Karesh Swornsoul
Karesh Swornsoul, once the mightiest blade of the Eighth House of Ba’an, now stands as a fractured remnant of her former self. In life, Karesh was an ornir, her obsidian skin marked by jagged silver veins that shimmered like cracks in a blade. Known for her brutal precision on the battlefield and her unyielding loyalty to Lady Pan, Karesh led the Eighth House’s armies in their conquest of Ba’an’s warring planes. During the conflict with the Fifth House, Karesh fell, her lifeblood pooling on the ashen sands of Ba’an. Yet as death claimed her, a black obelisk appeared—a gate tethered to ancient forces—and offered a near-dead mortal body as her salvation. Karesh seized the vessel, only to find herself sharing her mind with another presence: Anvil, a soul driven by ambitions to legitimize the northern Jaagr in Galfin.
Now bearing a pale, scarred form—a human frame with sunken eyes and skin like weathered parchment—Karesh Swornsoul roams the mortal plane, torn between her loyalty to Pan and the insistent whispers of Anvil. Her once-clear purpose has been muddled, her thoughts a storm of conflicting desires. Yet she remains determined, aligning herself with mortal agents like the Edris family to free Pan from the Undergrowth. Karesh's fractured mind drives her to act with unsettling intensity, her every movement a mixture of calculated purpose and chaotic fury. For three generations, Karesh aided the Edris clan to rise to power, so that they could stake their claim in an Eastern Moot yet to happen, one Anvil knew about from her time in Galfin. The coinciding goals of freeing Lady Pan, hunting down the Fifth House bloodline and legitimizing the Jaagr have led the weakened Karesh to whisper in the ears of any who would listen. Utilizing the skills gained from years working under Lady Pan.