Venomeater
The venomancer Venomeater was a mysterious woman from the City of Corgath. She had taken the role of a serial killer during her reign of terror within the city, taking desperate measures to ensure no one would ever know who she really was.
After being apprehended by Corgathian soldiers in cooperation with the Bureau of Classified Arcana, Venomeater was transported to a secure holding facility in the Corgathian countryside. Venomeater would join the Dark Heroes after the Dark Mage Zak and Ascarin attacked the facility, freeing her.
Biography #
The Massacre of Heavenstide #
Venomeater's reign of terror across Corgath seemed to begin overnight, with 3 families slaughtered in their homes. Witnesses came forward to report the atrocities, and everyone was quite surprised that this serial killer made little attempts to move silently and secretly. Everyone's reports of the killer were the same: a woman bearing emerald green rags and a mask made of a sheet of rusting metal. In her hands, an old, bent sword[^1].
Venomeater's greatest atrocity was the Massacre of Heavenstide. During one Heavenstide celebration, Corgath's streets were filled with celebrating people and festivities. Abuptly, Venomeater appeared and unleashed a venomantic attack upon the crowds. Hundreds of people screamed and withered as they were bombarded by a detonation of zawmix toxin. As quickly as she had appeared, Venomeater vanished.
With a terrible atrocity of such magnitude transpiring in a major city like Corgath, the eye of the Bureau of Classified Arcana turned towards it. Numerous BCA agents flooded through the city to search for Venomeater. The Corgathian king sanctioned all manner of Bureau operations within the city, desperate to end the threat against Corgathian peace. But all efforts failed, and the BCA drew the conclusion that after such a brazen attack she must have fled the city.
Destrian Assistance #
During her sabbatical from killing, Venomeater consorted with the Umbraguild to meet a disgraced inventor who had been expelled from Destral after creating chemical weapons. She explained to him that she was about to hunt down prey with heavy purses, and that while the inventor could opt to turn her in for a sizable reward, she could promise him greater payment if he helped her instead.
Intrigued, the inventor lent his aid. He forged her a suit of armour and enhanced it with a state-of-the-art hydraulic system that Venomeater could fuel with her zawmix toxins. Unfortunately for him, Venomancer never held up her end of the deal, killing him after ensuring that the armour worked.
The Noble Hunt #
Nearly a year after the Massacre of Heavenstide, Venomeater resurfaced and began to stalk Corgath for a very particular type of prey--Corgath's nobility. Nearly every single subsequent night, a nobleman (and sometimes other members of his family) were found dead, either scarred and deformed from zawmix attack or butchered by a blade.
While the BCA needed some time to get their agents back to Corgath, paranoia swept through the city's elite. Lancer hirings skyrocketed as nearly every lord sought protection from Venomeater. While not every nobleman was on Venomeater's hitlist, the ones that were found their security details easily dispatched every time.
The BCA was able to eventually apprehend Venomeater by placing agents amongst the men who served the lords. The agents caught Venomeater by surprise, and were able to contain her. At long last, Venomeater's horrific crusade was at an end.
The Dark Heroes #
Venomeater was held in Corgath for nearly half a year, where she was tried for her countless crimes against the kingdom and its people. Almost every week there was a trial, where the survivors and witnesses of Venomeater's evils came forward to testify and accuse the killer. At every trial, Venomeater refused to explain herself, barely even talking.
Early on Venomeater was tried without her mask on, but her horrible, scarred face caused many to be sick or fearful. Majority of Venomeater's trials transpired with her face hidden beneath her mask.
At the end of her trials, Venomeater was given thirty-three consecutive life sentences, which she would serve in the BCA's Synnardar Penitentiary. She was loaded into a heavily-guarded, armoured wagon and carted off to the facility. Her armour was also sent there, where its advanced functions would be studied alongside her by the BCA, who were hoping to reverse engineer it into use as an anti-venomantic restraining device.
During the journey, the Dark Heroes Ascarin and Zak attacked the BCA facility the day after she arrived, freeing her and recruiting her to their cause. The BCA were not expecting to be attacked by such powerful mages due to the remoteness of the facility.
Powers & Equipment #
Venomeater was a venomancer, and a particularly powerful one at that.
While her strength was impressive, it was further augmented by her suit of armour. Venomeater's armour was unique and one-of-a-kind, tailored to her size and designed to work only with venomantic individuals. It featured a complex hydraulic system that she could control by pumping zawmix toxin into it, effectively functioning as a sort of magically-powered exoskeleton. The suit could also enhance the release of stored zawmix by projecting it at high velocities from arm-mounted hoses.
Venomancer's armour boasted other mechanical weaponry in the form of retractable claws, blades, and needles--all designed to further improve her delivery of zawmix to her opponents.
[^1]: Venomeater wielded a poor-quality sword in order to inflict the most painful kind of death possible. By showing the least amount of mercy to her prey, she would attract greater numbers of zawm to herself. In some cases, leaving people alive but in excruciating agony was the preferred outcome, anyway.