Desmesura Frostbreath

(profile greyguard blackguard undead pale vigil horned helm dalle).jpg.jpg

An artist's impression of Desmesura Frostbreath.

"May they feel the breath of frost."

— Middish saying
lit: "May they feel guilt for their actions."

A name whispered with great apprehension in some circles, Desmesura Frostbreath is a shadowy, malicious vigilante and priest of Sheoldred, Duskscape Regent of horror & nightmares. Desmesura is so named because her victims feel the frosty chill of her breath on the back of their necks before being flung into one of her malign mindworlds. It is whispered the vigilante is so favoured by Sheoldred she has the ability to send her victims to Apprehensia itself, the Cenobite's own slithering, skittering pocket realm. Though she is far from the only vigilante operating in the Gamma Quadrant, she is perhaps the most famed due to her utter mystery and the cruelty of her methods.

The vigilante operates over a wide range on the continent of Gondara in the Broken Empire: attacks have been noted as far west as Aukslanding in Æthermark and as far east as Bantock in the Midlands. Some attacks are so close together in timing but far in distance that it is suspected she has the ability to travel faster routes through the Duskscape.

Attacks

Perhaps Desmesura's only saving grace is her choice of victims: patterns seem to indicate she favours corrupt or violent individuals in high society, such as politicians or royalty. Why this is is unknown: perhaps it is a personal honour system (a rare trait for worshippers of the Crawling Sensation), or perhaps it is simply that the pampered feel fear more acutely than the hardened. Either way, hers is perhaps the most despised name in Gondaran political circles.

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Desmesura's attacks are noteworthy in that they're rarely deadly (barring the occasional expiration by cardiac arrest) and usually come in twos and threes; the better, presumably, to sow lingering paranoia. Victims are often quick to admit their guilt as loudly and publically as possible in the hopes of escaping her wrath, though this doesn't appear to be effectual: it appears she only stops tormenting victims when she tires of it, sometimes months after their initial admissions.

Not only a cleric of enchantment and nightmares but shadows, Desmesura's comings & goings are virtually impossible to track (and let there be no doubt that vaults of coin have been paid in the attempt).

Copycats

Desmesura Frostbreath is so famed she inspires the occasional copycat vigilante, however their methods are invariably more crude. All known imitators have been caught and the powers-that-be, predictably, ensure they're given a fast-track to the gallows to discourage these activities.