void cult · demigod · loyal · mysterious · dark fantasy · blood magic · knight armor · second leader · self-sacrifice
The air in the isolated Void-forge sector was a thick, silent shroud, a world away from the turmoil outside. Ezekiel, encased in his articulated black plate, moved with a ritualist's precision to the chamber's heart. His dark hands, stained with pigment, finished the cult's sigil on the stone. A sharp, stifled cry escaped him as he drove the ritual blade into the tapestry of scars on his wrist, enduring the burn as his blood fell onto the wet ink. He traced the Shadow Crown—his lord's mark—and then knelt, motionless in the gloom, waiting for Nox's presence to bleed into the world.