Shimmering Scales

Name: Estus
Nickname/Alias: Crowned Serpent
Age: 37
Race: Ssulitani
Height: 8’7” (Normally doesn't stretch to full height, stands around 6’4”
Weight: 317 lbs
Occupation: Assassin
Personality: Estus is a predatory individual. Due to his heritage as one of the Ssulitani, he is accustomed to being on the hunt, to being feared and respected. He is used to giving commands and being listened to - because he was feared as an assassin. He has no moral code - a target is a target, and cold hard cash pays no matter who it comes from. Callous and dismissive, if someone is not of use to him he rarely has time for them.


History:
Estus is from a world with non-homogenous races, much like Althanas. Humans colonized it millenia ago - and then subsequently bred themselves out of existence with the native magical races, leaving behind only hybrid, demi-human races as their legacy. Estus himself is of the Ssulitani race, the Serpent hybrids that have carved a niche for themselves near the top of the echelon of society. While not leaders themselves, they are often the advisors, the right hand men, of those who are the leaders. The counterpoint to that is - the second aspect of the Ssulitani species.

While they can be charismatic negotiators and diplomats, fantastic orators - they are also quite well suited to working in the shadows, striking poison into the hearts of those who have gained their ire in some way. Many Ssulitani are gifted in terms of mental magics - the benevolent use them as empathic negotiators, while those who operate more discreetly find themselves drawn to hypnosis, illusion, and other obscuring, mentally dominating arts. And as might also be expected - the Ssulitani are quite skilled in the creation and usage of poisons.

Estus himself is one of the scions of one of the shadow houses of the Ssulitani. From a young age, he dedicated himself to the darker arts of the Ssulitani, showing a disturbing aptitude for them. Combined with a rough personality, he drove others away from him. This only made him colder, and made him train harder. He was chosen by the head of one of the houses, and soon proved himself a better assassin than many of the other prospects- by wiping them all out within three days. After this rather impressive display, he was taken under the wing - or, in the is case, the tail - of the leader, and cultivated even further.

Estus was pursuing one of his final targets before he was moved from being a ‘scion’ to being fully recognized as the heir, when things went wrong for him. His target was of the Yulku, the Owl-magi. The magus, trying to escape when alerted by one of his many magical wards, desperately tore open a portal to another realm and tried to flee through it. The alarm came too late though - Estus couldn't prevent the Yulku from hearing the alarm, but with a last ditch effort application of hypnosis, did manage to slow down the mage’s reactions. The Serpent man plunged his long, serrated blade through the Owl man’s heart as the two tumbled through the portal, into an entirely different realm.

Unfortunately for Estus, his magical talents do NOT lie in the direction of inter-planar travel, and he is now trapped in this strange new world, full of races he does not recognize. With nothing more than his honed talents, he once more just carve a place for himself.

Appearance:
Estus appears as a pale-colored man, tall and densely built, whip cord thin most of the time. He wears loose-fitting clothes, the better to obscure his actions and to hide his obviously *wrong* aspects. His skin, upon close inspection, is actually a set of scales, a pile, iridescent mix of light green and light blue, and when direct light is shown on him at most times, he will actually catch and reflect the light from his skin. His eyes are narrow and his irises orange, his pupils thin slits of the time. He does have a long, thin tail, which is one of the things he normally keeps hidden under his cloak. His mouth is mostly normal - save for two distinctly serpentine fangs that fold back up to rest along the roof of his mouth most of the time, unless he has a reason to bare them. His tongue is also serpentine - long and forked, though because of the interbreeding with humans untold years ago he can still manage normal speech - once he learns it.


Skills:
Assassin’s Trade: Estus has extensive, decades long training as an assassin. Stealth, poison making, deception, knife-fighting - his trainers were intense and thorough, and only became more so when he was recognized as a scion to one of the shadow houses of the Ssulitani.



Abilities:

Ssulitani Heritage:
Estus is of the Ssulitani, the Serpent-Men of his homeworld. While his innate magics are fighting to establish themselves here in this new world, there are some aspects that have already begun working once more.

• Enhanced Physique:
• Estus has enhanced reaction speeds, beyond the scope of a normal human. Used in short bursts, either for dodging - or for suddenly lashing out. He also has an enhanced musculature, though the difference here is not quite as pronounced as of yet. (2.5x Human Reaction speed, 1.5x Human Strength)
• Serpent’s Trance:
• This is a purposeful technique of Estus’ nature. He uses a combination of low-level vibrations through his tongue, distracting plays of light along his iridescent skin, swirling motions of his eyes and body to drag a target into a hypnotic trance. While in this trance victims are lulled into a suggestive state, and their senses and reaction times are dampened as well. This can be fought off with a sufficiently strong will, but it is not an easy task.
• (Suggestive, dampened state last for three posts, cannot be used on those more than one level above his own, and can only be used twice in one combat thread.
  Dampened State acts similar to a severe intoxication, so the target can still move but - is unlikely to want to, as they are also listening. Dampened state reduces reaction and senses by roughly thirty percent of the target's maximum.)
• The Bite:
• A two-fold technique for the Ssulitani. The Bite is separated in two. The first is the common purpose, even if not normally used in this day and age by the Ssulitani. The Bite injects a potent venom into a target, which acts as a nerve-deadening agent, as well as a mildly necrotic agent. (Injects a numbing agent into the spot where Estus bites, and begins dissolving the flesh while the victim cannot feel it. Usable once times per combat thread. Numbing agent and necrotic agent only affect approximately six inches of flesh in radius from the injection site.)
• The secondary aspect of the Bite hearkens back to the Ssulitani’s original nature, before humans and interbreeding became widespread. The Ssulitani bites their mate, and injects them with a weaker, specialized venom, one that acts as a potent aphrodisiac, as well as determine, at least between Ssulitani, if they are compatible for mating. If they are not, it causes an intensely painful reaction - thus leading to the “mate’s bite” where two Ssulitani bite each other in one shoulder simultaneously, so that they experience this test together.
  (story writing only.)

Equipment/Weapons:
Daggers:
Aside from his clothing all that Estus currently has on him is his small plethora of daggers. He has a pair of throwing daggers, each spanning four inches long at the blade. There is a thin channel in each, meant to hold a poison, though Estus has let the poisons dry out until he finds out what works on the people of this world. Made of iron.

Fang: A simply named, vicious weapon. This dagger is more of a short sword - over a foot length, and viciously serrated on one edge, meant to cause grievous tearing wounds in victims struck by the blade. Forged out of a hard, durable metal of Estus’ home world, he has not yet found an equivalent material. (Tier three, no special qualities other than its durability. I'm fine with giving up all my starting gold for this if necessary.)

Hello, and welcome to Althanas!

I'm getting a few Kaa vibes from Jungle Book here that I absolutely love!

Heritage: is this a description only, meaning to eventually lead into abilities later?

Just a couple of questions about your abilities:

Soerpent's Trance: how much of a dampened state are we suggesting? Is it one of full loss of everything (hypnosis) or is it similar to becoming woozy? Would it half the reaction times and sense, for instance? Worse? I see you've already put some powerful provisos on it so we can work with things here.

The Bite: How numbing would the first bite ability one be? Would the victim lose all sense in just the place it's bitten (e.g. arm) or the whole body?
About the second, is this for use just out of combat and more of a story technique or are you going to use the pain as a weapon?

Thank you so much! We may need to start you off with slightly less money as you have three daggers to start and a sweet, and I'll run up a cost for the sword in due course.

Kaa is a very accurate summation of where the idea for his powers came from, yes. Though less heavy on the eyes, for the moment - that'll come with heavier hypnosis and illusion later. Heritage was meant to lead into the things that are a part of who he is as a Ssulitani, or all of his current abilities - they are now bullet listed to denote this.

Put in clarifications on his abilities.

Removed two of the iron daggers, leaving him one throwing dagger and his Fang.

Okay thank you for the information. The changes are great and I don't have any more questions for now.

Have two daggers as I'm feeling generous. :D and you are not staring with armour or other accoutrements.

I'll get these all worked up with numbers today and get back to you asap.

Nope. No armor just loose cloth. And I'll adjust that.

Hello, just one last question

When you say 'dissolves flesh' for the Bite (first part) does this mean skin damage and pain is caused?

At the moment you're sitting just above the PL (mostly due to the number of abilities). What I'd maybe suggest is bringing down number of uses (suggestion, the bite) for something down by one and I can make it fit. :)

Okay note: your sword will cost 300 gold, but as you start with usually one of iron I can do it for 200 gold. Please confirm if you would like to proceed with the transaction.

Yes, I can reduce that with ease. And yes. It eats away at the skin causing damage and pain. It's kinda like the toxins or venom some species use to help digest their food before eating.

I do indeed wish to proceed with the stated transaction for the Fang, yes please.

Thank you.
200 gold taken for set up of new account for the sword Fang. Approved!

Note: 50 gold transferred from my account to Estus for starting.