Kahni

## **Kahni, The Stitched Siren**

Kahni used to be a healer, working on a rescue ship “Lamplight”. Before betting stuck on the island, she was an average pale woman with short hair, shielding herself from the dirt of the world behind her white robes. She was a proficient healer and surgeon, with her interest in medicine persisting even after the years of being stranded. She changed greatly over the years, letting her hair grow down to her knees and changing her dress-code to wandering almost naked. Multiple surgeries she performed on herself, combined with the way her body reacted to abyssal blood turned her skin sickly blue. Her entire body is covered with stitches which hold her together, and even if they break she heals almost as quickly as the naturalborn of The Abyss. She cuts her eyes out every time they are regenerated, being terrified by the thought of seeing what she became, and more scared of the possibility of seeing The Kraken King itself again.

In her current state, Kahni fluctuates between complete insanity when she violently attacks anyone around her, the moments of perfect clarity when she reflects on all she has done and even tries to help people around her, and many shades of gray in-between.

## **Story**

Memories.

Even when she cannot see, the images implanted in her soul cannot be removed by an old scalpel, like eyes, ears, fingers, or anything else can. And even if they could, they would still probably grow back in a few days.

When she can see, and is not disturbed by anyone, she looks at the stars above. The countless small lights staring back at her. So similar to the… thing, yet, so different. All the difference, without the wrongness.

She often thinks about the days so long gone. About the times when she tossed snowballs at her friends in Rohoim during the winter. The blissful times when she took the dare to taunt the demon who lived in the sewers, and almost got her spine broken when he caught her. The less blissful times when she studied all night to pass the biology exams. All so long ago, all so far away. She remembers the day when she got her healer license, the stressful days of her internship in the People’s of Derumi Hospital, the stories the adventurers she pieced back together told. The stories of danger and bravery, of dreadful monsters and forgotten artefacts, hungry undead and looming death. The best stories, however, were always told by the kraken hunters. The vilest monsters the adventurers from mainland faced were nothing compared to the abyssal abominations – the krakens. Those were the stories which made her join a rescue ship crew. In the stories, ocean was was so invitingly unknown. So unknown, yet not so alien.

And now she was stuck here, on the island which was not on any map. A cursed island from which she would never escape. Not when… it lurks below. Every time her optical nerves were restored by the purple liquid in her veins, as soon as she saw the thousands of white eyes staring her down in the pitch-black watery nothingness, her trusty old scalpel was a sure way to out out from the sense of sight. For some time, at least.

Even now, as she was laying on her back at the top of the flooded ruin she called her laboratory, surrounded by a murky swamp, she wondered how can it be. How she, a human, can bleed purple like the monsters from the sea, and just like them seal any wound she suffers completely in the matter of hours. She was a woman of science after all. People called her a doctor. Despite this, even after the years of medical studies, after cutting every one of her organs in every way imaginable, she still had no idea why they grow back. She would not admit to it if asked, but deep inside she no longer cared to know. She was grateful for this. Performing an open surgery on herself without anesthetic became her new favorite hobby.

Before this she would walk on the ocean floor, admiring the creatures living there which no other human before saw. As air was no longer an issue, and she quickly adjusted to the pressure, she would trudge deeper and deeper, despite the man who gave her this blood begging her not to. She dismissed this. And then, when she walked far deeper than ever, so deep below the island, she saw it. And no matter how many times she ripped her eyes out, she could not un-see it.

She curled up trembling as the memory of the thing at the bottom of the ocean returned. The thing so wide she could not grasp it in her field of view, emerging from a bottomless below her, and staring her down with countless pale lights. Like a night sky given flesh. With a loud scream of fear Kahni plunged her blade right into her left eye, spraying the stone floor with thick, purple liquid. For a second, she looked at the night sky again, before slashing into her right eye too.

Then, she just sobbed quietly in the calm darkness of self-inflicted temporary blindness. The night sky above her was unmoved, monumental, and incomprehensibly large, majesting and… beautiful.

Unlike the thing. The thing was anything but beautiful. The thing was… *eldritch*.

## **In-game**

Kahni is a complex and demanging character who combines damage, mobility and utility. Her 2 forms, Stitched and Siren, are suited for healing and combat respectively, but what makes her stand out among other form swappers (like Dr. Keter, Dayini and Har, or Nyarlathotep) is that she cannot directly control her transformation. Careful managing of the Stitches Durability is key in mastering her unique playstyle.

Abilities
 Botched Surgery/Abyssflow Dance
Abyssflow Dance: Kahni dashes, dealing 6 damage to all nearby enemies. Can be re-casted once.
 Stitch Up/Rip the Wounds
Rip the Wounds: Kahni deals 4 damage to herself and sprays her blood, dealing 4 damage to all enemies hit and slowing them by 45% for 2 seconds.

## **Trivia**

* Kahni's playstyle was inspired by Void Fiend from Risk of Rain 2.
* Originally she was supposed to be classified as fighter, but was moved to the specialist tab shortly before 3.1 update release.
* Abyssflow Dance was named after Waterflow Dance, an attack of Malenia from Elden Ring.
* Rip the Wounds is the only ability which inflict self-damage (Slime Core's health costs were removed in version 1.3).
* Kahni and Qwess are the only playable characters confirmed to have children with each other.