Bahum

## Tl;dr

- human orphan raised a religion that worships destruction and decay as a way to maintain the world's balance and health

- chosen by their god to be its proxy in the multiverse, doing the same for the planes at large

- tries to be nice about it and convince people to not metaphysically litter through preaching the good word of their death cult, but will kill people and destroy shit if that doesn't work, referring to this as the sacred work of their death god and healing the worlds. reluctantly, though, so that's a plus

- is trying out this new thing called free will and independent decision-making

## Personality

- naturally compassionate and patient with others; sincerely believes everyone can be reached with reason until proven otherwise, mourns the loss of any life by their hand

- resigned to being the villain when they need to be

- doesn't trust own judgment a lot, falls back on what they believe Bahet wants of them

- holds self to a high standard of conduct as a representative of Bahet, tries to present an aloof and unflappably patient facade

- deals with troubling internal issues by just pushing them under their holy mission

- long lapses of silent meditation on the situation at hand and how best to proceed with The Mission

- not particularly socially-minded outside sermonizing to passers-by and learning about each new plane's gods

- not prone to violence outside specific Mission-related bits of planar pruning

**Likes:** learning more about the religions of the planes they visit, foods with potatoes and root vegetables,

**Dislikes:** unexpected situations, silence, the sight of weaponry

### Driving goals

- help make the world a healthier place

- spread the good word that all things end and that's ok

- be a good representative of their home world and religion, whatever that means

### Inner conflicts

- grim duty of ending things by force vs. compassion for other people and aversion to seeing them get hurt

- doubts as to the certitude of their task vs. self-recrimination for doubting

## Appearance

- average height, slightly emaciated

- would be somewhat Levantine in ethnicity if I could find a decent amount of art for that specific thing I'm going for

- bald

- usually wearing loose-fitting robes with muted colors

## Abilities

- magic centered around decay and destruction

- can just straight up erase things from existence altogether but it takes a lot of power and concentration

- sensing the natural mana cycle of the plane around them

- high natural "power level", plenty of raw mana channeling reserves to work with

- crafting angel constructs

- knowledge of the religious and metaphysical structures of several planes

### Weaknesses

- next to no combat skill beyond "spam raw power and angels at the problem until it goes away"

- extremely gullible

- also starved for positive affirmation

- due to all the weird post-killing rites in their weird religion, will be underfed about half the time

## Relationships

- Marzen: former crush, now that one guy who you don't make eye contact with when you meet in a grocery store because you were complicit in a mass death event together

- Chiarra, Hestia, Naberas: some guys they gave a tour of Mious to that one time

- Ediam: not a huge fan, will probably harshly chastise if given the chance (but not try to kill)

## History

- born to a pretty unremarkable couple that isn't very well known, on account of how baby bahum nuked them and their house with a phenomenal cosmic power burst. babies, amirite

- some worshippers of the local god of death and destruction caught wind of this and saw the baby as a sacred gift from their god, locating and abducting it to raise in their temple

- this was actually not as horrible as you might expect since they were one of the nicer death cults around; emphasizing kindness to the world and caring for its people along with a smattering of killing things that upset nature's balance (but feeling bad about it, which is nice I guess)

- in bahum, some of the believers saw a holy figure sent by their god to cherish; others, a powerful weapon they could train to protect themselves and enforce their will

- and so bahum was raised with love; trained to control their magic and learn the sacred destruction arts of their god, educated in the ways of the world, nurtured and valued as a person, trained to sense the health and balance of the nature and mana around them, and sought for counsel as an avatar of their god on issues they could scarcely comprehend. you know, the usual

- because of / despite this, bahum grew to be a sensitive and soft-hearted little bean who was just inexplicably so darn squeamish about murder and property damage, preferring to try to make their targets change their ways through rhetoric and kindness instead. feeling that they had to serve as an example, they vehemently refused to kill or cause pain; some tutors disagreed, but did not press the issue, because, you know, holy child nuke. to compensate for the guilt, bahum did generally just autopilot and self-effacingly go along with any other cultist agenda dragging them along at any given time because that was easier than questioning and thinking difficult thoughts. a trend that would continue

### Sparking

- little did bahum know their god, bahet (real original, cultists) knew of their planeswalker spark, keeping a close eye on their development, subtly nudging them to grow in certain ways, and waiting for the right moment to try to ignite them. bahet saw that before bahum could truly serve in the myriad worlds, they had to be more complete. they had to be... enlightened.

- so, at their 18th birthday, the god arranged for a gang of raiders to attack the temple just as bahum was outside and primed to intercept. its hearts hardened by bahet, it ignored bahum's impassioned pleas for peace and attempts to sway them with  rhetoric and set out past them into its grim task: loot and murder.

- or it would have, had its leader not crumbled to ashes before he could scream. bahum, their fear, desperation and anger reaching a boiling point, had taken their first life of their own volition. where they expected the crashing waves of dread to overwhelm them, there was instead a strange calm. an inner wall keeping them steady. they understood now what their tutors had tried to impart for so long; the necessity of cruelty, of violence, when no other means suffice. some of the bandits fled and were spared; others attacked and shared their leader's fate.

- in the silence before the rest of the cult's arrival, the adrenaline subsided, leaving grief and shock behind. bahum fell to the ground, beseeching their god for forgiveness, for understanding; hearing none, they started instead to perform last rites for the fallen; the only kindness the vaunted bloodless child could now perform.

- at this, at last, bahet responded. the higher being showed her face unadorned, spoke with her voice unrestrained. many had died from it, others gone mad; but before either fate could befall bahum, their spark sent them headlong into the Eternities, half-understood words echoing in their mind: "You have [...] well." "All you have done [...] approve." "You are [...] my will." "[...] words, [...] death, [...] regret." "[...] planeswalker.".

### First Walk

- bahum awoke in a world they knew to be foreign, one whose technology was more advanced than they'd ever seen. they'd been rescued by a kind passer-by and brought to recover in her abode; still reeling from what they'd done, bahum scrabbled for a sense of normalcy by sensing out the health of the world around them, only to be hit with an instant and painful knowledge that the plane was \_not well\_.

- as their benefactor explained, bahum had landed in a world whose very mana cycle was being exploited by its rulers for power, draining the life from the world little by little; rebellions were futile as weaponry, magic, and the very means of survival were in the hands of a small elite

- from the snippets of divine voice they'd heard before, bahum started putting together the pieces; they were no longer in their home world. their departure was according to their god's will. and it almost seemed like they had been chosen specifically after taking a life to protect their faith, and after performing mourning for that...

- at that time, an enforcer of the ruling class burst through the door, weapon in hand; out of fearful instinct, bahum obliterated him and his equipment with overwhelming magical power. this time, bahum noticed with some trepidation, it was easier to do and felt less painful. on top of that, as the enforcer dissolved into nothingness, the world around them felt like its pain, its imbalance, had been ever so slightly repaired.

- rapt at the sight, their savior explained that none of them had been able to fight back against the seemingly superior military force due to their superior armor and insisted that bahum \_had\_ to come join the resistance. it all began clicking into place; the situation, their god's words... this was clearly their god's will for them to be here. they were to perform the sacred work of preserving the cosmic order, bring their god's presence to this world! and... and killing was part of that. it had to be. there was no longer any escaping it. it all began to bear down upon bahum, but going along with what the rebels wanted... what their god wanted... thinking of it like that made it easier. not having to think made it easier. they were doing what was right, and there was no room for selfish doubts.

- and so bahum joined the rebel underground, convinced that healing this world by their side was their sacred mission. for each encounter, they'd try to persuade their opponents of the unrighteousness of their ways; few listened, most persisted or even attacked bahum in response. sadly dissuaded, they then went on to do what they were convinced their god expected; destroy machinery, kill aggressors, all while mourning each loss as per their sect's edicts and their own guilt. the rebels, however, had nothing but praise for bahum's effectiveness; as this positive affirmation grew and the world around them healed more and more, bahum's lingering doubts and uncertainties withered under a heavy layer of conviction that they were doing what was Holy and Virtuous

- with the strength of this new, unexpected power by their side, the rebels inevitably advanced; the rulers were cowed, converted, or eradicated by bahum's hand. their wondrous, powerful machinery was no longer being used to oppress the people, and so the rebels sought to use it for their own ends; re-engineer it to help the world thrive. but before they could, bahum moved to destroy it like they had the rest, driven by what they believed to be their god's will; and as they did, the last of its oppressive effect on the world's mana balance also crumbled, vindicating their choice in their mind

- the rebels got miffed that the person who consistently expressed a religious agenda acted on that religious agenda, and Bahum was taken aback; in their view, the rebels' desire to improve the world and Bahum's own mission from god to heal it were one and the same. loosened by the shock from the rebels' validation they'd been partly using to stay functional, they felt the world around shimmer; wishing in that moment only that they were back home in their old temple, they instinctively cast the planeswalking spell... and there they were once again, in what they now knew to be but one world among many.

### The Journey Starts in Earnest

- torn between their sense of duty to their religion and their kindness towards their fellow man, bahum went on to seek the counsel of their church

- however, the flock was ill-equipped to handle the unexpected case of one of its own being the direct chosen champion of its god; between envious silence and worshipful pedestalization, little in terms of actual support was given that day

- the few friends and mentors who saw the lost child between the exalted role advised bahum to follow their own heart, advice they'd only heed much, much later. for the time being, bahum thought their own heart had led to confusion and uncertainty, and so sought their god's counsel once more

- very conveniently, an angel of bahet descended and told bahum in no uncertain terms what they were expected to do. "everyone who tells you not to do the sacred work of balancing and cleaning the world is wrong, your mission is above that. we chose you to do our work in the infinite worlds for a reason. don't forget your kindness, but don't let it stop you from doing what must be done. so go forth already and stop fretting over every egg"

- the honor and sense of purpose paved over bahum's uncertainties. after saying goodbye to their church and convincing themself that this was all they ought to want, bahum set out into the eternities to seek worlds with corrupted natural balance and heal them; through kindness and patient preaching and then, with reluctance, through violence and death

### Villains: The Musical

- along the way, Bahum chanced upon the world of Laptew and noticed a serious disturbance in the ~~Force~~ natural order; a vault with intensely powerful artifacts concentrated together, warping the mana like a weight on paper (or at least in Bahum's eyes). after some reconnaisance, they were told the owner was deep within and could not be reached; so, regretfully, they set out to solve the issue directly by destroying as many artifacts as were needed

- the guard of the vault, Ediam, turned out to be in on a plot by five planeswalkers to steal some specific stuff from the vault and decided to humor the weirdo monk with the phenomenal cosmic power, "guiding" Bahum within the vault to "aid" in their mission while clandestinely keeping them away from the important heist targets. this worked because Bahum was extremely gullible and wasn't used to people actually understanding and supporting their crusade

- so that happened for a while until the crooks got what they wanted and set off an alarm on the way out. Bahum, feeling they'd done enough and needed to fall back, exited the vault... only to be accosted by three other planeswalkers who were investigating the theft, and so wackily mistaken for one of the thieves

- realizing they were conned, they fled and sought out Ediam; but the guy was a slippery eel and, eventually, Bahum 'walked out in a panic

### A Serious Fucky-Wucky

- one day, Bahum met a dashing merchant called Marzen from a frozen world, seeking out someone who could rescue his home world Frystaria from its endless winter. Bahum, eager to jump onto this new mission and also Marzen's bones (although they didn't actually recognize this feeling due to all that self-repression for the holy work), accepted without forethought, and the two set out

- immediately, the sensation of wrongness was clear. after shenanigans, Marzen and Bahum located the source: Frystaria's caged sun. Bahum poured massive amounts of power into the bindings, freeing the celestial object... and replacing the plane's torturous nuclear winter with an even more torturous nuclear summer, which was the natural state of the world and the reason its people sealed the sun away in the first place. the people would've cursed Bahum's name, had they not been busy dying in droves. whoopsie doodle

- Bahum could not understand, because they'd never really dwelled on the consequences of their actions until then. up to that point, they'd just assumed that, even if people were to temporarily suffer, everything would ultimately be alright and the world they were in would heal into something better. but this was not better. but it was the way the world was supposed to be. but the people were suffering and dying, and they would be forever, so how could it be?

- torn apart by conflicting thoughts, Bahum could only return home

### A Closure Unfound

- conveniently, some other schmoes were also on Mious to find their own closure for their own various issues, which Mious is renowned for in the walker community, so Bahum guided them around while making their own pilgrimage towards a sacred site of Bahet to ask for an answer

- however, the answer Bahum got from an angel of Bahet wasn't quite what they were hoping for. "that nuclear summer you doomed the world into is the natural state of the world, and if its people are suffering and dying then that's just a skill issue on their part"

- their thoughtless devotion had finally run up against an inner wall, and they could not accept this answer; silently, they stormed off, swearing never to destroy again until they could find an answer

### A Turning Point

- they landed on a world called Veronia that welcomed the stranger with open, generous arms. this kindness gave Bahum the confidence to actually think about what they wanted and why they'd been doing the sacred work, and they found an answer; they'd been doing it because they wanted to, in the end, help *people*, not some abstract sense of the world itself

- Veronia itself was undergoing a snafu; due to its overwhelming life energy, people weren't dying and elementals were constantly being born, so space and resources were slowly about to run out

- Bahum wandered the world for a bit, taking in its perspectives on the matter; fear, ignorant complacency, determination to stop a future of starvation and crushing overpopulation... and finally, Bahum made a choice of their very own. yay! it was to defy the direct instructions of their god to stop the suffering that was right in front of them, no matter the punishment they'd later have to endure. awesome! and it was by killing a whole *bunch* of people with their hax-tier destruction magic to clear up more space and hopefully wake people up to their circumstances by force, because after failing to convince many people at all, Bahum saw this as the only way. uh maybe go back to unthinking indoctrination actually, champ

- so they went on to do that. some understood. most saw Bahum as a new villain, ganging up to resist the priest and their allies; and in the process, learning to share and manage their resources in a more sustainable way rather than squabble over them in a factionalistic way. so who's to say if terroristic mass murder is good or bad