Walker in Darkness

The Walker in Darkness, also called the Black Psychopomp or the Promulgator of the Cromlech Cinerary, is one of the thirteen Deathlords of the Neverborn.

Overview

In life, the Walker was one of the few Solar Exalted who escaped the Usurpation, taking shelter in a well-hidden manse called the Invisible Fortress. Eventually, however, the trapped Solars turned on one another, and this one in particular was murdered by Larquen Quen.

The Walker does not know this. The Walker appeared in the Underworld practically amnesiac, as the artifact Quen used to kill him destroyed his memory as well as his body. He was easy prey for the Neverborn in this condition, falling to their whispers and agreeing to serve them. Perhaps as a joke, when Quen himself finally died, the Neverborn sent the Walker as their representative to recruit him.

The Walker is staunchly loyal to the Neverborn and has many plans to extinguish all life, though he tends not to stick with any one for long. He is cordial with the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible, and suspects he too might've been a Zenith Caste in life. He fiercely dislikes the Mask of Winters, despite not remembering his murder; he thinks the conquest of Thorns was premature and served only to inflate the Mask's ego. Unlike many Deathlords, the Walker often goes into the field personally, posing as a prophet, sorcerer or savant to gain the ear of monarchs he can then lead to ruin.

Domain

Currently the Walker in Darkness claims the Pyrron Ossuary shadowland, though in Creation it is now mostly called Walker's Realm. It was formerly ruled by the Princess Magnificent with Lips of Coral and Robes of Black Feathers, but she was driven out by the gods of nearby Great Forks. The Princess Magnificent previously cursed the shadowland so that anyone who enters it is killed, their soul immediate flung into Oblivion; not even Abyssal Exalted are entirely immune from the effect, so Walker's Realm is populated entire by ghosts, and his Abyssal servants are often found roaming Creation unsupervised.

The Ebon Spires of Pyrron is a fortress of basalt and obsidian, its nine minarets topped with black jade cupolas. Several thousand ghosts dwell inside the Spires, the Walker's entire army and its support. The Mask of Winters has spies within the Ebon Spires, and until those are ferreted out, the Walker has delayed most of his grander plans.

Agenda

While Great Forks is the nearest state to the Walker's Realm, he does not intend to face the same defeat the Princess Magnificent did. He has more designs of Denandsor, which he thinks he had some relation to in life; if he can somehow get an agent inside the city, he knows how to deactivate its supernatural defenses. He has also reached out diplomatically to Sijan, presenting himself as a possible check on Mask of Winter's power, and even has a small, very secret embassy there. Rumor has it he even gave a Monstrance of Celestial Portion to the Sijanese, but no one can guess what the wrath of the Neverborn will be like if that's true.

Servants

The Walker in Darkness puts a great deal of important on caste when dealing with his deathknights, which has left him a rather strange collection of minions. Shards of Basalt leads his army despite suffering from a debilitating split personality. White Bone Sinner was a Nexus gladiator in life, but now serves ad the Walker's chief diplomat. Most of his other close advisors are nemissaries and nephwracks, as they can stay at his side in the Ebon Spires. He has also seduced and suborned the Green Lady, even going so far as to marry her in a twisted ceremony at the Mouth of the Void itself.

Appearance

Most of the time, the Walker in Darkness wears a soulsteel breastplate over black and red ceremonial roles. He has bluish skin and glowing orange eyes; his hair is long and gray-white. As the Black Psychopomp, however, he dresses all in black and changes his face to appear as a flayed skull.

His primary weapon is a soulsteel grand grimcleaver called Arm of Shades Below. It has the power to leech the strength of any non-magical creature who tries to lift it, and its blow inflicts a rotting pox that kills the victim and leaves behind a zombie under the Walker's control. His soulsteel power longbow, Raiton to the Heart, is usually loaned out to one of his deathknights.

References

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