Profile
Sekrikzhad is a monstrous creature, borne of stolen wisdom woven together into corporeal form by some powerful demonic heiyao being. He was originally created as a mindless instrument, granted little more than the feral cunning of a predatory animal. For a very long time he carried out the murderous bidding of his masters, killing and then disappearing without a trace. Many set out to hunt him down, only to be ensnared and slaughtered by their would-be quarry.
At some point he was unexpectedly—many believe unintentionally—awakened into soulhood. Along with sapience came an opening for him to choose—either to fully embrace the purpose for which he was created, or to turn his back upon what he was supposed to be. He will not tell anyone, to this day, why he picked the latter, and it is suspected he himself does not know.
Unsurprisingly, very few have been willing to accept his change of heart. The heiyao have predictably taken his betrayal poorly, but at the same time almost nobody else is willing to see him as anything besides a hideous abomination who has somehow lost the powers that once made him a terror. Some grudgingly tolerate his existence out of obligation, some look for any excuse they can to kill him, some try using him as a tool towards their own ends, and a few have taken pity on him.
A portion of Sekrikzhad's body is human, and the rest of it (including his limbs and most of his face) is made up of a demi-physical substance sometimes referred to as shadowflesh. This shadowflesh can be made incorporeal, or it can be shaped and 'set' into flesh and bone as he wills. He is unnaturally strong for a creature of his stature and build, and can form whatever limbs and appendages he thinks will best serve him in a fight—he was once particularly notorious for forming his tongue into a long whip that can slash or stab with tremendous force. He may also recover from even the most severe injuries, given enough time.
Prior to his awakening his most notorious skill was his ability to meld his very form into shadow, flowing unseen through darkness only to rematerialize elsewhere. He was impossible to corner, impossible to outrun, almost impossible to hide from, and very difficult to defend against. He has since lost this power, robbing him of much of his potency in combat—although he can still attack with great ferocity, his body is not particularly durable and a well-aimed hit or two is enough to send him scurrying away in ignominy. He can ignore neither fear nor pain any longer, and his innate bloodlust has faded.
Neither empathy nor speech come naturally to him, and he has a difficult time thinking on his feet. He likes to reason things through at his own pace and can be surprisingly thoughtful and meticulous. Unfortunately for him, he is easily flustered and naturally suspicious of those he doesn't know, having learned from hard experience that there are many out there, no matter their allegiance, who are out for his blood. He will not hesitate to defend himself, if only to open up an opportunity to flee.
He is rather reluctant to part ways with the few people he has come to befriend and trust, and tries to be around them whenever possible. He resents being seen by his allies as merely a weapon or a tool for violence, and is happy whenever they try to get to know him better. He enjoys cooking (having before had to subsist on the rancid flesh of things he killed), textile crafts (because they allow him to practice his poor manual dexterity), and writing short missives (because he has an easier time putting his thoughts down on paper than speaking them out loud).
(Internal description follows)
Sekrikzhad is an aberrant creature, an unholy combination of xinlingren and tianhunren corporeal presences. More succinctly—a portion of his body is human, and the rest is made up of the substance that comprises the benevolent shadow-guardian spirits of the ganghuanzu species.
The exact circumstances of how he came to be remain rather unclear. What is known is that the demonic heiyao birthed him with the intention of creating an entity that could remain within the physical realm indefinitely, carrying out the murderous bidding of its masters without question, complaint, or the sort of hesitation borne of self-preservation. To this end he was granted not sapience, but rather the feral cunning of a predatory animal.
For a very long time Sekrikzhad wreaked havoc among the Ensouled Folk, killing and then disappearing without a trace. He came to be feared as a bogeyman of sorts, a cautionary tale used by parents to scare wayward children, a metaphorical explanation for the inexplicable disappearance of someone, the sort of thing nervous spacers checked the shadows again and again for while standing watch amid a darkened bridge with only softly glowing indicators for company. On occasion an adventurer or hero would organize an expedition to try and flush him out, only to return empty-handed (or not at all).
At some point he was unexpectedly—many believe unintentionally—awakened into soulhood; whether this happened through a particularly clever bit of tianhunren trickery or some sort of deeper, more fundamental liliu is widely debated among the sages even to this day. Along with sapience came an opening for him to choose—either to fully embrace the purpose for which he was created, or to turn his back upon what he was supposed to be. He will not tell anyone, to this day, why he picked the latter, and it is suspected he himself does not know.
As a penitent creature life has been exceptionally cruel to Sekrikzhad. The heiyao have predictably taken his awakening poorly, but at the same time very few are willing to see him as anything besides a monstrous abomination who has somehow lost the powers that once made him a terror. He has difficulty holding a conversation and needs to explicitly reason through empathy, neither occurring naturally to him. More than once he has been thrashed in grossly unfair fights before narrowly escaping or someone arriving to intervene on his behalf. Even so, he has never seriously considered returning to his former masters.
He relinquished the greater part of his former power upon turning traitor, and with it his most fearsome weapons. His most notable abilities are his unnatural strength and his ability to reform his shadowflesh into various types of limbs. He may also recover from the most severe of injuries, given sufficient time. Prior to his awakening he possessed the ability to meld into and hide within shadow, as well as a whip-like tongue that could supposedly kill a xinlingren by severing their spirit from its body.
Sekrikzhad is rather reluctant to part ways with the few people he has come to befriend and trust, and tries to be around them whenever possible. He retains some measure of his original bloodlust, but it is heavily tempered by a newfound sensitivity to pain. He resents being seen by his allies as merely a weapon or a tool for violence, and is happy whenever they try to get to know him better. He enjoys cooking (having before had to subsist on the rancid flesh of things he killed), textile crafts (because they allow him to practice the manual dexterity he lacks), and writing short missives (because he has an easier time putting his thoughts down on paper than speaking them out loud).
