"When he meets your gaze and you piss yourself, wanting nothing more on this green earth than to become something small, insignificant and unworthy of his attention, don't worry. That's just sanity kicking in and offering you sage advice."

-James "Rathers Jim" Ragutt, Mercykiller

Septimus Rafiel is the Lord of the city of Caravelle, as well as the head of the Mercykillers. He is sometimes called the Firelord and is best known for his religious fanaticism towards the god, Tyrako.

Rafiel is a moderately talented mage, and deadly skilled with a warhammer. He wears dark, thaumic iron armor, which no man of normal stature could hope to move in and weilds a warhammer called the Malleus Maleficarum, which is enchanted to have its blunt end red hot and capable of searing off flesh, melting eyes, weakening metal and charring bone.

background

Early Life

Rafiel grew up in the lap of luxury in Caravelle. He worshiped Tyrako and lived in the shadow of the Smoking Bluff Volcano, but his interest in fire and his dedication to his god did not begin until he was ten years old. It was then, in the Faircastle library that he discovered some old scrolls which detailed the exploits of the Thousand Suns, a group of assassins dedicated to the god Janaurus, said often to be an aspect of Tyrako. Reading about the exploits of the assassins and their philosophy of ritualized societal culling, Rafiel was deeply effected and dedicated his life to the service of Tyrako. He announced this to his less than thrilled parents who wanted him to inherit Faircastle instead of becoming a landless churchman. As a result, he was sent to Azhuihotl and the Sunset Islands to try and break him of his fanatical rigours.

The Jungles

Rafiel spent his early teenage years in Coriolis City, Gnaupoor and numerous villages across the Sunset Islands and Azhuihotl. He grew more and more disenchanted with the vice and sin he saw around him and frequently intervened in trials and rural justice, using his weight as a Harkanian lordling to reverse decisions and encourage harsher sentencing, always in the name of Tyrako. At one point in Shiwa village, Rafiel stopped a mob from lynching an Azhua named Kichi'huatatl. While he stopped the mob justice, his verdict on the accused Azhua was still death and he had the lizardman burned alive. This earned him, unbeknownst, the enmity of Kichi'huatatl's seven-year-old daughter, Monica Jasmine.

Marriage

Rafiel returned, more dedicated than ever and met his fiancée, Liselotte Chambord, a Villehardouin lady-in-waiting. Rafiel submitted himself to a loveless courtship in order to pacify his furious parents. On the night of his 18th birthday as well as his wedding night he refused to submit to carnality with his recent bride. He spoke passionately to her of the importance of faith in Tyrako and, as a sign of his devotion set fire to his bed. Though Liselotte agreed to dedicate her life to Tyrako's worship, she was consumed by the fire as was nearly all of Faircastle. Some guests and servants escaped but both his parents were killed. Septimus Rafiel emerged from the bruned out shell of Faircastle, hideously burned and grimmer than ever. Liselotte's parents demanded an explanation as to her death and Rafiel had them executed. He left Caravelle in chaos, with Faircastle destroyed and no one to take lordship.

Mercy Killers

Over the next few years, Rafiel put together the Mercy Killers, a roving band of grim, religious fanatics dedicated to Tyrako and the teachings of the Thousand Suns. Though lauded by the mainstream church, their fundamentalist beliefs and violent propensities made them something of outcasts, never fully acknowledged by the parent religion. Now, Rafiel seeks to supplant Mikhail Hadrian Ulric as High Priest of Tyrako, and bring the Mercy Killer philosophy into the forefront.

appearance

Rafiel is 41 years old, heavily built and muscular. He was once handsome with silken black hair and sad eyes the color of ash. But horrible burns cover most of his body. The right half his face is puckered, the flesh melted away until its merely a thin covering over stringy muscle. The other half is bloated with thick, white scar tissue that sags over his brow, nearly obscuring one eye. His right ear is nothing more than a gapeing hole. and most the hair on that side of his head is burned away. What does remain droops lank and streaked with gray. His broad shoulders, chest, thighs and calves are pocked by streaks of scar tissue and ragged angry burns.