, their vile souls couldn't be allowed to speak to their mistresses. And so, their flesh she broke, and their souls she grasped and ripped apart. The necromancer priestesses grew alarmed immediately. A city-wide mandate went into effect, the utmost effort to discover the heinous creature that could destroy souls. They petitioned the same ancestral guardians that helped Ioxchen, only to terrifyingly learn they 'didn't know'. Fear swallowed the city, something that weighed heavily upon her. Nonetheless she pressed on, sussing out the evil that threatened the innocent. The body count piled up, and the terror only deepening. To their credit, the city guard soon pieced together the differences in the dead. Murders are uncommon in Kubuadac, but their lingering souls provided an important clue. Long into her solemn mission, Ioxchen was caught by the guard one night. Veiled in shadows and alight in the silvery glow of dead souls, her latest quarry still bloody on her hands. That brief encounter gave birth to her new namesake, 'the Soulripper', as awesome as much as it terrified people. The living Forsaken stirred earnestly, their numbers dwindling, and their need for sacrifices all-consuming. On the night of the Trinarium–when the three moons over Veltrona aligned–they struck out. Them and their corrupted slaves assailed a great temple, capturing innocents for a profane ritual. One that, if unchecked, might destroy Kubuadac from the inside-out. Kin-against-kin, the bloodshed escalated, all sorts of bodies thrown down the temple steps, and that many more dragged up them. Ioxchen arrived on a scene of utter nightmares. Upon her flanks came the tens of thousands of lingering souls, and the vast ancestral guardians of the city. They brushed past the righteous living, frozen in fear as they were, and began the ascent themselves. Ioxchen led the charge into the Forsaken, her hand-to-hand combat unrelenting and fueled by brutal purpose. Those she couldn't reach herself were swarmed by the returned dead, hungry for vengeance. On that night, Kubuadac stood awake with wide eyes, watching an unbelievable scene. By the dawning light, the Forsaken had been destroyed, and an eerie silence fell where not even birds dared stir. Ioxchen would've been apprehended by the priestesses then and there, if not for the ancestors' intervention. They gave upon her their blessings, and told all who witnessed of Ioxchen's legendary character. With justice done and vengeance slaked, the dead went to their rest once again. Ioxchen, however, was rather stuck at the center of attention. She ultimately agreed to speak with the priestesses, being effectively an unsanctioned necromancer. It became undeniable that Ioxchen had the greatest necromantic talent Kubuadac ever saw. Her seamless connection with the dead left the priestesses hilariously flabbergasted. Atop her incredible accomplishments during the Trinarium, she became an icon of reverence. Ioxchen, rather unused to such attention, found her world flipped upside down. The greatest educations, the highest respects, and all the riches that could be offered–suddenly all given to her. The ladies of Kubuadac awarded the once-feared title of Soulripper to her, and so the legend became real. In turn, Ioxchen's dutiful studies into Teohcxe inspired the various sects to give her a unique position. One befitting of her connection with the dead. Thus, the new seat of the Emissary of the Honored Dead was created. A role of symbolic unity between the living and departed. More practically, an easy-go-to person who could mediate between all the sects and ladies. For all her steadfast work and uncompromising moral character, Ioxchen's reward was bureaucracy. A not too-terrible fate, all things considered.You have defiled our dead, desecrated their memories, betrayed the living, and dishonored our people. You will scream with your very soul as I tear you apart!
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Leaning toward lanky, by tokyau standards, Ioxchen seems a bit stretched thanks to her disproportions. It can be said she seems disturbing to her fellows, but her healthy complexion and warm, if strict, amiability washes those concerns away. A silvery haze tends to be around her, the ever-constant connection between her and the dead.
Body Features
Minute scars and malformations marr Ioxchen's body, a result of the constant sickness she endured in her youth. The tips of her fur trend toward a whitish silver, a mark of her necromancy rather than age. There's also a series of sweeping and curved tattoos that begin on her face and go down her body. These tattoos flow into iconographic depictions of life, death, and celebrations of both; life is shown on the front half of the body, and death on the back half. Where they meet on the sides of the body is where both are celebrated in their transitions: the right side is birth, the left side is dying.
Facial Features
A heart-shaped face with round eyes makes Ioxchen's piercing, flat stare all the more potent. One might garner the impression she's never smiled once in her life, which makes her regular smiling all the more unexpected to see. Sweeping tattoos curl down from her eyes and across her cheek bones, before taking a sweeping plunge down across the jaw and throat. These tattoos are made from a solid, dark turquoise base color that then plays with metallic silver highlights. They're meant to emphasize the sight of a being, be they are alive or dead, and so are less artistic than the body tattoos below.
Identifying Characteristics
Her clothing attire is predominantly what identifies her for many of her people. Those unaware of its significance, though, may be caught out by the eerie aura that surrounds her. Akin to a silvery mist that waxes and wanes, it makes her seem ethereal in one moment and very solid in the next. Such is the potent necromancy that surrounds her.
Special abilities
Necromancer Lady – Ioxchen's unusual connection with death gives her supreme affinity to it, an envious thing among necromancers. She perceives and interact with the dead, as well as utilize magics involving life and death that far outstrip others.
Sickness Resilience – While tokyau at large are a resilient people, Ioxchen's trials through plague and disease have left her far stronger against them. She is not without the scars from such a thing, but it is a point of pride.
Hand-to-Hand Specialist – Ioxchen is trained extensively in using her hands, legs, and general body as a weapon. While she can wield other weapons as needed, her body is the one true tool she trusts to use. This is deceptively useful where her appearance is concerned, as many people do not expect a close-combat specialist from a 'mage'.
Apparel & Accessories
In traditional attire, Ioxchen has a stone ceremonial helm. Made out of the dark-gray rock typical in Kubuadac, it envelops the crown of her head. Two great prongs arise up from the sides, where her ears also come up. These prongs are quite square and geometric, inclining inward three times before stopping, and the tips are stylized mouths/faces. A relief is built into the helm, a simplistic and stripped down version of the tokyau concept for the cycle of life and death. There are two other prongs that go down either side of Ioxchen's face, these act as anchor points for various masks to clip onto.
A large, sweeping cloak adorns her shoulders, dark green base color and tied with a knot upon her left shoulder. Stylized with depictions of Ioxchen's triumph during the Trinarium, it is a large, prominent piece of artwork and boasts all sorts of colors. Primarily used for the declaration of her status, it is loose fitting and good for general wear against jungle weather. The edges of the cloak have feathers sewn into them, colorfully displaying all the parts of the rainbow.
Her actual clothing underneath the cloak is a two-piece top shirt and bottom skirt, both a white cloth. Reinforced padding and leather turns them into light armor, and ready-to-wear with heavier pieces if need be. Unlike other pieces, they only have colorful threading woven into them, since practically they need to be repaired often. Upon her forearms she has armored gloves, smoothly fashioned from high-quality steel. Silver embroidery depicting 'imminent death' is etched onto the vambraces, a fitting warning to her brutal hand-to-hand combat style.
She wears open-toed sandals, the criss-crossing leather going up to her knees. They're built purely for pragmatic purposes, and so are simply just that.
A tall ceremonial staff (ending over her head) accompanies her. Fashioned out of a silver alloy, its U-shaped head is vaguely similar to that of her helm. Two prongs shoot out from the sides beneath the U, acting as holders for long strips of cloth. Inscribed upon the cloth is various laws concerning handling of the dead, funeral rites, and other day-to-day things Ioxchen has need of. While not intended, the staff can be used for a long-reaching weapon in times of emergency.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Good living is the purpose of life, to be enshrined with honor in the realm of death. It is a very typical way of thinking in Kubuadac, and Ioxchen is no different. Having seen the well of evil that is becoming Forsakened, it has galvanized her beliefs further. That life is a struggle is one inescapable truth, perhaps for the rest of her lifetime. However, she doesn't believe they must suffer in that struggle. This guides much of her work, to give others a better life and an honorable death.
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