Anser

## **Anser, The Drowned Captain**

When alive, Anser was a famous kraken hunter and the captain of ship called "Bane of the Abyss". He trusted his crew and expected loyalty, much needed when facing krakens, and demanded perfect teamwork. While at first he could look like, Anser really cared about his crew and wanted their every hunt to end successful with no deaths among the hunters. He tried, as much as he could, to keep his anger issues in check, but when provoked enough (or when drunk) he would erupt into a violent rage.

After his abyssal transformation his pale skin changed to murky green and his right arm was replaced by a bunch of tentacles. He carries one of the anchors of his old ship and uses it as a weapon, alongside with ropes he has tied around his tentacles and chest. While he no longer needs to breathe air like humans, his lungs are still functional and he often emerges to wander the surface to admire the seaside landscapes.

## **Story**

Human race has defeated dragons, outlived spectres and even overthrown eternal ones. It was only the matter of time before they challenged the beasts of the deep sea. Krakens are giant, fierce and deadly, but they can be killed. Their blood has powerful healing properties while their bones can repel magic, so naturally a demand for it appeared. And to satisfy this demand, the job of kraken hunters came to be. Not many sailors lived to be such legends as so called the greatest kraken hunter, captain Anser Dorou known for multiple beasts he dragged back to Derumi, his areomancy prowess and his hot temper. Anser was feared and respected by his crew. He was fair but demanding, and those not worth working with him he would leave on the land. He never gave anyone a second chance. One day however, his ship came back to Derumi, but it wasn't Anser wearing the captain's hat. Doahn, formerly the first mate, has became new captain of the Bane of The Abyss. Anser has been knocked out into the ocean and devoured by a kraken as Doahn could not reach him in time. At least that was what Doahn told everyone.

That night Doahn has been caught on stealing kraken bones by the captain himself. Anser has suspected his first mate for a long time but now he finally was sure. Thieves had no place on his ship, but before he could announce Doahn's treachery to the rest of the crew, a giant beast approached from below. Anser decided to kill the kraken first before it could harm anyone and punish the thief later, which ended up to be his last mistake. Fighting a kraken requires not only great skill, but full focus, but Anser's mind was clouded by anger. How could his crewmate betray him like this? His first mate. The man with whom he faced death and shared rum. All of these thoughts running through Anser's head as he ran across his skip to cut off a tentacle that crawled on the board. With a quick strike he send the beast's limb back to the abyss, and as he stared down into the dark waters he felt searing pain in his back, and just after this, someone pushed him off the ship, into cold dark water. The last thing he saw before the ocean claimed him was the traitorous first mate, grinning with a bloodied hook in his hand.

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But it wasn't the end for the drowned captain. Krakens don't just kill their prey - they drag it down, to places where light will never reach. To a place all of the abyssborn monsters came from. Before the face of the king of all creatures Anser spend his entire life hunting. The being that was so *wrong, alien and... eldritch*. Even if asked, Anser could not clearly remember what happened that night at the bottom of the ocean. The only thing he understood was that he was offered a deal. A way to bring justice to this accursed traitor who stole his ship and his title. And that he accepted.

Afterwards, he woke up in complete darkness. Not just a mere darkness, not a room with no lamp or a forest on moonless night. The darkness of The Abyss where light never reached and never will. It took him a while to even understand where he is, and a bit more to notice that he no longer needed air. But just after he reached the surface and looked at his reflection in the water he discovered he was no longer a man. He did not knew yet that it has been years since he drowned. The only thing he knew was that he has became one of the creatures he hunted, just in a shape that resembled the man once known as Anser Dorou.

He was not angry however. Nor he regretted what happened to him. He knew what he wanted to do and entered the ocean once again, planning to find any ship he could follow to Derumi. And from there, finding Doahn was just a matter of time.

## **In-game**

Anser's kit offers various ways to approach teamfights and duels. He can try to bruteforce through his enemies in 1v1 duels with Lifeline empowered damage, peel for his ranged teammates by dragging away enemy assassins with Keelhaul or even combine both abilities to drag a key target through an entire map.

Abilities
 Keelhaul
The first enemy hit is stunned and dragged towards Anser regardless of distance between them
 Lifeline/Emerge
After 5 seconds or after recasting he is dragged back to the anchor and upon arrival stuns all enemies in 8 block range for 1 second
This ability can only be interrupted when Anser is killed or banished

## **Trivia**

* Anser's kit and character was partially inspired by Alestorm song Keelhaul. Captain's Ire and Keelhaul are named directly after lines from the song.
* His dragging is the only hard crowd control effect that cannot be negated with unstoppability and escaped from via blink abilities.
* Keelhaul and Lifeline are the only abilities that can put a player inside map terrain, although for a very short while, and the player can't take any damage during this time.
* Anser's new passive for his 3.0 rework was directly inspired by Nautilus from League of Legends.