UrsariName: Daevan
Family: Ba’al
Gender: Male
Stage: Journeyman
Seller of: Painless Death. Daevan specialises in true mercy killings. Feeling squeamish about killing your brother's heirs so you can inherit all the wealth? Hire Daevan to assassinate them in a manner guaranteed that they will feel no pain or suffering. He has various methods: he knows where pressure points and nerve bundles are, to either strike directly or avoid them; he has his own concoctions of poisons to add to his blades that can kill instantly, or have the victim slip into a coma and die peacefully in their sleep; and of course there's the favourite 'blades so sharp and fast that they behead you before you've seen him move' trick for the battlefield. Daevan is always working on perfecting his current techniques and gaining new ones. Some say there might be a touch of magic helping him in his endeavor, but the less said about magic to Daevan the better...
Eyes: Wine red
Horns: Moose antlers. I like the idea of a warrior / Ba’al having giant, oversized horns, as well as the fact that male mooses (meese?) charge each other and lock antlers as a way of fighting. I think it really suits a Ba’al, with their rowdy ways and fighting spirit. In colour, I’d like the antlers tinged red and sort of veined -- see reference image.
Hairstyle: Copper in colour, including a touch of green in there as though his hair is really made of copper and part of it has rusted -- see reference images for copper that has partly rusted. (The green can be dyed, I just like the effect, the complimentary colours, and the idea of “metal” hair.) His hair falls to mid-back and is straight and fine.
Skin: Light caramel. Around each wrist he has a tattoo of a double-ouroboros - snakes eating each others' tails. They are looped back and forth in a kind of celtic knot pattern around the wrist, with both snake heads/tails on the upper side of each wrist. -- See reference image.
Personality: When meeting Daevan, most people come away thinking he is incredibly mean or cruel. He was born with a face and expression that can’t help but look angry and dangerous. Add onto that his warrior’s build and huge antlers, and you might begin to understand why Daevan is such a taciturn person. Speaking has been known to only make it worse, so outside of the Ba’al camp, Daevan is rather subdued for a member of the rowdiest of the Families. Inside the Ba'al camp, away from the eyes of other Families, he feels more comfortable. He’s the type to freeze up if unsure of himself, and present a silent, intimidating front instead. It doesn’t help that he was born to the Veduni, but showed no magical talents, eventually resulting in a marriage to the Ba’al. Daevan is especially quiet and wary around his former Family.
He can also be … slightly dense. He’s no Thetana, that’s for sure (who is, apart from the Thetana themselves), but subtlety is well and truly lost on Daevan. Perhaps this is because he has such little time or interest for non-mercenary subjects (apart from the wild Ba’al celebrations), but mostly because he’s simply not that bright. He’s therefore not one to strike up random conversation or exchange idle pleasantries. Flirting goes well and truly over his head. There’s a rumour going around the Ba’al section of the camp that he has no interest in sex – an idea that makes his current lovers howl in amusement. Daevan just won’t get it unless he is propositioned flat out, otherwise you can expect responses along the lines of, “Do you have something in your eye? ... You keep sighing heavily – are you having trouble breathing? You should really see a healer before that gets any worse.”
Give him a subject he knows and he’s truly in his element. He has great confidence in his swordsmanship, and also in his unique profession. The fact that people are usually more interested in hiring someone to kill their enemies slowly and painfully doesn’t faze him. What he does takes skill and one day people will surely recognise this! Perhaps he’s a little optimistic… but at least he can feel good about what he’s doing.
Just a little bit of a softie on the inside, Daevan doesn’t show this to many – just his lovers and closest siblings (all Ba’al). After all, his skill was first recognised when he was the one to put sick animals out of their misery because he didn’t want them to suffer. But that’s hardly common knowledge – the few Veduni that know aren’t about to tell anyone about their mundane, sissy throwback.
Position/Expression: He always looks a lot meaner than he feels. Other than that, artist’s choice.
Outfit: Black, baggy Arabian-style pants, with a few looped rows of gold trim up around his hips and thighs. A thick belt goes over the pants, with trailing ends down to the bottom of the pants - it is the same dark off-red of his horns, edged in gold. (Feel free to add or remove detail on belt.) A short-sleeved black jacket, cut short/high around his ribcage so that it doesn’t cover the Talwar at the back of his waist. Jacket is open at the front, no shirt on underneath.
Items?: His weapons of choice are two Talwar sabres, which he wears sheathed at his back horizontally, crossing over slightly.
Etc: His tail is the same colour as his hair, and is similar to a horses in that it’s just more hair, no bones or flesh down the middle of it. It is very long – it would drape on the ground if he let it. Instead, it is braided and looped around his waist like a belt, with the end dropping down just a little way. When asked why he braids his tail but not his hair, Daevan replied, “So far I haven’t been in any danger of tripping over my hair in battle.”
He appears early to mid twenties. He is tall and fairly buffed - not a bodybuilder, but he does spend almost every day training and wielding swords out in the desert. He's very well muscled. Think slightly intimidating, mostly mmmm yum.
References:Daevan sketch reference - feel free to add artistic license / interpretation
Weapons:
Talwar sabreMoose antlers:
colour + semi-veined effect and
how they sit on the headHair colour:
Copper, including green rustTattoos:
Double Ouroboros - this is a flat image, the tattoos would go around the wrist with both snake heads/tails still on the upper side of the wrist.
Belt:
on the leftThe caravan's matchmaker is a terrifying old Ursari, who will at one time or another, hold a young Ursari's life in her hands. She is usually referred to as Baba, a name that does not suit her well. Your Ursari has been called to her presence to discuss his or her options, which could be good or bad. Why were they called there? How high is your Ursari's stature, and how could this effect the match? How does your Ursari feel about this?The young boy fought not to squirm under the weight of Baba's beady-eyed glare. He'd been sitting in the small 'public area' of the dimly lit caravan with the matchmaker for what felt like hours, and as of yet, the fearsome old crone had yet to say anything. He'd thought nothing could be scarier than the Veduni elders, but this woman, by doing nothing but stare and let him sweat, was outdoing anything his Family had ever done. She hadn't even provided a cushion, he thought, shifting on the hard wood.
He didn't know why he was here. This was a matchmaker, and thirteen year old Daevan had no talent, no ambition, no prospects and - worst of all - no magic. He was the last person any Veduni would want paired with their child. Unless... she was going to tell him that he would never marry?
Raspy breathing filled the warm air - and it wasn't coming from the old crone. Daevan knew he was the worst Veduni ever. He was certainly told often enough, by his Mother, his teachers, even the other children his age. Marriage was really his only choice for improving his lot.
"Do you know why you are here?"
Daevan jumped, a small squeal escaping. There was strength behind that voice, like the crack of a whip across his face. Immediately he shook his head.
Baba didn't look impressed. "You had a visit from one of the Ba'al recently, or did you forget?"
Pale beneath his tan, Daevan forgot to breathe. Of course he remembered. His family had not allowed him to forget. After all, it wasn't every day that a child cut a visiting member of another Family, especially with their own weapon. One he should not have been touching, both from respect for their guest and the lack of interest a Veduni was meant to have in mundane, physical weapons. Did this mean Baba was in charge of punishments, too, not just marriages?
"You... are interesting," continued Baba, ignoring Daevan's plight. There was no way she could have missed it, so disdain it was. "I had to look very carefully for you. And what I have seen..." She paused dramatically, before leaning forward. Her eyes glinted in the dim lamplight. "Death follows you."
A quick, fearful glance over his shoulder proved that Death hadn't shown his face just yet.
Baba's face fell. "Oh dear. One of those types," she grumbled. "That might cause problems."
Daevan waited. Speaking at home only made things worse for him.
"Kyunru got your tongue?" snapped Baba. "I've never had such a quiet interview, except from Thetana, buried in their books..."
Daevan stared, and dared to breathe again. "Interview?"
"For your marriage. Gods save me from the dim ones," the woman muttered under her breath. Straightening herself, she continued. "The Ba'al are interested in you, after your little stunt with that painless cutting. And the gods know your Family isn't objecting. So, unless you have any objections of your own?"
A pause, and Daevan realised he was expected to answer somehow. Another frantic shaking of his head earned a snort from Baba.
"You're free to go, then," she dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Just remember, she's worth far more than a scaredy-kyunru like yourself."
Nodding to himself, Daevan fled the caravan. He didn't doubt Baba's last words. In fact, he would never forget them.
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