Shambles

Shambles, also known as Crissinger Vester, was an Ocyrian noble that gained a reputation as an agent of the Great Church of Ocyria and a gladiator in the arenas of the Triumvirate. After mysteriously disappearing, he resurfaced as a living scarecrow with amnesia that, over the course of adventuring, learned who he was before the magical incident that changed him. 
== Description ==
As Crissinger Vester, Shambles is an Ocyrian man with blonde hair and light blue eyes. His hair is of a medium length and he wears a well-trimmed beard. He does not dress overly complicated, usually nothing more than a padded jerkin due to the cool climate in the Mutus Region.
When he first took the name Shambles, he looked like a scarecrow no different than those that would be found out in a field. He was connected to a particular farm of the town of Mutus, where a number of such scarecrows had been placed and that he learned he would enter if he were to die in his new Undaunted form. Over his journeys, he would move into a number of different chassis, being able to shift his soul and consciousness into the bodies of Conglomerate and dwarvish automatons.
== Personality ==
== Abilities ==
Shambles is an unknowing practitioner of the Dance Eternal. When his soul was knocked out of alignment by Kenji Hitori, it caused a duality in his soul and body. He was then cursed by Kalareth Adamos, who was hoping to Crissinger Vester die if he ever had having divination spells cast upon him that might incriminate Kalareth. This was due to Ocyria's common use of the zone of truth spell. When the curse was activated by Benson Bardock, Crissinger died and his soul created Shambles. This sudden shift into a new, makeshift body caused him to lose his memory, but eventually he learned to master his soul's capability to shift from body to body with the help of Benson. 
== Possessions ==
Defender. A defender short sword Shambles used during the final battle with Nau'nefandis.
Quicksilver Gauntlets. A pair of legendary gauntlets granted to Shambles by the Heirophant
Sophia's Sword. A magical shortsword granted to Grand Champions of the Magna Corona. She lent hers to him when the two split after coming back together in separate attempts to rescue Rodrick Gallegos. This weapon is a shortsword +1.
Sword of the Council. A series of swords granted to the leaders of the houses and groups that make up the Council of Coin of the city of Belum. A Sword of the Council is identical to a Sword of the Paruns from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica.
Winged Boots. A pair of winged boots that Shambles acquired early in his adventures. With his exceptionally high mobility, these boots made Shambles a dynamo on the battlefield, capable of great feats such as punching an ancient wraith dragon in the face or uppercutting a deadly shark up out of the water and into the air. 
== History ==
=== Early Life ===
Crissinger Vester was born son of Lady Aluess Crissinger and Lord Malos Vester of the city of Belum. Crissinger Vester took to arms as second born child of Lord Vester, his older half-sister being Alesia Vester. He was raised in House Vester and was trained early on as a squire to his father. In this, he learned about combat and also about drawing your strength up from your very soul.
=== Political Career ===
Crissinger Vester served as Member of Parliament for the Mutus Region between 1040 and 1043 CA. He was considered a member of the Faith Party of Munio, in that he stood by the tenets set by the Great Church in the capital and caucused with that party.
In 1043 CA, Crissinger Vester temporarily served as an Honorary Arbiter and Ephor, which is the official title of the members of the Council of Coin of Belum. This was due to the fact that Lord Malos Vester became quite ill and chose Crissinger as his replacement until he could get better. His condition worsened, he died suddenly, and his oldest child Alesia of his official station was granted his rights and titles. At that, Crissinger traveled to the capital to become an Arrow of the Great Church.
=== Arrow of the Great Church ===
In the capital city of Ocyria, Crissinger was trained in the Arts of the Arrow-Handed Warrior, a Monastic Sect of Atavius worshippers that fight with bare fist, open hands, and striking kicks. He became an Arrow of the Great Church of Ocyria in less than a year, increasing his martial capacity in the process, being selected as the Chosen Arrow of the Heirophant Kalareth Adamos of Munio, and he was given the title of Purpugnator of Atavius. 
His first sortie in the Spring of 1044 CA as an Arrow has him sent with a company of nineteen other Arrows (a force of twenty Arrows being known as a Quiver) to the Vale of Penacastm which is a part of the Southron Plains of the Mutus Region. There was a rebellion against the kyrios there, but it turned out the lord was corrupt and was attempting to force labor from captured folk outside of the town's protection. The Arrows fought the forces of kyrios and Crissinger's efforts were seen above all as what was necessary to stop the corrupted lord. It was learned that he served in the Dragon Cult under someone named the Rogue Magier. 
The town of Bashoon, south of Belum between the Mutus Region and the Capital, was under assault from a powerful necromancer named Jomph Wormtongue in the Autumn of 1044 CA. The necromancer had apparently evaded Inquisitorial notice and massed an army of five hundred undead creatures. His aim was to take the town of Belum over and continue a march into the Mutus Region. Crissinger, along with five other Arrows and the Heirophant Kalareth himself, rode out to Bashoon and fought the Wormfinger forces. Crissinger's courage and speed were what won fight, as he broke the line and engaged the necromancer in direct combat. The necromancer was discovered to be a servant of the Rogue Magier. 
Upon their return to the Capital, two merchant guilds in the city became agitated and began a corporate war between themselves. These skirmishes were known as the Conflicts at White Wall (merchants closer to the outside of the city, which is surrounded by a massive gleaming wall of white stone). Crissinger was dispatched to deal with the matter and he joined with a folk hero named Sophia Alain to bring order to the two merchants and the guilds to sort out the dispute. 
Crissinger was sent out to the town of Blackheart in the Spring of 1045 CA to defend the area from attacks by a strange elf wizard with horrid aberrant servants. He defended the town, though the elf wizard was never positively identified and his goals were never made clear. 
The titles of Vanquisher of Greed's Servant, Victor Against Draydon at Helmoth, Vanguard at the Battle of Red Rock are all related to his efforts against Draydon from 1046 to 1048 CA, Master of Helmoth. The Battle of Red Rock was the Comes Palatinus engaging with the Red Rock goblot tribe to push them back from a strategic striking position since they maintained loyalty to Helmoth and the Rogue Magier. The tribe has not been seen or heard from since this. The Black Hills Ogres now serve the Three Kingdoms as the main bulk of the Militia of the retaken Helmoth. 
Crissinger left his position temporarily as an Arrow in 1048 CA to train under a master swordsman named Kairo Seijuro. This training granted techniques Crissinger would use in the Grand Tournaments to great effect. Crissinger Vester was gifted the three swords of the kenshinzen as an honor of his training's completion.
The Watch of the Capital called him "Hordebreaker" in reference to Crissinger's performance in the northlands between Munio and Ludos. Creatures known as the kruthik ran free on the Black Sands, and according to accounts of the army's skald, Crissinger broke a massive hive of kruthiks as the point of the vanguard that assailed them to allow for the bulk of the forces to retreat back behind the walls of the fortified waypoint. After this event, Crissinger was offered a title as Sergeant of the City Watch of Ocyria, but he denied the title and took to join House Vandam, a Gladiatorial House in the Capital. Additionally, he left his position as Arrow of the Great Church after this event.
=== Gladiatorial Career ===
Early in his efforts to gain stronger martial training and to better prepare him for the arena, Crissinger Vester traveled to the Noarnanul Enclave of Elves on the Western Coast of Cloudy Lake in the Mutus Region in the Spring of 1049 CA. Due to his efforts, he was grant the title of The Kelymhiem. It is a title that represents a mastery of focus and meditation that can attain elf-like clarity and connection with the forces of nature and of magic.
Shambles competed in the Ocyrian Grand Tournament, the Magna Corona, in 1050, 1051, 1052, and 1053. He lost in 1050 in a matchup against Sophia Alain and she went on to win the tournament. He won as Grand Champion in both 1051 (besting Sophia in the final match) and 1052. And in 1053 he was the Final Contender, being defeated by a man named Kenji Hitori. 
Shambles would later recall this defeat in a dream:
During your long rest, you have a dream while you are resting. It is as vivid as if it were happening to you at the moment, but something about the matter denotes it is also memory and not only a dream. You feel it in your soul. You stand on the battleground of the arena once again, standing off against a man from the lands to the south known as Seiryu. He wears a gray and blue robe with crab designs all over it. You remember his name. Kenji Hitori. The announcer claimed he was the greatest duelist in all the lands. He stands in a casual pose before you, like someone out in a market rather than a combatant. You look down at your sword in one hand and on your other an ornate cestus and gauntlet. In a flash, you're in the heart of a fight with the man, whose blade snapped from its scabbard in a blink of an eye to block yours. His control over the weapon as he weaves it in and out of your defenses seems unnatural and yet clean and controlled. The air around it sings with a metallic song as the two of you lunge in eager to land a blow. That's when you notice he's not even trying and yet he's performing better than you can ever remember seeing anyone fight. He seems to notice you noticing and he performs two swift strikes with his sword. The first rends your sword from your grasp, the second slashes the sword blade, snapping it off into two pieces. In the speed of it all, you are stunned and realize the point of his blade rests against your neck. Knowing full well when you've been best, you yield. You can hear the disappointment in the crowd and a fog swell about your memories...shifting you into another time and place.
=== The Greatest Duelist in All the Lands ===
Kenji Hitori, announced at the Magna Corona as Kenji Hitori, Self-Proclaimed Greatest Duelist in All the Lands, Master of the Muteki no Ken to Ken Gijutsu, the "Undefeatable Sword and Fist Technique", defeated Crissinger in the final battle and it was the most uneven matchup Crissinger had ever remembered being in. Hitori was way beyond his skill level, so Crissinger sought him out in hopes of becoming his student. In response, Hitori used a technique to knock Crissinger's soul out of his body. As Shambles would later remember it in a dream:
You enter into a dark, cool establishment away from the harsh summer sun. Sitting at a low table in the center of the room is Kenji Hitori. He smiles, taking a drag from a tobacco pipe and then setting it down on a stand on the table. "I was expecting you," he says, offering a seat across from him. You remember feeling a bit confused by him at this stage, but took the seat offered. "I want you to teach me," you say, hearing your voice for the first time aloud. It feels the same as the way you hear yourself now, but the constructed nature of your old body's voice as it exists now seems to be smoothed and more familiar. Hitori grins up at you and then shakes his head. "Why not?" you ask calmly. "They called you a champion. I felt our fight reflects poorly on those who have bested you," his insult tossed out lazily and you can tell it was only said with intent to wound the ego. "Fair enough. But I have seen what a true champion can do and I want you to te-" "I'm not going to teach you," he reached down for his pipe. It seemed at this point he was not willing to discuss it, so you would have to do something brash. Without thinking, your hand goes to your sword. Hitori's speed remains as quick as it was before in the arena. His hand with the pipe flashes towards your hand, pressing down against your wrist and halting you from drawing. He then lunges his free hand forward and makes a series of strikes against your chest, each with a different edge of his hand and each at a different point of pressure on your chest. Upon receipt of the last strike, you feel knocked back, but you quickly realize your body was still in front of Hitori and you are looking at it from behind. Your memory of this shifted perspective out further from the you that saw this, so that you are now looking at a ghost-like form of yourself being knocked out of your corporeal body.
And then like a yo-yo, all parts of you return to this moment in the memory. Stunned, you look up at his face. He stares down at you having risen like a crane up from his sitting position. Looking down at you, he says, "Once you understand what has happened today, seek me out again...Shambles." The fog of the memory shifts once again...
=== Last Seen in Belum ===
Crissinger stopped in Belum to see members of his family. Later, upon receiving the Sword of the Council from his half-brother Mirage, he had a vivid memory of his time there.
Taking the sword triggers a memory in you. You remember a time in Belum. You're in the same gardens you were sparring with young Mirage in. You stand next to a woman, who you recognize as Ashanae Crissinger. She speaks: "I asked you here to stand against your other sister. I know that you have pushed aside the matters of the Council in favor of your birthright as second son and won't stand with her if it comes to blows between our houses. But...since you are also my brother, I have no choice but to ask you here to stand with me. To stand for what is right." You have a feeling as if you know what she's referring to, but for some reason this memory is blocked, but in the moment you feel that you understand and sympathize with her. You then say, "I am only passing through. I have business in the town of Mutus with that fortune teller." She turns to you, holding the Sword of the Council in her hands, the name Crissinger shown clearly in the noble tongue on the scabbard. "Please, take up this weapon and remain here with me. I need your strength. If you don't take up this duty, I know not what defense I will have." In that moment, you nod and look to her and say, "Give it to your true brother. I have never been able to stand between my two sisters. And I have so much I need to learn about myself before I can even begin to think on others."
=== Fortune Telling Gone Wrong ===
Crissinger Vester continued on to Mutus to speak with a fortune teller he had been made aware of by his sister Ashenae named Benson Bardock. 
A strange incident happened there, which Shambles later recalled in a dream: 
You walk into the Tower of the Hand of Mutus. It feels strange to you, it looks as it did a year ago. Benson looks up to you, "Hello, good sir! How might I help you?" You sit as offered and the halfling goes about preparing tea. "I need to know about my future. The one I serve has asked me to do a great and horrible thing, and I have refused. I need to know what I do now. I cannot stay in the Capital. I can't find a master worthy of training me. And I cannot fight against the ones I fear are corrupting what is good. I understand you can read the fortunes of men. Can you help me?" The halfling doesn't appear to be truly listening, possibly not having heard most of what you said as he hastily creates the tea. "Fortunes, yes, of course," he says as he sets the tea down and pours two cups. A sip reveals a pungent and earthy flavor. "Let me see your hand." You offer it. You watch as the mage performs some rituals and chants in the language of magic. You stare at your hand, expecting something magical to happen. And it does. A red line forms over your hand across one of the natural lines that were present. But you see it for what it is. A curse has been placed upon you, so that if ever a spell of divination was placed upon you, it would kill you. You watch as your corporeal body is ripped apart speck by speck until nothing remains but your attire and itemry. You then also see your ghost-like self fly out of the building in fear. As you chase after it, you watch as it hurridly rushes from person to person in the town, until ultimately moving to a scarecrow on the field of that all too familiar farm and possessing it, having failed to take any other body. 
After the incident, Shambles returned to Benson an recovered his effects. His high fashion set of clothing with colors that did not not seem to denote any kind of particular local fashion or allegiance, but the nature of the clothes did designate someone of wealth. He had the hilt from a broken sword with a jeweled silver and platinum design. The sword's broken blade left just over a foot and a half of length with a jagged point, which Shambles used as a short sword. According to Benson, lingering enchantments appeared to cling to the blade, but didn't seem to function properly.
There was also a vial of blood in a coin purse beneath a lot of coin. The vial seemed to be made of a reinforced crystal and the stopper is sealed with wax and copper bands. This item appeared to have a magical aura to it, but a raw aura. There was also a portion of a strange map of what appears to be a castle or temple or some subterranean structure. Lastly, there was a 1-inch cube made of bone that had been painted with a different color on each of its sides. According to Benson, this still seemed to have a magical aura and one that had been enchanted onto the item.
=== Life in Shambles ===
Shambles had been in the town of Mutus for a year and has found it to be incredibly dull. He found work with a local farmer protecting his fields, odd manual labor jobs about the town, and he would spend a lot of time with Benson as well. He had no memory of who or what he was before being Shambles, but his instincts told him he was tough. He was tough and he was a fighter.  Every once in a while he would rifle through his few belongings he once carried as whoever he was; daydreaming about the life he could have lead before. He would privately practice at night with the broken sword, looking for instinct to kickstart his memories. 
Shambles longed to explore the world and learn more about himself, but felt tethered to the wizard Benson who was his biggest lead on who he truly was and was at the time his only hope of restoring himself.  Shambles never grew to hate or resent Benson, but it was hard to trust someone who had ruined him so thoroughly.  For the time, Shambles decided to stick by the halfling wizard and track down any leads the little fellow could ponder up.  If nothing else, he had to keep that wizard safe.
=== Rescue at Fort Phalanx ===
=== The Dragon Barrow ===
=== The Town of Mortus ===
=== Lord of Ravens ===
=== Benson's Undaunted Discovery ===
=== Kalareth, the Fallen Heirophant ===
=== Purple Light ===
=== Prince of Thunder ===
=== Brawl at Berrod ===
=== Mount Rubyeye and the Phoenix Hazil ===
=== Mundi and Karamusan ===
=== Kalareth's Defeat ===
=== Contest at Benish ===
=== Conglomerate Remnants ===
=== First Contact with The Renegade ===
=== The Iron Road ===
=== Ashenae and the Shadow Wyrm ===
=== The Serpent's True Nature Revealed ===
=== The Darkflame Orcs ===
=== Blue Dragon Cultists ===
=== Clash at Black Fens and the Bastion of Broken Claws ===
=== To the Capital ===
The Retinue of the Hand entered the capital city via teleportation magic. They moved through the Ludosian District of the city, noticing markings indicating Mardigan superiority in the streets, but a handful of other minor gangs that Raia indicated to be entreated to the Family. The group made its way to the Great Church and met with Heirophant Hallus, the person who has taken the mantle of Heirophant since Kalareth's demise. 
Upon leaving, Shambles left the following note in Kellen's apartments:
Purpugnator Kellen,
Forgive the intrusion- I would have liked to meet you. So much has been lost to me recently, it was refreshing to have walked the halls of the Great Church once again. 
I plan to decline The Heirophant's offer to serve the church again. After what transpired under Kalareth, I feel it would be best to distance myself from the church.
Despite this, if ever you have great need, I would be happy to be of assistance to you. I ask of you only that you keep your eyes and ears open - the church has proven not to be immune to temptations and corruption.
Regards,
Crissinger Vester
Shambles
=== Terminus ===
=== Grant Tournament ===
Shambles continued to live in the city of Blue Gate, Ocyria. He remained close with Benson and Rooklyn. He was locked in fierce preparation for the Grand Tournament of Year 1056, in which he hoped to meet with Kenji Hitori once again to answer many of the questions still left unanswered regarding the soul, the body, and Hitori's apparent mastery of both that still inspired Shambles that he could grow and become stronger with the knowledge.
Going short-hand for now - Assuming I have an hour or two, beat the absolute fuck out of a training dummy, and then lock myself in whatever room/suite I have at the tourney for meditation
Might exchange words with Sophia & whoever else came with me, but I don't want to go into a lot of dialog with characters
In a relaxed stance, Shambles gives a respectful yet brief bow - little more than a nod of the head. "I wanted to thank you for what you did to me. I still can't wrap my head around if you knew then what would happen, or how - but you saved my life; and allowed me to improve the lives of others. I don't expect an explanation - I'm not sure I could comprehend one. But thank you."
Hitori would nod in acknowledgement. "Yours was a life I didn't think was worth taking. Your soul was in conflict. Your posture was split. You were in shambles." He would pull his sword, sheath and all, from his belt and hold it out at arm's length. "You came to me nearly two years ago and asked me to teach you and I did not. Of what I've seen of your matches, it appears you have learned much of what I would teach you already. Do you still wish to be taught?" 
Shambles opens his mouth to respond but stops himself - dwelling for a moment on his successes, failures, and experiences: (feel free to help fill in some) Setting off from Mutus, perishing in the cold after being tossed from a mountaintop, waking up as a scarecrow behind a barn many times, defeating Kalareth and the undead Fremas, keeping watch over his resting comrades with an unlikely friend, changing forms to other, sturdier undaunted, being cut down by the rogue elf, officially declining his position in the church,, kicking a shark 20ft out of the water, chasing down a demon prince who Shambles allowed to escape, carrying the corpse of his now wife to be resurrected by an even more unlikely ally... 
"Hitori, I'm a different guy now - and I have to think that's for the better. I don't want to be "the best no matter what" like the guy you knew before. I'm not Crissinger Vester of a hundred titles when I can help it. I'm Shambles. Of course I want to he stronger to protect those I care about... and I'm sure there's plenty you can teach me, and plenty of ways for me to improve - but I'd rather figure that out for myself. I hope you understand."
Hitori smiles and pulls his sword back to his sash, resetting it on his hip. He then holds his hands out in the open hand and says, "I respect you wishing to learn the ways of the world on your own. I was not shown the way and you have found the way yourself. If you will indulge me, please show me your mastery over the technique I displayed that day. If you would do that for me, I will finish the lesson I began that day and I will show you the true strength you demonstrated to me that day." Hitori will wait patiently until the tournament's call for the match to begin. 
This part below is mechanical:
In the first round of initiative, Hitori wil set his initiative to 1 and will select 1 as his staredown number, allowing for you to take the first action. You are 10 feet away from Hitori to begin. 
My intention here is to settle the lesson in the first round of the fight, and then we can plan together to find a good day to finish the fight or we can discuss how he concedes and then you meet him at a later point.
If Shambles uses quivering palm Hitori, he'll use his reaction to Riposte and apply it to Shambles, breaking both combatants into the near ethereal. He will then teach Shambles how to do this to himself, allowing him to remove himself from his timeless body and to enter the astral (which you can technically do mechanically with Empty Body), but to then regain the connection with the way Shambles's soul worked during his vagabond period, allowing him to re-enter constructs. Maybe a momentary flash with his eyes opening as he finds himself a scarecrow, the last one left behind the farmer's house in Mutus.
== Appendix ==
=== Trivia ===
Shambles was created by Stompwell for inclusion in the Saga of Three Kings story arc. He was created to be a Way of the Open Hand monk because of the backstory of him receiving a palm reading from Benson as the trigger for the magical incident that put his soul into a scarecrow body.