Terhon the BlackSilver

Name: Terhon the BlackSilver (truename)

Aka: The Harpy, The Platinum Death, The BlackSilver Death-Angel

Gender: Male

Race: Nightmare/Mara (Adult)/Death(-Angel)

Age: 1763 years (all adult Mara are above 1000 years)

Appearance:
A black-silver (more black than silver) robed figure that generally stands in darkness or shadows, he’s not eager to be seen. He’s about six-foot-five, more if he wears his feathered bird-mask (which has horns). Usually his wings are hidden beneath the robes, but when they are fully extended, it’s clear that his feathers are not made for flying—they are metal. Said wings prove to be more silvery in daylight, the black “dripping” off those metallic feathers. His hands are clawed with three inch talons per finger, and his feet are likewise clawed, though his foot is designed more like a bird than human (one toe back and four forward). Beneath the robes he wears a scale-mail hauberk of the same substance as his own feathers, and plate gauntlets and “boots” to protect him from anything those claws care to grip, black pants and shirt beneath the armor. If bared to the world, his face appears human, elegantly-fine of cheekbone and jaw, dark lashes around ice-blue eyes, with long black-dripping platinum-white hair. The skin that hides beneath robes and armor and cloth is almost death-pale. Generally, he carries but one weapon, for his razor-feathered wings and claws are enough—a ten-foot polearm whose blade are made of his own feathers.

Background:
Terhon is an adult Mara, or Nightmare. He did what is unheard-of for his kind: he fell in love with a human woman, a kindly Adept Mage named Carmen Belladonna. No mage would believe she had befriended a Mara, let alone an adult (also known as a “Death”), and that she managed to convince him to stay (Deaths rarely even visit, let alone stay for a period of time, because they do not like this plane). Thus, and because of his appearance, most mages in the world think he is but one of the near-extinct Harpies.

Feared as a Harpy, creatures of legendary evil that haven’t been found in generations, Carmen magically Bound Terhon to a plain platinum ring to make other mages think she somehow controlled him. Since then, she has passed away of old age (though, with him, she managed to extend her life a good 500 years, a secret some mages might kill to have!). This ring binds him to this plane, and makes him somewhat obedient to its wearer—IF the owner has strong enough will to overcome Terhon’s stubbornness.

Personality:
Terhon is not of this plane, and so doesn’t think along normal human paths. He much prefers to observe than act, especially as his love passed away and there isn’t much to make this plane endearing to him anymore. For all his kind tend to seem dispassionate, aloof, and uncaring of human activities, Terhon has a compassion and empathy for people, though he doesn’t show it often. He particularly feels for children, perhaps because he watched his love grow up before they bonded. There is sentiment and sadness about him, an aura most Mara wear because they live so long and death is so much a part of their existence.

Strengths:
Only adult Mara (“Deaths”) have wings, but these feathers are like the scales of a dragon in their strength and sharp as blades. They extend in flaps of slashing, stabbing death, and can be furled about him in a protective cocoon. His own sheddings were made into the scale hauberk he wears, as well as the plate gauntlets and boots he wears, and the mask he occasionally dons. All Mara drain life-force and energy through their talons, but because of these feathers, an adult can also draw it through his wings when they, too, draw blood—and likewise through his polearm! He also can drain magical energy out of spells and possibly out of other sources like lightning, though this does not help him physically like draining a life-force does.

Terhon uses the life-force he “eats” to sustain his own life. Also, this power can be used by him to create shields against magic, and to ritually open a Gate between planes (though this is horribly draining to an adult Mara). If he is feeling very generous, rumor says he can use his own blood—and the life-force within it—to heal or sustain the life of another, but that might be just rumor.

The black-silver robes Terhon wears (like all Mara) are woven from his own life-force, his spirit-energy, and shadows, and can hide him from both sight and scent should he choose so. Because of the spirit-energy involved, they let him float and hover like a ghost, almost seeming to “fly”—his preferred method of locomotion.

He can speak with telepathy—either with such a broad-range force that it’s practically vocal, or softly and privately with another telepath.

Weaknesses:
Mara are Shadow creatures, being from the Fifth Shadow Plane. They cannot enter a building without vocal invitation. Healing causes burning, and Blessings wound them. Holy water and fire are equally dangerous to them. Sunlight is quite uncomfortable, though it will not damage them. Enough damage will dissolve them in this plane and leave only a ghost-like remnant of their soul on their own home plane (which may not survive against some of the other creatures there). They can be Summoned and Bound and Banished like any creature from another plane, though these require serious magical rituals (and a Mara will not hold still to let you do it).

Because he is of a Shadow Plane, for all his feathers are as strong as dragonscale, they cannot take much fire damage and will not protect long against most Light spells. His black robes are no physical protection at all.

Adult Mara like Terhon can only live off life-force. Magical and other energy might help them last a little longer, if he “eats” it, but that’s like junk food to them. Because of this, being Bound is dangerous for him, as he needs a constant supply of food to drain. It takes a fair number of rats on a regular basis to feed an adult Mara who is staying in a house, and a roaming Mara isn’t to picky about dinner. Generally, they can control the draining ability so as not to kill the subject. However, adult Mara sufficiently starved will drain anything they can touch—driven mad with hunger, this can include someone it calls a friend. This need to drain life does not endear them to clergy and thus earned the adult Mara (known to most mages as “Deaths”) the term “Death-Angels”.

Being Bound limits Terhon to how far he can roam to feed, and other rules set by the ring’s owner—suffice the owner is of strong enough will when setting each rule. He will fight any rules placed on him because no Mara likes to be restricted thus, and it is naturally dangerous to his health. A foolish owner could easily starve him to madness or passing back to his own plane. But a foolish owner could easily word the rules wrong and accidentally give Terhon a chance to break free of his Binding. And EVERY Bound Mara is said to kill the owner the instant it breaks free…