Name:Sister Verity and Leon the Shade
Author: RuwinReborn
Status: Public

Classification:
Verity: Female Human Planeswalker
Leon: Male Shade (formerly Human), non-Planeswalking soul-bonded to Vertiy
Colors:
Verity:
Leon:

Appear in: Refer to the wiki page or the Index thread for a full list of works.

Background: Neither Verity nor Leon remember much of their lives before their induction (or abduction) into the pseudo-religious organization known as the Sisterhood of light. It is likely that the constant dogmatic teachings or blatant and violent torture were infused with a magic that made them forget - anything to make them completely loyal to the Sisterhood. Neither is very concerned with learning about their past, however. They are much more preoccupied with the present, and the future.

Verity's earliest memories are of darkness - The Sisterhood mostly recruits from the downtrodden of their native plane, and so it is likely that Verity was rescued from the streets or perhaps even sold into service. She may have even been abducted, much like Leon - the Sisterhood is always interested in young girls with magical talent. From the time of recruitment until their first encounter with "sin", the young initiates live in complete darkness, taught by a select few Sisters and living their lives as though they are blind. Once the Sisters feel that the girls have a strong grasp on healing magic, they introduce them, briefly, to the boy who will eventually become their Shadow.

These boys are exclusively petty criminals or simply very poor. They are beaten, burned, and reminded constantly that they are worth nothing and will be given no quarter. The Sisters believe this engenders a stronger loyalty towards the Sister who they will eventually serve, since that is the Sister who saves them from the pain for the first time. It certainly worked with Leon. However, the point is ultimately moot - the ritual wherein the Shadow pledges their life to the Sister is eternally binding, and no dissension is possible.

The boy kills himself before the Sister, after years of intensive physical training. The Sister then performs a powerful ritual of necromancy that binds the body, shape, and skills of the boy to their shadow as a Shade, and the soul is forcibly removed from the body. The Shadow, as they are called, then protects the Sister for as long as she may live, killing those who would do her harm. These shades have no personality, no conscience, and no voice. This allows the sister to hold to the vow of peace she swears, without endangering herself as she goes about her task of bringing healing to the outside world. In essence, the Shade sins for her, so that her own soul remains pure. Or so they teach.

Verity, however, held within her soul a latent planeswalker's spark. When Leon died in front of her during the completion of the ritual, and she realized fully what it had done, it ignited. Leon was still killed, however, his soul did not escape the pull of the Blind Eternities, and he was dragged away with Verity. Verity now acts like a living phylactery for his soul, even as his body resides within her shadow. Because of this, Leon retains snippets of his personality (such as it is after years of death and torture) and flashes of memory. He acts independently of Verity, as all Shadows do, but he is also capable of independent thought, and emotion. What Verity has done to Leon weighs heavily upon her conscience, and now she searches the multiverse for a way to restore him, or, failing that, to put him out of his misery.

Appearance and Personality: Verity appears to be a young woman with long, white hair and pale skin. Her eyes are blue, and she generally wears modest white dresses and light cloaks. She speaks softly and enjoys small conversations. She never lies directly, and always strives to bring comfort to those around her. That being said, she has very little time or patience for the belligerent - partially because agitated people around her tend to spontaneously grow lethal wounds. She will never turn down someone who needs help, but neither will she actively aid someone in activities she finds unpleasant or destructive.

Leon is incapable of wearing clothes, at least when he's not fully "manifested". He usually exists intangibly as Verity's shadow. When fully manifested, and unclothed, he appears to be a lithe and gaunt human man, with tangled black hair and black pools for eyes. His skin is bluish-white, like that of a corpse. At Verity's request, he uses his power over darkness to garb himself in a facsimile of cloth - it's intangible, but keeps him modest. This usually takes the appearance of a thick black cloak and mask, ragged at the edges. To him, Verity is everything, and though he cannot truly die, having already done so, he would gladly do so a million times, and more. How much of this is his actual devotion, and how much is a result of the ritual, is unknown.

Verity often asks his opinion of things that happen around them. Generally, his response is terse, if thoughtful. Longer conversation usually turns back to his duty to protect Verity or the "things" he's recently killed. Verity tries to coax more out of him, but has met with little success. He's proven that he is capable of remembering events in great detail, and carrying out complex instructions, but but when it comes to his emotions, Leon is consistently lifeless.

Abilities: Verity is primarily a healer, and a very skilled one at that. She is capable of locating and eradicating all sorts of disease - whether it be of the body or mind. She can mend broken bones and punctured organs swiftly and easily, and is very well versed in the mundane methods of medical procedure. She is, however, completely useless in the middle of a fight unless she is able to tend to someone on an individual basis, and is left entirely alone. She cannot cast any sort of offensive magic, and can only manage the most rudimentary of barrier spells - even these, she may refuse to cast in anything short of self-defense. She is far more interested in seeing to the after-effects of a conflict, and not fanning the flames of one.

Leon, on the other hand, is the reason Verity is capable of leading such a peaceful existence, despite the increasingly dangerous areas where she travels. He can sense malice off of anyone, or anything, that gets too close - especially if the malice they feel is directed towards Verity. After he senses and locates the threat, Verity's shadow will vanish. He can jump from places of darkness, and even to other creature's shadows, with ease. While doing this, he remains mostly intangible, and causes parts of his own body to become physical only during the moment he strikes. He does not turn himself invisible, exactly, but the speed with which he moves between shadows is difficult to follow, and he may as well be untraceable if the darkness is deep enough.

He prefers small weapons, which he creates out of concentrated darkness and hatred for those who would do Verity harm. The wounds these shadow weapons afflict are dire, festering long after they should have healed, should the victim survive. They also resist both traditional and magical methods of restoration. If his wrathful spite is powerful enough, his weapons can cause a spreading blight to creep through his victim's bodies. Even the most superficial of wounds can cause perfectly healthy beings to wither and rot. He kills quickly, silently, and without remorse. Darkness falls on his foes, and never lifts.