Bellringer of Penumbra

 

“To toll the bells and ring in your demise. It is my privilege and my passion.”

  The Auric Legions made the mold for the signifer, but it was the Bellringers of the Nightfall Legion that broke it. These individuals do not carry any standard as theirs is a cause devoid of heroism and bravery. When the bells toll, dread awakes within those that hear the accursed clang of their enchanted instruments.   The sound of their ethereal echoes creates a resonance that sunders the minds of lesser wills. Afflicting their psyche with a supernatural terror, and subjects them to a grief cold as ice. It makes for the perfect opening to let the Bellringers’ comrades rip through the disoriented and terrified masses with merciless fury.     The chiming bells are a masterstroke created by Luciano Penumbra. After his treason, the man reshaped the Penumbral Signum Bearers after his own nightmares. Forging the monstrous symphony they bring. He now considers each of them a shadow made in his image. Beings perfected by a sacred rot.   Once ordinary humans, the Bellringers undergo the rite of the Curseweaver’s Bloodkiss. A ‘gift’ in the form of a vampiric bloodline that turns them into a pallid, almost porcelain skinned figure, with a weaker frame susceptible to physical blows - but near immune to most curses. It is the source which makes them easy to slay, but also capable of directing the bell’s maddening call away from their allies and onto their enemies.       In spite of the vampiric essence coursing in the Bellringers veins, the bells they toll are made out of silver and engraved with bloodrunes. While the material would normally weaken standard vampires, these vampyr are bound to daywalkers. This protects them from the traditional vampire countermeasures, which is why they utilize silver -- as a fine and potent material for channeling runic enchantments.     A wooden staff with a metal binding at its top, connecting a shorter stick to give it the shape of a cross. The bell itself is attached by chain to the cross section, giving it a significant top heavy weight.   With wild swings, the weapon lands with a bone snapping impact that can maim a fully clad knight, with a lucky strike. Even with their frail forms, the spear-shaped tip and steel bindings on the staff gives the Bellringer a significant edge against would-be melee assassins.       An ornate robe clad in silver coated plate flows down the body of the Bellringer. Giving them a regal and hallowed authority on the battlefields   A porcelain mask dons their facial features, beneath the robe’s hood. Hiding their crimson eyes and their pale forehead. This adornment does not serve as an armour, but is believed to intimidate those who stand face to face with the Bellringers.