Nito of the Shadowlands

Nito is a shadowbinder from the lands of Asshai, having fled from his homeland after the death of his students. Finding a home for himself in the Stepstones, Nito quickly rose through the Pirate Lord of Wreckstone’s ranks. Eventually, the Shadowbinder murdered the Pirate Lord, taking control of the island and its forces for his own nefarious purposes.

Appearance and Character
Nito is a pale man of average stature, with a long tangle of bright red hair that he keeps hidden under his clothing. The shadowbinder is frighteningly thin, though this fact would be hidden under his long black and grey robes if not for his nearly skeletal hands. Nito hides his face with a bone mask with a protruding snout, with nothing but the bright glow of his amber eyes visible underneath.

Nito of the Shadowlands is a strange, capricious man who seems to care for little for anything except his own interests. While vengeful, the shadowbinder is not sadistic, and often treats those in his service well enough provided they live up to his sometimes lofty expectations. Nito possess a certain amount of low cunning, though he isn’t particularly wise, and struggles to look much further than his immediate goals. The Pirate Lord of Wreckstone has a great appreciation for art of all kinds, and colors his court of mongrels with painters, musicians, dancers, and sculptors.

Student
Nito was born in 412 A.C., along the Ash river in the Shadowlands. Both of his parents skyfishers, Nito had little aptitude for his family’s line of work. He lacked the strength to heave his net high enough into the air to catch the birds, and while the boy was quiet enough to sneak up on his prey, he often lacked the patience needed to successfully complete his hunts. As a result, Nito was given to a travelling shadowbinder searching for a student; his family had no use for a child who could not put help put food on the table. 

Nito took to his new studies quickly; his bright mind was better suited to magic then hunting. While the boy was an able practitioner for his age and level of training, average was not satisfactory to Nito’s master. Every failure was met with beatings... or worse. While his teacher’s harsh methods accelerated his growth as a practitioner, it filled Nito with fear; a fear of failure, and a fear of his master. Over the years, the boy turned into a man, and his powers grew stronger still. Eventually, Nito was ready to exact his revenge. Binding his teacher’s shadow to his own, Nito forced his master to commit suicide.

Master
While Nito had been the most promising student of his master, he was never the only student. Nito took over training the young students for a time, though he quickly grew frustrated with their lack of progress and his own failures as a teacher. The shadowbinder treated them far better then his old master had... So why were they still so full of fear? Eager to break the chains holding them to mediocrity, Nito tasked the young acolytes with mastering a high level technique on their own; working together, he reasoned, would help them achieve their goal. It would be his final mistake as their master. 

Awakening to a chorus of horrific screams in the night, Nito found his students standing in a bloodstained circle... Or at least, what was left of them. Parts of them were torn off and scattered about the camp; others had turned a ghastly blackish-green, and some students seemed to have vanished entirely. In the center of their circle stood a horrific figure, a man who seemed to flicker in and out of existence. Had some malevolent being tricked his students into summoning it? Whatever had happened, Nito would never learn. The creature faded out of sight one last time, and left naught but the desecration and an overbearing cold in its wake.

Exile
Ashamed of his failures, Nito fled the Shadowlands, wandering the known world for several years. From Volantis to Ibben, the shadowbinder wandered, offering up his services to pay for food. He was alive, but it wasn’t a living. Eventually, Nito travelled to the Stepstones, and fell into the service of Ser Alvar Hellhair, Pirate Lord of Wreckstone. The man was greedy, vain, and most of all, stupid. It would be a trivial manner for a man of his talents to usurp control of this wretched place; perhaps he could make a new home here.

Quickly going to work, Nito’s skill with magic proved a valueable asset to Ser Alvar; within less than a year, the shadowbinder had worked himself into being the pirate’s second hand man. From there, the matter of humiliating the Pirate Lord and killing him with his magic was rather simple. With such a dominating performance, there was little question of who would succeed him.

Since then, the island of Wreckstone has been relatively uneventful. Pirate raids from the island have been few as of late, as Nito of the Shadowlands schemes. Day and night, Nito scours through his tomes of Old Valyria, searching for the key to a power best left secret. Euron Greyjoy supposedly had a horn that could bind dragons to his will. While his horn was long lost, ff the dragonmen had one way to bind the beasts to their will, surely, there was another...

Family and Kin
Hailing from an undistinguished lineage of sky-fishers along the Ash, Nito cares little for his parents or other members of his family... And neither should you.

Companions and Court
Matarys Gatligar, 25: A young painter from Volantis.

Castos the Crabbasher, 39: A senior pirate Captain known for his raids in House Celtigar waters.

Ezzelyno, 52: An old Braavosi sculptor, who designed much of the statue's dotted about on Wreckstone.

Gallard Water, 20: A young singer from King's Landing who serves as the shantyman aboard Nito's ship and the primary entertainment of his court.

Shadrick the Dancer, 24: A prominent captain in Nito's fleet, who wear little armor and instead "dances" between the blades of his foes.

Meta
Aptitude: Ritualist

Skills: Blood Magic, Shadow Magic, Concealment, Privateering, Healing, Dragonlore