She Who Walks With Them
Deathmistress Naesala Twinzaard
She Who Walks With Them is a member of the Thousand Blades and specifically tasked with coordinating Imperial forces in and around the wasteland between northern Kuasta and The Greenlands of Old Ichtaca. She is the thirty-seventh master of the sword with the same name. She is also one of the few samurai who inherits specific law exemptions bound to their swords, in her case whosoever is the master of the sword is exempt from the Imperial ban on raising the dead via necromancy. The current iteration of the Blade is a half-being. As a result of possession-driven Hollow Child Syndrome, half of the soul of the samurai is occupied by the spirit of the sword, allowing both halves to work in more true tandem than most bonded pairs.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Due to her unique condition, She Who Walks With Them appears as half-real, split down the middle. The left half of her body is that of a fairly normal, if especially fit, Langite. The right half is hidden in eternal shadow, though it can appear more 'solid' when the sword wishes to directly communicate.
Special abilities
The sword has always granted the samurai the ability to raise and command the dead. When controlled by a true necromancer, She Who Walks With Them is able to take its master between the barriers of life and death and hide from Nex, lending her the ability to raise the dead in a true sense as well as controlling undead. The sword can physically cut through this barrier, allowing her samurai to unleash legions of nightmares from the planes of absolute death, though this comes at a terrible cost on the soul of the samurai.
Apparel & Accessories
Typically, She Who Walks With Them wears the standard Blades uniform, which is a black silk shirt under a red sash bearing the Imperial dragon seal in gold. The sash does appear across her shadow half, though this can be undone seemingly at will. Her elf half appears to be wearing a crown of onyx and bone, the traditional mark of a master necromancer.
Specialized Equipment
The sword also named She Who Walks With Them is one of only a few Blades that is not a standard katana, instead it has almost always been a Gemaite curved saber. It can turn itself into a longspear or an Elvish longbow. She forgoes the traditional ō-yoroi armor in favor of a black wizard's combat robe. She carries two bandoliers of wands and several pouches of necromantic foci.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Naesala was born a child of prophecy, or so that is how the Twinzaard patriarchs explain what happened with her. The seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, under the three moons of evil as well. The truth is much more mundane. She was simply a clever child, raised in a tradition of magic with free access to tomes, tutors, resources, and a crypt. By the time the household mages had realized what she was doing, she had already raised her first zombie. The more she was banned from the practice, the more she sought out the forbidden knowledge. Eventually, she called forth a spirit that she could not control, and she became a victim of Hollow Child Syndrome. With all other treatments failing, the Twinzaard quietly agreed to imprison the child. As it happened, the Blade Custodian happened to be in the area, and with his power recognized the sick child as the next incarnation of She Who Walks With Them, and summoned the then-current bearer of the name and Blade. The old She Who Walks With Them agreed to heal the child, but in exchange the Twinzaard must forfeit her to the custody of the Thousand Blades. Done with all of the mystical problems and young necromancer, the great house of elves agreed. She was taken the imperial fortresses along the Mana Wastes, and was subjected to rigorous samurai training as well as regular treatment for her condition from her mistress. As a Hollow Child, she needed regular exorcisms, as the condition invites in wicked spirits. She became the mistress of the sword in 1428 EK, when the previous incarnation committed ritual suicide as part of an invocation that would help keep the Dead at bay. When Naesala bonded with the sword immediately afterwards, the sword's spirit moved into the hollow soul from the steel and serves to keep the malevolent spirits out.
Alignment
Neutral Evil
Species
Conditions
Ethnicity
Other Ethnicities/Cultures
Date of Birth
8th of Liberheim
Year of Birth
1359 EK
86 Years old
Children
Pronouns
She/Her
Sex
Female
Gender
Woman
Presentation
Feminine
Eyes
Black/Green
Hair
Living Shadow/Red
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Living Shadow/Pale
Quotes & Catchphrases
"They cower and they moralize, they hide behind the lies polite society has woven, they demonize and accuse, but when threats rise they have never once turned away help from powers they would so readily disdain otherwise. These are the ones in power."
Belief/Deity
Blades philosophy
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Comments