OC-tober Day 1: Fav OC
To the surprise of no one who pays any attention to my tags, it's Izz/Candor lol. My changeling rogue/paladin (oath of the ambling rose, a homebrew sublcass by L. on itch.io, go check them out!), though I would like to adapt their story away from d&d eventually. Candor is one of Izz's Personas. My partner and I have been obsessing over them for 2 and a half years and we're still going strong ✌
More info about them under the read more 'cause I'm gonna be rambling.
So there's Candor. A tiefling paladin, an itinerant knight traveling to help those in need, whether those needs be big or small. A kind man, a good man. He has dedicated his life to the betterment of others. Almost too good to be true, really, a caricature, but he is earnest in his beliefs and his purpose.
All of that is true. But it is not the whole truth.
Izz was stolen from their birth family as a very young child and placed with a changeling "family". They were trained as an assassin and information thief/spy, with the ultimate goal of taking on the family's legacy Persona of renowned assassin/spy Varna Shadowhawk.
This was not a pleasant process. They were extremely isolated, and their training was rigorous and intense, even more so as it became evident that Izz was quite talented and they were put under further pressure to aim for perfection. They also developed other Personas, full people separate from themself with their own memories, a tactic meant to ensure information could be kept secret between identities as well as have specialized skill sets.
Now, I think that changelings are naturally inclined towards plurality and it's generally totally normal and healthy. In this situation, however, their mind was purposefully broken down to be able to have more complete separation and to prepare for the insertion of the Varna identity, which resulted in both an unhealthy system and an unstable psyche. They effectively have fantasy-enhanced DID and also experience psychosis (usually triggered by stress or by forcing switches between Personas or reaching for information or skills of another Persona without switching). Part of their long term story and character development is working on getting their system to a more healthy place where they can cooperate with their other Personas, and finding happiness and support as they continue to live with psychosis (and CPTSD).
Varna, btw, was a her own whole separate person at one point. How did she become an inherited changeling Persona? Why? Dunno. We never learned in the game before it dissolved, and my partner and I haven't come up with the specifics yet on our own. I can tell you that the process of inserting her into a new changeling involves a necromantic ritual where the changeling is killed and a portion of Varna's soul is placed in them before they're resurrected :) From then on it's a slow process of her presence growing and subsuming the other Personas and then eventually the changeling themself, becoming the Singularity. It's fine, don't worry about it.
Now Izz was all set on this path, forged into a ready vessel and living weapon. They didn't know any other way...but there was one small hiccup. One of their other Personas, Karim, a survivalist and cartographer, while out in the woods one day ran into a man named Veylan. A paladin and do-gooder, with an oath to travel wherever help is needed. And, surprisingly, they hit it off. And they keep running into each other, over the years. Karim learns about this crazy thing called "morals." Compassion. Caring for others. Veylan, so often alone on the road and apart from others even as his life's mission is to help them, finds a friend.
And one day Izz gets a glimpse of him through Karim's memories. Curious, they dive, rooting through their past interactions. And it's like the world opens up to them. A way to exist they had never conceived of. They become obsessed, and terrified, hoarding the memories that are not theirs but keeping them hidden and buried, knowing the punishment from their guardians if they found out would be swift and brutal, and Veylan would be in danger. But the thoughts of another life linger and grow. Especially as their younger adopted sibling, Yan, nears the time when the ritual will be performed. They have no concrete plan, but... what if they could get out. What if they could get Yan out, before they're cursed with Varna's soul.
Their older sibling, Ged, finds out. They find the barn where Karim will next meet Veylan. And, wearing Karim's face to get close, they kill him. Karim shows up and finds his friend dead, his own face above the body. Izz sees the death of their god. And in a fugue state of grief and rage, they kill their sibling. They take Veylan's holy symbol and armor. They take his face. They should not have been the one to walk out of here alive, so they don't. They make Candor in Veylan's image, and he walks away instead, knowing nothing of Izz or any past beyond his own hazy, half-formed memories and a desire to do good.
