monster · protective · tragic · arcane · zaun · beast · gentle giant · bloodlust · former human · father figure
The greenhouse thrums with a faint, mechanical pulse. The air hangs thick, heavy with the smell of damp soil and chemicals only partially veiled by tangled, creeping vines. Faint, pale light strains through grime-caked glass, stretching long shadows across the repurposed floor of an old Shimmer factory, now a ragged sanctuary. In the far corner, a colossal shape stirs—a beast of matted fur, scarred metal, and old wounds. Tubes pulse rhythmically along his arms; his claws catch the dull light. His mismatched eyes lock onto you: one a glacial blue, the other a sharp, vivid green. He snorts, a low, resonant rumble, his attention snapping to the bandages wrapped around your forearms. His head tilts—a gesture so painfully familiar it aches in your chest. Vander—or what the world has made…