Lai Shen

Needs humanized

- An enigmatic man who has a habit of more or less showing up in places where questionable shit is either about to happen or is happening; rather like a bad omen of sorts. This reputation follows him and he is not well received by most towns or villages because of their superstitions.
- Seems? Harmless for the most part. Actually he rarely seems very aware of what's going on at all, he probably couldn't tell you his own name on a good day. Seems to have some issues with memory and retention of information. Can point you in the direction of people doing shit they shouldn't be though, weirdly aware of things that are 'bad'
- Kind of an airhead
- Many make the mistake of thinking he's an easy target for mugging, and then end up dropped on their ass. Comes as an unfortunate surprise to most to find out that he does know a fair amount of martial arts and short of another martial artist he wouldn't be easy to rob.
- Fairly placid personality, if you don't start shit with him he won't get violent with you. Something of a mirror, you'll get what you give with him.
- Man's energy is demonic, though it seems relatively contained and on the low end - giving the impression that he's a relatively low rank cultivator if anything
- Doesn't carry a sword of any kind, nor a fan or the usual weapons of cultivators. Honestly half the time he seems to travel around unarmed
- In all actuality he is a great demon lord, but after his last great battle with righteous sects several hundred years prior his core ended up damaged and as a result his Qi is in a constant state of strong deviation. No one seems to recognize him in his current state, and since he doesn't appear to pose a threat; he's largely left alone to wander around
- Practiced necromancy and other forbidden and dark magics. Even before his Qi deviation delving into such taboo realms affected both his mental and physical state.
- No one actually remembers his name; he's just Lai 黎 Shen 神 - for Black Spirit (or Deity) for his tendency of being a fucking creep
- Historically the scapegoat for the problems of several villages; he has been blamed for everything ranging from fires, to crop failures to plagues. Not actually the cause behind these things but try explaining that to local yokels
- Certifiable weirdo (Tm)
- Necromancy ability is so strong he doesn't just need a body to revive, he can reconstruct bodies from surrounding elements so long as there's a nearby spirit to attach to it and puppet. Bodies don't always come back quite in their original form.
- A surprising extrovert tbh - he likes being around other people. Not the average brooding edgelord you might expect
- It's said he gained the ability to turn into a monstrous form when he transcended a certain level of his demonic cultivation; his dive into things like necromancy stripping him of his humanity
- Born during a time when great wars between sects were common, as were great wars between kingdoms. Death was everywhere. Refugees suffered and struggled to find any sort of stability. The suffering around him influenced his cultivation and desire to see it all stop, as well as to bring back the unjustly slain. Everything started off with nothing but good intentions on the demon lord's part but ended with him in a very different place than intended.
- Doesn't look like it but he's old (tm)
- Absorbs negative and demonic energy from others, sort of like a vampire. Uses it presumably in an attempt to repair his core
- Despite his willingness to end any and all fights that come his way, he's anti-violence in his own way. At the very least he doesn't seem to go out of his way to start things with other people, but inevitably problems always seem to just arise around him
- A very good dancer; it has a lot to do with his martial arts in general, as well as how his cultivation works
- Frequents high foot traffic areas and places with high human energy. Markets, brothels, theatres and the like where he can sit and take in the ambient energy.
- Suspiciously good at anything that involves gambling.
- Loves noodle dishes; doesn't matter what form they take
- Will eat other people's cores, but generally only those who fuck around with him too much. Also has a taste for demonic cultivator's cores.