Alastair Yumael

The Betrayed, the Betrayer, and the Beloved

Ashura Yumae (a.k.a. Alastair Yumael)

From the capital of the Shadowfell, closest to the Raven Queen herself, Alastair is a pragmatic and levelheaded individual with a tainted past. He is known to be lethal and terrifying in some eyes, but in others he is a respectful and reserved, still harboring an inept neutrality but coming off with a rational and medium mind because of it.
Alastair is one of the four founding members of the Forgotten Rogues, having joined as a double assassin for both the organization and the Raven Queen. He left the group and went off the radar after several decades, eventually finding Persephone Linnor, and having two children. He raised Fox Yumael Linnor for sixty years with all the ideals and cultural norms that a shadar kai would be expected to know and act on, and as a shadow of himself in a sense, eventually leading to Fox's fascination with his work in both the illicit and the Raven Queen's service. He helped to raise Maddie for about fifteen years, but less directly as he was more of a neutralizing, stabilizing force behind Persephone's more erratic and emotional power.
Morgan ordered the tracking down and killing of Alastair after being made aware of Alastair's newfound family ties and, as such, his betrayal as the Rogues as his original family. As such, Alastair was murdered February 6th 1754 by "Mute" Norowa via sniping, incidentally in front of his own son. Fox went on to take on every aspect he could scrap of Alastair's life he could and ended up in a very similar predicament with the Forgotten Rogues, following closely in his father's footsteps.
Alastair was resurrected on July 21st, 1800 by Madeline Linnor, managed by Thorin Redbeard, and in the presence of Fox Yumael Linnor, Noma, and Inoor Velenin. Alastair only successfully came back to the plane with a compromise with the Raven Queen– upon assisting with the elimination of Aratus, he could continue his lifespan as if he hadn't been murdered fourty one years prior. He did help with the final battle against Orobouros, however Aratus was never eliminated as he succumbed to compromise with the party and the government rather than committing any injust acts. Though this worked out for the country, this left Alastair without his hit, and as such the Raven Queen awaits his work to be completed and threatens the infamous shadar kai's Shadow Curse to take it's effect if he does not cooperate with his work.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Alastair is a tall, moderately thinner man with a lithe and dexterous figure. Though he is on the thinner side, he has decently broad shoulders and a decent amount of underlying, subtle muscle mostly from running, carrying, and having to make tricky escapes throughout his life. He has a roguish elegance to him; handsome and charming, with uniquely shadar kai features– dark hair and light contrasting skin along with bright, piercing yellow eyes. He wears long sleeves almost always that cover complex tattoos running down almost all of his body up to the wrists, ankles, and collarbones. He's known for wearing a elegant formal navy blue tailcoat with a subtle gold and white trim.

Body Features

Alastair has a lithe, slim figure with a thinner waistline and significantly angular features in his face, shoulders, collarbones, and structure as a whole. He is tall, and due to his weight he is lankier with long legs, however he has some dexterous muscle in his arms, legs, torso, and chest due to constant walking, running, and escapes throughout his life. Alastair has complex monochrome tattoos that span across his entire body, known to be symbols and sigils of cultural significance to the Shadowfell and for shadar kai assassins specifically. These tattoos halt just above his wrists, collarbones, and ankles, and he tends to wear longer sleeves to cover them up, as it proves him an entity of the Shadowfell, and as such puts him in a bad light when recognized.

Facial Features

His face has features that would be considered relatively bold; narrower with very prominent cheekbones, a sharper jawline, narrow and graceful eyes, and a small, thin nose. His eyes are a fluorescent yellow, piercing in comparison to any other feature he has, all being quite monochrome or desaturated. His skin is an olive tone, due to his exposure to the material plane, however it is a more desaturated tone of olive with hardly any warmth to it– almost like that of a somewhat fresh humanoid corpse. Straight raven black hair falls naturally to his mid-back; it is of moderate thickness and has no hint of waviness to it, however it is reflectively sleek and well-kept. He has a lower undercut beneath, and tends to keep his hair down with the exception of the front pieces tied back. Unlike most elves, he has smaller ears, nearly the size of a human's. His ears are pointed like that of an elf, but not intensely and appearing like those of a half-elf more than a true elf. This is a hint at his bloodline containing traits of human relatives who once underwent the Raven Queen's curse, becoming shadar kai.

Identifying Characteristics

• Narrow, monolidded, fluorescent yellow eyes.
• Dark, long raven hair that contrasts with light desaturated skin.
• Very prominent cheekbones; an overall roguish, elegant face that is objectively attractive in one way or another.
• Tall, with longer legs.
• Complex shadar kai tattoos covering a good portion of his body.

Physical quirks

• Ambidextrous.
• Abnormally high pain tolerance
• Shadowfell-influenced high cold tolerance
• Despite his high metabolism and lower weight, he has a comparatively high alcohol tolerance.

Special abilities

Warlock of the Raven Queen
Skilled marksman/assassin
Planeshift (Shadowfell only) at will
Darkvision (60ft) ; Shadowfell ancestry.
Advantage on saves against being charmed
Immune to magical sleep
Natural Teleportation ; Raven Queen's blessing
Meditation for 4 hours = 8 hours of sleep
Resistance to necrotic damage

Apparel & Accessories

His most commonly seen outfit is that of a formal navy blue tailcoat, tailored to have a slim fit that shows off the dimensions of his waistline significantly, with a subtle gold and white trim, with other accents in the same silvery white and duller gold colors. Beneath is a semiformal to formal button-up dress shirt, usually in white but occasionally in other tones of grey, blue, maroon, or black. He wears slacks or other tailored pants in black, and either dress shoes or fine chukka boots. Alastair will sometimes have a pistol holstered in a fine, black leather holster from the shadowfell on his hip or thigh, but typically only as a percaution as he tends to use warlock magic before weaponry.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Origins

Alastair was born in the Shadowfell to two distant shadar kai parents, both in which he does not tend to talk about or associate with in current times. His mother is a typical Raven Queen's bureaucrat, his father dissappearing upon a mission to the Material Plane– Alastair later being informed that he had shed his duties and attempted living on the foreign plane without reporting back to HQ for long enough to begin going insane due to the Shadow Curse, and ended up becoming akin to a Wraith, his soul torn and withered. Alastair certainly took some fear from this and a constant, underlying caution towards straying too far from the Raven Queen, but wasn't extremely close to either parent and thus didn't feel strongly towards the loss itself.

The Maskmaker | The Queen's Advisor

In the 1590s Alastair was first beginning to be assigned to the Material Plane for legitimate hits, as well as tracking and informational purposes. By 1600 he spent more time than not in the Material Plane, coming back to the Shadowfell upon being called in and for consistent meetings, but no longer "living" there, instead an agent on the Material Plane itself.
The first true companion he made in this plane happened to be Anza, another shadar kai, however this one gone rogue for his work in post-death-hosting in the form of maskmaking and soulbinding. Alastair noted Anza as one of the people on the major hitlist for his crimes against death, however chose not to kill him as he was quite useful in his information and general wisdom and intelligence. They became closely acquainted, though strange and apprehensive at first, and eventually good friends. Alastair eventually agreed to not kill him or turn him in even after he stopped being useful, and Anza in return agreed to keep any and all information between the two under lockdown. In his earlier days of assassin work on the Material Plane, he worked mostly alone, as most shadar kai do. He rose through the ranks very quickly for his age, surpassing more corporate desk jobs as he was already on the field and efficiently bringing in both souls and information. By the time he was involved in the Forgotten Rogues, his killcount was so high and so untouchable that he was promoted to the Raven Queen’s right hand; her First Advisor.

The Inseparable Two | The Forgotten Rogues

In 1639, Alastair and Anza happened upon other assassins on a case; Morgan and "Mute" Norowa. They found each other useful almost immediately and in finding that as a group they functioned efficiently and overall better with more diverse a range of specialties and resources, they founded the Forgotten Rogues; a crime syndicate specializing in assassination with members unknown in true identity to the Ybelan law. Though the intent of establishing the group was one of cold, hard pragmatism, over time they got closer and more intertwined in one another's lives, most of them developing legitimate friendships and bonds. Specifically, Morgan and Alastair became very close relatively quickly, being quite synergistic and having a certain understanding of one another in a more emotional way than the other two. Though Alastair is a shadar kai and especially at the time was quite lacking in a solid ability to feel empathy, and certainly lacking a deeper understanding of his own emotions, he tended to have a better grasp over time than most on the humanoid ways of experiencing certain emotions such as annoyance, regret, anticipation, enjoyment, vengefulness, companionship and even love. Morgan is a moon elf and as such has a typical humanoid sense of feeling, though not handing his emotions very properly. This combination lead to an ambiguous deeper connection, and in the organization's prime kept a strong hold on the unity of the group and trust towards one another.

The Assassin's Lethal Paramour | Exile

The Forgotten Rogues have constant run-ins with the law as well as other gangs and other illicit hired entities. As the group grew in infamy and in it's influence over Thabes and the country as a whole, the amount of issues and threats grew as well. At any given time many wanted them all dead, the founding four each with extreme rewards from many different sources for their heads on a platter. Alastair did not stay nearly as discreet as Anza or Norowa in his work, tending to be reckless and choose style over rationality in some cases. He had more than the rest a bounty over his head, and came face to face with those wanting him dead more and more to the point where eventually it endangered the others. Alastair didn't have a strong value over his mortal soul as a shadar kai, however Morgan's dedication to sticking by him through thick and thin began getting him closer to being killed by way of Alastair's own actions' consequences and enemies. Eventually, with a shot to Morgan's side, and skimming his neck by a vengeful family member of a terminated target of Alastair, Alastair called it quits for himself, making a the tough decision to leave the Rogues covertly and go into hiding. He intended to discuss his exit and have a connection still established, simply under the radar, but received threats of destroying all he cared about within the Rogues if he was found anywhere near them or connected to them, knowing Alastair's value on his own life was not as strong as that for the rest. He left without anything more than a note to Morgan and a shorter note to Anza, who ended up leaving as well for his own reasons and as such was able to directly communicate with Alastair after his excursion. Alastair continued his work for the Raven Queen, but did so with more obscure targets and avoiding all possible contact with the Rogues. Morgan did not take this well, becoming relatively anxious and more prone to reckless behavior, and most importantly calling a covert search for Alastair, lead by Norowa.

Settlement | Both of his Families

Alastair wandered for a while, feeling a significant hole in his life in tearing himself away from his companions– the only people he cared about and the first people he ever cared about. On an odd, somewhat diplomatic informational assignment to the Feywild he met Persephone Linnor, a stubborn, passionate Eladrin. He took no liking to her at first, finding her somewhat grating in his somewhat depressive state, but over the time she was assigned to be his guide through the Feywild he found that her relentless, occasionally volatile emotional presence to her character was familiar and something oddly intriguing to him. Due to this connection he decided to pursue a relationship, finding that she was a perfect candidate as a vehicle for his hiding and redirecting from his past activities. After some time, with a surprising amount of ease as she took a quick liking to him and his levelheadedness in comparison to her, she began a life in Elewyn as a druidic florist, herbalist, and healer and invited him to live with her as he didn't technically have a home. Elewyn, as the farthest stretch from anything expected of a shadar kai, was a perfect place to continue his self-afflicted exile, and so he accepted, the relationship he was after going forwards in the direction he hoped for in terms of it's use to him.
Alastair considered himself close to her after a while. He never completely became separated from his initial reasoning for pursuing her; not feeling as if the two were perfect for one another, not feeling as if the two would have even worked out if not for his circumstances of finding and dating her– but he settled, and he did consider them functional and her an interesting, important person in his life. They were married in 1693, and by complete accident had their first child, Kaedriel, three years later in 1696. Sealing his life in Elewyn once and for all, the child was a true shadar kai, and thus Alastair had to become much more present in order to raise his son– which Persephone couldn't really do, as Kaedriel's tendencies were those of a shadar kai and thus she had no idea how to deal with him. For over fourty years Kaedriel was raised an only child, taking a close resemblance to his father in both appearance and behaviors and his father becoming quite closely connected to the child as well. In 1741 the two had a second child, this time purposefully as Persephone wanted to try for an eladrin child. Going so far as to go to the Feywild and be blessed by Mytera, she ensured the birth of the second child to be that of a true eladrin. Madeline was born an eladrin, and as such was raised in very close proximity to Persephone. Alastair kept her more level, trying to balance out the more erratic and extreme emotion of Persephone influencing Madeline. By this point, a more experienced father, he had a strong care for both his children and tried his best to protect them as such.
When Morgan was informed of Alastair's newfound family, not knowing the initial purpose for it, he was immediately struck with immense anger, jealousy, and feelings of sheer betrayal. He stuck Norowa on the job of killing Alastair out of his strong feelings against Alastair's new life and Alastair's discarding of their relationship's significance. As such, Norowa, a talented sniper, tracked down Alastair and killed him as he was leaving to the train station of Elewyn one night on a job. Alastair was murdered in 1754. As a shadar kai, he continued his work for the Raven Queen posthumously as a direct advisor to her in the Shadowfell.

The Resurrection | The Healer and the Psychopath

Upon Madeline undergoing the process of resurrection in 1800, the Raven Queen demanded council with Alastair and offered him a deal: the resurrection would be allowed and would not be tampered with so long as Alastair used the gift of resurrection to devote his time to eliminate once and for all Aratus, known for his adamant crimes against death, a legendary target. His children already having direct leads and connections to Aratus, and being against him, this was not an impossible task. Though he didn't know of his children's connections, he accepted with ease. As he did, he was brought back to the Material Plane, finding himself in a clean-slate version of his original body, in front of Madeline, an older teenage elf by this time, and eventually finding Kaedriel standing on the other side of the terrace, a matured young adult. Later he sat Kaedriel down and had him explain his suspicious behavior and attributes and was told by he, himself that Kaedriel, now known as Fox, is a Forgotten Rogue in Alastair's place, as well as a known assassin and overall psychopath. Alastair had to process the information quickly, but managed, and accepted his apology in going after everything his father wouldn't have wanted him to go after. Understanding his behavior, as it was once his own, he quickly regained a close relationship with Fox and continues to in current times.

Current Life | The Shadow Curse

At this point in time (c. 1802) Alastair lives with Persephone as he had before. He has been avoiding shadar kai work, calling it a kind of "retirement" despite never actually finishing the deed he agreed to complete upon being brought back to life. As such, the Raven Queen awaits his work impatiently, however knowing that the longer he is avoidant the more at risk he becomes for following in his own father's footsteps– the Shadow Curse taking him more and more until he becomes something akin to a wraith if he does not comply and eventually report to the Shadowfell to redeem his soul and mind.

Gender Identity

Male; He | Him

Sexuality

Bisexual | Biromantic

Education

Educated and trained within the Shadowfell as a classic and typical shadar kai; he was taught through a lens with no stigma of death and trained to kill from a relatively young age.

Employment

The Raven Queen; Agent, Knight, and finally First Advisor.
The Forgotten Rogues; Chief Advisor, right hand man of Morgan

Mental Trauma

• Alastair is slow to trust, as most shadar kai are, but this effect was worsened after leaving the Rogues, as his only connections at the time were then severed, making him depressive and reclusive for quite some time. His recklessness and charismatic, rebellious attitude was quelled a good amount during this period and from that point on he gained a sense of levelheadedness and reservation. He is naturally quite slow to forgiveness, however this is a turmoil in his mind often, as he'd like to forgive the Rogues and is slowly coming to those terms, and immediately forgave his son for the direction he went in in life.
• After dying once before, and in fear of the Shadow Curse, Alastair has occasional bouts of nightmares and visions that remind him of his situation and his experience in dying. Though he went to the Shadowfell rather than being sorted into a typical afterlife- being a non-physical being, the experience of dying itself, and the realization of his life being cut short in a time where he had many regrets, gives him PTSD-like symptoms on worse days that he tends to cover up and deal with covertly without mentioning it. He still has regrets that he hasn't sorted out, and currently doesn't have any solid hold on his aspirations or true wants in his life.

Intellectual Characteristics

Alastair is extremely analytical, like most shadar kai. He is perceptive and clever, quick on his feet and quick thinking. He struggles with creativity and despite learning and finding loopholes and strategies to emotional recognition, he still does not easily or completely empathize with those he is not close to. Nor can he give good advice on emotional subjects such as relationships or guilt. Alastair is a good medium between two opposing forces, as he is very neutral and open to information from either side, analyzing with logic and typically without any bias.

Morality & Philosophy

• Death is inevitable and inescapable, so living your life with purpose is the best thing you can do.
• Live your life with dignity. Make peace with your enemies and those you've wronged, even if what you did was justified, because it only makes you and your dignity stronger to understand your actions' consequences completely and be able to make peace with them than to live with defensiveness and regrets.
• Love is worth risk. If I'd known that earlier in life, I wouldn't have made a good number of mistakes that I did. Don't take it for granted.
• Those who die rightfully should stay dead, as that is the will of fate and as death should not be feared. The exceptions are those who's work on earth is unfinished and who accept that once that work is finished they will be subject to the hands of the clock.
• I can't judge others too harshly, no matter the severity of their deeds. I've done many, many objectively terrible things, I've been extremely selfish, as such I know that I don't have the rights to judge what's good and bad for others.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

– To be there for those who need him. – To make his actions have purpose, even if it puts him in danger. – To make up for not being there for those who cared about him. – To tie loose ends as well as he can.

Likes & Dislikes

Likes	Dislikes
Finely Crafted Alcohols	The Smell of Freshly Cut Grass
Lore and Mythos	The Smell of Cigarettes
Rain and Thunderstorms	Travelling Via Carriage
The Ocean	The Feywild
A Good Game (chess, poker, you name it)	Bright Summer Weather
Travelling	Ignorance

Vices & Personality flaws

• Slow to empathy
• Secret; the idea that he "settled" in his marriage due to circumstance rather than true romance
• Slow to forgiveness.
• Though he cant completely forgive them, he misses the Forgotten Rogues and their closeness to him, specifically Morgan.
• Avoidant of his problems.
• Keeps his problems and feelings to himself as to not burden others and as he doesn't really know how to talk about them.
• Is generally restless living in Elewyn without his hitlist to take him to other places. He isn't a huge fan of the town or how it sees him; previously it balanced out as he left for jobs, but currently it is eating at him a bit.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Morgan Aestra

• Fellow Forgotten Rogues Founder, Close Friend, Possible Ex, Murderer
• Current Relationship Status: Guilty, Deeply Forgiving

Anza (deceased)

• Fellow Shadar Kai, Fellow Forgotten Rogues Founder, Close Friend, Best Man
• Current Relationship Status: N/A

"Mute" Noroa Valentine

• Fellow Forgotten Rogues Founder, Friend, Murderer
• Current Relationship Status: Hesitantly Forgiving, Aquainted

Family Ties

Fox Yumael Linnor ; Son
Madeline Linnor ; Daughter
Persephone Linnor ; Wife
Noma ; Adoptive Granddaughter
Julietta Linnor ; Daughter in Law

Social Aptitude

With his words, Alastair is quite careful and decisive. He comes off as quite charming and suave and tends to be very likable upon first meeting him. He is good with people and tends to be persuasive and informative. He is reserved and polite in almost all open situations, not tending to raise his voice unless completely necessary. He doesn't show very much strong emotion and he seems mildly confident, but hard to read in terms of his ego.

Speech

Alastair speaks in a low, smooth, monotonous voice without very much modulation and very matter-of-fact. He sounds logical and cool toned unless provoked, relatively refined, however he doesn't have the decorative flair of a nobleman in his speech. When upset his voice will become more serious and percussive, losing a hold on his neutral, smoother nature an becoming more strained and frustrated.

Relationships

Alastair Yumael

Father (Vital)

Towards Fox Yumael Linnor

Frank

Fox Yumael Linnor

Son (Vital)

Towards Alastair Yumael

Honest

History

Fox was raised primarily by Alastair for over sixty years, and due to this and the fact that Alastair was the only shadar kai he knew and that he could connect to, Fox took on an extreme idolization of him at a young age. Fox grew up to accidentally follow in his footsteps after he died, making alot of the same mistakes and doing many things his father would have advised him against if he was given the time in life. Upon being resurrected, Alastair found out about Fox's spiral into criminality and psychopathy and though extremely disappointed and regretful, forgave him, seeing Fox break down in front of him and realizing that he himself had made the same mistakes, and therefore couldn't judge or treat him harshly for his.
Fox and his father are very close and even look very similar, to the point where at a distance they can be mistaken for one another. They are quite similar in their pasts and at a younger age Alastair was almost identical in behavior.

Nicknames & Petnames

– Alastair called him Kaedriel for a very long time, but stopped upon Fox confronting him about his distaste for the name and the actual reasons behind the distaste. – Fox just calls him dad most of the time.

Commonalities & Shared Interests

• Both are/have been members of the Forgotten Rogues, specifically assassins.
• Both are shadar kai that are/have been assassins and warlocks relating to her.
• Both have had bounties over their heads, making them question the safety of the people they love.
• Both have had to work on strategies and mechanisms to remind themselves of empathy.

Shared Acquaintances

Morgan, "Mute" Norowa, the Raven Queen, Madeline Linnor, Persephone Linnor, Thorin Redbeard, Inoor Velenin, Noma, Aratus, Ryze Comecia, Julietta Linnor, etc.

Legal Status

Immediate Family

Alastair Yumael

Friend/Colleague/(Ex) (Important)

Towards Morgan Aestra

Honest