Arcadia, the Merciless

*"Dou-Bral teaches us that there's real beauty in real things. A painting is just imaginary beauty. But reality! Why paint a portrait of a battle when you can do battle? Why paint a portrait of the person you want to dominate and take as yours, when you can do it? But you might ask, don't these cause suffering? Yes! Suffering and pain are the true source of beauty, not the lavish decadence of naïve aristocrats! But so too are real pleasure, real joy, real life! Fell the ivory towers, and dare to live!"*

## History

Arcadia Goldenfire was born in Rike to parents she's now all-but-forgotten, one a scion of angels and one a full-blooded human. Her celestial heritage is still strong enough to convince her that she is superior to the other beings of the world. Her parents were artistically inclined, and made a trade through whatever they could sell out of their works.

Arcadia was quite out of place in Rike, after all: the descendants of angels were not exactly a welcome sight in this criminal dystopia. Arcadia sought to curb this for a while, becoming an informant for the powers that be in Rike, but after realising that judgment came on a whim more than anything else, she longed to resign - so she did. Judging by the lack of assassins coming for her in the night, she assumed that her resignation had been well-received.

With enough money to spend a while out of work without suffering for it, she turned to the religious life. Her parents had been devoted Shelynites, but to her, this seemed somewhat empty: art, to her, was a brief distraction from the harsh realities of life.

One day, Arcadia heard a story of Shelyn's brother, Dou-Bral, another god of beauty, but this of a different sort: the true beauty of the world as it is, rather than the make-believe beauty of artistic creations. The moral of the story was supposed to be rather different, but Arcadia, weary of her family's religion, longed to follow another, and prayed to Dou-Bral.

The mad god Zon-Kuthon heard her prayer, directed at the god he once was - not so different from his sister in domain - and under his old name. Eager for another willing follower - and an aasimar, no less! - Zon-Kuthon told Arcadia a variety of deceptive platitudes to make her his servant, and answered to the name Dou-Bral from her. He regaled her with tales of the true beauty in the world coming from pain and suffering, because that was what made the world more real.

Arcadia believes Dou-Bral represents the beauty of reality, rather than the beauty of artworks. To her, it seems obnoxious, even sacrilegious, to look at paintings of trees rather than go out and admire them in reality - unless you are too far away from any real trees to view them, of course. Similarly, Arcadia despises poems of love for an individual to whom you might demonstrate your love with action.

While this seems like a reasonable stance, it quickly turns to insanity: to Arcadia, all sensation is beauty, especially including pain. Rather than sing the blues, Arcadia would rather drive sharp miscellanea through her arms and legs, brand her deity's symbol into her foot while also attaching it to her wrist, and wield a variety of implements of pain as likely to hurt her as anyone else. To fight her is unnerving, as every strike against her is accompanied by a moan of pleasure or shrill shriek of elation rather than a cry of pain. It's only out of a begrudging sense of self-preservation that she even wears armour, but the inside of it is designed to cause her immense discomfort.

Worse is what follows if you become her captive. Arcadia loves to show true beauty to the nonbelievers, and to those who don't share her proclivities, the result is sheer torture, both literally and metaphorically. To those with whom she doesn't come to blows, at least, she accepts that it is their choice to deny the gifts she would give them.

All of this disquieted many, and through the blessings of Zon-Kuthon, she defended herself in her late childhood against an attack on her life, summoning in the moment the unholy Light of Death, her first spell, and through it, drew the life out of her assailant. Distraught at the fact that she had stopped another living being from experiencing what life had to offer, she sought a way to atone for this, and was drawn to necromancy: being able to restore the dead to life, she thought, was the most beautiful thing of all, because they would be able to experience the world once more.

Arcadia has been blamed for a small uprising of a cult of Dou-Bral, and most alarmingly, for several children indulging in the same acts of self-torture that she advocates. This, too, has made her unpopular, but to Arcadia, it is simply liberation from the idea that we must all live comfortable, wool-wrapped lives. Most of the cultists, however, are those old enough to make decisions for themselves anyway, and Arcadia has enjoyed herself indulging in pain and pleasure with many of them.

Now, Arcadia is fully ready to become a prophet of Dou-Bral, spreading the more beatific face of Zon-Kuthon's sadomasochistic religion to all who will hear of it, and inflicting it on any who oppose it. In battle, she feels the greatest devotion to her deity.

## Appearance

Arcadia's body is a mess of scars and piercings, many of the latter simply random sharp pieces of metal inserted into her body. Under her armour is a lattice of whip scars on her front and her back, and a variety of additional gruesome piercings, but her body really is beautiful, and her scars really do contribute to it in their own way: the best delusions, after all, are the ones with a little truth to them.

That said, she tends to leave her hair a mess - more real is more beautiful, and to brush it would be artificial. She would go without ever washing if she didn't love swimming so much, and is often found covered in blood and muck. She also tends to try to wear clothes of "Real" colours, which means unpainted armour and undyed cloth and leather.

## Personality

Arcadia is the ultimate thrill-seeker and sadomasochist, wanting to taste all kinds of experiences and sensations. Gung-ho and forthright, she always takes the initiative and disregards most caution - though she understands that she can't get away with setting fire to the world just to watch it burn, seeing as she'd get herself killed. Still, she's a repeat criminal, as the lashings that would deter others don't do the same to her. To her, the ultimate punishment would be eternal boredom.

To those whom she likes, she can deliver kindness and affection as well as she can inflict pain: she can be gentle and reassuring, and always knows how to get you back on your feet and raise your spirits. When all seems lost, Arcadia will be the one leading the charge, whether literally or metaphorically.

## Friends

Arcadia's friends are mostly the other faithful of Zon-Kuthon, and the few others whimsical and foolhardy enough to follow her on her escapades. For the most part, anyone who's willing to tolerate her, she's willing to see as a friend. Those who give her a chance find the idea of being able to enjoy all sensations an interesting and tempting one.

## Enemies

Arcadia's enemies tend to be those who have an objection to her practices, or those whom she has come to blows with for one reason or another. Many are sceptical of her religion, however, as it seems at best absurd and at worst perfectly insane. She bears the mockery of those who oppose her with a grin.

## Aspirations

Arcadia's goal is to experience as much sensation as possible while sharing this "Gift" with others.

\*Arcadia's alignment is listed as Neutral Evil because Pathfinder alignment is mostly consequentialist. However, she does believe, rightly or wrongly, that she's doing good in the world.