Apple_of_Discord
New Member
Hi, my name's Eris, and this is my first OC I'll be using for RPNation, Arken. The above image is Dark Souls II concept art for the Faraam armor set, and you'll understand why it was relevant that I included this image in a second.
Arken is an OC I hope to adapt into a D&D 5e character. He's an ambiguous, lawful neutral mercenary questing across Faerûn searching for artifacts and treasures that once belonged to his family, the Wayseers, who were pioneers in the field of Artificing, the art of making magical items. However, Arken has a secret he's determined to keep until he's sure he can trust the other members of his party.
Visually, Arken looks almost identical to the above suit of armor, which he never takes off. Any and all skin that would be visible within gaps in the armor is covered with black cloth, sort of like a black morph suit. He has two glowing eyes that peer out from his helmet (think FMA style) that are his only visible features, and appear as two glowing blue orbs. His class is monk, and he primarily fights using unarmed strikes, so he wouldn't carry an obvious weapon. In addition, he is exactly two meters tall including the armor. His voice is deep and rather monotone, but gains more flavor as he becomes more comfortable around others.
Personality wise Arken is very straightforward and blunt to the point of sometimes being rude. He's extremely uncharismatic, but he has a good heart. He will not tolerate others getting in his way, and has a hard time conceptualizing things in more than one way. He's very submissive to people he places in a position of authority, and is much more comfortable taking orders than giving them. He has a distinct hatred of thieves of any kind. He's naturally very curious about the outside world and humanoid interaction, and often asks very strange, personal, or seemingly obvious questions.
Arken's secret, something that he is very ambiguous and indirect about, is his identity. In D&D there is a type of entity called animated armor or anarmor: An empty suit of armor given life by a powerful mage that is then programmed often for one singular purpose. Arken is an anarmor. When he was made by the Wayseer family he was given one purpose: Guard the entrance to the family vault. After a few months of basic guard duty, Wayseer manor was stormed and most if not all of its inhabitants were killed. In addition, upon learning of the vault and the two suits of powerful anarmors that guarded it, the raiders blew open the ceiling of the vault and made off with all of its riches, leaving Arken and his "sister" none the wiser. After a long period of no activity, Arken and his "sister" entered a state of dormancy, which is sort of like sleep except they are still able to perceive their surroundings and activate at the first sign of trouble. It wasn't until two and a half centuries later when spelunkers exploring the ruins of Wayseer manor came across Arken, half buried under sediment. Arken awoke in a land far different than his own, with his "sister" nowhere to be found, and the vault empty. The prolonged period of inactivity has unwraveled his arcane programming, a problem common to older anarmor, and he took it upon himself to recover the relics and riches that once resided within the Wayseer vault. In the campaign, Arken's main character arc involves him running from his identity and the fact that he was literally created for one specific purpose, and that purpose is now obsolete. He's running from the fact that he has no reason to exist. To disguise the fact that he is an artificial life form, he's encased a life sized wooden marionette within his body that he's wrapped in the black morph suit. He refuses to remove his armor, and avoids any and all questions related to his species, background, and history.
Because he is anarmor, he has several abilities (most of these are only relevant to D&D but a few of them would be interesting to include in roleplaying:
Blindsight: Arken's vision is restricted to a 60 foot radius sphere centered on his helmet. He can see in full 360 degree view in all directions, in any lighting conditions, but is completely blind outside of this range. This means he is very difficult to ambush or sneak around. He disguises this fact by claiming he is very near-sighted.
Antimagic: Susceptibility: Arken is incapacitated while in the range of an antimagic field, and falls unconscious upon being hit with a spell such as dispel magic. (In D&D the latter only occurs if he fails a CON save).
Construct: Because Arken is not biological, healing spells such as cure wounds have no effect. He can only be healed by repair spells like mend, or by personal maintenance. He is immune to poison and diseases and does not need to eat, drink, or breathe. Instead of sleeping he must enter a dormant state for 4 hours a day, during which he is still aware of his surroundings as if he were awake.
False Appearance: When Arken remains motionless (And extinguishes his "eyes") he is indistinguishable from a normal suit of armor with a mannequin inside.
Soul Transfer: If Arken is presented before a capable enough wizard then the wizard can transfer his consciousness to a new suit of armor over the course of an hour.
Subrace Heavy: Arken inhabits a heavy suit of armor, and gains the following benefits and penalties: He is slightly stronger (+1 STR). He has a hard time sneaking (Disadvantage on Stealth Checks). He is proficient with unarmed strikes and his attacks are very strong (1d6 instead of 1d4).
And that's pretty much Arken. He's awkward and a little hard to get to know but once he becomes accustomed to you you won't find a more loyal friend.
