Laurence [D&D]

Please note he is a separate entity from Laurence Rys (I physically become ill if I have more than 1 oc so I had to name him the same I'm sorry  )

My edgelord D&D character in my friend's campaign Destiny's Elegy!

The campaign takes place in the newly accessible continent of Eleroth, previously separated from the rest of the world by massive storms that shroud the coast. The invention of airships has allowed people to bypass these storms, and exploration of the continent was seen as a good way to make your fortune. Finding themselves in the territory of Solanum, the largest city state on Eleroth, the party begins work for a lowly group of mercenaries known as the Devil Toads, but after most of the group/the leader takes off during a mass ambush, the party of 8 form their own group named The Hippocratic Threat.

Party: 

• Xavier Komplecs - Human ranger/artificer (bunny familiar Flibs) 
• Philonius Shattershield - Human Paladin of Lor
• Veldar von Gale - High Elf sorceror/warlock (Genie)
• Emma Starr - Human wizard (Illusion)
• Laurence - Variant Human bloodhunter (now revealed as undead) 
• Drift - Air Genasi rogue/scout
• Dante - Tiefling warlock (Fiend)
• Maghara - Half Orc Cleric
• Ollavitinus - Selkie Monk (Drunken Master)
• Jago/Beaky - Bugbear/Giant Owl Ranger (Beast Conclave) 
• Remy - Ratfolk rouge 

Role/Abilities: 

• Great axe melee fighter
• Wielder of lots of very questionable necrotic/shadowy/blood magics 
• Glass cannon turned party tank for his squishy party members
• Volatile mass healer with great risk to self
• Able to summon a Form of Dread to bolster his vitality and frighten enemies
• Puppeteer of the recently fallen and unknowing soul eater (think of him like a portable pokeball: he can summon any soul that he has consumed at the cost of health)
• The Axe and Cloak are sentient and independent from his conscious, evolve with consumption of souls

Undead nature: 

• Requires a tincture from the life domain combined with holy oil to maintain his human form every week
• Falling behind on the tincture loses that illusion, allows the shadows to overtake his body and dull his senses
• He is clearly no longer human without the tincture for 2 weeks, but gains unnatural strength (picture 2)
• Gains resistance to necrotic and slashing damage, but vulnerable to radiant damage

Main inventory: 

• Shadow Great Axe, insists on the name "Axe" 
• BIG shadowy fur cloak, goes by "Florence" 
• Pin on cloak depicting unknown iconography an altered symbol of the Dawnmar 
• Light crossbow
• Ritual Dagger used for blood magic (with similarities to the pin) - the weapon used in his murder
• Vials of strange pale liquid

Personality:

• Loner, reserved, distrusting, morbid, apathetic, blunt _{what poor bedside manner...}
• Wow! He doesn't smile _{haha who would have thought}
• Put ALL his points into intimidation _{(accidentally)}
• Reflexively protects people to the point of self-sacrificing despite not caring for others (it's a habit he is really trying to break)
• IF you gain his trust he will protect/fight to the death on your behalf 
• If you betray that trust only his death or your death will stop him 
• HATES being indebted to others
• You will not catch him dead asking for help, highly values his dignity/nor does he ever expect anyone to help him  
• Compliment him/say he looks cool if you dare _{(is he flustered/blushing or am I imagining things)}
• Frequently forgets how terrifying he looks (Tall, menacing, shadowy cloaked guy with HUGE axe) and acts as if he should just be a normal person
• Is... fond of birds...... 

Background: 

• Has a funky affliction that he puts a lot of effort into hiding 
• Now revealed to the party as an undead, kept in control/human via special tinctures containing holy oil
• Knows abyssal, deep speech, infernal, common 
• In his previous life, he practised as a doctor with no magical capacity at all, limiting his ability to become a cleric and such studied material medicine. Despite this, he excelled in his country's academy and was chosen to be an apprentice of a well-known and capable cleric who had been looking for ways to prevent an impending plague, fuelled by the vast disparity between the working and wealthy class.
• Has no recollection of how events turned out, but was likely/unknowingly coerced before his death into a corrupted group following the ways of an ancient warrior cleric group known as the Dawnmar. 
• Woke with a dagger in his chest and access to magic, but in a twist of cruel irony was only able to cast necrotic spells
• Feels the world has completely abandoned him and as such is fiercely independent, however still has that annoying subconscious urge to uphold his Hippocratic Oath (even tho he broke it a long time ago). It makes him bitter to know that he cannot help but unconsciously seek to help others but never seems to have anyone at his back 
• Previously under the belief that he had lost all his loved ones, he has recently discovered that his sister may have been taken instead and taken to the centre of the continent

Extras: 

• Tall (6'2 with heels, 6'1 without)
• That's not mascara
• Cloak reflects of a lot of his magic - becomes a void mass of eyes/teeth/arms when casting Arms of Hadar or healing
• Bleeds normal red blood when human, blood turns tarry and inky the closer to undead he becomes
• Yes. I said to myself and my friends how edgy can I make this motherfucker and cranked the lever to 11

Design notes: 

• Does not smile
• Face is ALWAYS covered in BLACK shadow/dripping a black substance. Its not simply a lighting choice.
• Eyes can be shown interchangeably, he has both its more a stylistic choice when I choose to show one or two
• Pupils are always thin/small
• Has a very faint pattern on his cloak (low opacity simple seamless floral decor) but don't mind if you dont include it! 
• Claw gauntlet on right arm, short glove with bandages on left arm