Character Carthus, of House Marr

[Carthus of House Marr]

Carthus, of House Marr

Age	87
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Height	1.85 meters
Weight	81.6 kg
Force Sensitive	Yes

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

It is rare for Carthus to show his features at all, but when he does so, they could best be described as cadaverous. His face is too thin, his cheeks too sunken, and his eyes too cold. He smells constantly of dust, mold, and earth, yet retains an appearance of vague youthfulness. Crimson Marr eyes flicker out of dark, recessed sockets, though their light is dim indeed, like coals glinting from a cave. His visage is framed with long, unkempt dark hair, with such concepts as grooming being foreign to the necromancer.

Carthus' manner of dress is an odd mix of conservative and outlandish, typically simple clothing of a moderately expensive sort. Usually, these are adorned with small bones, mummified claws or digits, or other macabre trinkets. His face is generally concealed, revealing only the pair of crimson pinpricks that alone signify there is a body behind the mask.

Suffused with the energies of death, Carthus' very presence tends to lower the temperature in a given room, wither unattended plant life, and render animals unwilling to approach.


INVENTORY

Carthus' Sith Sword

Carthus' Greatsaber

PERSONALITY AND BELIEFS

An unpleasant, reclusive, serpentine man, Carthus cares little for the power-jockeying and politicking of the Sith, and will happily leave such pursuits to others. His lack of ambition is matched only by his hunger for knowledge, and it matters very little to him who rules the galaxy, so long as he is left undisturbed. He finds a book far more interesting than a battlefield.

He speaks with a soft, smooth voice and a quiet manner, when he speaks at all, rarely displaying much in the way of outward emotion. In his dealings with others, he is similarly pragmatic.

Most notably, Carthus rejects the majority of Sith orthodoxy, taking neither a Darth title nor any interest in the various schools of thought prevalent among the order. Traditions and dogmas, in his mind, are obstructions to progress, and thus of no value. All such rules are to be bent or broken in the pursuit of truth.

A lover of death and the trappings of the grave, Carthus does not merely raise the dead: he lives among them as a brother. This goes so far as sleeping in a coffin in a shallow grave, holding mock funerals for himself with legions of undead attendees, and other utterly bizarre behaviors. He is fond of archaeology and history for related reasons, often staging expensive expeditions to long-forgotten tombs and ruins simply to explore them.


STRENGTHS

Soulthief: Carthus' hunger for the energies of life is bottomless, and he can snatch the soul from those weak of will with but a touch, or a thought. With each such draining, his lifespan is extended, and his appearance is kept youthful. Additionally, his power expands proportionate to each such draining, albeit temporarily, and a large number in a short time can render this Sith highly dangerous.

Reanimator: A master of the energies of death in all their forms, Carthus has studied Sith alchemy, necromancy and other arts of communion with the dead extensively. This extends to even more obscure traditions, such as Dathomiri witchcraft or the Sorcery of Rhand. This focus is so profound that it is to the exclusion of most other forms of Dark Side studies. As such, any knowledge or abilities related to life, death, or their manipulations are things he finds trivial, no matter how advanced or unusual.

Sword and Sorcery: While he typically disdains getting his own hands dirty, Carthus is fully capable of combat when the need arises, blending a wide knowledge of Sith magic with a highly unconventional, self-made swordsmanship style. This incorporates a small, quick blade, and a much larger one to strike at the openings provided.

From Beyond: Constant contact and suffusion with Sith Necromancy has rendered Carthus immune to many of the frailties of mortal condition. He need not eat, sleep, or breathe, and is highly resistant to any attempt to cloud, delude, or control his mind, as well as most poisons. Additionally, his aging is greatly slowed, though for the moment not entirely halted.

WEAKNESSES

Fading: Carthus is a parasite on organic life, requiring a regular upkeep of stolen vitae to continue existing. His soul is like a leaky vessel, which must be constantly topped up with the pilfered life of others. With each day that passes without such sustenance, his features grow paler and more skeletal, and his powers weaker, until he perishes.

Cloistered Scholar: Carthus has little interest in the usual Sith dalliances, preferring instead his solitude and studies. As such, his social graces are intensely lacking, his habits unbearably eccentric, and his manner intolerable to polite society.

Specialist: Carthus tends to neglect any branches of Dark Side study that do not involve or aid his obsession, and tends to have shocking gaps in his skillset that other Sith would consider rudimentary. As such, his skill with more traditional forms of Force study are often mediocre at best.


HISTORY

Carthus Sett was born nearly 87 years ago to a degenerate, unrecorded scion of the Marr family. A distant relative of the current rulers, his relation is only tenuous, and he has been largely unaware of it for much of his life.

Supposedly born on Dahrtag, little is known of his early life until he emerged on the scene as an exile from that ancient tomb-world. Dark rumors followed him offworld, rumors of abominable sorceries performed upon the sacred dead. He retreated to a small asteroid located near Cholganna, and founded there a stronghold which came to be known as "The Larder".

Carthus and his doings became something of a ghost story swapped at spaceport cantinas. Smugglers or scavengers who stumbled upon his refuge tended to disappear, and rumors grew of ships crewed by the dead, plying the starways for souls to steal. By most, though, these rumors were not taken seriously, and his studies went largely undisturbed. Thankfully, he seldom left or proved of any consequence to the galaxy, content to laze there amidst his mad experiments.

Though nominally a Sith, Carthus' disregard for tradition and lack of interest in socializing with the larger order were legendary. Visitors to his citadel were typically rebuffed regardless of their station, but a very few were entertained, typically similar eccentrics. To some, his views bordered on heresy, and he was largely ignored as a deranged hermit. This suited the insane scientist-sorcerer just fine.