Krites/P&D2

## Krites

* Vampiric
* King

Krites was an Awakened Human and the King of Dirloc. After the Heralds of Retha disbanded, Krites continued his rule, but was attacked by the Founding Priests who used his blood to transform him into the first-ever Blood Vampire. Controlled by blood magic and a slave to the new Order of Blood, Krites spent his time caged in a metal suit and was later sacrificed so his blood could fuel the Sanguisuge Catalyst.

## Appearance

In his old age, Krites had lost most of his hair and Awakened Human markings. His skin turned gray, his body became thin and weak, and most of his teeth fell out. He wore comfortable royal garments and a broken metal crown. Additionally, he carried an axe to defend himself.

Rejuvenated as a vampire, Krites regained most of his old physique, although his skin turned dark red. His teeth came back with fangs, his nails grew out, and his restored red hair glowed brighter than ever. He wore white cloths around his waist.

## Brief History

After the age of the Heralds of Retha, Krites continued to lead Dirloc as king. His rule was oppressive and absolute- not through politics, but through sheer might and brute force. All of his elected officials and citizens despised him, but they were powerless to stop him. Krites could crush them all if he so pleased. With every attempt at an uprising, more corpses and dented armor littered across the ground. None could stop an Awakened Human, but Krites was aging, and his might diminishing with every year.

Even after the infamous 100 corpse rebellion, old king Krites remained at the top. That wasn't the end, as the event sparked a belief in blood from two brothers who would later be known as the Founding Priests of the new Order of Blood. They used their newfound blood magic to subdue Krites, and with the blood gathered from the Sanguisuge Catalyst, transformed Krites into the first-ever blood vampire. His new form left him unstable and under control of the founders. They placed a Coin of Hope within his heart, caged him in a metal suit, and left him to perpetually sit on his former throne.

The Starrite Guardians and Dominus later arrived to Dirloc in search of the king. They were led to the throne room by Jakqeaux the Vicar who unleashed Krites on the heroes. Unable to resist the vicar's commands, Krites hunted them through the palace, and the battle transitioned outdoors. Jakqeaux was killed and Krites gravely wounded. Soon enough, the vampire entered his bloodlust form, which consisted of a large flesh monster that was overwhelmingly more powerful than the Starrites. The heroes fled and Krites later returned to normal. A long time after, the Starrites returned to fight him, but the Founding Priests drained all the blood out of his body and gave it to the Catalyst, finally ending Krites' miserable existence.

## Abilities

Krites had lost most of his awakened power throughout the years and only retained approximately half of his strength. After his transformation into a blood vampire, his body was rejuvenated to its former physique, but he was still far from the prime of his power.

* **Blood Vampire Physiology-** The ritual that caused his transformation into a blood vampire form was very crude and unstable, unlike the perfected one that would follow suit on individuals like the Founding Priests and Viknoh Legranov. Krites was unable to use blood magic spells and fought purely with physical force.
	+ **Regeneration-** Krites gained the usual vampiric regeneration, healing at a faster rate than any other human. It was periodical and vastly improved his odds in lengthy battles. He could also lifesteal others by draining their blood.
	+ **Flesh Monster Form-** If he were ever defeated, Krites would undergo a pseudo-resurrection into his bloodlusted state. He was cursed by the founders with a very painful, large, and monstrous transformation that can only be described as an abomination of flesh. He became far stronger, but if undefeated, would later revert back to the default state.
* **Max Senses-** Despite no longer being an Awakened Human, Krites retained his superhuman sensory abilities. His sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch were all at their peak. His sense of scent was enhanced after becoming a vampire, particularly when it came to detecting flesh and blood.

## Equipment

Krites used a simple axe as an old king, but after his vampiric rejuvenation, carried no weapons or items besides the singular Coin of Hope placed within his heart. The coin was taken by the Starrites after it fell out during his flesh monster transformation.

* **Metallic Full-Body Armor-** Krites was encased in a thick suit of armor that covered his entire body, both as protection and containment due to his feral nature. The suit was meant to prevent him from smelling things, and keep him calm, except when it came off during battle.

## Weaknesses

* **Unstable Mental State-** The crude ritual originally used to transform Krites left his mind unrecognizable. He became rabid, feral, and devoid of any higher intellect besides survival instinct. He could be controlled only through advanced blood magic which made it easy for his enemies to outsmart him in battle.
* **Marked Blood-** Krites' blood was marked by the Catalyst upon his ascension into a vampire. He was under constant surveillance of the founders and other priests of the order, meaning any complications would result in severe consequences as they could attack his blood directly. This ended up being the case when the founders were finishing off the last blood of Dirloc, with Krites being the castle's final sacrifice to fuel their Catalyst.

## Trivia

* His raw and animalistic style of hand-to-hand combat was inspired off of Elden Ring's Hoarah Loux
* His boss theme contained a common leit motif shared with the rest of the Order of Blood, which centered itself around Dark Soul's "For the Dark Soul" OST.