Pandora Estelar

## **Basic Information**

**Full Name:** Pandora Estelar

**Nickname:** Pan

**Birthday:** December 28th 798

**Species:** Kodin (feline)

**Purity:** 64%

**Gender:** Male he/him

**Height:** 5 foot 7

**Sexuality:** Heterosexual

**Languages Spoken:** Standard, Chitt, Whispers

## **Personality**

**Likes:** Dogs, sculpting, painting, music

**Dislikes:** Scorpions, ghosts, large open spaces, bright light, fire

**Fears/Phobias:** Being alone

A super outgoing and up front person. Ever since he died Pan has ditched the standard social norms in favor of living the way he wants. What's the worst that could happen, anyway? He's already dead, it's not like the repercussions for his actions can get any worse than verbal abuse, and even then he can just ignore it.

Pandora is a very lonely person. He clings to anyone and everyone that's able to see him. In life he was isolated by his father, and that curse only got worse in death. Pandora will do everything in his power to stay around those who can see him because there's no telling how long it'll be before someone else comes along.

Generally speaking, Pandora is an ass, but he's completely harmless. He likes pulling pranks and tormenting people, especially those who can't see him, but if he's ever caught in the act he'll be up front about his actions. His jokes are never made with the intent of bringing physical harm to anyone, although he's not above mental torment.

## **Abilities**

**Strengths:** Immortal

**Weaknesses:** Invisible

**Weapons/Tools:** Dagger

Pandora is best described as a poltergeist. A ghost that's still able to interact with the living world. He can only be seen/heard by people who've worn the ring his soul is bound to, but other than that he's able to interact with the mortal realm as normal.

Seeing as he's a ghost, Pandora does not abide by the same laws of physics as mortals do. He can squash, stretch, and distort himself essentially as much as he'd like. He's able to squeeze through even the most miniscule of cracks in an object and, of course, fly through the air like it was nothing.

## **Health**

Addictions: none

Mental Illnesses: none

Physical Illnesses: none

Disabilities: none

Allergies: none

## **Backstory**

Pandora was born in the country of Adastin into a family of nobles. Both his father and his grandfather were held in great regards by the country due to their breakthroughs in the realm of magic. Pan's family studied magic related to the different realms of existence. Mirror Domain is also known as the mortal realm, but others were long rumored to exist. His family proved this to be true after years of study.

Pandora’s grandfather, Norman, discovered a realm he often referred to as "The Inbetween". A domain that meshed with the mortal realm,  populated by creatures typically invisible to the human eye. Its discovery was largely on accident, as his original intentions were simply to make contact with a demon before summoning it to the mortal realm, but once discovered it became the family's shining achievement.

Study of the inbetween soon overtook his grandfather's life. He was consumed by it for several years, almost driving himself mad in the process. You see, there's a price to pay when it comes to Meddling with magic you don't fully understand. The creatures of the inbetween had odd effects on the mind, and Pandora's grandfather was subject to these mind games at full force. This caused him to become obsessed with this realm; going as far as forcing his own son to be a test subject in his studies.

While Norman eventually saw the errors of his ways, Pandora’s father did not. Victor was quickly consumed by the mind altering effects of this world, and because he was so young when it all started he wasn't able to free himself from the shackles. The only thing that saved Pandora from getting sucked down the same rabbit hole as his father was the fact that his grandfather was looking out for him.

Pandora grew up in a large manor in the Sanquet Mountain Range, which his family moved into around the time he was five years old. He lived there primarily with his father and his father's dogs, which guarded the place from demons. Life was lonely for Pandora. His father's obsession forced him into isolation, and as a result Pandora was rarely allowed in town. Whenever he questioned his father about this he'd get a vague response. "They don't like being seen", "I can't make contact with them there", "it's too hard to focus with the noise of the city". After a while his father got fed up with the constant string of questioning; eventually resorting to statements such as "because I said so" or "I expressly forbid it".

His father had always had weird quirks about him. His methods of contacting this other domain lead to the manor being filled to the brim with odd collections and trinkets. According to his father, the creatures of the Inbetween felt more “at home” if they had a body to inhabit, leading him to collect hundreds of statues and skulls as a means of attracting these creatures and welcoming them into their home. Given he grew up with this, Pandora never found it weird, but every now and then he’d question where all these skulls were coming from or why his father’s statues seemed to move on their own on occasion. Of course, whenever he asked these questions he was met with less than informative responses that only lead to more questions than answers.

Pandora didn't like being alone, but at least his grandfather visited often. Whenever his grandfather came over they'd play games or tell stories while his father worked on his studies. Pan's grandfather was never a real buddy buddy type person, but he was better than nothing. He'd much rather hear his grandfather yell at his father for attempting to drag Pandora into his studies than sit in silence for the entirety of the day. Every now and then his grandfather would answer one of the many questions plaguing Pan’s mind in such a way he was able to understand, which was nice. Knowing what was going on in his own home brought peace.

When his grandfather wasn't there Pandora would busy himself in whatever way possible. Oftentimes it would involve talking to either his father's guard dogs, which he grew extremely attached to over the years, or playing pretend with the many statues and gargoyles that decorated the manor. On occasion he'd read a book from his father's library, although his grandfather hated this and would scold him for doing so. In his words, he didn't want Pandora ending up like him or his father, which is why Pandora was more or less forbidden from interacting with his father’s studies. In addition to this, Pandora took up a lot of creative works. He taught himself how to paint and play the piano, although he didn’t do either of these things the “standard” way. He’d do whatever made him happy, which mostly included painting with bright colours or making songs with fast and upbeat melodies. Anything to distract him from the solitude brought on by the manor.

Pandora never knew his mother. His grandfather had always skirted around the question when asked, and whenever Pan brought it up with his Father he’d go on a long winded rant about his “Faceless Lady”. From what he was able to gather, the Faceless Lady was a creature of the Inbetween that had warped his father's mind, causing his obsession. Everything he did was in hopes of becoming closer to her. The whole reason Pandora was even born in the first place was so that the Faceless Lady could have closer ties to the mortal realm; hoping to one day go there herself. Pandora was going to be the vessel she inhabited. At least, that was the idea in the beginning. His grandfather did everything in his power to prevent this, and for a time his father had abandoned the idea. Still, Pandora always resented the faceless lady. It was clear the whole reason he was isolated the way he was because of her.

As time went on and Pandora grew older, things naturally began changing. The biggest change was the death of his grandfather around the time he was thirteen. He was an old man to begin with, and the constant stress brought on by his father and grandson was really beginning to wear on him. He spent far too much time preventing his father from killing himself or dragging Pandora down this hellish rabbit hole of magic to care for himself. His health began to decline, and eventually his body couldn't take anymore. The magic of the inbetween was too much for him.

After his grandfather's death there was no one left to protect Pandora from his family's research. By that time, though, he was old enough to understand why his grandfather was so adamantly against him getting involved, and because of this he was able to strike down any of his father's attempts to overtake him. This only further strained their relationship, and at a certain point the two of them stopped interacting with each other at all. They both lived in the same house, yes, but Pandora may as well have lived alone. At this point the only thing stopping him from leaving was the dangers of the mountains. No mortal could traverse them alone. Not at his age, anyway. It'd be a death sentence. So, as much as he didn’t want to, Pandora gave up on the idea of leaving.

After Norman’s death, Victor’s work took a bit of a strange turn. The once empty manor began getting regular visitors. Old colleagues from the university his father worked at, distant “friends” and family members, his grandfather's old contacts. People of all kinds began to visit the manor, seemingly to help his father with his research on the Inbetween. It was unexpected, but Pandora didn’t mind it too much. If anything he was happy to interact with people outside of his insane family for once, even if it was just for a moment. Victor never let Pandora talk to his guests for very long. He’d always shoo him away or lock him in his room when the house began to get busy.

While he enjoyed seeing people around for once, he hated all the noise. Night after night loud blaring music echoed throughout the manor and Pandora found it increasingly difficult to stay awake. Every so often, in addition to the music, he’d hear a loud scream or thud as well. It was always alarming, but whenever Pandora went to check things out the doors were either locked or the party had concluded itself and everyone had gone home.

The constant noise began to wear on him. Night after night of no sleep can really get to a person. After a while Pandora was almost certain he was seeing things. Vague images of humanoids would float around, just outside of his field of view. He’d catch them out of the corner of his eye; darting away at the last possible second. Many of them lingered around the army of statues that was steadily growing in numbers. At a certain point every statue in the manor had what could only be described as a “Ghost” attached to it. He wanted to know what was going on, but he was reluctant to ask his father. Whenever anything like this was brought up Victor would try and pull him into his work, which Pandora was adamantly trying to avoid being a part of.

One night, well after one of these gatherings was done, Pandora heard another scream. This one was not like the other’s, though. Most of the time when he heard screaming like this it was nearly drowned out by the blaring music, but this one cut through the silence of the manor in an unnerving way. Everything was telling him to stay away, but as they often say. “Curiosity killed the cat”. He couldn’t sleep without answers, so Pandora got out of bed and began to explore the upper floors of the Manor in search of this scream.

As he walked, the manor’s statues seemingly came to life. The ghosty figures would dart inside of them, bringing them to life. They all attempted to grab Pandora or block him from getting closer to the source of the sound, but he was far too quick for them. A stone statue was slow and clunky. No match for the dexterity of a young feline like himself. So, despite the minor setbacks, Pandora continued on and eventually got upstairs to where he’d heard the scream.

Opening the door, Pandora was greeted to a horrid scene. There were three people in the room with him. His father, A beaten and bloody Kodin woman, and what appeared to be his grandfather. He didn’t know how to react, but it seemed as if his grandfather was trying to pull this woman away from his father. She was undoubtedly dead, with one of her hands seemingly cut off and discarded. Pandora couldn’t for the life of him figure out why this had happened, or why his father and grandfather were fighting like this. Norman had been dead for several years at this point, yet here he was. It was bizarre. The second Victor and Norman spotted him they stopped their fighting. Norman immediately flew over to Pandora, grabbed him by the hand, and dragged him out of the room and away from the carnage.

Norman dragged Pan back to his room and locked the doors. He looked worried; more worried than Pandora had ever seen before. Pan tried to ask him about what was going on, but he was unable to understand his grandfather. Whenever he spoke his mouth moved, but no sound came out. So, he took to other means of communication. Taking books from off the shelves and pointing at different words in them, stringing messages together that Pandora could understand. It was tedious, but at least Normal was able to get the message across.

As it turned out, Victor’s research had lead him down a rabbit hole. While Normal simply wanted to watch from afar, taking notes on the Inbetween, how it worked, and what effects it had on the mortal realm, Victor took it a step further. This Faceless Lady had infected his mind in an attempt to get into the Mortal realm. She was considered a Gheist; a new class of creature that Norman had discovered. These creatures were beings of the Inbetween that were able to fully interact with the Mortal Realm where they usually would be unable to. Norman was also a Gheist now, although under much different circumstances.

Apparitions and Gheists, creatures of the Inbetween, all had reason to be there. They were either creatures with unfinished business so great it kept their souls bound to Mirror Domain, or creatures that had died in sudden, unpleasant, or unexpected ways before their time. Norman had unfinished business. Norman had to protect Pandora from his father’s research, and he had to make sure Pandora understood exactly why. So, he began to explain things. How to safely interact with the Inbetween. What it was, what to do, what not to do. Most importantly, how to keep himself safe from his father, and how to ward off creatures like the Faceless Lady. It was hard for Pandora to wrap his head around, but eventually he began to understand. Once he did, his grandfather bid him one last goodbye before fading away, never to be seen again.

The culmination of what he was told was essentially “Get away from Victor and stay away”. So, Pandora began putting up more walls. He’d do his best to avoid his father, and by extension all of the Apparitions and Gheists inside of the manor. It got lonely at times, but he wanted to abide by his Grandfather's wishes. Plus, he now knew why he was in so much danger. The Faceless Lady was trying to get into the Mortal Realm, and Pandora was one of several ways to do so. If he didn’t get away eventually, he’d be in constant danger.

No matter how distant Pandora was with his father, his father still tried to subtly drag him down into his life’s work. He needed a vessel for his Faceless Lady, and Pandora was supposed to be it. Many of these subtle attempts involved the statues; forcing them to restrain or attempt to subdue Pandora while his guard was down. Other times it involved getting his dogs to lead him into a room in hopes of barring the exits. It was maddening. With every attempt, Pandora grew more and more paranoid of his surroundings. The statues and dogs he was once so fond of became nightmare fuel. They couldn’t be trusted anymore. Pandora felt more alone than ever.

Eventually the thought of leaving came into his mind once again. Pandora was much older now, about 18, which meant he was far more prepared for a journey through the mountains than he was 5 years ago. So, he began crafting an escape plan and gathering supplies for his journey. His plan was to take a couple of the more well trained dogs as protection, and however much food and other supplies all of them could carry. It’d take time, as he had to fashion packs for the dogs himself and figure out how much they could even carry to begin with, but at least something was in motion. He wouldn’t have to be alone for much longer if everything went according to plan.

Of course, when it came to his father, nothing ever went as expected. One night while he was preparing to leave Pan felt a sharp stinging sensation in his leg. Then on his back, and then his neck. Shortly after this, his muscles began to lock up and he fell to the floor. He could feel tiny creatures skittering across his body while he laid there; eventually seeing that they were small scorpions. He’d seen them inside of the manor before, but he’d never questioned it before. A place like this was out in the middle of the mountains. Of course there’d be bugs, right?

The Faceless Lady had told his father about his plans to leave, and the two of them put their heads together to prevent this. So, they let him believe he was going to get away as the two prepared one final strike against him. Pandora was subdued by the scorpion's venom, and there was really nothing he could do about it. The venom wasn’t lethal, but it was enough to paralyze him long enough for his father to carry out this ritual. Or rather, the Faceless Lady’s ritual. His father bound Pan with ropes, just in case the venom wasn’t enough, and then began dragging him upstairs to the top floor.

Pan had never spent much time upstairs, as it’s where his father conducted most of his research, but he never expected to see anything like this. Upstairs, instead of the study and library that once stood there, there was a makeshift chapel. Everything was prepared for what looked like a wedding of sorts. Decorations, furniture, and even an array of statues sitting in as guests. It was bizarre, and Pandora didn’t quite know how to react to it all. Not that he could really do much, given he was paralyzed and restrained. Still, it was too much to take in. All he could do was stare in awe as his father continued dragging him inside.

His father dragged him down the aisle and stationed him at the altar. He was still restrained, but the paralysis had begun to wear off by now. He struggled against the ropes, but to no avail. The second he got his first twinge of movement, he could feel someone grab at him and tighten the ropes. It was difficult to see who it was, but he was sure he could see the fuzzy silhouette of a Kodin woman in front of him. Her face was too blurry to make out. He’d never seen this woman before, but there was no doubt in his mind that this was the Faceless Lady.

While Pan was struggling, his father was nearby fiddling with what appeared to be a ring of sorts. It was a simple golden band with a yellow oval gemstone on top of it. Simple, yet expensive looking. That being said, his father never cheaped out on things like this. Given the room was decorated like an alter, Pandora came to the conclusion that this ring was a wedding ring of sorts. Was this wedding for him, or was it for his father? It was hard to tell, given once his father had finished with the ring they were both standing at the altar. It was all extremely confusing.

Pandora did know that Victor’s Faceless Lady needed a vessel to inhabit in order to get to the mortal realm, but the thought didn’t occur to him until his father was about halfway through his speech. It was standard mushy wedding vows, muddied with the general insanity that plagued his father’s mind. The more he spoke, the more obsessive he became. At a certain point his rant had turned from vows to utter worship of this faceless lady. Pandora was scared now. More scared than he’d ever been of his father. Before he viewed him as an insane and misguided soul, but now he was downright malicious, and there was nothing Pan could do to get away.

The vows ended, and Victor grabbed Pandora by the hand. He didn’t understand what was going on. He couldn’t process it all. Victor grabbed his hand, untied the binds, and then slipped the ring onto his finger. Immediately Pan could feel a burning sensation around his finger as his skin began to shift and change into a ghostly white, and then into a dull bluish grey. His father was overjoyed seeing his arm slowly turn white as the colour overtook him, but that joy turned to anger when the grey began to fade in. The last thing Pan could remember was his father’s desperate cries and apologizes to his lady. Pleading for her forgiveness and vowing once again to find a way for them to be together. After that, it all went black.

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing. For about seven years Pandora lied dormant, unaware of what was going on around him. He wasn’t even conscious by this point. After waking up he realised the time scale. He could tell he’d been asleep for a long time, but while he was asleep time didn’t seem to matter. One moment he was tied to a board with a ring on his finger, and the next he was on the floor just waking up from a very long nap. He felt groggy and disoriented, and he had no idea where he was. Everything was a blur.

White glittery fog surrounded him, filling the room of the manor he was in. The apparitions he’d seen sitting atop the statues became clear and real. Before they were ghostly figures, but now they looked the same as any real person. They gave him a sad smile upon seeing him wake up, and they greeted him the same way a butler would greet the masters of a house. It was strange hearing them talk, and Pandora didn’t know what to make of it all. He was still in the upper room. The same room he’d been in before he blacked out. His skin was still the same blueish as it was before, but other than that he felt fine.

He attempted to question the apparitions about what was going on and what’d happened during the time he was asleep, but none of them could give him a straight answer. All they’d tell him was the fact that there was a “rift” between worlds, and that his father was trying to take advantage of it to cross over into the Inbetween. Apparently the ritual to bind the Faceless Lady to Pandora’s body failed, and after it did Victor went mad trying to find another way to make contact. That’s when he learned about the rift. From what he and the Faceless Lady found in their research, every hundred years or so there was a “rift”. A single day that, for whatever reason, closed the gap between the mortal realm and the Inbetween. The two were going to use this weak point to finally get Victor closer to his lady.

The apparitions told Pandora that his father was downstairs, and that he was not to be disturbed. Of course, Pandora didn’t really care where his father was or what he was doing. He fully intended on leaving this place once and for all. Screw the demons, screw the dangers of the mountain range. He was going to leave, and he was going to leave right this very moment. But when Pan attempted to grab his backpack, he found himself unable to. He couldn’t interact with anything at all. Doors wouldn’t open for him, although he was easily able to phase through them. He couldn’t touch anything. It was alarming.

Even so, he still intended on leaving. He didn’t need any supplies anyway. If push came to shove, he could always forage in the mountains. At this point his options were die in the manor or die in the mountains, and Pandora would much rather die in the mountains. If it meant a chance at freedom he was going to take it and take it as far as it could possibly lead him. Of course, the world seemed to have it in for Pandora. He was easily able to get out of the manor, but after 500 feet or so he seemed to hit an invisible wall of sorts. No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to push past it. He let out a cry of frustration upon realising this. It was all too much. It was almost as if he was bound to the manor. This broke him. So, Pandora sat up against this wall and cried. He didn’t intend to stay there long, but he needed to take a moment to recuperate.

Suddenly, Pandora felt himself getting warmer. There was nothing around him that’d give off warmth like this. It was winter, and while the Sanquet Mountains didn’t see much snow, it should still be colder. Yet he felt warm, and the warmth was beginning to get uncomfortable. This snapped him out of his depression, and Pandora began to wander around the area in search of the source of this warmth. It didn’t take long for him to find it, and when he did he really wished that he hadn’t.

Inside of the manor Pandora could see his father. He could also see what looked like himself, although his face was heavily distorted. This shell of his body was still wearing the ring his father had slipped on him. It moved in an unnatural and uncomfortable looking way. They were both standing atop a very elaborate magic circle, and the warmth just kept getting hotter and hotter. It resonated from underneath them. At a certain point, the ground erupted into flames. His father tried to leave the confines of the circle once the place caught fire, but whatever was controlling Pandora’s body wouldn’t let him.

Pan could feel himself getting burnt, despite the fact he wasn’t standing in the fire himself. It was just his body, but he wasn’t in his body. The fire began to envelop the room, and he began to cough as smoke filled his lungs. He could see both his and his father’s bodies beginning to burn and melt from the heat, and underneath his skin he could see the Faceless Lady puppeting his body. It felt like forever, but eventually the fire overtook the entire manor, Pandora included. Everything faded to black once again.

But, the Faceless Lady wasn’t done with him yet. Pandora once again found himself waking up from a long nap, although this one only felt like it was a few days rather than several years. He felt different than before. Last time he woke up, other than the fact he was a bit groggy, he felt just fine. This time he felt as if he’d survived the house fire. Everything ached, but at least he was able to interact with the real world again. He was able to brush the soot and ash from his clothes, and when he rose to his feet he could hear the creaking of the floorboards beneath him.

Once he’d regained his bearings he was able to take in the full extent of the damage. The manor had been burnt to a crisp. A few lone rooms survived, but the vast majority of them had succumbed to the flames. His father had as well. Laying limp and lifeless on the floor next to him was his father’s body. He went over to check if he was still alive, but the second he touched Victor he heard a scream. The faceless lady jumped out from underneath the body and shoved Pandora backwards. He couldn’t understand anything she was saying, but she sounded distraught. Pandora tried to calm her, but nothing he said or did helped. If anything it just made her more upset. So, he gave up trying.

Again he tried to leave, and again he found himself stuck about 500 feet away from the manor. He didn’t know why this was happening. He didn’t know why or how he was still alive after seemingly dying twice, but it didn’t matter anymore. Pandora figured that if her were still alive, it was because he was meant to be alive. If he was supposed to be dead, he would be dead, and if he was supposed to leave the manor the world would allow him to. He resigned to the fact that he was trapped here, so he decided he’d make the best of things.

Upon returning he found that the Faceless Lady had left. His father’s body was still there, although it’d been defaced. His head was missing completely, and it looked like some sort of pattern was carved into his back. It vaguely looked like a message, although Pandora never bothered to look into it further. He didn’t like this room, and if he was going to remain here it was going to be sealed off.

So, Pandora spent the next few years cleaning up the place and getting to know the apparitions that infested the place. He also began to learn more about himself and why he was stuck here. Apparently, the ceremony meant to bind the Faceless Lady to Pandora’s body had instead bound Pandora’s soul to the ring that was put on him. As a result of this, when Pandora woke up the first time he too was an apparition, and his body was left empty. With no soul inhabiting it, the Faceless Lady was able to use it as a puppet of sorts; and she had been for several years.

But, now that his body had been destroyed, Pandora was freed from those confines. He’d become a Gheist, just like the Faceless Lady. Although unlike her, he was bound to a single object. An object he was unable to escape from. So long as he stayed near the ring, and the ring got a constant amount of interaction, his soul would linger in the Inbetween. Just like his grandfather said. Those who die in a sudden or unpleasant way become bound to Mirror Domain.

As the years went by and Pandora learned more about his father’s work, he found himself becoming more and more tired. Spirits tied to objects would only remain active if there were mortal souls around to “power” them. They’d feed off of the magic in their system and use it to make themselves visible. There were no mortals left in the manor, though. Pandora, as well as the other Apparitions in the manor, was running on empty. With each passing day he grew weaker, and eventually he returned to dormancy once again.

Everything Pandora had learned about the Inbetween. Everything he’d seen and done over the course of his life. It was all frozen in time as his ring lost power. That being said, right before he slipped away he managed to prop the ring up on a small glass display. Right in plain view, so that if anyone happened to stumble across Pandora’s Manor they’d be able to put it on and power his being once again. After that, he allowed the drowsiness to overtake him. Now Pandora lays dormant, waiting for the day someone comes along and wakes him from his slumber once again...