Tezkat Kh'rono
From wiku
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| Tezkat Kh'rono is a fan-made character, and although the related story is set in the DMFA universe, he is not actually an official part of the DMFA comic strip by Amber Williams. |
Tezkat Kh'rono is the eponymous Cubi character of a DMFA Forumite. His given name sometimes appears as Tezkatl, Teskatl, or Tes'Katl in order to preserve more of the original pronunciation and help differentiate him from his player.
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[edit] Personality
Tezkat comes off as a vain, quixotic, and somewhat shallow prettyboy. However, his seemingly easygoing and cavalier attitude towards life belies the mind of a cunning schemer. He maintains his mask at all times, keeping his true feelings in check. Although normally outgoing and personable, he avoids emotional attachments and does not cultivate close relationships. Only friends who go way back with him have any hope of penetrating his emotional armour.
He appears utterly fearless, able to smile and joke even under the most terrifying circumstances. In truth, he still experiences fear, but his strong empathic affinity for that emotion channels it into a powerful and pleasurable rush of energy. Thus, he actively seeks out dangerous situations and people. His combat potential rises dramatically under threat of serious personal harm.
A childhood spent among Demons heavily shaped his attitudes towards the value of life: One's rights extend only so far as the ability to defend them. He has few qualms about torturing or killing when it serves his purposes, even taking pleasure in the delicious emotions that such activities generate. He dislikes killing opponents quickly, preferring to toy with his prey to release the most succulent pain and terror before consuming their souls. However, he views preying on the weak with distaste, considering it to be a sign of cowardice or decadence.
Tezkat possesses a keen sense of order and strong personal code. On the other hand, he tends to follow letter rather than spirit and views any rules (including his own) as a challenge--an invitation to beat the system. Extremely bright, Tezkat treats all of life as a game of this sort. He'll pursue the most "clever" solution to any problem even when (especially when) good, old-fashioned hard work would suffice.
[edit] History
[edit] Early Life
The daughter of a common weaver, Sephira exhibited a unique magical talent for weaving cloth into wonderful and exotic fabrics. Her work caught the eye of Azael, the Angel who presided over a nearby city-state. Entranced by her beauty, he took the girl as his bride. However, shortly after the birth of their son, Zedkiel, Sephira surprised everyone by fleeing with the infant and some of the Angel's treasure. Azael sent many bounty hunters after her, but none succeeded in recovering them.
Sephira escaped across the sea and to secluded, Demon-controlled lands, geographically isolated by tall mountains and long barrier reefs. The native Beings called the winged panther boy Tezkat (after their god of the night and dark magic), and it was this name that he eventually adopted.
Tezkat's budding magical abilities earned him a place in the academy where the Demons trained their young. He proved to be a quick study, a magical prodigy, and a true genius in the arts of illusion. However, many bigger and stronger Demon students (most notably Sid Bloodfang) bullied the young boy mercilessly. As Demon society encouraged those with power to dominate the weak, the teachers did little to prevent this abuse. (Several even admonished the boy for his weakness and failure to respect the natural pecking order.) Having inherited his father's supernatural speed, Tezkat frequently managed to escape his tormentors and use illusions to hide, but that merely delayed the inevitable. He began lashing out through trickery, first with small pranks and graduating over time to increasingly elaborate and vengeful schemes. The final such incident inadvertently turned deadly, and the Academy expelled him to placate the victim's family.
It was at that time that Tezkat met Ky, the Warp-Aci who became his familiar, and Zeth, a young, Demon-blooded thief. Along with his mother, they relocated to the island port of Losthaven. Although a den of pirates, smugglers, and outlaws, trade with the outside world made the port town much more cosmopolitan than the mainland. Thanks to Zeth's influence--the two boys had become best friends--Tezkat became involved in a variety of illicit activities, much to his mother's chagrin.
The emergence of his headwings revealed that Tezkat was, in fact, not an Angel but an Incubus--a member of the rare and secretive race of soul-stealing Creatures. After losing his mother, he and Zeth left the island to make their way in the world.
[edit] SAIA and the Legacy of Kh'rono
A disagreement with local law enforcement brought Tezkat to the attention of Veia, a powerful and ancient Succubus. She rescued him and brought him to the Succubus and Incubus Academy, where he could learn about his Cubi abilities in safety. However, with unfinished business in the outside world and unpleasant memories of his old school, he initially rebelled against the confines of the institution.
SAIA turned out to be a far less hostile and more entertaining environment than his former academy. Tezkat quickly came to embrace the study of his new skills and abilities. His devious streak and illusionary talents served him well in classes such as Pain and Terror, in which he eventually offered to tutor other students. He also worked a teaching assistant for courses in Fashion Design. Having inherited his mother's talent for magically shaping cloth, further enhanced by his magical skills and intuitive grasp of metamorphosis, he took care to be the best dressed Incubus around. His mischievous spirit soon surfaced as well. His pranks were rarely malicious--more for fun and to test the boundaries of his new home--and he often roped other students into wild schemes.
Some confusion surrounded his clan and origins. All Cubi have at least one Cubi parent, but Tezkat believed that his mother was a Being, and she'd told him that his father was an Angel. Furthermore, the symbol on his right wing marked him as a member of the Kh'rono Clan, a small and secretive clan whose members had not been seen at SAIA for more than a thousand years. Aeris, a divination specialist and assistant to the SAIA Librarian, took a personal interest in investigating the mystery. Tezkat eventually returned to the land of his birth to meet and reconcile with his estranged father. Revelations there set him on a dangerous journey to uncover the secrets of his heritage and the legacy of Kh'rono.
[edit] Edge the Bounty Hunter
Disillusioned with the direction of his studies, Tezkat left SAIA to seek power in the outside world. Deciding that bounty hunting would give him a socially acceptable vehicle for procuring strong souls, he reinvented himself as Edge, a brash young swordsman. He only hunts strong Creatures or magically-inclined Beings--those who offer an interesting challenge and whose souls would enhance his power--and never brings his targets back alive. This active harvesting of souls has increased his power level significantly since leaving SAIA.
In addition to Edge, he maintains several other bounty hunter personas (who also sport names referencing their preferred weapons--e.g. Strafe, a wolf who specializes in ranged combat). His powers reinforce their separate identities, and they are occasionally seen working together. He keeps up the facade that they are merely skilled Beings, having made a general policy of eliminating witnesses who learn too much about his nature or abilities. Although their true powers remain shrouded in mystery, all of his bounty hunter identities have developed reputations as Adventurers who can quietly and efficiently dispose of Creature threats.
[edit] Appears In
Tezkat's Cubi incarnation first appeared in the SAIA RP. His recent exploits as Edge take place in the ongoing RP, Northern Winds. The as yet unpublished Smoke and Mirrors recounts his life from the emergence of his headwings through the events surrounding the Legacy of Kh'rono.
[edit] Trivia
- The signature Kh'rono Clan wing tendrils manifest as glowing darkness that matches his Warp-Aci. Partly ethereal, they are not physically attached to his body and can operate at a distance.
- Tezkat's facility with illusion blurs the line between spellcasting and natural Creature abilities. He can cast illusions by warping reality in a process very similar to shapeshifting.
- He dislikes carrying equipment or physical objects, relying instead on metamorphosis and magic to create whatever he needs on the fly. He makes exceptions for items that he can easily reshape (e.g. clothing) or props that he needs to give away (e.g. cash). With little practical use for money or treasure, he has accumulated considerable wealth over the years (the management of which he leaves to his Warp-Aci, Ky).
- He is still young enough to dream and, although no longer physiologically necessary, he sleeps often for a Cubi.
