Age: 20 Race: Half elf, half human Sexuality: Pansexual
Backstory All through his life Hassan has carried the weight of being a burden to his mother. His father abandoned them to fend for themselves, leaving his infant son with nothing but an obsidian amulet and subconscious memories that now resurface in the form of horrible nightmares. Fueled by his internalized self-loathing and anxiety the nightmares brought him, Hassan ended up discovering his powers on his own at ten years old...in the middle of the market square. After a humiliating public chiding from his mother (followed, as usual, with a muttered wish that she'd given him away as a babe), black tendrils snaked from his father's amulet like spilled ink in water. It caught the attention of everyone in the vicinity and forced his mother to send him to a mentor to hone his skill. Not that she needed convincing. "Not natural," the village crones said under their breath. "Isn't of the Light," ruddy-faced old men agreed into their tankards of ale. "No son of mine has powers of darkness," Hassan's mother spat as she walked away from him for the last time. Hassan was glad to be away, but not glad of the cause: his nightmares were real.
Physical Description One of the most striking things about Hassan is that, aside from his robes, he doesn't [i]look[/i] like a warlock. Since he is a half elf his ears are slightly pointed and he has retained the fine facial features of elven descent. His dark hair falls to his chin in soft waves, and is often decorated with gold jewelry. Thick lashes frame eyes almost as dark as the amulet he still wears, eyes that are impossible to read. His body is well-built with lean muscle and stands at 6'1. He keeps his facial hair pretty short and usually just has some thick scruff. Like his mentor he wears elaborate robes and leathers made of dark materials--the leathers for protection from stray arrows and shrapnel, the robes as a status indicator. His are decorated tastefully (well, as tastefully as possible) with the bones of already deceased animals that he has successfully reanimated during his training. He wears many rings, earrings, two nose piercings on the left side (one hoop and one gemstone stud), a metal arm cuff, and quite a few necklaces. The obsidian amulet, however, stays hidden beneath his robes.
Personality Years of his own mother putting him down didn't disappear when he left for training, and his nightmares only got worse. Hassan is still a highly anxious individual, but has learned to control his emotions to come across as mostly functional. In fact, he uses his negative energy in his magic to help him produce better results. To those that gain his trust he is incredibly warm and friendly, and will literally break his back for the people he knows would do the same for him. Honestly it isn't that hard to get on his good side because he's pretty stared for affection. This leads to some problems as well because he's prone to trusting people too easily and then getting let down or hurt. (He does have several little quirks due to anxiety--like stuttering/jumbling words, fidgeting, etc--that I'll play out!)
Powers Hassan is trained in the art of necromancy, and since he was a child has the ability to conjure shadows. The shadows are easy enough, and can take on semi-corporeal form if he puts enough effort into them (think the shadow thing from Game of Thrones I guess?). Necromancy, however, is still difficult for him. The corpses are not truly resurrected, only reanimated constructs of flesh. They cannot speak and do not have a conscious stream of thought; he implants them with a motive and they follow through until he dismisses them or they are destroyed. Once they die a second time, the corpses cannot be reanimated again. She can only use bodies that have died in the past 12 hours or so, before decomposition starts. This comes at a physical and psychological cost: the longer corpses are kept "alive" or the greater the number of corpses, the more Hassan's consciousness begins to slip. If he pushes himself too hard he will slip into a coma, and when he wakes up will experience some memory loss as well as revert to a primal mental state for up to a few days. He knows his limits well enough at this point, but there's always a possibility of him slipping up.
Weapons He uses a polished ebony staff to channel his magic through. The staff is sleek and topped with a sphere of lodestone, which aids in conjuring shadows. His amulet is gold, like everything else he wears, and set with a large, oval chunk of obsidian about 1.5" long. The other adornments he has are enchanted to aid him in channeling his magic, and function as his talismans. Some warlocks use bird wings and rabbit feet, Hassan uses fine metals and precious gems because he's a fancy guy.