Robert Chevalier de Sangreal

Rob's Bio

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  Character Name: Robert Chevalier de Sangreal
  
  Professional title:Sekhmet's Blade (member of the Corps of Blades of the goddess Sekhmet)
  
  Alias: The Dark One, Aphyon wun l'Veldrin (Death in the Shadows)
  Gender: Male
  Species/Race: Blade
  Blades are human in form and most functions. An astute observer would notice that a Blade's limbs are longer than a typical human, moving with a fluid grace that seems to show no wasted motion.
  
  Blood-type: Blades can alter their blood-type to a wide degree. Normally it is toxic to vampires and werewolves, and is part of why Blades can not be “turned” or converted into either. Blades can suppress the toxicity for a limited time, which has enabled them to save the lives of those vampires that are friends. In order to prevent the Blades from becoming abusive and too reckless themselves, we are all mortal.
  
  Age: Rob is not sure of how old he is, just that it is over 500,000 years. No one knows how long Blades live as none has yet to die of old age. They usually die a violent death in far off lands, with no friends near by, fulfilling their duty to the end.
  
  Physical Appearance:
  Height:
  Close to 6 feet (1.8 meters) which is small for a Blade. Blades like him were found to interact better with most humans so Blades of his height are usually used as scouts or in diplomatic service. Rob has spent centuries doing both.
  
  Hair:
  black, silver on the temples, short – not crew cut, but off the ears (don't want someone grabbing it in a fight)
  Eyes:
  
  Dark brown normally Turn to crystalline icy clear when in Predator mantra (fighting mode)
  
  Distinguishing Marks:
  Rob's body is covered with scars which he tries to keep covered. It is so covered with scars that you can't put a dime anywhere on his body, except for face and hands, without touching at least three scars. The faint ones on his face, he can do nothing about, but they are barely visible in the best of light.
  
  General Appearance: Tanned from spending years in the field under hundreds of suns, fit.
  
  Alignment:
  Depends on the mission. Some are convinced Blades are Lawful good, others believe they are Lawful Evil as they did not know (nor could they know) the reasons for what was done.
  
  Current Goal/Purpose: The Blades of Sekhmet are the hand of the Goddess Sekhmet, who is the Eye of Ra. Sekhmet also is known as the Avenger of Wrongs, or the One Before Whom Evil Trembles, among many more gory names. Sekhmet, as arbiter of the Council of Deities, is charged with stopping or avenging the evil.
  The Blades also ensure that immortals and deities do not abuse their power.
  
  Profession: Blade of Sekhmet's Shadow Regiment.
  Semper summitatem hastam (Latin for Always the Tip of the Spear) is the motto of the Shadow Regiment because they are always the first on the scene. Shadows are the pathfinders, the scouts, the shock-troops of the Blades, if additional forces will be needed, they prepare the way. Often, though, they act on their own for the entire mission. If the situation is threatening, but vague, the Shadows are the ones who discreetly go and find out what is happening. That means they have to improvise to overcome most any situation. Shadows greet each other by saying Semper Hastam, a black humor at where they typically find ourselves. Most of the time Shadows act discreetly, working behind the scenes, considering it a job well done if no one is aware that a Blade was even there. Well, usually they TRY and act discreetly..
  
  SPECIALTY CHARACTERISTICS
  Blades block out most all pain. Unlike most beings, Shadows have direct and total control over their pheromones, they can stop their release, or release those that signal what they want. This can be a distinct advantage in battle. Shadows also smell and read those of other beings. They can hide their auras and thoughts from psionic talents and their very existence from seers and psychics.
  
  Healing Mantra: Allows a Blade to heal at an accelerated rate, assists in the healing of others.
  Predator Mantra: A Blade's eyes turn crystal, teeth become fangs, senses sharpen, thoughts speed up, reflex speed and strength are tripled.
  Blood Rage: A carry over from the goddess Sekhmet. Blood-rage is an overloading of the Predator Mantra. When controlled, it effectively doubles the Predator Mantra's effects. When uncontrolled, the effects are increased exponentially.
  
  Rob like all Shadows, is a master of stealth, tracking, and field-craft. He can follow a track that is days old across stone, and a newer one through rain and over water. He walks without leaving a trace, no footprint, fingerprint, not even a scent, as he live off the land. At the same time, he makes it almost impossible to be seen. Night is his cloak, wearing it as if it were tailored for him.
  
  Blades are not spell casters, but are scholars of various forms of wizardry, witchcraft, and sorcery. We have a deep understanding of spells, counter-spells, poisons and toxins, antidotes, and healing (which is good or Rob would be a mass of scars, and Rob have far to many now! LOL). The have a thorough background in chemistry and biology which enables them to deal with various threats. They can use this fund of knowledge to make or defuse various weapons.
  
  His work can involve assassination (being skilled at numerous silent means of death), scouting, intelligence, surveying, mapping, civil and military engineering, armorer, or surveillance. He often works alone in dangerous territory. Blades prefer to persuade over killing, failing that, covert action to open fighting. If it comes to a fight, Blades are deadly, skilled in hundreds of ways of ending life, even an immortal life.
  
  Rob is a master at close combat with bare hands and knives (which are concealed) ranging from the small tanto to the Gurkha Kukri. Rob is also master at long range marksmanship and sniping. While not as proficient as with knives, he is expert with swords and katanas.
  
  Some of the Signature weapons:
  
  Kukri:
  His partner, one who has saved his life countless times, who he says runs his life, who goes by the name Blade. The name is fitting in more ways than one. The Gurkha Kukri is standard with all Blades Regiments. This Kukri has a 16 inch (40.64 cm) blade. Worn fastened behind the waist, not in the traditional Gurkha vertical manner, but with the black Elven-wood handle parallel to the ground and pointing to the right making it faster to draw. Blade is the Nymph who inhabits his Kukri. She is never physically seen. She can show herself in your mind but it takes a great deal of effort to do so with someone she is not attuned to. She acts like a very jealous lady (as Nymphs are wont to do). When in drawn in anger, she appears vicious, giving a high pitched scream that can be heard only by her intended victims, those nearby, or those with VERY acute hearing. She says she is hungry for the souls of the evil
  
  She is not as vicious as she sounds, and she does not eat souls, but she does rend them, destroying them completely, making resurrection impossible (Handy in our line of work). She is attuned to my physical state, her jealousy is actually her being overprotective. “Please do not believe everything she tells you about me.”
  
  Urak Hai (Dragon's Fang)
  10” (25.4 cm) blade that is 'T' shaped. A blade distinctive to the Shadows Regiment. The shape of the blade leaves a gaping wound that will not close, causing massive blood loss. The bottom of the hand-guard curves back to the pommel, forming a studded 'brass knuckle'. The handle has been carved to fit his hand and covered in skate skin. Skate leather gives a firm grip no matter how much blood was on it.
  
  Tomahawk:
  The head was blacker than any obsidian. Light to flows into the blackness and concentrate at the cutting edge. It cuts through live oak without slowing the swing. Never touch the blade, it will take a finger off before you know it. The sheath has the blade end lined with the same material so the sheath isn't ruined.
  
  Tanto:
  A 5 inch long (15 cm) fighting knife with a chisel blade sharp and strong enough to penetrate plate armor. One is carried in each boot and several more are hidden on him.
  
  Ability to use what others see as a shadow. . .
  Shadow Cloak: Shadows can extend a shadow that obscures me, the black and gray mists swirl around them. They can extend a tendril to see, hear, and smell in places they can't fit. Where ever a shadow can go, it can go.
  
  Weaknesses:
  As part of the bargain Sekhmet made with the Council of Deities to create the Blades, she can not resurrect a Blade. Others with the power can do so if they wish.
  
  The Predator Mantra takes considerable energy to use and requires added energy and results in heat build up. IF the mantra is in place too long, the heat disorients the Blade and can be lethal.. A Blade almost always suffers after effects: shaking/trembling, feeling feverish from the massive energy use.
  
  The Blood-rage is far more severe. Blood-rage can result in loss of control especially If the goddess Sekhmet is not in physic contact with the Blade. The Blade will loose control, overwhelmed by the need to kill. Only when everything around the Blade is dead will the Blood-rage stop.
  
  The elevated metabolism that enables the strengths and speed of a Blade also entail a cost.
  
  Dryad's curse:
  A side effect of the curse makes Rob shiver whenever a lady he cares about giggles. It also makes him blush a lot and become very nervous around ladies. You can ask him about it, His Kukri's nymph named Blade will be only too happy to tell you all about it. Expect Rob to blush. A lot.
  
  Enemies: Blades stand against those who are overly proud and arrogant.
  
  
  Marital Status:
  Widowed some 9 centuries past. The scars and the curse made it impossible to find any female that would be able to be friends, much less a lover. There was a Drow, a former assassin of Nocticula that loved him, and he loved her, but that was not to be.
  
  Sexual orientation:
  Heterosexual. Rob has been to so many different planets and dimensions that he has learned to appreciate the intellect and the personality of a lady, regardless of her species. Arrogant, boring or ignorant people he does not care for.
  
  ((Shifting to 1st person))
  Sit down, make yourself comfortable, this will be a long story. Have the barmaid get you a drink, on me. Now then, where to begin. . .
  Our main foes:
  
  The Ancients, there's a piece of work for you. They're beings that revel in total annihilation and a dark secret that we Blades try and keep anyone from knowing. These beings used to be deities themselves, long ago when the world was still a mist in the chaos of the forming of our reality. Such entities did not want to see order come out of the chaos, they preferred the status quo, knowing that such change meant the end of their reign. These beings are beyond our realm and outside our understanding; deities from long ago, beings so vast and strange, evil so horrific, that direct knowledge of these abominations means insanity and an agonizing death for the victim. Ancients now exist only in the void between the planes of existence, but they want to return to this plane and destroy it, allowing the chaos they lived in to return. We ensure that evil from other times and planes does not intrude into areas where it does not belong (and you thought HP Lovecraft's work was fiction!).
  
  Then there are the followers of the Drow goddess Nocticula,~Rob suppresses a shudder~. She tells the stories about The Blades from a Drow's early childhood, either demonizing us or belittling us. The reason Nocticula hates us with so much passion is because ever since the Sundering, the war with the Drow and their dark allies that drove them underground, The Blades have kept the peace. We have patrolled the borders, enforce the treaties.
  
  The idea has always been to dissuade the Drow from thinking about plotting a return to their condition before they were Driven into the Dark, Nocticula leads this faction of Drow. The Goddess Sekhmet, in her capacity as divine arbiter of Justice and Order, is trying to get the Drow to accept what each side has now, and avoid another war. Part of this delicate balance comes in trying to satisfy the Drow that they have no reason to fear further aggression. Naturally, her Blades act as peacekeepers, enforcing the Concordat and acting as a safety buffer between the sides. What that means in real life is that both sides either mistrust us or, in the case of Nocticula, hate us. They don't realize that we are there to protect them just as strongly as we protect their neighbors. All that Nocticula's followers see is that we've stopped Nocticula's plots, foiled many of her assassination attempts, and stopped her attacks across the border. Nocticula, naturally hates us for this, as do her fanatical followers.”
  
  
  Our current goal or purpose?
  Sekhmet's Blades are the hand of the Goddess Sekhmet, who is the Eye of Ra. Sekhmet also is known as the Avenger of Wrongs, or the One Before Whom Evil Trembles, among many more gory names. Sekhmet, as arbiter of the Council of Deities, is charged with stopping or avenging the evil.
  We also ensure that immortals and deities do not abuse their power. In order to prevent the Blades from becoming abusive and too reckless themselves, we are all mortal.
  
  You want to know of my inner personality? You are the curious one, aren't you. Most Blades follow the custom that one's scars talk for him or her. I have come to realize they are really reminders of mistakes I made. If I had done things differently, those scars would not be there. I hide them for that reason and because they make many people uncomfortable, and make others think they have to best me to prove themselves.
  
  Now for some general history:
  The poisoned Drow blade.
  I was tracking down a breach of the Sundering Armistice. A pack of Gnoll were smuggling weapons into a border province that Nocticula was trying to overthrow. I don't think there are any Gnoll around here, so I'll try and describe them. They're large, close to seven feet tall, hyena-like humanoids. They have the personality of a hyena, being nocturnal, nasty, evil tempered, and always itching for a fight. They have sharp claws on their hands and toes, walk upright and roam in organized bands. Their fur is short, greenish-gray, with reddish or dull yellow spots. Their teeth are strong enough to crush the legs bones of a horse. They'll eat any meat, though they prefer warm blooded sentients because they scream better. I've seen the results of a Gnoll pack after an attack on an undefended village or caravan.
  
  She paid them in weapons, including several Drow poisoned daggers. Gnoll, being Gnolls, did not even consider the idea of surrendering. During that fight that blade broke and the fragment was embedded in my hip. Blade was infuriated, she and I took the soul of every Gnoll in that pack. We did manage to stop the plot, but I've spent 549 years so far with the pain and the festering wound. If left untended the pain would become impossible for even a Blade to mask. Removing the blade without killing me requires a person of very unique knowledge and talents. There are a couple of hundred different poisons in the blade, if they are not neutralized when trying to remove it, they could all release at once, killing me. Even though the blade does give me warning of a Drow in the area, I still owe the Leather sex goddess (Blades nickname for Nocticula). Big time. Given a chance, I will, trust me. I see the look in your eyes; a mere mortal thinking he can seek revenge on a goddess.
  
  Don't look so doubtful. I am indeed capable of killing a deity, or any immortal, that is the second reason The Blades were created, to ensure that any who cross the line are brought to justice. I assure you, I am mortal. Killing Nocticula, if it came to that, could very well result in my death. But if need be, I would do so unhesitatingly. I have faced far far worse than her kind.
  
  My present life?
  I'm often sent to places that other suspect trouble is brewing but they aren't sure. I come to asses the situation, fix it if I can, call in help if I can't. That means that most times, I have no idea why I'm where I am.