The Marshal of the dead

Real Name:  Arthur James
Renegade Name:  Maryaj mannken
Title: The Keeper
Alignment: Lawful neutral
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Race: Jamaican
Hair: Dreadlocks
Eyes: Black
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 159lbs
Blood type: black ghoul blood




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Very quiet and very stoic to a fault Arthur is the embodiment of a crypt keeper. He rarely cares for the affairs of mortals shirking off the daily woes of man. His wisdom belies his age thanks to his teacher the pale one, he was taught to perceive through human emotion seeing the base of what drives people. He is not partial to violence often being the one who will back down from aggressive individuals in an effort to deescalate a situation. Being fully aware of the power he could bring to bear against an aggressor he is comfortable in yielding. On the opposite hand when something does anger him well... when one learns from the pale rider himself one learns of the true nature of fear, death and darkness. The torment and rage from Arthur is as the horror of a thousand nightmares, relishing in the agony of victims and their souls torture. Happily though such occasions are rare.



Arthur grew up in New York city the large majority of his life alongside his Grandmother, he was originally born in Kingston Jamaica. His accent isn't quite so thick as the rest of his family though due to his exposure to American speech at a young age. His life mostly consisted of working at a funeral parlor assisting with the presentation and dressing of bodies. It made him happy, the peace and the quiet of a cool wide room as he made the dead look better than many living folk. One quiet night at the parlor Arthur was finishing cleaning up and was about to lock up for the night as per his boss Mr. Chrispens instruction. Unfortunately he had forgotten to properly put away the embalming fluid and quickly went back in to fix the error. When he got to the embalming room he heard a strange noise, like leaves rustling and the sound of something squishy? He peeked in the door quietly, what he saw was nothing short of horrific in nature. An abnormally tall pale being hooded and cloaked in black, the thing radiated with an aura beyond what Arthur could describe, it made him shrink inside. The being appeared to be hands deep inside a body unfazed by the gore as if looking for something in an old bag.

So disturbed was Arthur by this he let out a small gasp which did not go unnoticed. The being turned so suddenly and with such a feeling of malice that Arthur stood paralyzed by fear and dread. The being in a brisk ominous pace moved towards Arthur, thankfully his paralysis quickly faded and he made a run for it. The being stood still at that moment and just watched Arthur as if it knew something, something that made Arthurs sprint irrelevant. Arthur reached the door and fumbled with the keys, thankfully a friendly voice helped him by pointing out the correct key. Arthur froze a second after picking the right key, his eyes slowly raised to see the morbid undead, a real ghost before his very eyes shooting him a sadistic grin. Arthur was now shaken to his core backing up from the door the ghost seemed to be guarding, he backed up all the way until he felt... it. The being stood behind him looming over and looking down at him casting a great terrible shadow.

"puh p please, I wont say anything, I'll forget what I saw. Just dont dont hurt me. Oh God what are you?"

The being looked down at Arthur a few more moments almost as if curious rather than angry.

"Youuuuuu respeccccct... The dead fooooooolk?... Youuuuu aaappreciaaaate... death?"

Arthur was stunned, not just that the being could speak but that the words seemed to come from every direction.

"Y yes! Yes I do! I have worked here many years with them. I have great respect for all the passed."

The being pauses long again before reaching inside it's cloak, Arthur shudders a bit not knowing what horrid thing it could be doing or reaching for. When the being pulls his hand out he reveals a book, an old book, easily hundreds of years old if not more. He handed it to Arthur.

"This... What is this?"

"You...will learnnnn."

Arthur was confused and still frightened, he had no idea who or what this thing was and he had just handed him some ancient book. However he was also too frightened to dare to refuse or ask any questions. He just wanted to escape this situation. The being vanished melting into a shadow and dissipating into the darkness. The following morning he couldn't decide what to do, should he go to the police? He thought better than to tell the cops he was attacked by a giant cloaked thing with magical powers, but now what? He decided for now to go about his daily routine and also to read the book he was given mostly out of fear but also curiosity. The book contained spells, lore, curses and all manner of secrets of the dead but the title was hard to translate. One time while alone in the embalming room Arthur decided to try one of the spells out of curiosity, when he did the corpse before him stood at his command. Arthur finally understood the gravity of the situation and the power he held in his hand, but why him?

Some days later in the dead of night while Arthur was passing through a park on the way home he felt a familiar presence. From the deep dark shadows emerged the being who had visited him and lent him the book. Though still frightened Arthur could keep his composure this time looking up into the beings cloak as if to be looking in it's eyes.

"... Whaaaaaat haveeeee youuuu leeearned?"

Arthur took out the book being ready for this moment for a long time, he had guessed that the being wanted to see some demonstration. He read out a short spell as an ominous mist surrounded him and a will o wisp surfaced from the thick mist circling Arthur.

The being looked on though it had no clear expression it was almost as if it's gaze was saying "Mediocre". The being then reached inside it's cloak pulling out a ring made of pure diamond handing it to Arthur. When Arthur put the ring on the mist grew wild and larger surrounding him and making a screech like noise penetrating through the night. When Arthur looked again something was different, he was taller, felt stronger and lighter. His mind was different as well as if he had developed another sense. The being pointed to a puddle so Arthur walked over to look but he felt like he was gliding. When he looked in the puddle he looked similar to the being, garbed in a black cloak and face hidden in shadow, a rather big shock. He also felt armor under the cloak, when he opened the cloak to look at his body he was encased in some kind of ancient armor. Suddenly he could read the title of the book clearly as well as more advanced spells, the name read "Necronomicon ex Mortis". From that day forth Arthur was brought into the keepers society and made an apprentice to one Zelem Malek. The keepers being the marshals and guardians of the dead.


1. Agility 3
2. Endurance 2
3. Reaction 1
4. Strength 4




Spells

-Hunger: A spell used to drain the life energy from living things and use it to heal one's self

-Aegis of bone: summons a large wall consisting of bones to use as a barrier, can grow to the size of a stadium

-Dread: instills a being with such a feeling of fear, dread and hopelessness that may even result in suicide

-Black as night: Despite the time of day causes the light in the area to fail and darkness to spread making a keeper move faster and physically stronger.

-Mortal blight: A deadly mist that causes numerous health issues and erodes the mortal soul

-Gate of the lost souls: Opens a portal through the realm of the dead to a junction where one can travel many places in the world.


Curses

-Diminishing: causes the target to become more feeble losing their sense. Sight starts to fade as well as scent, touch and the others.

-Nightmare: When the target goes to sleep it gives the keeper the ability to haunt their dreams potentially causing severe psychological trauma. Can also be used o search for secrets.

-Plague of judgement: A familiar curse slaying the first born of the target and calling down insects, frogs and all nearby water to be blood.


Summoning

-Will o the wisp: Useful as spies, scouts and to help guide one through difficult paths. Harmless otherwise

-Specters: Ghosts of a violent nature able to throw enemies about with their powers

-Skeletal knights: Bone soldiers that emerge from the ground with melee weapons

-Walking rabid corpse: Animates a corpse as a ravenous hungry creature (fast zombies)

-Death Paladin: A gigantic being covered in bone like armor with a sword to match


Natural ability

Glide: In the keeper form one can move quickly while not touching ground, best for closing in on far away targets

Strength: The strength of a keeper is quite high, strong enough to push over a minivan with one hand

Melt away: A keeper can teleport around fifty yards away after dissolving into a shadow.



Spell weakness

-Hunger: If one gorges too much on the energy of life they will lose the powers of the dead until the balance can be reestablished

-Aegis of bone:  Every ten feet the wall grows  saps a bit more strength from a keeper leaving them in a weakened state for a time.

-Dread: This spell is rather insidious and addictive, one can become intoxicated  and obsessed with forcing fear upon others

-Black as night:  The opposite effect is true as well in that keepers are much weaker in daylight, also the spell only works with a certain degree of light. Broad daylight stops the spell from working

-Mortal blight: The keeper cannot control the mist after cast, it will affect friend and foe alike.

-Gate of lost souls: The junction is a confusing area to be with a lot of traffic. One could mistakenly end up walking into another dimension... or volcano.


Curse weakness

-Diminishing: Every curse has a price on the user, Diminishing requires a Keeper to stay in their form for two days else the curse will turn on the user.

-Nightmare: If the victim somehow realizes they are under the nightmare curse they can take control and trap a keeper there until they wake up

-Plague of judgement: Only once was this curse ever used in history, for a keeper to use it means they damn their souls to Hell's fiery pit upon death


Summon weaknesses

-Will o the wisp: Being incapable of any manner of combat makes them easy to do away with

-Specter: With so much rage in them collateral damage is difficult to avoid, best used at a safe distance from friends and valuable objects

-Skeletal knights: They're animated old dusty bones, easily brought down with a good solid whack.

-Walking rabid corpse: Mindless in nature they will instinctively target anything around that looks meaty... ANYTHING

-Death Paladin: The energy required for this summon this gigantic being leaves a keeper helpless for hours if not a whole day


Scythe of the shepherds: The main weapon of the keepers, capable of striking the soul as well as the body. A wounded soul will have less willpower to resist anything even suggestion. The scythe itself is enchanted with the same curse as the legendary Tyrfing , the curse means one must be very cautious and sure when drawing it for it must taste blood. Many innocents have died as a result of keepers drawing it too zealously. This has resulted in cardinal laws that keepers may never draw it against humans.

Sword of agony: secondary weapon choice of Arthur, a blade capable of leaving a wound that amplifies in pain as time goes on. Every death with this blade must be paid in a special wage Keepers earn, two per death. The currency is earned by completing work assigned to a keeper by Death, Charon or Grim. The three lords of Necro citadel.


N/A


All keepers take pleasure in conversing with the dead, especially famous folk.