Background

Kei was born into a minor noble family, where he grew up learning arcana and music. While he followed magic more than music, always sneaking off to try a new spell, music always followed him. He found a place in the court as a musician, and his friendly demeanor made him a welcome sight. Kei always wanted more, always wanted to learn and explore and feel the sun warming his skin. In his late teenage years, he set out to wandering on occasion, straying further and further from his home as he grew stronger.

Present

Magic was always fascinating to Kei, endlessly so. He initially studied more arcane spells, arcana specifically-until he found an old book on necromancy, and followed it until he found he could commune with ghosts and spirits of the dead-help them find what they were missing, or help them find rest. Sometimes they would aid him, and sometimes they simply had a story to share. Eventually, he found he could rebind and animate the dead, have them fight alongside him when he needed to call. A favor for a favor, and a requiem to soothe a spirit lost in its rage. After a few years of helping spirits and souls Kei had a large network to call on, and his own abilities kept growing ever stronger.

Unfortunately, it also caught him attention-some of it, not so favorable. There were many who were grateful, but many more who shunned such blatant use of necromancy, calling it blasphemy. As his reputation grew, so did his infamy. He was impish, a rogue, a scoundrel, charming everyone he came across and swaying upstanding citizens.

It's said he could be seen at night, dancing with the dead under the moon.

It started with the occasional attack-at first it was bandits, then a lone assassin, then a small adventuring party that Kei was able to talk down. They were still green, and he had no reason to want to fight them. He learned that someone had set a price on his head-but he never learned who.

Eventually, a group of bounty hunters came for him, when the price grew too great. Too many to fight off, no one who would come to help, cut off from his otherworldly help-In desperation, Kei did the only thing he could. He summoned an army of zombies, tearing up through the ground as the party after him stared on in horror. They were ripped apart, the horde shredding through them as if through paper. It was the most powerful spell Kei had ever cast-one he couldn't control. Before long, they turned on him, and no one remained to hear his screams as they tore him limb from limb. His death was not quick enough to stop him from seeing one of them rip out his heart.

After

Kei had plenty of experience with spirits unable to move on. Most had died violent deaths, while some were simply looking for something so they could move on. Kei never thought he'd be one of them. He stayed stuck to the sigil he'd carried with him, never able to wander too far from where it sat. It ended up in the nearby village, and he was forced to watch as the horde he'd raised tore through every inhabitant. There he lingered, waiting for something-anything-to happen.

Life is boring when you're dead. Kei lost track of time, lost interest in seeing what he could move or do-and he certainly didn't want to go outside and face one of the zombies that had killed him. His sigil sat inside of a desk drawer, and he started to count the days in the dust gathering on the surface.

Eventually, something changed. He heard footsteps, moving with purpose--none of the shuffling and groaning of the undead. A woman burst into the building, slamming the rotting door behind her. It seemed like she was being pursued, if her ragged breathing was anything to go by. That door wouldn't hold them long, when they reached it. Kei stood and watched curiously as she tore the room apart. She was looking for something. She opened the drawer and found it, hand clasping around Kei's sigil right as the first zombie rattled the door on its hinges. He could feel the spark of magic in her through the seal, weak and untrained as it was-and he reached for it. He offered to lend her some of his power, if she'd take him out of there, out of that godforsaken room. As the door fell, she took it.

Kei was never skilled with such magic.

Take him out she did, into her own body and mind. The young changeling was lost, and Kei had no time to ruminate on his mistakes with the zombies pouring into the room. His own power was quickly fading, too much to sustain with such an inexperienced soul-but enough to wipe out the three advancing on him and run.

KKei has yet to find out who his ill-fated savior was, and has only just realized he is no longer human.