Ebon

A 4'8" dwarf with 220 lbs of corded muscle beneath scar-crusted hide. Barrel-chested, arms thick as mine timbers, legs tree-stump squat. Skin is slate-gray, crosshatched with Bo'ol acid burns that weep yellow pus at the joints. A jagged canyon of flesh splits his brow—a souvenir from Grondar’s Folly, the mine collapse that buried his unit alive. Veins bulge black-blue like poisoned rivers under translucent skin, throbbing in time with his arrhythmic heartbeat. The left iris bleeds crimson from repeated exposure to Bo'ol spores. Teeth filed to serrated points, gums receding from jawbone necrosis. Stumps of severed fingers regrown as bony claws via Krones’ experimental flesh-grafts. Smells of iron rot and fermented centipede bile.

Flaws: Believes mercy is a flaw carved out of weak dwarves—crushed a surrendering Bolton scout’s skull to “fix” him. Needs: To drown the defectless shame in rivers of enemy blood; to have his name chanted by Krones recruits as a warning. Fears: The silence between battles, where memories of eating his twin brother’s raw liver resurface. Desires: To die mid-charge, his corpse so mangled they build a statue from his prosthetic. Quirks: Humming mine dirges while sharpening weapons; collects ribcages to build a “throne of defiance.” Sexuality: Violently possessive—binds lovers with Bo’ol tendon ropes, demands they recite his kill-count during coupling.

First memory: Age 12, shoveling Free’e dung in Grondar’s stables, fists bloodied from older dwarves’ “training.” Conscripted after snapping Overseer Harkun’s spine over a bread ration. Deployed to Big Bara’s 7th Shaft—stench of sulfur, screams of scouts dragged into boreholes by Bo'ol tendrils. Battle of Weeping Veins: watched Captain Drogan melt into a Bo'ol’s digestive sac, his muffled prayers bubbling through amber fluid. Survived 19 days trapped in Collapse Zone Delta by eating Gronni’s corpse, savoring the marrow while Gronni’s still-twitching hand gripped his ankle. Promoted after single-handedly slaughtering the Broodmother in Shaft Gamma—her acid dissolved his beard, leaving scar-tissue mimicking a scream.