Rakkhus

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==Rakkhus, The Thorn Fiend==
Old plant demon recently revived in the heart of the Ooran swamp. The body Rakkhus is currently using is a tree-like monstrosity made out of wood, moss, dead plants and human bones. His wooden „maw” is placed on top of a long neck composed of vines. He has 5 limbs – 3 „legs” composed out of roots and mud, and 2 long appendages ending in massive wooden claws. Most of the plants that make up Rakkhus’ physical form are not actually a part of him though, but a sort of armor he uses.
Even severely weakened, Rakkhus can manipulate living creatures with great degree of precision. He can control many forms of life, but his powers work the best on plants and he can freely control them as they were the parts of his body and even change their properties on the fly. He’s capable of directly controlling sentient creatures too, but very rarely bothers to because of how exhausting it can be for him. Side effect of his power is that everything he affects is subject to rot and diseases, which even includes his own body.
Rakkhus is a gluttonous monster, cruel even to his own followers. He’s one of the very few eternal ones who actively consume physical food (despite not actually needing it to survive) and his maw is stained in dried blood of his victims. The group mad druids and hunters who serve him do so, because they share his ideas that the weak should be devoured by the strong.
Rakkhus is a demon and biologically has no gender. He uses male pronouns. As a demon he feeds on negative emotions, preferring fear. 
==Story==
Pain.
Anger.
Desperation.
But above all… hunger.
Rakkhus felt all of these for a very long time.
Centuries before Ooran was even founded, the swamp lands of west coast of Kingdom of Hope were ruled by a dreadful flying demon named Rakkhus who could bend plants to his will. The people of the swamp worshipped him just like in the ancient times and brought him sacrifice to avoid his wrath, and in exchange the demon let them be around his domain, away from the undead who at the time flooded the world. This horrible symbiosis lasted for years, and over time a major settlement was established on the marshes. They venerated the demon and followed his ideals, ravaging and destroying not only any outsiders to their community, but also the fauna and flora of the swamp. It was the latter that brought them to ruin.
A god who dwelled the swamps long before Rakkhus ever made them his home took notice of the mass slaughter they committed, and suspended his neutrality to stop them. He dealt with the people quickly, and when the demon himself crawled out to confront him the battle which followed destroyed the entire settlement. Not because of some sort of epic proportions thought, but because it was an one-sided beatdown. The ravenous demon was shattered into pieced by god’s powerful blows and for the years to follow his corpse would return to the soil along with the bones of his former worshippers. The problem was that intentionally or not, he was left alive.
The only way for an eternal one to die, aside of being killed, is to starve to death. This sad process still lasts for a long time, and the last shard of Rakkhus’ soul, still bound to his corpse, stranded all alone in the pond at the heart of the swamp would be left there to starve.
For hours.
Then days.
Then weeks.
Rakkhus hungered. He wanted to rebuild himself a new form, but he barely had enough energy to be able to think.
Then months.
Then years.
He wanted out. He wanted something, someone to find him and fear him, so he could devour it’s fear, and then itself. To revere and worship him. To spread terror and feel terror.
But no one came.
For decades.
For centuries.
He suffered and starved. New human settlements were build on and around the swamp, but none of them dared to venture deep enough. Even animals avoided his rotting grave.
- - -
Yet by a miraculous strike of luck, the thorn fiend would not starve to death. A lost human found herself close enough so he could answer her cries for help. He lured the girl, terrified by the swamp and by what she has done to where he was trapped and feasted on her fear for hours. As it turned out, she was a gardener named Horti. Above all, she loved plants and nature… and Rakkhus, with the new body he could build for himself, happened to be the personification of both.
He kept Horti with himself, poisoning both her mind and body with his twisted and cruel interpretation of the rules of nature. He devoured all what was for him to devour and regained enough strength to craft himself a new physical vessel. From her, he learned what happened during the time when he was at the brink of death. His killer was still somewhere out there, now revered as the swamp watcher. The world was no longer flooded with undead. People barely worshipped gods and demons anymore. With his first new servant he found in ages, Rakkhus started rebuilding what was taken from his so long ago.
- - -
Panicked hunters.
Fugitive criminals.
Lost adventurers.
Willing druids.
As the years passed, more and more people were brought to Rakkhus’ domain or found their way by themselves. Some wanted to live in unity with wild nature and some just wanted a reason to kill, and the plant demon accepted all, as long as they brought him the fear and despair he loved so much. The rumors of a murderous cult of cannibals and madmen in the swamp spread around Ooran and the rest of west coast, slowly bringing to him more victims and followers. Their even build a village of their own on the rotten ruins of the old one.
As he devoured, Rakkhus waited. Sooner or later, his old enemy would take notice.
But this time, the demon was prepared.
==In-game==
Rakkhus is a melee skirmisher who sustains himself in-combat not through healing (like Ranhart of Mummy), but throught shields. This makes him substantially harder to kill without the use of shieldbreaking, especially when he gets a kill and receives the greater shield. Given that trying to fight him back can result in taking damage via thorns it can be a good idea to try to wait his shields out. 
Abilities
Name 	Description 	Damage	CC 	Cooldown
Feed on the Weak	When attacking an enemy who is below 50% health Rakkhus gains 4 shield points for 3 seconds. 
Upon killing an enemy he gains 8 shield points for 6 seconds, bypassing the cooldown of this ability.	None 	None 	5
Rotten Grasp 	Rakkhus sends a thorn claw which drags the first enemy hit towards him and roots them for 1 second afterwards.	None 	Root, drag	7
Piercing Pain 	Rakkhus gains thorns for 4 seconds, increased by 0.5s every time he attacks an enemy.
Enemies who attack him take 3 damage back.	3 	None 	20
==Trivia==
*Despite his magical powers, more than often Rakkhus relies on brute physical force to destroy and devour his victims. He mostly uses magic for convince, like snaring an escaping victim with grass.
*Before his death Rakkhus used a dragon corpse as his body.
*Core idea for Rakkhus’ kit and general theme was to utilize the thorns enchantment.
Category:Characters
Category:Fighters
Category:Demons
Category:Villains