Name:
Scathrai Deiyan (Scath for short.)
Gender:
Male
Sexuality:
Heterosexual
Age:
20? 21? Exact age is unknown.
Race:
Shade
Abilities:
Racial abilities:
Change appearance: Scathrai can change aspects of his appearance (The hair made of shadows, black sclera, unnaturally pale skin) into something more resembling a human; what he's supposed to look like. This facade oftentimes disappears when he is sleeping or using an excessive amount of magic.
Shadow Blade: Scathrai can take the shadows cast from an object blocking light, and can form a weapon from it. It takes some time to gather the strands of darkness that make up the weapon; generally, the bigger the weapon, the more time he needs. Forming a weapon isn't an endeavor to be taken lightly; it takes concentration to force the fluid strands to stay and cement in place. As such, Scath tends to form such a weapon only when he needs to. He prefers forming polearms, such as spears, or more often, glaives.
Shadow Blur: Shades have a peculiar ability where their form seems to almost merge with the darkness around them; it is not invisibility, per se, but rather it is an effective camouflage. Moving can disrupt this effect somewhat- it is far more effective while standing still.
Darkvision: Shades can also see in the dark; they see in monochromatic shades of black, grey, and white; they have a peculiar quirk where at the corners of their eyes, it begins to seem like a mist is rolling in, making this sight slightly akin to tunnel vision. Furthermore, seemingly as a payment for this ability, the sun hurts a shade's eyes. Not blindingly so, just enough for it to be irritating, no matter the brightness of the day.
Skills:
Lock-picking: One wonders how a soul like Scath figured out how to lockpick. If 'stealing' pastries (Note, sneaking into the bakery at midnight for a snack, and leaving payment.) isn't enough of an answer for you, then nothing is.
Polearm combat: His adopted father taught him the basics; He can stab, slash, and do the other techniques of polearms, albeit a bit clumsily.
Magic:
Cold-fire: One can only assume this is a shade's warped version of pyromancy. Scath can produce a blue fire that is so cold, it burns the flesh. While he is not capable- and probably never will be- of unleashing storms of fire from the sky, it is clear he does have some aptitude for this type of magic. As of right now, all he can do is produce a small flame, and 'light' candles.
Vices:
Timid: Scath generally hates being put on the spotlight. While he can talk with a group of well established friends, he hates things such as speeches, social gatherings, and the like.
Innocently Ruthless: Scath, while capable of showing plenty of emotion- he laughs, is happy, sad, etc... has a disjointed sense of feeling when it comes to killing and torture. Oftentimes, when he sees someone he generally doesn't in pain, he normally doesn't do anything. He thinks nothing of it. The same would happen if he were to kill anyone- he wouldn't have a twinge of guilt murdering someone. It's not that he's cold blooded; it's just that the concept of morality (in the case of murder and torture), for some reason, doesn't reach him. Now, if someone he cares about is undergoing something like torture, he WILL intervene; not because he recognizes that torture is wrong, however: instead, he just doesn't want a friend/companion to be hurt and sad.
Sweet tooth: Scath LOVES pastries. He will connive, scam, steal, and beg to get just one slice of a good sweet.
Branch Affiliation:
Mage
Personality:
Scath is a very quiet person; he abhors loud noises, he cringes away from loud crowds, and he he absolutely refuses to shout, no matter the circumstances. But don't let this fool you: Scath actually loves being around friends. And he's not shy. it's just that.. he's not too fond large numbers of people. And don't expect him to talk much, even with friends. He's the kind of person that just nods quietly a lot.
Aside from this, Scath is empathetic. Not insanely so, and there is the noticeable flaw in that he can't compute why things like murder and torture are wrong, but enough so that when someone is in need of help, Scath will be there. He probably won't say much, but he'll be there. He generally will go out of his way for people he likes; just... he'll never give his pastries away.
And now onto his quirks... Well, first and foremost, Scath has a sweet tooth. In fact, calling it a sweet tooth might be an understatement. And his cooking? Well, let's say his sense of proportions are often wildly wrong. Aside from that, Scath is an excellent mapmaker and pianist. He loves taking the time to sit down and just
focus on something.
Background:
First off: Scath has no idea what the first five years of his life were like. He just...
appeared in the graveyard one day. The priests attending it were very startled, and even a bit wary. After all, it's not every day that a being with eyes that glow blue and hair that fades into shadow appears in your cemetery. When Scath just did nothing but stare at the equally surprised priests, they relaxed- but they still attempted to ward off the undead. When that did nothing but cause confusion and a minor annoyance to Scath, the priests were at a loss. Here stood a child, a perfect image of another one that lay deceased, appearing for all the world as the child's spirit crawled out of the ground. When questioned about his past, Scath couldn't remember anything.
Eventually, they called the deceased child's parents over. The process went much the same way- suspicion, then gradual acceptance. It took two weeks of this, before Scath's parents finally took him in. Very shortly afterwards, all three found out that Scath could change his appearance to match the deceased child's appearance. That quickly became the norm with Scath, only changing when he was asleep. Very shortly, Scath was loved very much like a normal child, despite the fact that he gave off a very... unnatural aura. They raised him, and he quickly began to help them out at their farm.
Yes, Scath's parents were simple farmers. They were some of the well-off large land owners, but they were by no means nobility.
Despite having a home he could always go to, Scath's social life wasn't exactly the greatest. One simply doesn't 'return from the dead,' and expect everything to be fine and dandy. As such, Scath spent much of his time alone. Well, except for the baker's daughter. She was a feisty one, that one was. Where others just shied away from Scath, she stormed up to him and demanded why didn't he wake up from his nap sooner. A frightened Scath tried to run away, but Anne (The daughter's name) wasn't having any of that. After catching him, she forced him to help her make a bridge across a small creek. Thus began the friendship between Scath, and Anne.
Many years later- six, in fact- the cartographer's shop opened. It was an extravagant affair, the shop was; not only did it hold many tools meant for mapping, but he also brought his piano in- a heavy thing that caused much swearing among the strongsmen moving it off of the cart (Which was carefully designed with stability in mind.). Eventually, a couple of days after the cartographer settled in, Anne and Scath- rather, Anne forcing Scath to come along with her- entered the cartographer's shop. After scolding Anna for mistreating an old map, the mapmaker took notice of Scath's fascination with both the maps and the piano. He probed Scath's interests in the two things, before eventually offering to teach him how to play the piano. A thrilled Scath accepted- or would have, if Anne had not reminded him to make sure his parents were alright with it.
They were.
Another five years. During this time, Scath's father determined that he needed to be prepared if he was ever called to be in the militia, and taught him the basics of polearms and fighting. The mapmaker was busy teaching Scath piano, and also cartography on the side. All seemed good. Then, near the end of this five year period, Anne finally blew up. She was furious that Scath was spending less time with her and more time with that 'stuffy old man,' and an argument ensued between the two. After nearly a week of silence, gifting Anne with multiple things (including a sweet he stole from her own bakery), promising to spend more time with her, and just trying to work it out. Eventually, the two managed to get over it, and their friendship continued.
The next two years were a blur of events. Whether it came from teasing that he and Anne were a thing- they weren't; Anne always had her eye on the town blacksmith; Scath frequently heard her complaints about how he always seemed to dense to notice her advances- or the simple fact that his parents were expecting more out of him now that he was older, Scath had a busy time. Three notable, critical, things happened during these two years. One: Scath discovered he could make weapons out of shadows. It was a specific process, with specific circumstances, not to mention tiring, but Scath could do it. His father also witnessed him doing it, and after making Scath promise to keep this ability a secret, quietly allowed him to practice it. Secondly, Scath discovered his 'pyromancy.' At this point, his parents were getting worried. They were very afraid that Scath could be.. showing his true colors. Finally, the thing that Scath was dreading happened: Anne discovered that he was a Shade.
These events were stressful, and ultimately impacted his relationships. The mapmaker was the only one he could turn to at this time; when he confessed- or rather, showed what he was- the mapmaker didn't seem surprised, and told him what he knew: That Scath was a Shade, and that he wasn't undead. That's all that the mapmaker knew, but with this knowledge, he helped Scath convince his parents that Scath wasn't an evil monster, or turning to become one.However, with Anne, he wasn't as successful as he hoped. While she nodded and didn't avoid Scath anymore, he could always tell that she was skittish around him.
This went on for two years. During this time, the mapmaker helped Scath in subtle ways. When Scath was having trouble keeping his 'pyromancy' under control, the mapmaker gave him hints of how to control his magical abilities. When there was a brief time with bullies (and Anne is still skittish around Scath at this time), the mapmaker helped Scath out by teaching him with polearms a bit. And when Scath was finally moved- and this is the only time- by the dying of a fox, the mapmaker was the one who helped Scath bind the fox to him and build the body. Of course, he had to keep Evelynn- the name of the fox- a secret from everyone else, except maybe Anne, but once that was done, Evelynn was the replacement for Anne, basically.
Then, word came out of a new college, called Visian Academy. While his parents were debating sending him to be an apprentice to a wizard, this completely changed their plans. Here was a school run by the kingdom itself; it was largely payment free, aside from the costs to travel there, and perhaps best of all, it offered a place for Scath to socialize to other people- something that they felt he desperately needed to learn. So, after a poorly attended party, saying his goodbyes to his parents and the mapmaker, and packing his stuff, Scath was sent off to Visian Academy.
Theme Song:
Appearance/Pic:
Scath when he's in his 'normal' form:

(Unfortunately, there is a lack of anime pictures with blue eyes with black sclera and shadowy hair.)
Familiar: Scath has a clockwork fox as a familiar. Her name is Evelynn. She has shown herself to be a playful trickster, and loves finding ways to force Scath to interact with people.
Other:
A shade's body temperature is noticeably colder than a regular human's. It ranges from a three to seven degree difference. Scath is specifically six degrees colder than an average human.