Reaper Falhorn (a.k.a. the Faithful)
Known as the first and head of the Ankou, Falhorn acts as Dhakors' second in command in dealing with the souls of those who have passed away. Because of his close friendship and many years spent as Dhakors' willing servant, Falhorn is the only Ankou treated as an equal to Dhakors, and so he has the power to do many things only Dhakors is normally allowed to do to act in Dhakors' stead if needed.
Falhorn was, in life, also the leader of the first faeries on Nielea and their first Lord of their kind. He led them until his death, where he was given a second chance by Dhakors for the atrocity he committed in life.
Physical Description
Falhorn is a tall, muscular but lean man with brown and white wings.
His skin is a dark brown, with is arms, hands, legs, and feet look nearly mummified and are a greyish brown in color.
Falhorn has a gaunt face with circles under his eyes. You can see his years and experiences worn on his otherwise ageless looking face.
Falhorn walks in a formal, yet almost militaristic style, with his back arched and shoulders squared.
Aside from being able to see and talk to the dead, Falorn can summon portals to Asmorta and Sepulcher, as well as bless souls to protect them. He is also able to have minor control over other Ankou in case they need to be disciplined or ordered to do a task they refuse to do.
He wears a simple black robe with a black hood, while underneath he wears plain peasants clothes. Over his face, he wears a humanoid skull mask. On his ankles, he wears shackles with a long chain to represent the sins he committed.
He always carries a staff decorated in elderberries and elderberry flowers.
Mental characteristics
Falhorn was born on (world) to a middle class family. As he grew up, he developed a fascination with science and the very advanced technology his world had. He eventually joined a guild dedicated to science and engineering to further his knowledge and develop his own technology. Unfortunately, his kind was constantly at war with demons, which meant much of his research was redirected to being used in the war. This irked Falhorn, but he resigned as he was still allowed to create in his own time for non-war based inventions. But this annoyance at the war eventually became a hatred of the war itself when his parents had been caught in an attack by the demon's side, killing them.
His loss caused Falhorn to fall into a dark hole for months, until he realized he wanted an out. A way away from the war- to protect his remaining family and whoever else wanted the war over with. He created a project to create a portal to another dimension, using a minature protype portal device to gain funding under the guise of the project being used to protect refugees and civilians, while also allowing to be used against the demons. With funding, he gathered as many likeminded scientists who were either against the war, for peace, or just wished to be free from the destruction to work on the portal. And so the project began.
Unknown to him, some of the scientists were spies who aided the demons in creating the same portal for their side- for demon scientists of the same motivations to escape the war. This soon resulted in a secret arms race between the demons and faeries, until the portals were completed on the same day. When the portal was completed and proven stable, Falhorn announced a celebration in the same facility as the portal, inviting all those who were willing to come. He hinted to those he knew wanted an escape to drop all plans and come, and created plans with his most trusted coworkers to guarantee their escape. When the celebration filled with hundreds of faeries began, he and the loyal scientists shut down the facility, blocked outgoing communication, and announced his plans to all attending. They were informed that no harm would come to them, but he was giving them a choice. They could stay and endure the suffering and warring of their races, or come with him and his fellow scientists to another world to start anew. He explained that no matter what they chose, this was to be a one way trip and that the portal would destroy itself once it was closed, and that he destroyed any traces of their work and plans so it could not be rebuilt. This truly was a chance to start anew.
Many accepted his offer- including many refugees and those who suffered at the hands of the war itself. Some of the faeries tried to resist and stop Falhorn, but they found themselves outnumber. The portal was prepared, and stashed supplies were brought out. They also gathered the belongings requested- barring weapons- by many by using the portal to prepare for the trip. And then finally, they powered up the portal to its maximum power, and selected a suitable world. Unknown to Falhorn and the scientists, the demons had activated their portal within minutes of their own and caused a malfunction. When both the faeries and demons entered the portal, the malfunction redirected both groups to a random dimension at the same time, and they were then placed in Nielea. This also caused the self destruct to break both portals, and suck in random denizens and creatures throughout their world- displacing them.
Shaken up slightly by the malfunction, Falhorn and the group he had brought with up found themselves in a mountaineous area that had clearly been affected by the energies of the portal. They then claimed this land as their own, and settled down. They soon learned of the various races of Nielea, and that the demons had also ended up in the same world as their own. The faeries then decided they needed a leader, and Falhorn volunteered. Since he had pioneered the project, and created the plan to start in a new world- many agreed and elected him their Lord. Because they were not sure of what threat the demons posed to their new start, the faeries grew wary of them. Falhorn also suspected that the demons had used his own technology, making him furious and fueling the grief and hatred he already had from the deaths of his parents at their hands.
With the faeries asking him to do something, Falhorn opted to use the reverence faeries had gained in the eyes of the other races to tell them that the demons were a powerful threat that must be extinguished. This soon began the (War Name) and the near-destruction of the demon race on Nielea. This waged on for hundreds of years, well past the Ascension of Nielea's deities, until a demon warrior managed to infiltrate their ranks and kill Falhorn. There, he met his former friend, Phaedra, as well as the god of death, Dhakors. He knew that at that point- he was doomed to suffer, until Phaedra stepped in and told Dhakors that she felt there was still good in Falhorn. Dhakors accepted her please, and xe made a deal with Falhorn. Falhorn must serve under Dhakors, gaining a fraction of the god's power, and aid in the god's duties with the dead. Eager to save his soul, Falhorn accepted and became the first Ankou.
Hundreds to thousands of years passed, and Falhon grew to like Dhakors and his duties given to him by the god of the dead. When he had met his quota to serve his sentence, he refused to leave his job and said he wished to serve Dhakors for as long as he was able to. This wish was granted, and he began serving as the leader of the Ankou and Dhakors' right hand man- and he was graced with power near equal to Dhakors' own.
He is well educated in various sciences, such as physics, astronomy, and engineering.
He was the first to build a dimensional portal on his home world. Falhorn was also a relatively fair Lord to his people, making him beloved by many faeries and remembered in their history as a hero. But he also caused the near genocide of the Nielean population of demons, nearly earning an eternity of Sepulcher if it were not for Dhakors and Phaedra's kindness.
He is ashamed of starting a new version of the war he tried to leave behind all because of his hatred, and how it cost many lives for not just demons, but many other races as well.
Personality Characteristics
His primary desire is to serve Dhakors, and to eternally work to atone for the wrong he has committed.
Falhorn knows the ins and outs of magitek, and can easily hold complex conversations about physics.
History
Falhorn was the first Ankou made from a deal with Dhakors due to a genocidal war that Falhorn started. He then became Dhakors' eternal servant, aiding in the retrieval and passage of spirits. Over time, the two gained a close friendship, and Falhorn became eternally loyal to Dhakors, feeling that he owes Dhakors his soul for giving him a chance to have his terrible mistakes forgiven. He has since paid back his debt, but he choses to stay and act as Dhakors' second in command- being the only Ankou trusted with personally being able to help spirits move on to the afterlife without any intervention or help from Dhakors.
Shared Secrets
Dhakors keeps Falhorn's genocide secret from the rest of the Ankou as well as from anyone else who he is and what he had done so that Falhorn may peacefully do his job.
Shared Acquaintances
Phaedra
former coworker (Important)
History
Phaedra worked under Falhorn thousands of years ago when they, on the home world of Faeries and Demons, created a portal to escape the war between the two races. They managed to disguise the portal as a potential weapon of war as well as a way to safely store refugees and civilians away from the war to gain funding from the various Faerie courts. She quickly became noticed by Falhorn for her similar ideals and her bright mind, and this in turn made her form a good friendship with Falhorn.
Unknown to them, the demons also had begun their own project with the help of spies embedded in their own portal project.
When they were successful, they showed their true colors to their warmongering councils and used the portal to take themselves, all of their coworkers who shared the same desires to escape the war, and any innocents willing to go with them into a new world. Their device malfunctioned, taking more than just the willing participants, and at random sent them to Nielea. There, Falhorn realized they needed leadership, and took on the role of Lord of the Faeries with the agreement of many of the faeries that came with him. Eventually, they realized that the demons had succeeded in doing the same as they had did to escape their world, and Falhorn felted cheated and jealous of their feat. With these emotions, and a residual hatred of demons, fueling him- he tricked the races of Nielea into waging a genocidal war against demons. Phaedra hated this decision, knowing fully well why he chose this path. She saw this as repeating their past that they tried to escape, and quickly left her kin's lands to find her own place in the world away from the warring.
And then, she became a goddess. She confided in Dhakors about the truth of the war, and where demons and faeries came from. So when it finally came to Falhorn's death, he was faced with the threat of eternal punishment for the genocide he had commited. But Phaedra had grown to pity him- and asked Dhakors to make a deal with him. And so, Dhakors created the Ankou, requiring Falhorn to serve 10,000 years under him until he could be granted an afterlife.
Relationship Reasoning
Phaedra has since mostly forgiven Falhorn for betraying their shared goal to leave the war their kind had with demons behind. And Falhorn feels in debit to Phaedra for telling Dhakors to give him a second chance. Because of this, their relationship is strained, but on decent terms
Commonalities & Shared Interests
They both shared a love of science, as well a weariness for war.
Shared Secrets
The origins of Faeries and Demons in the worlds, as well as why Falhorn had tricked Nielea's races into persecuting demons.
Shared Acquaintances
Dhakors
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