#kopesh

Name                                          Rachna

Exaltation                                   Infernal

Caste                                          Scourge

Demon                                        Either a Clamoring Cloud or a Hopping Puppeteer (we’re not sure.)

Weapon(s)                                  Unbinder, the Malfean brass kopesh, plus dozens of smaller blades and hellwands

Language(s)                               Firetongue, Rivertongue, Old Realm, Low Realm

Goal(s)                                        Find, protect, and make a life with his mate, Anjali, possibly rebuild their First Age city, prevent the Yozi from escaping into Creation

Fear(s)                                         Something happening to Anjali, losing his grip on sanity, hurting Anjali or scaring her away, the Yozi succeeding

Likes                                            Anjali, being in motion, quiet, snuggling in bed, tea, a good knife, the element of surprise 

Dislikes                                        Anyone trying to harm, grope, or disrespect Anjali, noisy chaotic situations, being the center of attention, holding still, sand

Theme Song(s)                            Turbo Lover, by Judas Priest 

Defining Feature(s)                      A scar from a brand running down the right side of his face, which has been tattooed over with red and black demon script

Interesting Extra(s)                     As an Infernal, Rachna’s shard was never cleaned by Lytek in between the Usurpation and his current incarnation, and as such, he has extensive First Age memories. His predecessor was a Night Caste named Jakhar, who ran the security forces of a lost city named Solnifar. His mate, Anjali’s predecessor, was Adarasha, a Lunar diplomat whose caste was one of the now-lost castes, and Jakhar was madly in love with her, and deeply protective of her. 

Quick Biography

Born in the south, closer to Gem than he’d like, Rachna’s life turned upside down the night he tried to assassinate a local magistrate. All was going well, he was dangerously close to his target… but a slip and fall from a high perch broke his leg, alerted the guards to his presence, and summarily got him caught. The magistrate, who wanted to make an example of the would-be assassin, publicly branded Rachna’s face with the sign for ‘traitor’, and then threw him in the dungeon to rot. 

For hours, Rachna wallowed in self-loathing, unable to decide what hurt more: his broken leg, the fresh burns on his face… or the feeling that Fate had dipped close to him in those moments before he’d failed, and something precious had passed him by. He’d lost more than merely his freedom and his mobility that night. He’d lost something… important. 

And then a demon came to him in the dark of his cell, and made him an offer. Power. Power to take back what should’ve been his, to show these pathetic mortals who was really in charge, power to do… whatever he wanted. Considering Rachna’s circumstances, it wasn’t a tough sell. He accepted. The demon dove into him, melded with him– and Rachna became Yozi’s newest prince. 

After a period of Chrysalis, followed by a rampage, Rachna was recalled to Yozi, where his new patrons saw the brand upon his face, and decided such a mark was unbefitting of a Green Sun Prince. They tattooed over it, filling the scorched skin with runes claiming dominion and power, and the right to rule. Rachna no longer bore a mark of shame, but a proclamation of authority. And then, alongside others of his like, he was sent back into Creation to help prepare a way for the Yozi to reclaim the world. 

Except… Rachna didn’t actually want the Yozi to return to Creation. He liked Creation the way it was, and didn’t think the Yozi taking over would improve things. But he was obliged to assist; he couldn’t exactly go against the rest of his circle, especially as they were up against a circle full of Solars who were opposing their efforts. 

Well. A circle full of Solars… and a Lunar. A clash between Rachna’s circle and the bothersome Solars revealed a surprise– a sole Lunar sorceress. Anjali Skalishaya… Rachna’s Celestial mate. He hadn’t even known that was a thing, but memories from the First Age flooded his mind, reminding him of the torrid relationship between his shard and hers, once upon a time. Suddenly, he had a new, burning goal: Meet her. Know her. Woo her. Claim her for his own. Get back that love that had been cut short so long ago. 

Before long, he made himself known to Anjali, and then, at her insistence, to her circle as well. He explained what his circle was trying to do, and expressed that he was more than happy to work against them. In fact… if Anjali’s circle was willing, he knew of a way to cut the Yozi off at the knees– and deprive them of the ability to make more Infernals. 

A plan was hatched, and Rachna led Anjali and her circle into Malfeas, and made a brazen assault on Lillun, the Phylactery Womb, in whose swollen body was contained all of the as-yet-unclaimed Infernal shards. The Solars, Lunar, and one traitorous Infernal slew her, releasing the loose shards back to Lytek, and denying the Yozi the ability to reclaim active shards once existing Infernals fell. 

After a hasty retreat from Yozi (with all the forces of Hell in hot pursuit), the Solars threw a massive party to celebrate the win. Rachna and Anjali celebrated privately. A few weeks later, the pair split off from Anjali’s circle full of Solars, and struck out on their own to see where Fate took them.

Relationship to

Anjali

His Celestial mate, his favorite person, and the only thing that keeps him mostly sane some days, Anjali is everything to Rachna. Being near her quiets the traumatic flashbacks he is sometimes plagued with, and eases the restless, panicky madness of Adorjan that gusts through his soul. Intense memories of her predecessor in the First Age drove him to find and woo her when they first met, but now that he actually knows her and shares his life with her, Rachna genuinely adores Anjali and is even more protective of her than his First Age self had been. Sometimes irrationally so. (Anjali sometimes has to ask him to tone down his immediate and often violent defense of her; flaying any creep who gropes her in a crowd tends to make a scene, after all.) 

Most days, he is content to follow her lead, and assist her with whatever her goal is, being a little bit leery of having large goals of his own. However, she’s begun asking what he wants to do with their time, and the power they’ve been given…

Yaxkin

Swordtember 23: Iconic

So in watching Forged in Fire (https://play.history.com/shows/forged-in-fire/season-1) I have discovered a love for swords and sword smithing and that got me thinking about the Kopeshes that the Pharaoh and her men would have been using in Ancient Egypt.

So I went looking for damn cool looking ones. I thought I would share these three with you guys...

(Not that the gold one looks particularly strong. Gold is EXTREMELY malleable)