Crux

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Crux

The Void-touched sadboi's appearance during the events of Quelmar in Space Season 1.

Relatives	Unknown
Languages	Common (Station 6)
Affiliations	VOID
Marital Status	Single (Love-Rhombus)
Place of Birth	Station 6
Species	Giantfolk
Gender	Male (He/Him)
Height	90 in.
Weight	330 lbs.
Eye Color	Dark Brown

Gammus Cruciat, known to most everyone by his common name Crux, is a red-skinned Giantfolk living on Station 6.

Physical Appearance

Crux's size gives him a hulking presence in most contexts. His round, bald face is covered with shimmering blue symbols which on close inspection appear something between tattoos and scars. He has a singular horn on the right side of his head. He often dons a cowboy-esque hat which sits crookedly on his head through which he has poked a hole so it can hang on his horn without falling off. He dresses in a large red-trimmed duster/overcoat with a basic shirt and pants, and large synthetic leather boots. He sometimes wears cheap costume jewelry on his neck or ears.

Personality

Crux is soft-spoken and reserved, and remains largely secretive about his past experiences. In social situations he often tries to shrink himself down to counteract his naturally attention-drawing figure. He chooses to use his intimidating size only sparingly, typically to protect an ally or when there is no other option for self-preservation. Crux fears loneliness and values his few close compatriots intensely, despite not always being able to articulate these feelings. Because of past events Crux is plagued with a demon that lives in his thoughts; after a period of dormancy it became active again and has tried to exert control over Crux's life. Because of how deeply he cares for his friends, he is torn between building trust in those relationships and keeping them at arm's length, terrified of the harm he might cause them through the influence of his demon.

History

From a young age, Crux was haunted by visions of the Void and contacted by many beings beyond the physical world. Attempts to explain these experiences were met with dismissal or fear, and so he learned to close off and keep to himself at all times. He grew up within a giantfolk commune on the station, being raised with others his age in a community rather than a specific set of parents. Despite spending most of his youth and adolescence in the commune he has scarcely said a word about it to anyone. Later during this time Crux struggled more and more with these visions and felt progressively more destructive and violent feelings forced into his head. One day, he was contacted by a voidal Demon that offered a deal to protect him from these thoughts. He accepted but the deal immediately backfired, leaving him trapped with the demon who now had unfettered access to his mind. The demon only selectively filtered out the previous disturbing and violent visions, and began to twist Crux's thoughts to suit its own designs.

After a particularly bad incident that endangered other giantfolk he left to seek others who were void-touched like him and in the process found the Cult. The primary aim of this group was to reach deeper and deeper connection with the Void itself, as many members believed the chaos found within could disrupt the brutal totalitarian social order on the station and help them achieve the true purpose of their existence. The Cult commonly conducted ceremonies to commune with and even summon aspects of the Void such as demons, but this often had negative and unpredictable side effects on the Station and people around them. More than once these summoning precipitated the sacrifice of innocent lives, or set loose destructive forces that killed bystanders. Sometimes the group aimed the voidal beings they contacted at specific Law or Civ leaders in attempts to kill them and disrupt the power structure, but this rarely worked as intended. Because of all these actions the Cult became a target of the Law and many of their gathering sites were eventually sussed out.

Crux never acquired much status within the group, though he remained there for a few years. His intimidating appearance paired with his seemingly cold and distant personality led to disdain and poor treatment from many of his peers. One of a few exceptions to this was the undeterredly friendly Karna. Crux decided to leave once much of the group had disbanded, and he eventually fell in with his current crew by chance. Slowly the demon seemed to fade from his mind and for the first time in his life he found himself growing and opening up, albeit in small doses. This was cut short, of course, by the sudden return of visions and new demands from the demon that started when the crew first discovered the Doshmans' Void experimentation.

Powers and Abilities

Crux's powers as a void-touched "Gambler" derive from his deal with his demon and his close relationship to the void. He can create a range of brief supernatural effects including: control of mundane technology, short-range teleportation, and the summoning of blinding ice storms, stunning lightning or humanoid-shaped servants made of ash. His access to these abilities is inconsistent and relies mostly on sudden, well-timed inspiration or some pleaded- or bargained-for assistance from his demon.