Dusk Caste
As the Unconquered Sun dies in the Western
sky, darkness falls across Creation, bringing an end to the noise and activity
of day. Thus do the dark knights of the Dusk Caste ride across the land, spreading
death in their wake and bringing an end to the noise and activity of life
itself.
In the Underworld, members of the Dusk
Caste are the generals and champions of the Deathlords’
armies. Each enforces his liege’s will throughout the realms of the dead, leads
glorious armies against the living and the dead and works to bring the peace of
the grave to every corner of Creation. All those who bear the stigmata of the Dusk
fight without fear of death, for death is their gift to the world, and they
welcome its cold, comforting embrace. In battle, members of the Dusk Caste sing
dark, baleful hymns that are at the same time joyful for those blessed souls
who fall at their hands and mournful for their own forsaken souls, forever
denied the gift they bring to others.
Unleashed upon the lands of the living,
the Dusk Caste are among the deadliest warriors in Creation.
Unparalleled masters of the martial disciplines, they bring the gift of death
to all who stand before them. Be it with blade, bow or fist, a single Child of
Ash can grant the peace of death to dozens at a time, while a gathering of Peacebringers can send entire cities to the Underworld.
Members of the Dusk Caste are chosen from among
those who have mastered the arts of bringing death through war and combat.
Murderous duelists and merciless warlords are only a fraction of the Peacebringers’ numbers. Heartless pitfighters
who bring death to all who face them, warrior-poets who compose dark odes to
the glory of mortal battle, aging veterans who are unwilling to give up the
thrill of bringing death, highwaymen who relish the taking of life as well as
jade, steel-eyed youths with the resolve to murder for what they hold dear —
all these and more are found among the Children of Ash.
Dusk Caste Abyssals
are the martial arm of a Circle, becoming the ones a group looks to for
expertise in killing all that stands before them. They are the Circle’s primary
means of offence and use their mastery of combat to bring death wherever and
whenever it may be needed.
Anima Banner: Dusk Caste Abyssals
are marked by blackened circle surrounded by black lines branded on the center
of their brow. During large expenditures of Peripheral Essence, this brand will
bleed along the edges. Their animas tend to be pitch
black with an edging of gray, sometimes tinged with dark purple.
Anima Effects: By spending 10 motes of Essence, the
character can appear dark and terrible for the remainder of the scene (or until
he choices to let the effect dissipate). Players of
mortal creatures attempting to face the Abyssal must make a Valor check or be unable
to look directly at the character or strongly oppose him, subtracting 2 dice
from all attempts to attack the character. Characters whose players botch their
Valor rolls (and most natural animals) will flee in terror of the spectre that confronts them.
Caste Abilities: Members of the Dusk Caste excel in
bringing death through all forms of combat, armed or otherwise. They have a
natural affinity for the Abilities of Archery, Brawl, Martial Arts, Melee and
Thrown.
Associations: The season of spring, the colors white and
purple, the eastern direction, the element of ghost flame, the full moon
Sobriquets: They Who Sing Forsaken Hymns, Peacebringers, Children of Ash, Ascending Darkness
Concepts: amoral general, brooding swordsman, mercenary
assassin, mercy killer, murder cultist, Deathlord’s
living weapon, La Belle Dame Sans Merci
My life
was stolen from me. I
did no
wrong, and yet, I was
struck
down by cruel fate. Now,
I am a
butcher of the innocent.
Why should
I possess mercy
when
Heaven gave me none?