Ashur Nemoralis
Brother Aszur Nemoralis- Salicorn (a.k.a. Blue-eyed Ashur)
Ashur is a pivotal figure in the later mythology of Albion at Night, one half of Henbane, a Deathless being who can rewrite causality.
Much of Albanos' early history happens as a consequence of his involvement the legend of The Hallow Maiden. A war criminal turned priest, Ashur becomes heavily involved in the conspiracy surrounding the Hol Gheal Disaster during which he is killed by Old Nick Blackthorne. His body is offered to revive Sigrid Kingfinch as an Aliruna, though it seems a degree of his consciousness remained in the body.
Ashur entering the Naefergrene Forest allowed Old Nick Blackthorne to exist. He is credited with rewriting the events which put Old Nick in the forest and populated the land with his descendants.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
“'Even when you're rotting, you have a young face and lovely eyes. Is that how you pulled it off, back in Sinderfall? Whatever job you had before.'
He is a slim, athletic adult male and prior to the Hol Gheal Disaster was fairly healthy. He is average height for his tribe, but shorter than his Gannwyll Gwydd counterparts.
Facial Features
Ashur is admired for his youthful, refined features and striking azure eyes.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Little was publicly known of his life before arriving in Beltane, and attempts to dive into his background were thwarted by his famous mentor. He was well known among the working class and z-list entertainers, as well as like his mentor Mehrdad, popular with criminals. However, Ashur had a clean record and was by all accounts law-abiding.
"A mortal man would consider what I did a war crime. Though, I don't know if you would."
Mehrdad however, is aware of Ashur's upbringing in North Sinderfall among the Salicorna people. With many of their Brine Pools being disrupted for mining projects, his community was increasingly subjected to famine which pushed the Salicorna to revive seasonal decimation. One year, Ashur and two dozen other parentless youths were put through this ritual. Ashur and the other survivors were ultimately sold to the Seafennel Covenant, an orphanage in Sinderfall run by the Holy Union of the Cross-vein Ore.
After coming of age, Ashur continued to work for the Covenant in the neighbouring town of Algara as a diplomat and translator. He gained a decent knowledge of raw materials such as Seaborn Blue, Brinewater, and Creeping Seafennel, and was able to open a quartz mine of his own. He married fellow Lycosid Beleta Nemoralia and legally adopted her son Agis, a decision that was not popular among his superiors and would end in tragedy during the Algara Family Wars.
It is not known when Ashur ultimately retalliated against the Gannwyll Gwydd, but his land was reported as abandoned by 795. He does not return to legal record until 802, when he was granted admission to the Clockmaker Diocese in Beltane. His permit was sponsored by Mehrdad, who would mentor and ordain him. He was assigned to Beltane Plague Relief Unit 711 as a Sin Eater by 809 or 810. His unit was deployed to Deornet during the Hol Gheal Disaster.
Late in the events of The Hallow Maiden, Ashur reveals that he killed numerous Gannwyll Gwydd civilians during the Algara Wars . His derision for the Larchwoods is revealed when he claims murdering Arnulf's relatives was the best job he'd ever had.
Intellectual Characteristics
Ashur was seen as gullible and dim-witted by his Clockmaker peers, with a mixed reputation in Beltane as far as intelligence goes. His informal and often crude attitude tends to obfuscate his skill with languages and diplomacy. He can assimilate and adjust to other cultures and ways of life easily, something which Attercops are not typically known for. He will often allow his adversaries to believe he is less aware and attuned than the reality. His ability to disarm people this way is something Ashur frequently uses to his advantage.
Morality & Philosophy
Ashur puts on a pious front in order to adhere to Clockmaker doctrine and live a simple existence. However, Mehrdad has described his disciple as being antisocial. neurotic, and devoid of empathy. This is probably due to his traumatic childhood, and further cemented after losing his wife and son to violence.
Relationships
History
Ashur is abducted by Old Nick when he illegally enters the Naefergrene. Determined to learn more about what happened to Sigrid, Ashur decides to play along with Nick's demands until he can find safe passage out. As he struggles to maintain the ethics he cultivated in Beltane, Ashur finds himself compelled by Old Nick's arcane, unfettered energy. Old Nick senses that Ashur's beauty and grace is only skin deep, which intrigues him, and this is further explored when Ashur syncs their heartbeats to revive Nick from a fatal injury.
A mutual attraction forms between them from there which is eventually consummated after Ashur resurrects Olwen and effectively creates a Double Walker. The resulting energy leads to a night of banal, sacrilegious passion, a union which results in them both undergoing a sort of Ego Death and blurring the lines between man and monster.
Their brief but intense communion ends as Old Nick offers Ashur's body as a vessel for his descendant Sigrid. Though a violent death wrought with anger and confusion, Old Nick believes that Ashur's body will be more than suitable to house Sigrid's capricious and morbid sensibilities. As an acquaintance of Mehrdad, Old Nick figures out the details of Ashur's past as a Moth-killer rather quickly. In the end, he places a curse on Ashur to forever live as a kin of the Gannwyll Gwydd.
The survival of Ashur's mind after becoming a vessel for Sigrid was unexpected, but as Old Nick had always found Ashur interesting and affable, there remains some unaddressed affection between them.
Ashur with Old Nick
Nicknames & Petnames
Old Nick refers to Ashur as 'patrico' (priest), or ‘yammer of stiff uns’ (corpse eater) until Ashur saves his life. He also uses it as a term of endearment for Henbane later on.
Ashur typically refers to Old Nick as his species, 'double walker', in an effort to dehumanize him. Though due to Ashur's obvious attraction to double walkers this could be considered endearment.
Relationship Reasoning
Ashur represents everything Old Nick misses about being a man, namely the sentimentality and capriciousness of mortal life and sex. Old Nick represents everything Ashur misses about being a monster, a state of being when he felt control over his circumstances.
His design is inspired by Yuki Michio and was designed by Green Maiden,
Comments