Races

Cambion - by T.A. Saunders ©2013 v1.2

Racial Articles A Birth Inked in Darkness: The History and Culture of the Cambion

As Cambions do not exist in numbers great enough to be considered their own race, they do not have a culture of their own to speak of. However, historically Cambions have been whispered about since the Time of Twilight. The birth of such a being is a rare enough occurrence; the result of a demon (usually an incubus or a succubus) mating with a mortal while in possession of a mortal host. This first-born Cambion will produce/sire Cambion children as well, but beyond the second generation, there is only a 15% chance that a child sired by a Cambion will be Cambion as well. Some have argued that Shar`Vaire are essentially Asyndi Cambion but this is not the case. Shar`Vaire were infused with infernal power as a people, not through the act of procreation. Cambions travel amongst the various races and peoples of Imarel largely unnoticed, until they are brought to great anger or suffrage. Only then their nature is revealed with an unholy fury and eyes that burn like the very coals of Xos.

Cambions, once discovered in most societies are at the very least, reviled and in more superstitious cultures, driven out or possibly killed. Because of this, they tend to be loners and take up occupations that keep them out of the path of zealots and the narrow-minded. Their aversion to Divinium has rampantly fueled bigotry that all Cambion are creatures of chaos and evil. While it is true all Cambions are prone to choose Chaos, not all do. There have been exceptional instances, where a Cambion has proven their worth and their strength as a person and have been granted Knighthood amongst Crusaders and in a few cases, high positions within lawful churches. In the case of the Cambion, their life is truly what they choose to make of it, despite the lot they've been given.

The most notable Cambion in recent Imarel history is Nilharys Blackthorne, the bastard son of Arisyeema the Deceiver. Arisyeema had made a pact with a powerful Arch Fiend by the name of Urdoch. She would give him a child to bring onto the mortal realm to further his interests and she would be given infernal assistance when she and her secret lover Thanaxiscar moved to overthrow Arisyeema's husband and king, Nevrezh Tasheen Soryn II. Arisyeema however gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The girl was given to Urdoch to mold and the boy was to be given up for blood sacrifice for the demon's aid. This pact fell through however when the boy child, who would later be known as Nilharys was rescued by a male consort of Arisyeema's, a Human male by the name of Baron Kendrig Blackthorne.

The good baron took the child to his home on the outskirts of Moonfall where he had owned land and had troops he believed could protect him from Arisyeema's wrath and raise the boy in secret. For seven years the Baron was able to hide young Nilharys from Arisyeema's hunters, who wanted to return him to complete the pact the Deceiver had with Urdoch. However on the seventh year, the dark-haired, pale-skinned boy was spotted by emissaries of the Kingdom of Vyss while the Baron was away. By the time Kendrig returned from his travels, his land and home had been razed to the ground, most of his soldiers and servants murdered and the Cambion child gone. Taking what soldiers he had left, Kendrig chased the kidnappers deep into the woods of the Kingdom of Vyss and even managed to catch them after several days of pursuit.

Kendrig's luck was spent however, with his men tired from the chase being forced to engage fresh enemies who had been prepared for this eventuality. Despite their advantages, the slaughter in the woods would leave only one of Arisyeema's hunters standing, though wounded and Kendrig down to the mercy of the hunter's blade. The hunter cut Kendrig down without remorse, even taking the time to taunt the mortally wounded man before ending his life. A mistake he would not live long to regret as the Cambion child took up a bloodied spear from the dead and drove it into the hunter's spine, just as the Elf yanked out his blade from the Baron. Left alone in the Wild, the rest of Nilharys' story is a matter of history as he survived many ordeals to eventually bring both his sister, Adeena and his mother to death, then forged his own kingdom in Miroa.