Dusk

**Dusk** is a powerful cursed artifact and the second of the Three Horsemen created by the oldest living white cored Awakened, Baba Yaga. Unlike his sisters and mother, Dusk doesn't despise Liches, going so far as to choose one as his host and recruit most of them for his Court, Awakened or not.

## Appearance

Dusk looks like a handsome man in his mid 20's, about 1.9 meters (6'3") tall, with blonde hair, bright red skin, and orange eyes that seem to flicker like flames every time he moves his gaze.

## Personality

Dusk hates Abominations more than anyone other undead. Not only are Abominations capable of using all six elements, but they also have access to Chaos magic, something that the undead lack. He often draws comparisons between the two races and finds his own wanting.

## Abilities

While his sisters are bound to the elements of order and destruction, representing the beginning and the end of all life cycles, Dusk is the Red Sun. He embodies what is in between birth and death: life. His nature gives him absolute mastery over the seventh element of magic and over all the powers that come from it, in an imitation of Domination. His innate bloodline ability not only lets him control pure mana and life force, but also mix his own with the world energy to reproduce all the innate attacks of the Guardians' bloodlines, such as (violet) Origin Flames and Life Maelstrom.

Unlike the other Horsemen, Dusk prefers to play a supporting role and counter the enemy strategy rather than match them in raw power. He is renowned as the wisest of the Horsemen because his powers can't be just pointed and then shot at something. They are a double-edged sword that have to be carefully handled. Moreover, all of his powers require world energy and everything that his steed Sunset channels into his soldiers can't be sent to him. Dusk's mastery over Life Maelstrom is so great that he is able to inject it even into the spells of others without making them go awry. This increases the spells of others tenfold, turning Tier 5 spells into lesser versions of Tower Tier spells.

## Equipment

Dusk has a Davross throne that can turn into liquid and wrap around his Lich host's body, shapeshifting into both a full blood-red armor and a double-headed ax called Firebrand. He also has a blood-red Davross helm. Dusk's steed Sunset also wears a coat of mail.

## Background

Along with his siblings, Dusk was created in order to overcome the undead race's inherent limitations. Dusk's mission is to find a way for the Undead to use all forms of magic. Over the millennia since his creation, Baba Yaga has used creation magic to constantly enhanced his crystal body with modern Forgemastering techniques.

Even though the Red Mother despises Liches, Dusk had chosen one of them as his host due to their immunity to the undead's usual weaknesses. However, to Baba Yaga's disappointment, Dusk completely obliterates the mind of Wynwald the Lich, gaining full control of his body at the price of losing the brilliance that even Baba Yaga respected.After Dawn's defeat at Lith's hands, Dusk asks Inxialot for details about the Ranger. Dusk laments the Horsemen's fall from prominence amidst more recent phenomena such as the Master, Balkor, Manohar, Thrud, and now Lith.

After Lith wipes out the 500 elder undead and 1000 army thralls during the Feymar crystal mine battle, Dusk conducts an investigation, revealing that he had colluded with Archmage Deirus for the operation. The loss of two battalions and countless priceless artifacts deal a heavy blow to the Undead Courts. Dusk is notified of Xenagrosh attacking a Dusk Court branch in the Gorgon Empire's city of Tarmen, prompting him to Warp there to rescue his subordinates. Despite having nearly killed Xenagrosh in the past when she was an Abomination, her regained draconic powers, hybrid-Eldritch abilities, and Chaos magic allow her to suppress Dusk. Dawn who had been observing is forced to intervene, when they are ambushed by Bytra and Tezka. Night, summoned by her siblings' distress call, Warps them away before the remaining hybrid-Eldritches arrive.

Baba Yaga brings her Horsemen to witness Lith's battle in the Lost City of Kolga, as it is rare for an Awakened to resist a tribulation before the white core. The Three Horsemen convene with the Firstborn on the Garlen continent in the Blood Desert to discuss the state of the war. After Night's attack on Lutia, the Awakened Council as well as the Master's Organization become their enemies, throwing their war plans into disarray. Dusk berates his siblings for making more enemies and proposes going after the Master first. He attempts to rally the Courts, but the Firstborns decline to continue serving the Three Horsemen in their struggle, discontent with their offspring being treated as their lapdogs.

At Night's suggestion, the Three Horsemen steal their mage tower steeds from Baba Yaga and wage war on the Griffon Kingdom's major cities. Dusk attacks Prode, facing 5 members of the Queen's Corpse including Marchioness Mirim Distar. His army fares the worst among his siblings' as they are unaccustomed to wielding abilities such as Origin Flames or Life Maelstrom. Dusk is overwhelmed by Silverwing's Bastion and Silverwing's Annihilation, forcing him to retreat while his army is eradicated by the coming of sunrise.

Baba Yaga strips Dusk of his powers as punishment and passes onto him half of Sunset's injuries to hasten the repair process. She rebukes Dusk for involving the undead in a pointless war and making them the common enemy of the Council, Master's Organization, and the Great Countries. She explains how unlike Dusk, Dawn has become one with her host, and Night has served as a catalyst of natural selection for several undead species with her actions. She berates Dusk for having erased his Wynwald's personality and depriving Mogar of his legacy, and forcibly breaks their bond. She heals Dusk and locks his powers, telling him they will remain sealed until he finds a way to unlock them before kicking him out.

## Quotes

* *"Mogar is changing, Inxialot. Our eternal life has made us become accustomed to sitting on our asses for so long that by the time we get up we have more cobwebs than clothes covering us. We can't afford that anymore...Mogar keeps spinning every day. Yet where are we? What are we doing to prepare ourselves for the tidal wave that threatens to wipe us out of existence?"* (Dusk to Inxialot, Chapter 901)
* *"Why are those pretenders that even Mogar itself abandoned the only ones that can use Chaos magic? It should be us undead, instead!"* (Dusk while fighting Xenagrosh, Chapter 1088)
* *"Victory is- Oh shit!"* (Dusk fighting members of the Queen's Corpse, Chapter 1395)
* *"You may have become the Hushed King of the Dusk Court, but you're no leader. Your fellow Liches ignore you and all of your plans have only brought ruin upon your kind."* (Baba Yaga to Dusk, Chapter 1448)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 901
2. ↑ Chapter 1301
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 1088
4. ↑ Chapter 1394
5. ↑ Chapter 1089
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Chapter 1393
7. ↑ Chapter 1301
8. ↑ Chapter 901
9. ↑ Chapter 941
10. ↑ Chapter 1301
11. ↑ Chapter 1448
12. ↑ Chapter 1045
13. ↑ Chapter 1090
14. ↑ Chapter 1249
15. ↑ Chapter 1302
16. ↑ Chapter 1389
17. ↑ Chapter 1395
18. ↑ Chapter 1448