Another Linin character. o 3o
Undead. The living dead are known as some of the most varied of monsters, ranging from the low-level skeletons and zombies to the vampires and archliches that tower above kings as the shakers of history. But few creatures of undeath are as efficient in striking terror in men as the spectres and wraiths of the world that lie between these. Among the greatest of these is the Dullahan, or Headless Knight.
In Falacaerr, and other worlds, Dullahans are popularly considered the nobility of the living dead. And with good reason: it would appear as though whatever curse causes one to become one of these beheaded knights is reserved to only the fiercest of knights that have proven themselves on the battlefield. But what makes the Dullahan so feared amongst the living dead is not their combat prowess, but their bizarre tendency to mindlessly hunt, pursue, and brutally murder specific-yet-random individuals. To be selected by a Dullahan is a death sentence. To the helpless, they kill outright. To the many that flee, they pursue on horseback and cut them down likewise. Outside of conventional undead-warding techniques, the only known way to survive an encounter with a Dullahan is to defeat one of these supernaturally imbued warriors in a duel. But it never truly leaves. Be it after one year has passed or twenty, the Dullahan will return to its prey again…and again…and again. Hence, it is the survivors of encounters, who must spend the rest of their lives on constant guard and racked with fear of ever-approaching death at any moment, who are responsible for making the Spectres of the Headless Knight one of the most feared monsters in Falacaerr.
…and then there’s Fiona. Oh Fiona, whatever will we do with you.
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Specs:
Name: Fiona Esteed
Race: Dullahan (Headless Knight Spirit)
Occupation: Adventurer and Off-and-On Crusader, depending on circumstances. She only supports war against the undead.
Height: 5’5
Weight: Deceptively light, despite the presence of full plate mail. Her skin is hollow, after all.
Build: Subpar muscle tone for a soldier. Quite waifish.
Eye Color: Violet
Hair Color: Teal (Its her natural color! Really!)
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Backstory:
(Note: There are SEVERAL alternate universe versions of Fiona. one is below, but generally I often make a new one that fits a new universe)
Her story begins during the rise of the Edunian Empire. The world of Falacaerr had still remained in contest, but the free lands had been leaving the ever-hungry empire unchecked. War with the border nations—bloodbaths of terrified, untrained conscripts slaughtering equally terrified peaceful commoners, no less—was commonplace. But the story of Fiona Esteed is not one of the countless souls stained with blood. Ah, hers is of purity blossoming in spite of it all…and being crushed underfoot for it.
Fiona’s beginnings start with the fall of her family. While Edune’s power was rapidly expanding to the might of an empire, a new power had been rising in rapid response. The Allodin Alliance was a series of nation states that may had been the first attempt to destroy Edune through collaboration. But their methods were far less noble than the attempts by future alliances. Allodin would subjugate kingdom after kingdom for new supplies of resources and enlistees, all for gathering power to defeat Edune. Opposition was crushed, and the mob only could be misled into cheering for the executions of martyrs to follow.
Fiona’s parents were lost defending their home from Allodin’s advance, but Fiona herself never resented Allodin for it. Nay, she only felt ill towards her late parents for throwing themselves away so uselessly. If it wasn’t for their futile resistance, she would have lived in the prestige of nobility rather than her brothers and sisters cast into poverty. As the youngest sibling, Fiona never experienced the benefits of a higher class education. The only “education” she was graced to receive was the ever-useful rules of etiquette. Thus when the Esteeds pooled their skills to help each other get by, Fiona was the least helpful and by and large the largest liability. Racked with guilt and a foolishly intense sense of duty, Fiona embarked to Allodin’s capital of Filiestrin with the intent to find some way to restore the life her brothers and sisters once had. She’d never see any of them again.
Fiona wasn’t heard of for some years until the Order of the Burning Shield sought new recruits. Despite its name, the Order’s history was but a banal political move. In an attempt to give a figurehead to his re-election campaign, a high senator had called for the creation of a loose organization of extraordinary knights that, for lack of better elaboration, have little to actually do but raise hell in Allodinian regions of suspected Edunian activity. It was a frivolous task force, but it gave the masses heroes to look up to. Fiona was far from a celebrated member, but she was found as the squire to one of its knights, Lady Renelle. How Fiona could have gotten into such a position has never been confirmed. After all, not only did she have no experience in combat to speak of, but she was absolutely terrible in every training session she’s ever participated in. The best explanation available is that she had both a voluptuous body and that she had managed to get herself “unusually close” to the leader of the Order, Magnus Volcaire. In Fiona’s defense, she was that desperate.
There are countless stories (mostly boring.) of Fiona’s adventures in the Order, but they can wait until another time. It was her last assignment that was of most merit. Her last assignment seemed simple enough. Citizens in a “backwoods village” called Adelford had reported sightings of what may had been Edunians. With the Senate skeptical that an actual attack was underway, especially on a hamlet so insignificant, the Order of the Burning Shield would be employed to remain in the town for the next month for the purposes of providing reassurance and standing ready for attack during that time. The members of the Order were actually rather relieved by this joke of a mission, as it was a perfect excuse to do little but live off of the support and safety of the town. A vacation, if you will. There just was one minor detail that put a stick in those plans…
The detail being that Adelford was a Lian town. The knights of Allodin were less than thrilled that the inn was knee-high. Hell, all that protected the townsfolk was a wire fence constructed more for discouraging interference of small wildlife than anything else.
It would seem to the knights of the Order of the Burning Shield that prospects of a vacation would have to wait. It was Fiona that made their stay a pleasant one, however. Spurred by the feeling that she was the one thing she could do, it was she who pioneered the cooperation of her companions to construct a fort more worthy of shelter from the elements or a small attack. With time to spare, Fiona managed to get carried away with protecting the miniature townsfolk from what was speculated to be an imaginary enemy. Truth was, she couldn’t help but develop a maternal affection for them, which caused her companions to eventually grumble of her being “soft”. After all, it did seem pointless to construct additional traps and even a secret escape route for a “bunch of pint-size country bumpkins that only a goddamn slaver would care about.”
And yet, despite all the skepticism, the tiny town of Adelford would be attacked by Edunians two weeks and three days into their stay. Stranger still, the amount of soldiers employed on this duty was utterly, utterly unwarranted for the task of overtaking the Lian village, considering just a month ago the whole population could be wiped out by a large dog. What was headed in Adelford’s direction was a genuine army, lead by Caphalas Torin, an Edunian viceroy. It was then that, perhaps appropriately, Fiona’s resolve gave way to her cowardice. Rather than make a last stand, she volunteered to help escort the Lians escape to a more fortified Maraten city. This was permitted, albeit on the basis of that she’d probably be the first slain otherwise.
The escort went as well it could have, but Fiona could not return to Filliestrin. Her heart was far too heavy to report her defeat just yet; she had to see the aftermath of Adelford. But another unforeseen complication would wedge itself into Fiona’s story. The Order of the Burning Shield won. It was a frantic battle and the town was lost to fire, but Caphalas Torin was slain in the melee. The leaderless, already-disorganized Edunians would return to their country once the Order made itself scarce. But all that wasn’t the “complication”.
The complication that Fiona would face would be that her comrades were, despite being victorious, captured and sentenced to be executed…by the Allodin army. When Fiona approached the scene to ask what on earth happened, a halberdier hacked her head off without a word.
And so it came to be that Fiona’s last words were “Wait, what?”
She never learned the truth about her country. In reality, the Allodin Alliance cared nothing of Edune. Allodin was but another feudal state led by self-serving senators that treated human lives like poker chips. The very senator that had formed the Order of the Burning Shield had conspired with Caphalas Torin to sentence its death. In exchange for additional Edunian territory, the senators that had gained their seats through empty warmongering would have a new set of fresh martyrs for the next election. “Justice”, even as a façade, does wonders in sparking the ire of the masses. But since Torin had failed, the Allodin senate chose to discreetly finish the job themselves. If there’s any justice in any of this, it is that Allodin would fall in only a few decades.
Ah, but all this was but the beginning of Fiona’s story. Epochs later, she would be awakened by the Horn of Zeanir in the very spot she and so many of her comrades had fallen. And yet, unlike all of her companions that became mindless bloodlusting servants of the chaos god, she was only one that had retained her consciousness. Perhaps her heart, unmarred by impurities of hatred, had protected her. In any case, her undeath gave her the time needed for some thinking. She’d come to believe that she had to have been brought from the dead with all of her marbles for a reason. And while she did not know what that was, she knew a good place to start: to continue to try to prove to herself that she isn’t a failure. She had a new goal now: to put Magnus Volcaire, Lady Renelle, and all of her other friends to rest. And why stop there? Fiona’s ultimate goal is the liberation of all from the disease of undeath—to sound the Horn of Zeanir once more. Perhaps it would be appropriate to make a difference to those alive along the way.
She has since lived amongst the living people of Falacaerr like one of their own (albeit in disguise) and participated in every crusade against the plague of undead. Obviously, she has failed for the past thousand years as well, but she’s a determined one. She will have to confront her lack of courage along the way. Falacaerr is a frightening place...
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Personality:
Fiona is a kind soul. And her kindness is beyond just being the type to be polite to everyone she meets, or to help out random strangers. She is of the debilitating, constant-self-sacrifice sort of kindness that has a terrible habit of getting her into more trouble than kindness should. She's been known to volunteer to take the blame for others if she feels like the situation would be resolved "better that way", including in cases of serious crimes. However, there is one other major personality characteristic that tends to get in the way of this...
...and it is that Fiona is also fairly nonconfrontational. To put it more bluntly, it can be stunning to find how much of a damn coward she can be at times. Part of her seems to house an innate strong dislike of fighting, while another seems to have stemmed from her aversion to stir malcontent in the first place. Point is, Fiona's deficiency of bravery is a severe obstacle in her quest to sound the Horn. All the same, she still tries...
On a final note, she's fairly dense. One could say that it is because of her naiviety or trusting nature, which are both good theories, but the truth comes down to that she's just a tad dim.
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Abilities:
Skills: Fiona is still fairly untrained in practical skills. In military skills, she is adept at horseback riding (but lacks a horse), and her fencing skills are notably “klutzy”. Actually, the only thing she seems to be an expert at is lying. Ages of practice with alter egos have made her an impressive actress.
Illusionary magic: Dullahans are famous for being able to infiltrate the most secure of castles to issue a challenge. Sometimes they use their magic to alter their appearance and deceive, other times they use it to mask themselves as invisible completely. Of all of Fiona’s powers, this is the only one that appears to be at par with the other Dullahans. Good thing too, as this has been the most valuable to trying to live amongst maraten and liankind. Normally, powerful magic is needed to see through her disguise, but those close to death are rumored are granted this ability as well…
Curse: It is said that Dullahans would vomit blood onto innocent bystanders, forever sealing them to a terrible doom. Fortunately, the bloody vomit is not necessary. Most Dullahans are just dicks, you see. Perhaps due to her untainted heart, Fiona’s curses are nerfed to only causing petty mischief.
Vore?: It's closer to Endo, in Fiona's case. As a spiritual entity, Fiona’s body can be contorted to potentially hold others inside. However, she really has no reason to do this under normal circumstances. The few that have found themselves inside of her hollow armor have discovered a lining of flesh on the inside that made being in a hollow suit of armor much cushier than it could have been. As a final note, to state the obvious, Fiona is incapable of oral vore. She doesn’t have a throat to swallow with, though her illusions might make her seem like she has one.
Undead Empathy: Normally, like many “high” undead, the Dullahan is capable of controlling (small) armies of undead at any one time. Not surprisingly, Fiona does not seem to have any aptitude for controlling any undead at all. But she does seem to have an influence. While she can’t make them “obey” her, she shows unusual ability in calming what walking dead would otherwise be mindless enraged killers. This is one of the few abilities that do not give away her identity, as all she does for this is talk to them.
Other traits: Fiona’s head and body have an extra sense, and another one that she’s blessed to have. Much like the kinesthetic sense, she can detect the approximate location and position of her head and body relative to each other. This doesn’t mean she won’t “lose her head” occasionally, but at least she has a clue!