After the events of Tsunami, this account necessitates an update. This post contains spoilers for the Tsunami event (up to current post), if you do not wish to be spoiled, I recommend catching up on that event first.
Needless to say, the focus will no longer be Kaedriel / Emissary. I will be using this as sort of an umbrella account for all my shadow-touched / Black Expanse characters.
The primary character on this account is going to be William Coulter. Annette Arquor may get occasional screen time as his sidekick / deputy, much in the same way that Orange Water handles Aleenah or Anonym handles Liam.
Without ado:
William Coulter
Shadow-bound Lord of the Moor
After his betrayal of the Emissary during the events of the Tsunami, William Coulter used her death to gain control of five of the remaining unbound Shadow Entities. A denizen of the Moor, he cares little for the shore-dwellers, mistrustful and disinterested in their activities. As an aristocrat, he was similarly uninspired by the inherent equality in the Followers of the Fallen Savant. He has seized control of the cult and set it up not as a group in which anyone can attain leadership through Becoming a shadowbearer, but instead as an established cult with himself at the head. He is no longer dispensing shadow fragments through the black water to any who ask, but only to those who are willing to swear loyalty. By the shadows within, he binds them, and his particular relationship with the Dominion Shadow (see Note: Of Shadows and their Bearers) allows him a much firmer degree of control than the Emissary ever claimed. Unlike the Emissary before him, William Coulter maintains control of both the shadows and his sanity.
His distrust of the shore-dwellers extends as well to the splinter sects of the Cult of the Fallen Savant that the Emissary had established in the world above, in France and Venezuela, among other places. One of his first acts as Shadow-bound Lord was to retract their protections and cut them off from the rest of the followers. Most followers simply seemed to wake up, as if from a bad dream, and go about their lives as before. Those who above had managed to become shadowbearers themselves were quietly assassinated.
William Coulter has assumed leadership of the Cult, along with the Cult's domination of the Black Expanse. He is uninterested in expanding his territory into the world above, but will respond to any threat to his superiority below the waves with extreme prejudice.
Personal Details:
Human form: A man in his early forties, dark-haired and dark-eyed, with an aristocratic bearing. Well dressed, precise, and respectable.
Shadowbound: He is the leviathan in the deeps, the lurker beneath the waves. Artwork is likely to be based around Cthulhu.
Abilities: Essentially the same as the Emissary's, with more control permitted due to the fact that he isn't absolutely crazy. In Shadowbound form, he is very large and as such can travel quite quickly, as well as being very strong.
Due to his bond with the Dominion Shadow, he can control any of his followers, either generally or directly.
He can summon the Blaze, the fire of the Lotus of Madness, and due to his greater control is able not only to produce a super-heated fire, but also imbue it with an insanity effect.
Control of the Shadow Reflection gives him an ability to see aspects of someone's personality, and suggest what they might become. Effects of this can range anywhere from taunting to a full-scale mental attack, depending on how much effort he puts in to it.
Annette Arquor
An aristocrat of the Moor, she is William's deputy in many things. Between them, they have bound to her the Warp Shadow after its release from the Emissary, allowing her to travel anywhere that touches the waves.
Personal Details:
Human Form: A woman in her late twenties, with light brown hair and brown eyes. Aristocratic of bearing, proper and restrained. Well-dressed, with elegant taste.
After the loss of her Shadowbearer status in Tsunami, Annette has no secondary form, although her Called Shadow will act to protect her if necessary.
Previous Iterations:
Kaedriel
The death of Saikea has left a void, and the shadows that once clung to her have settled onto a new bearer - the girl known as Kaedriel, who once served Saikea as her guardian. Kaedriel will not acknowledge the death of her mistress, and in the depths of the Black Expanse, she seeks to create a cult powerful enough to find her lost Lady and bring her back. It is not yet certain whether Kaedriel is master of the shadows, or merely their puppet.
The Cult of the Fallen Savant is spearheaded by Kaedriel, who speaks passionately about her Lady and asks others to hear of her, to await her return. The shadows that cling to her she dispenses in bits and pieces into her cultists, to take seed there and show their loyalty, to be called on at need.
Cult of the Fallen Savant:
Kaedriel:
Avatar. Once human, female, 17 or 18.
Abilities:
Shadow Bearer - Kaedriel can spin her shadows into different forms, and cause them to solidify at will. She is able to stretch them past the bounds of where a shadow would normally go. She can also use them to form armor impenetrable by most mortal weapons, and if she is harmed, the shadows can take the place of flesh.
Locus Flame - Kaedriel can call on some aspect of the Locus of Madness in the Black Expanse, melding it into extremely hot fire. She is immune to burns caused by this fire (though not by other normal fire). She can "cast" it slightly, although no farther than it could reasonably be expected a person could throw.
Mind Hold - Kaedriel is immune to mental effects. She is already batshit crazy.
Blade Maiden - Left over from her time as Saikea's handmaiden, Kaedriel has blades and knives embedded beneath her skin pretty much everywhere.
Ocean Cradle - The intertwining of the shadows and the waters of the Black Expanse makes Kaedriel immune to drowning.
Cultists:
Some are merely mortal followers, but those who have accepted a piece of shadow in return for a sliver of their soul can also be adapted by the shadows. Their bodies can be twisted or changed, melded with shadow and shadow-made-solid. It'll be a little like Chronicles of Elantra, for those of you who've read those books.
Shadows:
Right now, they are bound to Kaedriel, but if set free they could basically do anything that the shadow in Shadow's Web was able to do.
Saikea
Saikea - 26 years old, female. Brown hair and brown eyes, though her eyes have been known to change color, usually to red. It is unknown whether this is something inherent or a result of self-tinkering.
Saikea is a scientist. Many would call her a mad scientist, but Saikea does not consider herself crazy. She is perfectly sane, because she is entirely in control of her actions. She would also like to be in control of everyone else's actions, an ideal which she is pursuing through rigorous experimentation. Her early life was very messed up - she does not like to talk about her early life. She was able to escape the facility in which she was raised 12 years ago, with the help of her boyfriend Nathan Gray. Her main capabilities are her brilliance and the loyalty of her minions, of which she has many. Unlike many savants, Saikea is both diplomatic and charismatic, and excels at talking people in to fighting for her - it is theorized that her abilities in loyalty inspiration may be somewhat metahuman as well. Saikea does not care to discuss herself. She is much more interested in discussing other people, and how they could be improved, and what they can do for her.
Minions:
These characters are part of Saikea's personal guard and will frequently be in her vicinity. Most have been enhanced through one or more procedures.
Kaedriel: 17/F/Metahuman. Black hair and blue eyes. Born with limited psychic abilities, she serves mostly as Saikea's chief attendant and bodyguard. Embedded blades give her an edge in close combat, though she prefers to wield a technology-enhanced spear when feasible. Has little to no free will, because Saikea steals it from her to bind powerful shadow entities. She usually wears "light" armor of Saikea's design, which is extremely durable and resistant to most normal attacks.
Former Minions:
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/profile/bladebrave/about-me/ - Nathan Gray, ex?-boyfriend and prior minion.
Abilities:
Bind Entity - Saikea has figured out how to bind powerful entities. Spirits? Gods? Does it matter? Whatever they were, they're hers now. Subverted to her will, she's able to draw on their power.
Shadow Animation - Channeling the power of those bound entities allows her to animate shadows. Hers, yours, any shadow can be a weapon.
Shadow Creation - For the dark places where there are no shadows, she can force-spawn one of her own by casting her inner light.
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