Iban the Smiling

## Sound of a shattered soul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aQbscFC88E

Default Appearance

Like many beings, Iban only has the vaguest recollections of his birth. Unlike most however, these recollections extend somewhat before his own material existence. Once, there was a sense of peace, and wholeness. Then, he was shattered and reduced to almost nothing by some unknowable force that sent him drowning in chaos. There was panic, desperation, and so much longing. A sweet, haunting longing that was only satisfied by the most intimate embrace of others, who then became himself. At the time he was of course unaware of what these others were or meant. Now that he has reached adulthood and full awareness, he is only all too aware of the truth.

## Hunger of youth

As a grub, stalking the murky ocean shore, Iban was discovered by a wizard whose inquisitive nature led him to capture the strange creature. Being that Kor'gathi were a rare and seldom documented sort of abomination, the young Iban was of course the subject of much fascination from his enthusiastic captor. Over time, this wizard was drawn down a path of increasingly dangerous, occult, and esoteric study in search for reference to classify and learn about his most prized specimen. As the effects of the mage's own experiments and research slowly started to seep deeper into his consciousness, fascination turned to a twisted sort of affection for the revolting little grub.

He started becoming careless, allowing his obsession to make him forget the dangerous and predatory nature of his so called pet. The wizard had been feeding Iban for several years, with food that was at times long since dead, or (more often as time went on) still capable of screaming and squirming in agony as the grub took its fill. Irony of course inevitably struck when Iban's keeper convinced himself he had finally domesticated the vicious alien creature, trusting it to roam free of its cage.

Whether it was after consuming the wizard who had nurtured him since youth that Iban fully awoke into adulthood and true consciousness, or after consuming the last of the multiple months worth of slaves that had been kept prisoner to sate his hungers, no one could really say. His memories from before largely consist of an incoherent slurry of thoughts and emotions, though throughout most of them ring the themes of fear, curiosity, and a vague sense of fondness, made bittersweet by the knowledge of what occurred, compounded by the moral complexity of events beyond his control, and a host of impressions and perspectives coming from all sides of the tragedy. This was Iban's introduction to thinking life.

## Doors thrown wide open

After exiting the dank and foul smelling celler, Iban found himself in the Rotgut District of the City of Cyphers,. Since then he gone about the task of familiarizing himself with human customs, as well as the culture of Riddleport in particular, all the while exploring and experimenting with his potent and terrifying psychic abilities. Even now he is still in the process of discovering the world and learning his place in it, though guided by instinct and echoes of those he consumed as to how he might do so.

## Images

In order: True form, True outfit, Default/Kid Form (Iban), Adult Form (Iban), Trickster Form (Ronan), Merchant Form (Kieron)