Decided to make one myself.
Name: Karsus Rendu
Alias: The Hill Man
Appearance: Karsus is a large man, large enough that there's almost no standard door he doesn't have to lean to fit through. His hair has been cropped short, nearly bald so as to prevent an easy hold to his enemies in combat, but in the right light you could see grey specks of growing hair. His eyes are black and heavy-lidded. His skin is ruddy, particularly on the cheeks and nose, and this complexion helps hide some of the lighter scars around his body. One scar he can never hope to hide, however, is the scar across his chest, which he got after having to have an emergency medical procedure after he had shattered his ribs and sternum in a fight.
In his Cryptid form, his already large frame grows, but not by much, perhaps an extra four feet for so. Many people in certain continents consider this to be frightening, not because it is particularly gory or monstrous, but because his looks more human than others, except something is wrong. His shoulders and chest become far more broad, and his hands and feet grow in size while his eyes shrink. His skin attains a rough appearance, as if heavily unmoisturized. His skull shifts to gain more rigid and pronounced ridges and crests. His muscles grow to an inhuman size, his arms lengthening with them, making it easier to walk on all fours. Two tusks grow from his lower jaw, stopping just below his cheeks, and a horn juts out of his forehead, curving upwards and measuring four feet. Barely perceptible gills grow on the sides of his neck.
(Monster gorilla)
Race: Cryptid
Age: 48
Personality: Karsus has lived a life full of joy and horror, tradition and progression, peace and war. This has given him a perspective on life that can defined as such; "Life is life.". He believes that nobody can protect against agony in life, nor should you, as it is only through such pain that you can come to appreciate the times without. All you can do is try to live life as best you can, and push through the painful times.
To his allies, he is loyal, but not above going behind their backs if he feels it is necessary. He doesn't speak as often as his compatriots, and yet many feel they can grasp any meaning from him through just his eyes and movements. After being forced to commit various criminal acts in his past as a slave, as well as willingly doing them at times, he tries to atone for them by being trying to be the best he can, with one major attempt being his current fight for non-human rights in Kratia.
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Pansexual
Pronouns: He/His/Him
Weapon/Paraphernalia:
Cloak he uses to hide his appearance in human form. Can't help him much with the height, though.
Poleaxe. He is strong enough to wield it with one hand.
Heavy Crossbow. He is strong enough to wield it with one hand.
Powers/Abilities:
Human Form:
Intimidation
Hunting
Hand-to-Hand Combat
Poleaxe Proficiency
Crossbow Proficiency
Cryptid Form:
Weaknesses:
His size can be an issue, both in and out of Cryptid form.
Shifting into Cryptid form in incredibly painful.
Karsus has yet to learn how to shift his clothes along with him, meaning he must never forget to pack spare clothes unless he wants to make it very easy for people to look for him after he reverts to human form.
His past injury which shattered his chest makes it difficult for him to breathe, both in and out of Cryptid form. He must try to end fights as quickly as he can.
Backstory:
Karsus was born in a small village in the Ax, an island off the northwest coast of Orsanei, in the year 109 A.C. He was born a Cryptid to two human parents, who, as far as they know, were not descended from any Cryptids themselves. This made Karsus an anomaly in the village, which was already isolated from the rest of the island, let alone the rest of Kratia.
The village was hateful of Cryptids, and so they would have removed him from the village. The problem was that Karsus was an abnormally calm child, especially considering he was a Cryptid, which should have set off some red flags for the rest of the village, as he should have been an overly emotional child. This strange behavior helped him avoid any allegations of being anything other than human for most of his time there, although the village did find it strange nonetheless, attributing it to some problem with the mind.
It wasn’t until his sixteenth year of life that he was discovered, as he underwent hs first shift. This already was fairly late for a Cryptid, and mixed with the irrational mind of a spiteful and discriminating village, it was believed Karsus was an agent of some Cryptid organization, who killed the original Karsus and took his place. Why would he do this? Nobody knew, but nobody cared, not even his parents. In fact, his mother took her own life as she believed she failed for not being able to tell the “truth”.
He managed to escape the village’s wrath by fleeing, before stowing away on a supply ship to mainland Orsanei. He found work as a coal miner in a large city in a heartland city, where he spent about five years of his life, trying to save enough money to gain passage to Töknaan, a smaller city in southern Sarkei that looked favorably upon Cryptids. He practiced his Cryptid form in secret in order to ensure he did not lose control of it, but he wasn’t as secretive as he thought as he had managed to capture the attention of Julian Makdinin, a higher-up in the city’s Makdinin crime family. He offered Karsus a place by their side, with pay far better than what he earned as a coal miner, if in return he offered them his services as a soldier using his “abilities”.
Karsus accepted, and enjoyed a good life at that point. The family was accepting of Cryptids and treated him no better or worse than they would one of their human soldiers. It wasn’t until a raid on the family by the city’s authorities, who wished to make an example of them for not kicking back enough of their profits, that this second life would be crushed. Karsus was captured, and seeing his strength, the corrupt city officials auctioned him off as a slave soldier, sending him off to work for a buyer in Tretania, a large empire in the continent of Erkhinei. And so here he remained for a decade before being freed by a group of rebels who sought better treatment for non-humans in Erkhinei. They offered him a spot, which he accepted, and returned to their home base in Kyrt.
Now, in 1257 A.C., Karsus is still a member of this group.
Extra Info:
In human form he stands at 6' 7', and his Cryptid form stands at 10' 7". This is what earned him the title, "Hill Man."
Speaks multiple languages due to his constant travels over the years.
