Aphra

The life of the twenty-one-year-old man named Aphra hasn't always been easy. He used to live as a slave before he formed a pact with the Black Star and escaped. Since then, he's stayed with the Skyfall colony, doing his best to help out wherever he can.

Backstory
A descendent of one of the survivors who landed on Izuno VI, Aphra was a slave boy who worked in one of the longer-established colonies. He had been a slave for as long as he could remember. Growing up, he was pushed to work hard. He suppressed his own will and expression to the point that he became very doll-like, and even as a free person in the present he does not express much desire.

He did feel somewhat close to the other slaves on his master’s property, thinking of them as the closest he had to family. One of them, an older girl named Jinan, even taught him woodcarving, which was a skill that he developed well enough to the point of being able to create small figurines of people.

Creating a pact with the Black Star happened somewhat accidentally. Around the age of thirteen, Aphra started having recurring dreams about rotting fields and burning homes, especially the home of his master. These dreams were accompanied by a whispering voice asking what he wished for and what he was willing to pay to receive it.

After witnessing Jinan’s death during an escape attempt, he began to dive deeper into these dreams and reflected upon them for the next three years, leading up to when he finally formed a pact with the Black Star at the age of sixteen. Somewhat terrified at having managed to do it, Aphra did his best to keep it a secret. In order to avoid accidentally revealing his new abilities, Aphra switched from working on the field to being among the slaves who defended it from intruders and beasts.

Over the next few years, Aphra quietly contemplated fulfilling the wish that had pushed him to form a pact in the first place: an end to his life as a slave. In secret, he quietly practised his magic enough to be able to teleport. Around the age of nineteen, Aphra finally escaped his master’s property, though he deeply regrets leaving all the other slaves behind. Since then, he has been on the run, lying low, but constantly plagued by the fear that someone may find out about his past and force him back into the life of slavery.



Appearance & Gear
Aphra stands at 5’11” (1.8m). He has brown skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair that goes down to just above his shoulders. He usually lets his hair hang loose, but occasionally will tie it up into a ponytail. He dresses in loose, plain-coloured clothes that include a sleeveless jacket with a hood and cloth wrappings around his wrists to hide both the scarring caused by manacles and his Black Star glyph, which is on his right wrist. He bears a scar going down across his collarbone on his left shoulder due to an injury gained during a raider attack.

Aphra carries a set of woodcarving tools along with some blocks of wood, ever prepared to carve another figurine. His weapons consist of a plasma axe that he received from Grimor the Strange and a stolen spear that he obtained shortly after escaping his old colony.

Personality
Aphra holds few opinions on most situations and goes with whatever other people decide for him without much complaint. He usually needs to be prompted to act, although there are certain situations in which he will decide to act on his own—typically situations directly involving survival. Even when asked about his personal desires, he struggles to give voice to any as he doesn’t often put much thought into what he wants for himself.

Aphra is withdrawn and reserved. He doesn’t speak much. He’s mostly drifting wherever life takes him at this point, trying to escape from his past of slavery and keep his pact with the Black Star a secret. He struggles to allow himself to be close to others as he is unused to genuine connection. A part of him also fears that someone might force him back to his former life.

One thing he does seem to be passionate about is carving little, wooden figurines of everyone he’s met, all of which he carries with him wherever he goes. The figurines are his most prized possessions as he sees them as a way to remember everyone.

Due to being one of the few colonists in the Skyfall Colony from Earth, he feels self-conscious at his lack of education about the planet his ancestors are from, but also intrigued by the stories that he hears from others.

Aphra will almost always put the well-being of others above his own and quietly monitors those around him to find ways to be of service to them.



Abilities & Skills

 * Black Summoner Aphra can form weapons out of darkness, teleport from one area of darkness to another, and cause rot and sickness in other people, creatures, and plants.
 * Wood carving Aphra is efficient with a set of woodcarving tools, having learned during his youth from a fellow slave. He often makes wooden figurines of people he’s met.
 * Pole weapons Aphra knows best how to wield pole weapons such as staffs and spears, having used them to protect his former master’s fields.

Weaknesses

 * Guns Aphra has little experience with firearms as they were tools he wasn’t often allowed to access.
 * Technology Aphra has little experience with complex tech as they were tools he wasn’t often allowed to access.
 * Star Summoner The Black Star sometimes gives Aphra dreams and visions that often leave him feeling disoriented, unsettled, and paranoid.

Other Information

 * Aphra has rituals that he must complete in order to feel safe, one of which includes taking out all of his wooden figurines and praying over them both in the morning and before he goes to sleep at night.
 * Aphra likes to trace protective symbols onto palms.
 * Aphra later found out that a former slave driver from his old colony, Cillian Remington, is his father.
 * Aphra’s primary love language for receiving love is physical touch, but only once he’s comfortable. He gives love through acts of service and occasionally touch.
 * The cloth wrappings he uses to hide his scars and glyph were given to him by a stranger named Cronus.
 * Aphra has mixed feelings toward the Black Star.