Varlos du Nadiek

Young, dumb, and ready for blood.

## Appearance

Varlos due to his affliction bears a striking resemblance to a goat, albeit bipedal and absolutely strapped with muscle. The young warrior's right hand has had an iron gauntlet bolted onto it for the last four years, however is not impossible to remove with some careful dexterity. While his pale skin and white fur cover a predominant amount of him, some areas such as the top half of his face, under his feet, and the sides of his waist have a striking amount of black discoloration. Across his back, Varlos has literally dozens of patterned tattoos that ride from the back of his calves all the way to the nape of his neck.

As Varlos grows in strength and becomes more grizzled by combat and enthralled in his fits of rage and passion, new runes and designs continue to weld themselves onto his back into a tapestry of sort. While he of course cannot read it, discerning mages in the past have been able to translate a number of glyphs; most relatating roughly to terms like "GROW" and "FURY". Conversely, it seems that the more Varlos indulges in commanding immediate adaptations and shapechanges through his own magik techniques, the further the blotches of black fur across his body spread.

When under the influence of his own supernatural powers and rapid evolutions, a violent aura of chaotic energy can often be seen leeching from the ground and his surroundings leading to his own body. Varlos' spell power isn't connected to any understanding of nature or the divine nor complex arcane glyphs, but from simply straining his muscles until his body reacts to the stress with swift change. And while this can allow him amazing manipulation of self by focusing on certain muscle groups, the physical toll is undeniable and can be seen when he pushes his protean heritage to the limit in combat. Sometimes blood will begin dripping from the corners of his eyes or his ankle might twist the wrong as the muscle works beyond the normal limits of pain and preservation.

## Background

Varlos was born as the seventh in his litter, made from the horrid union of his the enchantress witch Wardnam and a thrall of a powerful protean whom was charged with some of its immense power from the maelstrom. While a majority of his siblings died after birth, with forms too unstable or too corrupted to survive even a few moments in the material plane, the runt of the clutch was able to hang on. Fearful for his safety, Wardnam spent years infusing her only surviving three children with primeval and potent curses as well as boons to fuel their supernatural and natural capabilities alike. In the case of Varlos, much of his spirit and intellect were damaged and corrupted by a decade of experimental resistance rituals and physiology rearrangements. Her efforts were commendable however, and Wardnam marveled in how she bred a terribly durable hybrid spawn of species from different planes capable of spreading her own dreams of madness and obliteration. Unfortunately for her however, fate had a different plan in store.

When Varlos was about 14, his mother's home was raided by adventurers tipped off about a dangerous caster in the area. The battle was grand, but long finished by the time he found his house looted and his family obliterated and decapitated by self-proclaimed heroes. While most of the adventurers that passed through had left hours earlier, a peculiar man was found in the attic still parceling through looking for more rewards to walk away with. As Varlos saw him, he felt a swirling and ancient rage well up inside and he roared a battlecry fueled by the Speakers of the Depths themselves as he charged the looter. The psychic facing down the charge of a vengeful berserker dodged out of the way and quickly began flushing Varlos of dozens of memories, hoping to scrub the sight of his parents' murders along the way. To some amount of shock it worked, although due to Varlos' naturally weak mind, a large portion of his thoughts were incorrectly purged or reset. It was from there that his vulnerable mind was reshaped and deceived into believing a new truth and a false prophecy. So far as he knows, his story goes as such:

Nadiek of Ronta was adopted by a the great psychic Frea Coolsage, dropped down from the heavens by the gods as a divine instrument to ravage and fight. His strange form was a result of his brash and headstrong attitude made real. Nadiek was trained to be a hero like his adopted father, but despite his overwhelming stature, proved very clumsy and inept. No armor seemed to fit him right and he always squeezed and struggled to move when he wore it and no weapon felt right to wield in the hands of someone capable of shapeshifting. After some time however, they learned that even after the magic of his shifting wore off, his body itself was adapting heavily and getting stronger. His senses could react quicker, his muscles grew much thicker, and his body chiseled itself until it was tougher than most shields. His hide was so tough in fact, a palm reader declared to him that he could never be killed be killed through force, but only by wit! While Nadiek himself never held the discipline or smarts to train his strikes in a monastery or fight club, he developed his own unique techniques, centered around beating then tearing.

Since then he's been traveling, learning, and doing what he can to help others help himself.

## Personality

To be put simply and bluntly, Varlos is a very simple-minded and blunt man. He often gets embarrassed easily about his own idiocy and tries to compensate for it by continuing to perfect his body. When he's flustered, he needs to release his energy with exercise. When he's excited, he needs to release his energy with exercise. And more important to his dream of being a hero, when he's scared or upset, he needs to release his energy with exercise. While in the former cases this may refer to a fiery tryst with a local of Absalom or spending a week in the forest picking fist fights with the wild life, the latter is only really relieved with wild and frantic combat. When he can smell his own blood, that's when he feels the rushes of adrenaline coursing through his body and he very much chases as many excuses as he can to get that going.

While he is very boisterous and vocal about whatever he's thinking, people have often referred to Varlos as a gentle giant in the past. His boorish attitude and dull mind make him an easy target for rude words and snide remarks; weapons he's found that cut deeper than any blade has ever tried to slice through him. Deep down, there's a well of empathy and gentleness that begrudges his concentrated chaotic energy. Varlos is very proud of the fact that even though he struggles with speaking and reading at times, he can read body language and emotions on other people very well.