Kadri Espenson (Drow Kadri)

Basic Info

Age: 24 (physically), 120 (chronologically)

Height: 5'7

Ethnicity: Drow (from the Underdark)

Orientation: Pan a-spec

Pronouns: He/him

Appearance Notes: Kadri always wears clothes that cover every inch of his skin, even during hot weather, to cover up his many scars. He doesn't wear his gloves to sleep though, so if he's in his pajamas, then he should have visible scars on both sides of both hands (most prominently a larger one on the center of both sides of both hands, from having knives shoved clear through them). His facial markings are signs of his demonic pact, and are always visible despite his efforts to minimize their noticeability with his long bangs and inclination towards hoods, but if you're drawing him younger he might not have them yet. He almost never unties his side braid (except sometimes for sleep, or if it needs to be redone for tidiness), and usually keeps the rest loose, but will occasionally do more with it. Even with his hood up and concealing most of his hair, he leaves the braid visible, because it's one of the few features of his appearance he doesn't hate and one of the only ones he actually kinda likes. (In the newest ref, the braid is just. Hiding behind his arm. It is still as long as in the older refs, about down to the waist) While typically concealed by his hair or hood, he does have pointy ears as well.

Character Lore

History

Kadri was born to a struggling family in the Underdark, a society that valued strength in combat and power over others in its quest to please the evil spider goddess that oversaw them, and had a strict social structure despite claiming to worship chaos. Being more on the physically weak side and seen as 'fragile' for his sensory and social struggles, he was bullied regularly, and had a tense relationship with his older sister. He held onto the thin hope that he might someday be able to join a scholar class - if he lived that long. One day, though, his city was raided by an enemy city-state, and it was clear his home was losing the battle. When he saw his own sister, who excelled so much at combat, losing a duel, he decided there was truly no hope for him in the Underdark (as survivors of conquered states were often treated like slaves) and, ignoring his sister's plea for assistance, ran away.

With a great deal of struggle and very little rest, he found his way to the Overworld, where the lights hurt his eyes and agitated his skin. He quickly found that outsiders were distrusting and at times hostile towards his kind, but he took what solace he could in this world being more 'interesting' and varied.

Things changed for him when he was the elvish equivalent of about fourteen. A group of humans took issue with him passing through their camp due to him being Drow, and beat him to death. As he breathed his last breath, however, time froze for him as he was reached out to telepathically by Kir'giren, a demon locked away in isolation in the Abyss. Kir'giren offered him a deal: in return for his life and the ability to use magic to defend himself, he would swear to be his loyal servant - and that next he came this close to death, his body would be permanently given to his master, freeing them from the Abyss, while his own soul was sent to the Abyss to be torn asunder for eternity. Angry at having live only such a short and miserable, meaningless life and out of options, Kadri took the demon's offering. Returning to life, the first thing he used his unstable demonic magic for was to kill the humans who had killed him.

With more time to negotiate now, Kadri convinced Kir'giren that their deal was too ambiguous to be of much help to either of them, and so they worked out some 'amendments' to it. Kir'giren gave up the ability to order Kadri to kill himself (as that would make getting full, permanent possession of his body too easy) in return for the ability to lie to Kadri about anything not related to the contract, something bound demons couldn't typically do. They also gave up the ability to order Kadri to allow temporary bodily possession or to do anything physically impossible in return for Kadri being unable to use his magic or that of another to cause his master harm - as that was not actually ruled out by the original agreement. Kadri gave up the ability to indefinitely postpone an order to have it so that if after a failed attempt at completing the given task, it became impossible to achieve, he would be released from having to complete it. If he directly disobeys an order from Kir'giren willfully, it counts the same as him dying - his soul is sent to the Abyss while Kir'giren gets to keep the body.

From then on, Kadri wandered as a warlock and scholar, obeying his patron when needed, and being heckled by them telepathically for conversation when not needed. People still judged him for his race, and now that he served a demon many paladins would try to kill or exorcise him painfully, but he was able to get himself out of those situations now and get vengeance on anyone who hurt him, as well as pursue his studies more diligently. He created two magical companions for himself; a magical 'servant' that lacked sentience that he called Wisteria, and a familiar who took the form of an owl named Raphane. He considered both of them his 'dear friends', but otherwise tried to avoid forming close attachments to people.

Over time, this was not a very successful endeavor. He made positive acquaintances (he married an eccentric hat enthusiast just as a favor), and he wound up with a few close friends who would regularly reach out and spend time with him. Slowly, he came to hate the world just a little less.

Unfortunately, a time came where the only way to save those he'd come to care for was to disobey his master. Briefly bemoaning the irony that he had to give up his life as soon as he started to find some joy in it, Kadri threw himself off a cliff into burning lava, formally denying his master in time that when his soul was ripped from his body, the demon didn't have time to save themself before the body they inherited was torn to pieces, leaving them still without a vessel with which to traverse the mortal world and badly weakened.

Eventually, his friends found a way to retrieve his soul from the Abyss and give him a new body, but after so long of having his spirit torn to pieces over and over, he was greatly shaken and depressed. He no longer could use the magic he had known before, and so slowly began studying it from scratch. He may never be the same as he once was, and recovery is a long time in coming, but he is free for the first time and surrounded by his friends.

Personality

Drow Kadri has certain similarities and certain marked differences between his prime verse self. Like prime verse Kadri, he is an eccentric scholar who treats those how they treat him. He is introverted, moody, and inclined to fake cheer or ignorance for either fun, mockery, or other convenience. He lies easily, convincingly, and without much hesitation, and typically tends to try to conceal his emotional instability. He gets overwhelmed somewhat easily by strong feelings or sensory overload. 

However, Drow Kadri is far, far more angry, hateful, and hyper-vigilant than prime verse Kadri. Anyone who threatens his physical safety or touches him suddenly without permission will get harmed or killed. He has no qualms about murder, and is constantly on edge around people, waiting for them to become his enemy. He hates his appearance and is self-conscious about it, typically trying to avoid drawing attention to himself. He closes himself in his own kind of dream world more often to try and cope with living in a world he constantly feels threatened by. And while he will hurt and kill and lie, he refuses to willingly torture anyone, being far too familiar himself with the effects it has one long after the fact, and so he is more careful with how he enacts vengeance on anyone he isn't going to kill, and will look for more difficult or time consuming ways to get hidden information.

Relationships

• Druid Dani [Owned by MouseDemon]: Kadri and Dani are good friends. They met during their travels, and wound up working together on several quests. Despite certain factors making their friendship unlikely, they naturally got along easily, and they continued to spend time together until they were fairly close.

Bonus Info

Trivia

• []