| Languages | Common, Deep Speech, Draconic, Elvish, Thieves’ Cant, Undercommon |
|---|---|
| Place of Birth | Unknown |
| Species | Unknown (Simic Hybrid) |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 6'1 |
| Weight | 180 |
| Eye Color | Blueish Gray |
Silythm Shadeheart is a Gloomstalker Ranger that matured his abilities in the fungal forests of the Underdark, and learned the ways of Assassination Rogue from the Drow.
Physical Appearance
Silythm is tall, has blue skin riddled with black patches of his natural carapace. He also has a long, leathery pair of manta wings that resemble a cloak when they are not extended. He wears a set of black leather armor, with some modifications to fit around his wings and carapace.
Personality
Silythm is a very mellow guy, despite his profession. One would think that an assassin is a crazy person, or a cold blooded monster who cares about only himself, but Silythm is none of these things. While he may kill for a living, he does care about others, and genuinely doesn't understand why the surface world has such a negative point of view on professional assassins.
History
Silythm was an experiment from researchers from a deep space race known as the Vedalken to create super soldiers using the DNA from multiple other races. Silythm voluntarily underwent many tests, alongside his other "brothers and sisters" to achieve this purpose. Few survived, but those that came out had gained fantastic physical attributes, like gills to breath underwater, or extra appendages that could be used to beat down opponents. Silythm came out with a spiky carapace that allowed him to climb along any surface with ease, as well as a set of long, leathery wings that he can use to glide through the air. Once the tests were complete, the new super race dubbed "The Hybrids" were frozen in cryo and loaded upon a vessel that would deliver them to a testing ground where they would be trained for combat and tested to make sure there were no side effects from the experiments. However, on this journey the ship was attacked, and to keep the cargo out of the enemies hands the captain ejected them into space. Silythm's cryo pod managed to land on the planet of Quelmar, but who knows where the others landed, if they landed at all. When Silythm came to, he found himself in a cave with winding tunnels going forward, and the entrance closed off from the crash. While he was physically fine, he quickly found that he had no memories of his previous life. The only thing he could remember was his name. With no clue how he got here or who he really was, Silythm decided that the best course of action was to scavenge for whatever supplies he could from the location around him and press forward.
As Silythm ventured further into the unknown, he found a very strange biome within the endless tunnels in caves. While he could see in the dark no problem, he often found he didn't need to as strange glowing mushrooms and moss became more common the further down he went. His advanced biology allowed him to sustain himself off these weird plants with no real side effects, though occasionally he would eat too many mushrooms and need to rest as things got a bit trippy. Silythm continued his trek for what felt like weeks, all the while wondering what he was hoping to find until suddenly, he turns a corner and finds an open cave filled with natural life. There were tree-like mushrooms, a wide lake with water black as coal, and living breathing wildlife living amongst it all. No more did he need to survive off of mushrooms, for he now could hunt real meat. Using strange debris he found scattered among the cave that he initially awoke in, he carved out a bow from the giant mushrooms and fashioned himself a bow and some arrows to go hunting. This was the beginning of a long period of time where Silythm learned to hunt in the strange biome he had found, where he learned to utilize the art of stealth to pick off his prey. The creatures of this area were born with the natural abilities to survive this locale, so Silythm had to adapt and become one with the shadows if he hoped to survive. He honed his art over a few years, slowly becoming the apex predator in this gloomy forest.
One day, as he was out hunting, he came upon a strange creature he had never seen before: a band of Dark Elves. They were carrying cargo in a caravan along a road that was established amongst the edges of his preferred hunting ground. What surprised Silythm the most was that he could understand what they were saying. He unknowingly had the languages of several races stored within his mind, a part of the experiments done to him, though he had no idea and as such was baffled that he could make out what they were saying. However, when Silythm came out of the shadows to greet himself the band of Drow became immediately hostile towards him and attacked. Silythm had no intention of fighting them as a group, so he fled into the forest and picked them off one by one. This experience led him to believe that all Drow were enemies and so he decided to guard the road they used to disrupt any further attempts for the Drow to proceed. for the next month, he killed off over 10 groups of Drow that had decided to travel through the road, through his road. Some of the groups were trade caravans like the first, and others seemed to be soldiers that were coming after whoever was targeting the road. Regardless, they all died except for one straggler on his most recent attack. This one managed to escape set a fire and escape while Silythm tried to put it out so it would not burn the forest down. After pillaging the goods like he did with the others, Silythm returned to his den and prepared himself for another day of guarding the road. The next day, on his way to his usual watchpost, Silythm felt that something was off. Almost like he was being watched by something. It was at the most moment of hesitation that an assassin came out and nearly killed Silythm on the spot. It was hard to tell what he looked like, as the assassin was clad in dark leathers from head to foot, but Silythm was barely able to dodge out of the way by noticing the faint glint of the blades as they came plunging down at him. This started a long came of cat and mouse, where Silythm would try to run and hide from his assassin, while his pursuer would find him and go for the kill, with Silythm barely avoiding the blows every time. The game finally ended when Silythm finally managed to find a way to hide from the stranger: by climbing up the walls of the cave and blending into the rocks. As the assassin came out and started looking for him, it was finally Silythm's chance to jump his attacker, and he was able to get 2 clean shots on him from up above, knocking him down and out. Confident that his would-be killer was finally put down, Silythm glided down to investigate his assailant. It was at the moment that he turned the body over that he knew: he fucked up. The assassin was playing dead, and had managed to get a clean hit on Silythm before he could even react. With a blade in his chest, the world got spinney and Silythm passed out. When he awoke, the first thing he realized was that he wasn't dead. The next thing was that he was tied up and hanging upside down. The one who had hunted him down had chosen to spare Silythm, and once Silythm awoke began to interrogate Silythm for information. Turns out that their was a Civil War happening in the Drow Empire, between the loyal worshippers of Lolth and the rebel forces of Ellistraee. This assassin, named Xanal, was tasked by the rebels to take out what they suspected was a group of loyalist that were disrupting the rebels supply chain. After seeing Silythm with his own eyes, Xanal decided it would be in their best interest to get some answers out of him before deciding on the best course of action. Seeing how clueless Silythm was to what was going on, he decided to recruit Silythm to their cause instead of slaying him. Silythm accepted, which had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was tied up and at knife point.
Xanal escorted Silythm back to their headquarters, a liberated city known as Ellistrasia, and after Xanal got permission from the higher ups he began to train Silythm in the Art of Assassination. Being an assassin was very similar to what Silythm was doing in the Fungal Forests, but instead of beasts, his prey was man.
Philosophy
Silythm only kills people when given a job, or in self defense. The surface world seems to think that assassins can just go around killing whoever they want, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. To keep their credibility, professional assassins in the Underdark must be given a job and have proof from the benefactor in order to officially take up a job. This prevents them from being persecuted as criminals by the law of the Underdark, should they be caught. After all, should you blame the weapon that did the deed, or the person behind the weapon? If there were to be any legal charges, they would be directed towards the benefactor, not the assassin themselves. While it is still a dangerous position, it pays well and is part of the culture of the Underdark. Silythm finds it hard to believe that the surface world doesn't seem to understand this and works towards enlightening his peers.
Powers and Abilities
The experiments the Vedalken scientists conducted on him gave him a spiky carapace that allows him to freely climb on any physical surface. He also has grown a pair of leathery manta shaped wings that can be used to glide should he end up in the air. His personal training in the strange forests of the Underdark has given him the ability to see further in darkness, as well as become invisible to creatures that rely on darksight to see. After mastering the art of stealth, he became adept at making sure his targets went down quick, and came up with an technique to fire two arrows in quick succession that would hit extra hard. He also learned how to use the magic of nature, and can manifest thorns on his arrows, as well as magically target his prey and morph his appearance to match his surroundings, making him even harder to pick out from the surrounding environment.
Attacks and Weapons
Silythm definitely prefers his Bow and Arrows, but he has also learned how to use many weapons in his training as an Assassin, the best of which is Poisons. Learning from his master to craft deadly poisons that he can apply to his arrows has made this already dangerous hunter an even deadlier threat. Pray you don't find yourself on his hit list, or you might find your next meal spiked with something extra spicy.
