Profile
The Red Knight
Absolver of the Heart
This is the only favor I will ask of you.
Deep within the wastes, far below the earth, the Beasts' Heart beats in time with ours. It is the Red Knight's duty to descend and clear the spawn. The meat that fills our stomachs is procured by them alone.
full name
?
alias
"red"
species
daemon
age
millennium
pronouns
they
height
166 cm / 5'5
birth
forgotten
role
civil servant
Notes
- We advise against iconography depicting the Red Knight with their right eye open. Helms, shadows, or other coverings are acceptable.
- The Red Knight always wears the following: The key to the Heart, alongside two tarnished, dangling earrings, upon their left ear. Black gloves of various makes.
- The Red Knight rarely appears in public without a red neck accessory.
- The scarring upon the Red Knight's lower face seems to inhibit their mouth's functions. They speak slowly, in short phrases, and have never been seen eating.
- The Red Knight is highly skilled at observational drawing, especially of artificial objects.
- We have much reason to believe that the Red Knight is a lesbian.
By their efforts, our peaceful days continue.
Overview
aloof . reserved . callous
The Red Knight possesses combat skills of the highest caliber. Moreover, they are an ancient being, one that knows more about us than we could ever understand of them. Any serious conflict with them would be met with devastation.
We are thus fortunate that the Red Knight—or "Red", as they've requested to be referred to in an informal context—is a nonthreatening character. Outside of their duties, they show little interest in anything besides exercise, drink, and the occasional woman. They are impassive towards the affection the public holds for them and rarely acknowledge the matter.
Red is notoriously difficult to converse with, being distant and brusque with most interlocutors. Whether they protect us out of goodwill remains a popular subject of debate.
Analysis
Four decades have passed since the Red Knight entered the arrangement with us. Since then, they have accomplished their duties without fail. We provide for their needs and they show no sign of discontent. Our requests of them are made out of necessity and good faith, values maintained by the extant review processes required of any proposition that would invoke the Red Knight.
Even before our arrangement, it is highly likely the Red Knight was working to protect us without our notice. It is therefore not unreasonable to propose that the Red Knight's protection relies not on our ability to satisfy them, but something outside our control.
All factors considered, we predict that the Red Knight will continue aiding us in the decade to come.
Records
Classification
A horned being was located in the region shortly after the Flame Beast disappeared. Unsure of whether it was human, we assumed Beast identification protocols and captured it by force. It was designated "The Red Knight" due to its humanoid appearance and the crimson weapons it carried.
Though initially mute, the Red Knight showed signs of being able to understand us. Within days, it spoke to its supervisors in a slow, halting rendition of our language. Extensive communication followed.
We asked it what it was—it answered, "A special kind of Beast." We asked if it was linked to the Flame Beast's death—it answered, "I killed him."
"I needed something from him. I can kill most things, including Beasts. No, these injuries aren't from a Beast. ... My injuries aren't a concern, so stop with the theorizing." It answered everything we asked, and we could find no evidence of untruth.
The Red Knight asked to meet our leaders. Given its cooperation, we permitted it audience provided it was properly restrained.
The meeting laid bare many misconceptions we held of the Red Knight. As soon as the door closed, it snapped its restraints, tossed the guards aside, and spoke, cold crimson blades appearing against the throats of any who dared interrupt—
Too rational to be Beast, too prescient to be human.
Partnership
"I'd like to suggest an arrangement."
"I'm sorry about the mess. I just got the impression..." [They pause. One of the hovering swords swats a particularly loud guard.] "... That you think of me as intelligent, but still subhuman. An exceptional Beast."
"Not fixing that mindset will get you all killed." [Many objections, quelled by a sharp, unified flourish from the swords.] "Do you know what's across the ocean? What the Priestess has done? The Beasts that plague you now are easy to kill because they're children. With the Priestess's rituals, they won't stay children much longer."
"They'll come for the Heart someday. I'm the best countermeasure you'll get. Give me the key to the Heart, and I pledge my protection to you until the world ends or the Priestess disappears."
"... You doubt me. That's fair." [They fall silent for a bit.] "How about this: Besides protecting you from the Priestess you're not concerned about, I'll contain the Beasts emerging from the Heart. You've noticed them multiplying, haven't you?"
"Your counter-Beast forces are overwhelmed. You've been struggling with famine for years. Let me reside near the Heart, and I'll supply you with properly procured Beast meat. As long as the Heart beats, your people will never go hungry again." [They extend a hand.]
"... You look disgusted. It's actually pretty good. Better protein than they've had in years."
[We asked The Red Knight how we would know if they'd keep their end of the arrangement. They smiled. We had never seen them make such an expression.]
"You'll just have to trust me."
Favor
The Red Knight proved trustworthy. With their assistance, our food shortages disappeared. The Beasts emerging from the Heart multiplied as predicted, yet not a single legitimate threat made it out of the caverns. Our situation stabilized.
The Red Knight approached us shortly after.
They brought hundreds of images with them, all depicting low-priority objects we had yet to determine the functions of. They asked we turn all such objects over to them, along with any similar ones located in the future.
They said, "This is the only favor I will ask of you."
"I'm not very smart, so there's a lot I might be forgetting right now. We'll have to amend the specifics in the future. I ask that you trust me when the time comes."
"I promise that if you indulge this request, I will never ask anything of you again."
We agreed to incorporate their request into the arrangement. True to their word, the Red Knight has yet to approach us in this manner again. However, it should be noted that they made a single non-trivial appeal a decade later: for us to begin burying things along the shores.
Deference
The Red Knight proposed the burials following the first signs of hostility we received from the Priestess. After we approved, they directed the process, organizing what they referred to as "packages" and designating where each was to go. Each package contained two components: assorted instances of the objects under the Red Knight's discretion, and containers of the Red Knight's blood.
We did not understand what purpose the burials served. The situation was highly uncertain, and the Red Knight had given us no reason to doubt them.
The Priestess's Procession appeared on the ocean four months later. Towering Beasts drew near the eastern shore, transforming from spots on the horizon to looming silhouettes blocking out the sun.
The Red Knight arrived on the fifth day.
They asked us what the situation was. We obliged. They were quiet, then nodded and turned away as the objects we'd buried began to rise from the ground.
Dust and earth poured from their metallic frames, each worn far beyond expiration, animated by—we would only find out afterwards—the Red Knight's will. Crimson veins crept along every available surface, their eerie pulsing synchronized with the rise and fall of the Red Knight's chest.
We could not see the insides of the once-buried things, but we could hear their groaning, sighing, as the veins directed each hollow appendage to face the Procession. As the last one fell into place, we entered a hushed reverie. A hundred cold bodies on the coast. A hundred dark eyes lining the shore.
We waited in silence as the Procession drew near.
Then there was—
——a slight tremor in their hands, an alien sound uttered as they thrust their arm out to the sea——
—A hundred crashes of thunder.
The Procession screamed, rivers of lifeblood bursting forth from its flesh, the air thickening with its agonized cries. The Red Knight watched motionlessly, expressionlessly, before giving the signal again. We knew to cover our ears this time.
A hundred roars of fire. A hundred more death throes.
We understood the objects before us—objects the Red Knight wielded as second nature—were weapons, tools whose sole purpose was to destroy.
The encounter lasted ten minutes and forty-seven seconds. When the last of the Procession's movement ceased, the Red Knight crumpled and kneeled upon the ground. Their veins splashed to the earth as bloodstains on the sand.
The Red Knight refused all treatment, eventually getting to their feet and staggering off. Days later, they ordered countless new containers of blood to be delivered to the coast.
They neglected to mention the weapons used on the Procession. We buried them once more.
Evaluation
Knight
Butcherer
strength
intelligence
will
constitution
mobility
magic
luck
charisma
faith
wealth
Arms Demon
The Red Knight is capable of using their bodily matter to create temporary, fully functional copies of all manners of weapons. Their deployment of firearms, a category they previously labeled "too demanding", has increased significantly since first contact. It seems that with time, many such restrictions on their ability have proved bypassable.
Weaponized ProprioceptionThe Red Knight can "feel" pre-existing weapons within their vicinity and fire any ranged weapons without physical contact. Properly extracted and relocated bodily matter, e.g. the Red Knight's blood, expands this sense. The Red Knight may discharge firearms leagues away from their physical body through use of these "extensions". This capacity was realized recently and has yet to have its full potential explored.
One-Man MilitarizationBy planting large amounts of their blood alongside pre-existing weapons, the Red Knight may animate and operate a deadly military force when present at the location. Currently, they must rest for extensive periods of time after active use of this ability. The Red Knight has stated that the blood they extract for this purpose "ties them down further", yet insists we continue burying their blood and weapons along the shores.
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