Cinder King

The Cinder King is a Threnodite on Canticle who became the leader of the Union and led the Charred.
== Appearance and Personality ==
The Cinder King is tall with glowing red eyes. He appears to be about fifty but doesn't have a single wrinkle, making it hard to guess his exact age. This lack of wrinkles may be an advantage of living in perpetual twilight. He has a cinderheart, but it is not as deep in his chest as the ones the Charred have. He covers the cinderheart with a black coat, but some of the light shines through.
He is obsessed with power and believes it is his destiny to rule. He is interested in off-worlders, primarily for their stories of conquest. He often cheats and lies to attempt to appear strong, and is insecure despite his boasting.
== Attributes and Abilities ==
Like everyone from Canticle, the Cinder King can take Investiture, called "heat" by the natives of Canticle, from other people of Canticle through physical contact. He can do this more powerfully than others and can quickly kill the person he touches. The Cinder King is highly Invested from doing this to thousands of people. As a result, he quickly heals from wounds and has supernatural strength and speed. He is also a great shot.
The Cinder King can control the Charred through his cinderheart, which has not completely replaced his heart, therefore not consuming him. The Charred receive his commands as a voice in their heads. They also feel the Cinder King's emotions.
He has access to Scadrian devices, such as bracers that drain away body heat and bands that increase weight.
== History ==
Before ascending to leadership, the Cinder King served as an executioner. During this period of his life, he developed a keen interest in the nature of power and concluded that it was more powerful to have others follow his commands than merely killing them.
Later in life, the Cinder King met a Thaylen worldhopper who was attempting to make contact with the natives of Canticle. Fearing that he was a demon, the Cinder King killed him and recovered a series of encyclopedias on his person that informed the Cinder King of the existence of the wider cosmere, as well as the people who inhabited it. The books also gave him the idea that he was destined to unite his entire planet.
Following this, the Cinder King began to seize power throughout all of Canticle, eventually forming Union. During the height of his power, he held considerable influence over every corridor on the planet and all habitable regions. He was known for his violent methods of controlling the natives and killed multiple off-worlders during his reign.
=== Deal with the TimeTellers ===
After gaining access to the Scadrian research facility and meeting the TimeTellers inside, several years before Nomad's arrival, the two parties agreed to a deal: The Cinder King would provide sunhearts and other things needed for their experiments in exchange for advanced Scadrian knowledge and technology. The deal was presumably how he learned to create the Charred and got the bracers he used to control them.
=== Nomad's Arrival ===
Upon Nomad's arrival to Canticle, the Cinder King attempted to question him but wasn't understood. He then tried to kill Nomad by absorbing his heat but was unable to do so. When the crowd began to treat Nomad with reverence for escaping the sun, he hated it and kicked Nomad several times enjoying that he didn't fight back.
The Cinder King watched the contest that determines who becomes a Charred. At this time he was very interested to see what Nomad was capable of; however, the Charred singled out Nomad, making it clear that the Cinder King wanted Nomad to be killed in public. When Nomad defeated one of his Charred, the Cinder King activated Nomad's bracers and incapacitated him.
After the contest, the Cinder King stoked the crowd and claimed he would make an example of Nomad. He then killed two of the weaker captives by draining their heat before ramming a spear into a woman's chest, which turned her into a Charred. Then before he could transform Thomos, Nomad threw his Shardblade into a pillar, stunning him. The Cinder King then decided to transform Nomad instead, who spit on him. Before the transformation could be started, the Beaconites attacked.
During the attack, the Cinder King obtained a rifle and shot at Rebeke. His shots nearly killed her several times, but Nomad was able to use Auxillary to shield them, then drive away the Cinder King with random rifle shots. When the rebels escaped, he didn't give chase personally and instead sent several ships after them.
=== Meeting with Nomad ===
After Nomad and Rebeke took down a scout ship, the Cinder King surveyed it himself with his personal ship and invited Nomad aboard. He came prepared with flashcards to overcome the language barrier and was surprised when Nomad said he could speak the local language. He then offered to hire Nomad as a mercenary and told the story of how he became aware of the wider cosmere. Then to demonstrate his power he choked a Charred who was unable to fight back. When negotiations with Nomad went south, he brought Rebeke aboard and attempted to shoot her, but Nomad intervened and they were able to escape.
=== The Theft of Sunhearts ===
After the escape, the Cinder King personally oversaw the collection of sun hearts because he anticipated something going wrong. He then discovered Nomad stealing his sun hearts. When Nomad refused to fight him and ran away, he sent Charred after them. As Nomad fought off the Charred, the Cinder King watched in fear that was transferred to the Charred.
=== Battle at the Refuge ===
To defend the doorway to the Refuge the Cinder King brought all of his forces, which included dozens of ships and hundreds of Charred. Despite his preparations, the Beaconites new ship-mounted guns easily scattered their defenses. Then, thinking Zellion knew the true location of the Refuge the Cinder King panicked and retreated to protect it, leading the Beaconites right to the Refuge. He set up his forces on the ground outside the Refuge but was easily fired at from above and they scattered again.
When the Beaconites are denied access to the Refuge the Cinder King takes their sunhearts and leaves all of them for the sun, but he takes Elegy and Rebeke with him back to Union. There, he touched Elegy's sunheart and assumed that put her back under his control. Rebeke tried to trick him into sparing the Beaconites but failed; instead, the Cinder King decided to turn her into a Charred.
=== Rebellion of Union ===
When Zellion flew after them, the Cinder King ordered his engineers to install one of the Beacon ship guns and used it to fire at him. Elegy used the distraction to attack Charred and free them from the Cinder King's control causing him to miss his shots. After he realized that Elegy could think and remember the Cinder King threatened to kill Rebeke unless she stopped. After subduing Elegy he made plans to deal with Zellion, put the city into lockdown, and ordered Rebeke to be taken to the Hall of Burning to turn her into a Charred.
Once Zellion arrived at Union he challenged the Cinder King to a duel, which he accepted. The Cinder King then used snipers and Charred to weaken Zellion, and affixed two bracers to him (one increasing his weight, the other stealing warmth) before televising the fight. He then made a big show of removing the heat-stealing bracer (but not the weight one) before the fight began. As they fought, Zellion maneuvered them to the edge of Union and pushed them both off the edge onto the ground. However, during this fight, Rebeke convinced the city of Union to rebel and it flew away, leaving the Cinder King and Zellion stranded on the ground.
In a last-ditch attempt at survival, the Cinder King attempted to kill Zellion to get his Shardblade. However, Zellion used this as an opportunity to drain the Cinder King of his Investiture before Skipping away. The Cinder King was left to burn, and his sunheart was likely recovered by the Beaconites.
== Notes ==