Sol Sunderkin

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Name: Sol Sunderkin
Title(s): Little One, Apprentice of Mizrahi, The Artificer
Location: The Road, Triumvirate Temple, Exigo Trading Post, Mirakus Post
Birthplace: Unknown
Age: 22
Race: Halfling
Gender: Female
Deity: Unspecified
Alignment: Unspecified

Her pale skin is notably covered entirely with various wards, seals, and glyphs. The intricate markings are etched deep into her flesh, as if to keep something locked away within, and bear both arcane and divine intricacies. Vivid red eyes pierce your gaze as her snake-like irises scrutinize you with distant interest. Her right arm appears to be wholly rebuilt, a golden-hued mechanical prosthetic in its place. The fingers click together frequently, as if anxiously awaiting their next task.

I. The Beginnings
Sol Sunderkin was born in a land that is not within her memory, nor any known person to date. The people she would call "family" had actually banished her from their kind as a result of her supposed cursed bloodline, a dark ancestry which was feared and loathed. Though she was an only child to this particular family, their clan had warned of such a prophesied event having occurred in the past and with horrific consequence. Immediately after an arduous birth, the babe had begun to manifest signs of which they had all dreaded---serpentine eyes, a deathlike palor, and a presence which unsettled even nearby livestock. It was kept secret from the clan by her mother who would not abandon her child for any cost. However it was only after the clan had noticed the family's suspicious behavior that they were forcefully investigated, discovering the true nature of their deceitfulness. Sol was to be destroyed by orders of the clan elders in ceremonial fire, but her mother could not bear her child to suffer such a fate. Instead she had devised a plan of action, although hugely without chance of success, and painfully discarded the babe within a tradesman's wagon. "Perhaps," she had thought, "my child would find a place that had no knowledge of this. Perhaps she could live a normal life." It was a chance she was willing to take, though the clan however was not. She was burned just as her daughter would have been, along with anyone suspected of assisting. The clan's numbers dwindled, eventually disappearing in entirety.

Years had passed as she traveled the lands. The tradesman had done all he could within his power to tend to the wailing child he had discovered in his wagon that morn. He was forced to bring her to the mercy of the streets, though a kind family within the slums took her in to join their already growing family. They were poor and dirty, but worked hard and were optimistic towards their plight. The call of the town's riches had reached Sol's ears and the drive to obtain had grown. She'd joined with a group of ruffians promising wealth and protection, for certain duties to their benefit. Her interests had been to provide for her family, though things turned out otherwise. After participating in the group's events she had come to a point where she could no longer stand that their simple thievery out of necessity had advanced into the rape, murder, and pillaging of innocent people. Her time within this group had come to an end and she abandoned them before she could be slain, or worse, for defecting.

II. Arrival in Sundren
It had been several weeks since her escape that she had boarded a ship heading to a place called Sundren. It was mildly unusual for her, the dockside and the marine atmosphere, and was also her first time on such a vessel. Her path had taken her to meet a paladin by the name of Hano, whose tasks within the land were well-known. Seeing as he regularly attracted trouble, Sol frequently shadowed him in hopes to learn more about him. She'd discovered that Hano played a great deal in keeping the lands of Sundren safe, which she ultimately admired. Hano had also shown a keen interest in Sol after she had assisted him several times in his duties, though on her part it was mostly because trouble regularly hounded him. His firm appreciation and faith in her abilities was something she had never been awarded before, despite her appearance and previous activities. More and more she had dedicated herself to Hano's cause, to protect Sundren, and she had traveled with him often.

It was during this time that the severity of Sundren's troubles had crashed down upon the land. Hano and his companion, Tamryn, had been at their wits' end doing more than they could to keep their footing as protectors. However, Tamryn had suffered severe injuries from an encounter with their enemies, placing great strain on the Triumvirate. The Hands of Mundus had recognized the duty embodied within Hano and Tamryn as instruments of Sundren's vitality. For this, the Right had sent a golem construct to watch over the recovering Tamryn. It was called Divinium, a prototype among the Hands usual workings, and drew great interest for Sol. Never before had she seen such a thing in actuality, though her knowledge of mechanics had assisted her countless times in deconstructing and reconstructing various traps. Upon examination and experimentation with the strange construct device she became completely enthused with golems and their creation. After a bit of tampering she was able to completely disarm and shut down the golem after dislodging a power crystal within its core. The Hands immediately responded, returning to their golem to examine the problem and finding Sol the perpetrator. Fortunately, the Hands were rather impressed at her ability and began to investigate her thoroughly. It was then the she had begun to pursue the knowledge and means to devise her own creation, however frequently ran into issues that were beyond her power. The most she could do was at the time work for Exigo constructing Slicers, which further advanced her understanding and ability regarding their design. She had nearly given up on her quest to learn the art of golem crafting when she was approached by the creators of Divinium, Mizrahi and Kharhaz. Though Mizrahi dismissed her tampering as child's play he was rather curious as to how she was able to activate repressed programming in the prototype. This certainly peaked his interests as well as his irritability, though Kharhaz had observed Sol's determination and suggested she become an apprentice of the Hands. Mizrahi had completely dismissed the notion as a jest, having never taken a student nor wishing to, he returned them to their previous duties immediately. She was left with simply knowning that to advance, she would need to pursue other avenues.

III. Hands of Mundus
Her interests then shifted to learning the arcane arts. Tome after tome had been delved through within the libraries and archives, though she had little success in actually performing the arcana on her own. However, it was not until later on in her progression that Mizrahi had returned to assess her usefulness. Mizrahi had approached her amidst her studies with the usual air of repulsion towards her, offering her the opportunity to become his apprentice but at the cost of giving up everything she had honed her skills toward before. She assumed it an impossible task, but was reminded of the rarity of such an occassion as the Hands were not keen on apprenticeship, and agreed upon the offer. Soon she had began working exclusively under his rule and tutelidge, learning all that she possibly could find until her Master was satisfied with the progression. Though he was rarely satisfied if anything at all with her advancement. To appease his notions of training he frequently released her from her studies to test the fruits of his teaching.

Her affiliation with the Right had begun to root as she learned more of her teacher, as well as the aformentioned Kharhaz. Not only of their personal lives but of their activities within the organization. It had only been infrequent that she had come into contact with a specialized, supposedly "sentient" golem, labeled "Sindron." She was reminded that there was none like it and it was the first of its kind, a testament to Sundren's capabilities. Though she was hugely advised not to explore the means as to its engineering and creation. The notion was obeyed to an extent as Sindron often seemed to try to communicate with her on the field, though usually little was understood. It was not until the construct began to impose visions, memories even, into Sol's consciousness that she was forced to report against her advised courses of action. With much reluctance her happenings were investigated, granting some insight into Sindron's origins and the occurrence of the transferred memories. Kharhaz had taken it onto himself to explain the situation, recounting critical information withheld from her by the Hands. It was explained that Sindron housed an actual soul, though it was not created---it was taken and bound to the construct. The mere thought of such an atrocious action burned into her mind with a seething hatred towards her order, an order supposedly dedicated to the well-being of Sundren and the protection of its people. It was advised she keep quiet about it although she was unable to restrain her animosity---lashing out at her teacher and the order. Though her efforts to rebel fell in vain she had learned that to protect Sundren had certain costs. Costs which the people Sundren were willing to pay, such as Kharhaz. He began to explain his invitation into the project, how his soul was cracked into two and used to give Sindron sentience, yet at the cost of taking with it many of his memories. These memories were just as his soul, split in two and divided among both he and Sindron. He offered Sol his own memories, revealing his punishment by the Hands and his becoming the Harbinger of Justice, and completing the puzzle.

Her time as an apprentice was beginning to reach its end. Many tasks had been ordered of her to complete the process at Mizrahi's tutelage. Mizrahi often recounted that the dissertation was likely the single most important action an apprentice could prepare for in the Hands. Her teacher had impressed continuously that the Hands of Mundus only allowed arcanists of exceptional skill and power to join rank. Her decision was to focus on her abilities as a golem engineer, which essentially allowed her to properly utilize every school of arcana if done properly. However she wished to not only devise a construct, but one of the same nature as Sindron. Such things were not easily achieved yet her training had proved to be entirely beneficial to the tasks at hand. With the help of Kharhaz she was able to procure a sliver of Sindron's soul which she bound to her own construct during the examination by each of the Hand's sides. The event had impressed the order, allowing her to become a Hand of the Right.

IV. Mirumoto Akagi
Coming soon...

V. The Unbound Blade
The land of Sundren had yet to face its last opposition. A new opponent had risen during her trials and its heroes gathered as well. Vachbathus had risen, a powerful demon, as well as his challenger, Snow Hawk. Playing less a part in direct action due to her duties as a Hand the most she could participate was to offer her services to those deemed capable. As part of the Right assisting much with arcane capability was almost beyond their reasoning, so it was only to be a course of action during troubled times---a last resort. The warrior Snow Hawk had approached her with determination, entrusting her with an honorary blade which had never left is sheathe. He had wished to infuse the sword with power enough to slay Vachbathus, though it was not promised the paragon blade would survive the process. Sol had deemed Snow's actions within the lands worthy of wielding such a power against Sundren's enemies, though was frightened as to the result of such an empowered artifact could achieve. Her mind focused to Sundren's safety as well as Snow's part in that, the only champion capable of slaying the demon, as she began the painstaking process of enchantment. The sword yielded well to the volatile energies melded into its core though not without an exhausting and timely battle of fatigue. With her last expulsion of stamina The Unbound Blade was brought into existence, still cracking within its sheath with fury---fused with the elements of the land, the bane of Sundren's enemies.

However, before it were to be used it was drawn before its intended purpose. It had come to know battle well ahead of its designated opponent, Vachbathus, the demon of which Snow was entrusted to slay. Sol had become highly aware of this, noting that it had merely become a tool to be used against others. It had dawned on her what a horrid idea it had been to put such faith in any being to wield such a thing and she focused her attention on destroying the blade after its goal was completed. Relations between Sol and Snow grew rather grim involving their conflicting ideals over the use of the blade as well as other matters. It had finally come to a point where Snow had labeled her as his enemy after she had assisted a known fugitive, though an ally, in his escape from the Exigo. He had challenged her, more or less forced her, into a "duel of honor" to sate his ideals of justice. She had no interest in combating what she assumed was her ally but was forced into action when he drew The Unbound Blade against her. It was all she could do but to rend herself invisible to his sight, yet he hounded after her---slicing the air where she stood. The enchanted edges hit their mark, flaying the skin in majestic bolts of primal energy as Sol fell to the ground in waste.

VI. Signs of the Cursed
Hours had persisted in darkness before she awoke once more. A ferocious pain ripped through her entire body as she tried to sit forward. It was as though fire seared through her veins leaving her blood a thick ash to be uselessly dredged. Mirumoto sat in the middle of the room soaking a blood-encrusted cloth in a water basin. She had not wanted to concern him with the severity of her condition, yet her thoughts only remained on destroying the artifact she had carelessly entrusted to another. It had been meant for a greater purpose, to slay a great evil, though turned against its creator maliciously. It had come to enjoy battle and to drink the blood of its enemies---tainted, she thought. Her thoughts dwindled on the promise her companion had made to her, entrusting his life and service, and if she would also misuse him. Never would she do such a thing with what she had learned from this experience, she thought.

The sickness continued to persist to the point of complete degradation of otherwise simple tasks. Frequently she would enter fits of coughing as blood poured from her lips, leaving her paler than normal and without the stamina to care. Darkened black veins surfaced under her flesh which trailed from her wounds to the extremities of her body. They had continued to crawl with each passing day as the symptoms worsened and anemia quickly rooted itself. It was not until Mizrahi had visited with an unusually placed concern for her health that it was officially investigated. With little speculation the condition was a result of the artifact's power effecting her vital systems, having poisoned her blood. Though the sword was just as deadly to any mortal its effects had been specifically catered to abolishing demonkin and therefor should only manifest in that case. Therefor it was investigated and concluded that Sol did possess the qualification of falling under the blade's energies as Mizrahi revealed her distant bloodline after ritual preparation---the source of her raw talent, tanar'ri lineage. It was such a distant relation as to warrant her neither weakness or strength of the kind, but the artifact had tasted her blood as otherwise. Her physical manifestations were apparent enough, yet verified now, and the condition would only worsen until she were reduced to nothing.

VII. Staying Death
News of Vachbathus' defeat littered the gossip of the lands in the coming days, though inviting little relief to Sol's deteriorating condition. The Unbound Blade was said to have been destroyed when lodged into the heart of the demon. It was a great relief to her consciousness, a mistake she would never make again, though she wondered as to the fate of Snow. There had been little talk of his whereabouts and her illness had taken priority. Her right arm suffered such tremendous damages from her affliction that it was entirely unusable now. Though simply an ashen piece of dead flesh it was not removed without great pain, and replaced shortly after with a mechanical prosthetic. Sol's extensive knowledge of golem engineering had at least been able to benefit her this much---a usable arm. Mizrahi had expressed that there were only a few ways in which they could quell the effects of the curse. It were to be this or else her fate were to be rebuilding atrophied limbs until her eventual death. In haste, they organized all possible avenues of treatment until settling on a particular method that was sure to at least slow down the current process of degradation.

The efforts of Hano, Mirumoto, and Osclow assisted in obtaining the needed information for the ritual. It is even said that a particular Red Wizard was sympathetic, against penalties worse than death, and allowed specific secrets regarding Thayan tattoos to be "stolen", although it was never assumed o be discovered. With the components gathered the test was yet to really begin as Hano had volunteered to perform the act of sealing the curse. As with most dangerous ceremonies the chance of death was wholly a valid concern when the ritual knife was raised to Sol's flesh. Horrific screams tore through the Triumvirate and out into the streets until finally ceasing into chilling echoes as she had succumb to exhaustion. Each intricate rune had to be expertly carved into Sol's flesh deep enough to reach the infection to be useful. Within these grievous wounds a sacred, concecrated ink was to be poured until it filled each trench. Days would pass until any results could be noted as progress.