Twin

Twin (née Kihrook) was the last hawker of The Taoclave, fighter in The Amberfern Loyalists, former member of the Jerisain Sun and founder of The Sentinel Vigilance during his lifetime between 1737-1850 ASE. He was a close friend of both Tias I Amberfern and Kerrun Riksilver, and protector/mentor of the former's daughter. Twin earned the name Death's Sentinel after surviving multiple amputations including his right hand, left arm and left leg, each replaced by prosthetics similar in design to those worn by sentinels.

Each injury he sustained changed him drastically during his life in Eia, turning him from an insufferably arrogant teenager into a revered fighter and wise teacher later in life. Eventually, his reputation was so respected that almost every seeker employed to hunt him refused even the most handsome payment.

At a young age, Twin lost his right hand to gangrene after failing to treat the ceremonially self-inflicted wound on its palm when he swore himself to the Taoclave. Naively believing that a crude bandage would heal the laceration of a sword blade, he spent weeks hiding the pain from his Hawker peers. When the flesh began to rot and leave a stench, his festering wound was discovered and declared too far gone to treat; his hand was then amputated against his will.

He went through multiple types of prosthesis, each a mild improvement on the last, but all of them were practically useless. Years after retraining himself to become left-handed, Twin met Sengra in the Whispering Halls of Anverse while delivering Devyntias to her, who used her innamactic powers to animate the artificial hand. It operated on his phantom pain, and worked as a normal hand. This power remained inside him, which would prove useful when he later lost more limbs.

Twin lived under the alias 'Si' for the majority of his life in order to hide his identity, but renounced the false name when The Taoclave collapsed. The alias came from a joke he first pulled with Sirin, his first friend in Eia and, ironically, captor. He would occasionally continue using the name during certain parts of his later life as a mask.

The Jerisain Sun
Twin came to Eia at some point between 1743-49 and ended up being fostered by a Satese family who were involved with the Jerisain Sun, a revolutionary militia that fought against the royalists. Though he was too young to know better, Twin never adjusted to his new life. He was essentially kept there against his will, and worked menial jobs for the movement without understanding their motives.

When the Whispered War began in 1750, the truth of his 'family' came to his attention; more and more were dying, militia camps were being raided by the royalists and tensions were rising. Later in the year, the confirmed death of the Jade Rider caused havoc amongst many of his followers, and left them open to a significant attack by the royalists; Twin was living at the very camp where this happened.

Managing to survive and escape, Twin fled north-east from Quaydesh with his adopted brother Kancha and numerous other members of the Jerisain Sun - fighters and civilians alike. Once again, the royalists found them and attacked without warning, scattering the group in all directions. Twin was separated from Kancha and ended up crossing the border into Mantilwyth.

Heritage
Twin was at first reluctant to reveal the details of his identity, the first point being his name. It wasn't until he and Sirin escaped a near-death situation that he told her his name was 'Twin'; much later on he was to declare his surname 'Kihrook' to The Taoclave before being stripped of it. Herraitian surnames are created in two parts, the prefix dictating 'son or daughter of' in Kih or Tahm, and the suffix being the first name of their father, unless there is a particular reason the father's name cannot be used. Twin's surname suggests that he was the son of Rook, but there is no further information on his origin.

Post-Taoclave
After the events that resulted in the deaths of the majority of the Taoclave, Twin fled into the wilderness in search of Sirin, in order to then rendezvous with Yirris and come up with a plan. Upon finding his former companion, he discovered her to be someone else entirely; their following journey to be difficult and aimless as Sirin's mental state rapidly deteriorated. Months passed before his friend's condition rendered her mindlessly violent and aggressive, to the point she posed a serious threat to the both of them and eventually attempted to kill him, resulting in her own death at Twin's hands.

His time without Sirin was lonely and dangerous. On occasions, Twin contemplated taking his own life as he couldn't handle being alone or bear the weight of murdering the woman he loved. It was at this point that he reverted to his real name and remained in hiding throughout the Winter. He was able to survive using what he'd learnt as a hawker, and began searching for bounties on his own.

The Battle of King's Brunt
In 1774, Twin was travelling with Tias and his loyalists to King's Brunt - a secure location deep in The Royal Straight mountains on the border of Monhelm and Quaydesh. In pursuit was a mercenary battalion sent by Riven Staigus, with the sole task of capturing Tias dead or alive. At this point in time, Tias' party was 30 in number when they were found by the 600-strong battalion.

During the ensuing battle, Twin defended the single entrance to the rear of the building along with 5 others while Tias and the rest covered the front. Though the enemy were successfully bottlenecked in the natural stone alley, some managed to break through and make their way to Twin's position. Dozens of Riven's men fell before any of the loyalists did, but the toll became so great that it was nearly impossible to traverse the hallway through the heaps of bodies.

Twin began to fatigue by the third push into the entrance, where he was the last of his flank standing. During a hand-to-hand scrap between him and a Coalitionist, a shrapcharge on his belt was accidentally activated and detonated moments after he hurled it away. The resulting blast killed three Coalitionists in close proximity and mangled his left arm and leg. The battle ended shortly after when Tias unleashed his innamactic powers and forced the Coalitionists to retreat at great cost to them and him.

Resulting Injuries
After losing a dangerous amount of blood, Twin was taken to a town some miles away on the back of a duneskiff by Atase Kavro. By the time he woke, days had passed and he survived multiple surgeries. Both affected limbs were amputated, leaving him with one working foot.