Styx

Styx is the protagonist in Styx: Master of Shadows

   He is the opposite of Arkaïl, relying on subtlety instead of brute force. Styx is perfect for stealth and he has some dark powers at his command.

He is unique in the fact he is the only known Goblin capable of human speech, unlike the other Goblins which can only make unintelligent growling sounds.

## Background

### Styx: Master of Shadows

Styx hated his new form, not just for the loss of his orcish identity, but also because he couldn't shut out the voices of the elves who dwelt around the World Tree. The elves share a communal telepathic mind, and Styx's exposure to the amber of World Tree opened his own mind to their voices. Fed up, Styx decided to the steal the Heart of the World Tree in hopes of finding a cure for his condition. The problem was that the World Tree was heavily protected by the floating fortress tower of Akenash.

One of the peculiar gifts of Styx's transformation was his ability to spawn clones of himself, which he could control telepathically. Styx used these clones as expendable tools, and typically granted them virtually no free will and only a sliver of his skills and knowledge. When Styx broke into Akenash, he planned to allow himself to be captured so that he could question the masters of the tower. Before this happened, Styx created a clone of himself with an unusually high degree of free will and a substantial share of his skills, so that this clone could complete some other goals within the tower on his behalf, then liberate the real Styx from prison. The clone thought that he was the real Styx, but the real Styx was subtly controlling his actions through telepathic suggestions.

But Styx miscalculated. He granted this clone too much power and free will. When the clone realized what he truly was, he rebelled against his creator. With the help of an elf, the clone severed his telepathic connection to the original Styx. He then pursued Styx to the heart of the World Tree. During the battle, the clone Styx fell into a pool of amber, and out of the amber poured hundreds of clones, who then tore the original Styx to pieces. This incident had the side-effect of destroying the magic that kept Akenash afloat in the sky, and the tower crashed on the surface.

## Personality

Styx is an ancient goblin and is incredibly intelligent for his species being the only known goblin able to speak. He is a skilled infiltrator and assassin, capable of killing humans twice his size without raising suspicion. He has a sarcastic demeanour as opposed to Arkail's much more serious personality. He tends to shy away from prolonged combat as he is somewhat fragile and instead prefers taking out enemies silently without raising alarm.

When Styx learned he was merely a duplicate of the original, he was shown to be infuriated to have been manipulated into blindly following orders for another and resented his condition and what he had been put through.

## Appearance

### Styx: Master of Shadows

Styx's design remained very similar in Master of Shadow and his clothing strongly resembled what he wore later on in Of Orcs and Men. The only real difference being his cloak like clothing was a dark black colour rather than the red/brown-ish colours he adopted in Of Orcs and Men.

His attire was also more ragged, with most of his left shoulder and chest being exposed. For the vast majority of the game, he also possessed an intricate Amber tattoo that would glow when he was enshrouded in darkness, though in the final stage this mark would be removed.