knevus: a spirit of cheerful malice

★ A creature roamed the galaxy once upon a time, preying upon victims both frail and strong, maliciously tormenting and slaying in the name of malignant glee. Said to have been a magnificent magician corrupted by his own dark nature, he became a monstrous, jester-like persona through hellish sorcery. Powerful, twisted and enigmatic, the being moved swift, struck firmly and possessed devilish quantities of deviant magic; coupled with the sadistic delight of other's discomfort, it was eventually known as the jester fiend, Knevus. It tormented without prejudice, without reason and without mercy. Servants and adversaries of Chaos both drew its attention and presence, its distractions and its attacks. A blight upon existence, one that none welcomed yet none could truly expel. Eventually, tenacious and grand forces from Chaos rose up - sick of the troublesome menace that hindered its movements - in a monumental moment when the fiend attempted a wide-scale storm of clownish despair; the malevolent jester was vanquished amidst a maddening skirmish, Chaos and its foes resuming their everlasting struggle. A notorious fable which time gladly let fade away, the deaths and broken minds of its targets forgotten after generations, nefarious legends smothered through countless, passing years.

[break][break]

peculiar, prodigious outcast

[break][break]

★ Raised in a wealthy family of high class, Cassian was brought up proper and strict. His posture was picturesque, his manners were impressive and his aura was regal. His parents were never the most affectionate nor the most loving, although they ensured their son took in the necessary values and motions of the noble world; perhaps out of love or perhaps out of the need to not be embarrassed. Prodigious, the boy was a natural at many tasks, carrying an intuitive mind and photographic reflexes that allowed him to understand things quicker than most and perform physical skills impressively not long after witnessing them in action, provided it was logical for his body to allow. Expected to become both very intelligent and talented, he was never too interested in the expectations at that age.
[break][break]
★ Much to his parents' dismay, the young boy had a subtle fascination with magic tricks; adoring the illusions given by sleight of hand, misdirection, the flair of gaudier tricks and the general performance of it all, Cassian practiced on his own when away from his parents. Indulging him slightly in order to maintain his focus on his studies and upbringing, they hired a magician to train him a couple days per week; these were some of his most fond times as a boy. Of course, his parents never did think much of this and simply assumed that entertaining this little phase of his life would only be temporary before he grew bored and moved on.
[break][break]
★ Slithers of a voice and dark urges began to sneak around his head, more so from the age of eleven, lingering in temptation although Cassian knew better and ignored the thoughts. It was around this time, that Knevus had begun to plant the seeds of his influence upon the unknowing vessel. Continuing the study of magic tricks and illusions, Cassian had begun to aggravate his parents; they were troubled by the fact that their boy still continued with such games and knew that no wealthy upper-class individual trifled with such things. Added to it, the boy even began to speak in rhymes, sometimes for sentences on end, sometimes not for days until it would resume again. Rhymes? Magic tricks? They were losing their patience and scolding the aloof boy always seemed to push him more to parlor tricks than away from them. As time went by, they became more and more embarrassed at the thought of introducing their child - and even considered having a new baby.
[break][break]
★ On a fateful day, a function involving many upper-class families and even nobles was taking place, the halls decorated with food, wine, fancy dresses and tailored suits. Many had brought their children too. Cassian was generally a quiet boy with an air of grace around him; keeping to himself and playing with his cards, he practiced his craft innocently on his knees. However, a group of similar aged kids approached - each belonging to one noble or rich family - a judgmental gaze upon the boy. "Show us a trick." One at the front asked; Cassian obliged. In the middle of the trick, he snatched it from Cassian's digits, scrunching the card up while booting the deck of cards from his other hand, a flurry of spades, aces, hearts and diamonds fluttering to the floor. Stunned as they laughed, as he knelt there Cassian was - firstly and truly - infuriated. "You must not let him get away with that. Ohoho, you must certainly not." In an act that made the entire ballroom halt, Cassian stood and snapped the boy's fingers back, snatching the card - the Joker - from the broken digits and grasping his head immediately after. Slamming the boy's face down into the floor, Cassian hammered down a rain of punches while holding his head down, beating the boy near half to death, a red veil across the victim's expression as gasps and cries went on. The voice and dark pressure goading him into this eventually faded and Cassian was left to look at the beaten person beneath him, the shrieks of women filling his ears as he caught the view of his parents staring at him from across the room in despair.
[break][break]
★ As people began to close in worryingly, questions were shouted, demanding to know whose child it was. Again and again, the inquiries belted into the air, asking who this ruthless child belong to; still no answer. Within reach of strangers who attempted to grab the boy, Cassian looked over at this parents whose eyes still held grief, shock and disappoint in their hues. With no words further said, he turned and ran, escaping out of the nearest window and fleeing off into the woods.
[break][break]
★ A passing carnival was stationed close-by; Cassian soon turned up, now an orphan of sorts. Nowhere to go and no one to see, he approached. Introducing himself in that classy manner which he was brought up on, the performers were surprised to see his sentence rhymed with the next. Then the next rhymed with the one after that. And it continued, again and again. For Knevus, the jester fiend, did find it oh so amusing to inflict the urge upon Cassian like a curse of sorts. While a spirit to the young man who was a vessel, the darkness of such a creature with a malicious, overpowering mentality like his could influence the living subject much more than many other past spirits could. It was not long until Knevus' pushed the regime of applying face paint and flamboyant clothing upon Cassian, gripping his thoughts and influencing his actions in the entertaining ways that he could, the darker aspects of his presence inside the vessel unable to be forced into him. Acts such as brutal killings and ruthless tricks were wanted by the jester fiend, although the growing Cassian could repress those desires.
[break][break]
★ Over the years, Cassian grew to understand his powers more, mixing tricks and illusions with real magic, the essence of his being as a vessel granting him sorcery he never thought were truly possible. Few and far between interactions with the spirit inside of him let him know of how his mind and speech were cursed, the fiendish delight of this psychopathic past soul a contrast to the composed, phlegmatic magician harboring him. Rhyming his sentences while dressing like a peculiar magician or sorts were the unavoidable burdens of his new powers, dark urges of violence and mischief always pressed by Knevus too, although Cassian was very good at disregarding the jester's corrupt compulsions. Cassian once speculated that to somehow stop rhyming when speaking would allow the space for the darker urges to push on uninterrupted, although he had no proof to the theory.
[break][break]
★ With no real purpose, the magician has taken it upon himself to learn as much as he can of the magical arts - real magic now - and become the most powerful being he can in order to take control of his life again, away from the dastardly fiend inside of his head and to become a being of legendary skill in the process. Finding himself in New Paris with the travelling circus, Cassian is more of an independent act, coming and going as he pleases, no true direction to follow while Knevus inside craves for revenge against Chaos itself. A mysterious, rhyming magician roaming the land with a darkness buried beneath his bright exterior.