Paleknight Guide

[Zarsies 6024]

[[Beware, this guide is subject to change. Enjoy!]]

 

Paleknight Dolmar and Barrowlord Uldrivt.

 

Overview:

 

Paleknights, spirits bound to stone armor through a ritual of Mysticism, are colossal guardians of unyielding will, immense endurance and great fortitude. They are rightfully encumbered by their own size and lack the swiftness and agility of numerous other entities. As per their darker origins, these knight-errants are susceptible to the throes of undeadism, including a weakness to holy magic, shamanistic spirits, alteration, and Fi’  by which they may be felled with much greater ease than by a pummeling of fireballs or a flurry of blades.

 

Appearance:

 

Paleknights are constructed of Menhir, stone pillars or obelisks of varying design and carvings which are imbued with a saturation of ectoplasm -- the ethereal substance of close relation to spectral entities. During the end of the eidolon liturgy a Wight and mystic perform upon a person, their freed soul is bound to the to-be Paleknights Menhir and locks them within the rock. Their soul then harnesses the abundant ectoplasm and is anchored amongst the spectral soup within and shapes the construct; by having no form of design or limitation beyond the usual structure Paleknights follow, the end product -- the Paleknight -- is unlike any previous or to be entity born from the process. Their souls fabricate the new body and accompanying weapon out of their own identity, meaning one Paleknight may be birthed with large, bulbous plates with a misshapen and asymmetrical framing alongside an unruly and bent club while another may be birthed with keen, sharp, and many-layered plates in a scale-like manner alongside two lengthy and jagged falchions. The aesthetic of the armor may be of any design but the Paleknight will never be quick or of any degree of dexterity no matter their armor; their size is a constant.

 

While made of stone, Paleknights are drenched in ectoplasm. This gives them their spectral traits, including a dull, glowing aura as a byproduct of Gleaming just as any ghost or Graven may experience. For Paleknights, their Gleaming does not bring about a look of rot and decay, for they lack flesh to interact with. Instead, Paleknights softly glow with an azure-blue to teal and lime to sage-green. This churning texture can, unlike most other phantoms, be subdued and suppressed at will. A knight may willingly lose their glow as they wish in order appear as mere stone, a harrowing statue. Alongside a usual motionless and appropriately stoney demeanor, losing their glow allows knights a degree of stealth; few can question the sight of eerie effigies and sculptures within the darker crevices of the world.

 

As hollow shells of rock, Paleknights have no inner light and are subsequently shadowed within.

 

Due to their physical nature, tangible additions to a Paleknights armor is possible. Some may choose to adopt furs, coats, cloaks, drapes, robes, and other such cloths and hides to obscure or decorate their bodies. Chains, sashes, satchels, and other such accessories or utilities are also potential items for knights to add to their person.

 

Just as the body may scar, so may the mind; and where there is no body -- only the mind present -- harm comes in stranger forms. Paleknights may take on scars upon their armor such as chips, cuts, cracks, and so on even after they lose their body and regenerate. This is because of the experience of battle and what it leaves upon a Paleknight’s metaphysical cranium; traumatized or mentally wounded by battle, the present state of the Paleknight’s mind reproduces their husks with potential damage and flaws.

 

Paleknights vary in height according to the race they were previously, as their soul’s projection will relate to their original race, but the scale of size ranged from seven to nine feet with eight being the most common and being rarely exceeded.

 

Behavior:

 

Just as any phantom, mental disorders permeate the race of spectral undead and perpetuate numerous forms of insanity amongst their ilk. The severity and nature of this disorder can vary greatly, however common ones list: identity conflict, clinical depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, and dementia; depression and dementia are the most common of all.

 

Paleknights, as creations of Mysticism, are prone to dreary, gloomy, and disgruntled dispositions. It is a task for knights to find what brings them happiness by which some may discover to be through vanguarding a personally significant location, meditating underwater, servitude, or even murder. The company, compassion, and counsel of other undead such as the Paleknight’s fathering Wight brings comfort to these knights, but long bouts without guidance can lead to prolonged periods of mental disrepair to which less and less may soothe their woes. The steady mind of a Paleknight requires a degree of social interaction from other undead and an extent of veneration from their makers.

 

In the face of a command, processed by the unsteady but otherwise unhindered mind of a Paleknight, orders are likened to compulsions. The unyielding urge to follow by call of their makers causes for a sense of satisfaction to brew within knights upon the attempt or completion of a given task, for their use as servants gives them purpose -- something all phantoms crave and have great difficulty tending to alone. The moral background of a Paleknight’s previous life blurs in the face of a command; while conscious and aware, the satisfaction and comfort of following an order outweighs what a Paleknight can control if given by their making Wight. A making mystic to Paleknights share this weight in words where a command comes as something wished to be followed but by a mystic may be, on rare cases, resisted or refuted. In conflicting situations where one order defies another, the newest order given by the highest authority trumps the previous and lesser; should a mystic tell a Paleknight to kill a Wight, the Paleknight will not should he Wight tell them so before or after the mystic’s command.

 

Socially, knights are despondent. Like most other phantoms they are not keen on tavern-going or tea-party-having. By free will a Paleknight will not take on a friendship with a child or assist a band of brigands in raiding. The company of mortal kind makes Paleknights uneasy, unsettled, and maybe even disturbed. The company of undead -- especially those related to ectoplasm such as phantoms and mystics -- relieves Paleknights and allows their hearts to settle. The discomfort offered by nearby mortal life and foreign entities drives Paleknights to avoid them if possible or, if pushed to the conclusion, dispatch them.

 

Traits:

 

As phantoms, Paleknights bear weakness to the interaction of holy magic, shamanistic spirits, alteration, and Fi’ but not aurum weaponry. Holy magic purges their very being by the will of an Aengul or Daemon, spirits of shamanism are among a similar state of being and may physically tear apart the spirit of the Paleknight, alteration and Fi’ may drain the mana from their ectoplasm and cause them to ‘decompose’ and lose their anchor, but for aurum weaponry to strip the lifeforce from their ectoplasm they must strike a tangible form and the Paleknights lack that. Any of these methods will reduce a Paleknight far more efficiently than a sword or arrow; without flesh to singe or maim, knights typically come rumbling into a situation.

 

A warhammer, pickaxe, or other blunt or piercing weapons would work well against a Paleknight’s stone armor so long as the strikes are strong enough to crack and eventually shatter plates.

 

Due to ectoplasm’s composition including mana and lifeforce, Paleknights may be drained by a necromancer, however it is not a crippling weakness.

 

Fire and air evocation only suppress Paleknights and do not outright harm them. Earth evocation (boulders, gravel, etc.), water evocation (ice), and electrical evocation (lightning bolts) pose much larger threats; beatings from large rocks, freezing limbs or joints, or forceful bolts could each be used to battle a Paleknight.

 

Paleknights are without blood and cannot be felled by venom or abuse by blood magic.

 

The strength and endurance of a Paleknight rivals that of golems whose slowness is also mirrored. Knights are capable of crushing men and enduring exceptionally long travels or carrying large weights. They may use unusually large or dense weapons because of this.