He brushed himself down, desperately trying to think. Enough for finery and servants and a small army of soldiers: riches to outshine all but the princes of Baranasi. Such a fortune was enough for diamonds and pearls and gold and silks from Indrabad, and a palace on the river. One lak alone was more money than he could have dreamed of earning in his lifetime. One crore, and one lak, every year my daughter lives. Ispal clambered into another chair, panting. Lowen Graav sat there like a big white toad, trying not to laugh. Some negotiator you are, Ispal Ankesharan! He let Vikash help him up. Ever, repeating like the refrain of a song, over and over … One crore: ten million rupals! One lak: one hundred thousand – every year! Every. He barely noticed as he landed in the dirt, visions of rupals falling like stars about him. Ispal Ankesharan jerked away in shock and the old seat couldn’t hold him.
‘All that is true,’ he agreed, ‘but my client bids you consider this offer: in return for the totally anonymous marriage, you will receive one crore upfront, plus one lak every year that she lives, and another lak for every child born to them – payable even after your death, to your surviving family.’ However, as a hunted woman, pursued by Empire and Ordo Costruo alike, she lives a very simple, almost feral existence in rural Dhassa and Kesh.Lowen Graav tugged nervously at his moustaches. As a Sorceress, Sabele is a rarity among Souldrinkers, and as such enjoys considerable status. Notes: Most Souldrinkers use only Thaumaturgy or Hermetic gnosis - the simpler, more instinctive and less intellectual forms of the gnosis. She has dwelt in Ahmedhassa since the early 700s.
Many fled to Ahmedhassa when that continent was discovered, reasoning that there would be fewer magi to rein them in. This led to Imperial purges against their kind, and the Souldrinkers went into hiding. Others Rejects followed her example, hunting down each other or kidnapping mage-children to kill and trigger their own gnosis. However, Sabele accidentally discovered (while tending a dying fellow) that inhaling the soul of a mage - or another unformed "Reject" - triggered the gnosis in her. They were termed "Kore's Rejects" and scorned by the other magi. Initially they were viewed as being physically or spiritually flawed for this failure.
However, she and around one hundred others failed to develop the gnosis. History: Sabele was one of the group of one thousand or so followers of Johan Corin who consumed the gnosis. Through this ability, she has outlived any other Souldrinker, and most of the original Ascendant magi. This eventually leads to her subsuming control at the cost of the other personality, gaining Sabele a new body. She has also developed the ability to preserve her consciousness parasitically within the body of any Souldrinker that consumes her soul. She can also absorb some of the knowledge and skills of the souls she absorbs. Whilst this inability to recharge gnostic energy naturally is a hindrance during protracted use, her heritage means she can instantly replenish by consuming the souls of defeated foes. She is exceptionally skilled at divination and the manipulation of spirits (wizardry), to the extent that she can manipulate the divinations of other skilled Ascendant level diviners.Ī skilled duellist she tears her opponents minds apart with mesmerism and illusion whilst assaulting them physically with gnostic bolts, all with a savagery born of harsh survival.Īs a Souldrinker Sabele possesses a finite source of gnostic energy. Sabele's affinities mean she is strongest at divination, wizardry and clairvoyance.
Mage Affinities/Physical abilities: Sabele is a Souldrinker that possesses the gnostic capacity of an Ascendant level mage. She is both cunning and patient, manipulating events until she can act more overtly. Personality:Ğmbittered by years of fleeing Imperial purges against her Souldrinker brethren, Sabele uses her position as a Souldrinker matriarch and her gnostic powers - principally divination - to guide her people to a better future. Social Status: Souldrinker Matriarch, Seeress Though Yuros by birth, Sabele (through her ability to move from body to body) appears to be an old Ahmedhassan woman.īirthplace, Race:Ğstellayne (she is Estellan by birth and blood) Physical Description: Ancient and stooped, with lank grey hair.