The Dreaded Nighthawk - Avencourt's Vigilante
(a.k.a. Shadow Court's Bane)
| "Yer worried about runnin' into 'im? You've a better chance of gettin' hit by lightnin'." "Aye, but I might survive the lightnin'." -Two thieves discussing the Dreaded Nighthawk |
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
The Dreaded Nighthawk is in peak physical condition, as demonstrated regularly by his ability to fight multiple opponents at once, leap from rooftop to rooftop, run great distances after miscreants and still have breath to speak his trademark phrases.
Special abilities
The Dreaded Nighthawk is a master of unarmed combat, specializing in attacks that stun or incapacitate his foes swiftly. He is also adept with thrown weapons, striking targets precisely from several yards away.
Mentally, the Nighthawk never forgets a face or a name of a criminal he has fought. Many rogues and thugs have been surprised when the Nighthawk calls them by name on a subsequent encounter.
Apparel & Accessories
The Nighthawk wears an suit of supple deep blue leather that covers him from head to toe, which has hardened leather plates sewn onto it. This armor, known as "boiled leather" or cuir bouilli, made of blackened leather, but the chest pieces are dyed yellow to give the armor a sinister look. Some claim that the yellow chest plates are actually steel wrapped in leather to deflect arrows and give the body greater protection, and the color is to attract blows to where the armor is strongest. No one has been able to confirm this guesswork.
The Nighthawk's face is covered by a hooded mask of a bird of prey, dyed yellow to resemble a beak. The eye holes are protected by glass that some thieves whisper are magical, permitting the vigilante to see in clearly even in the darkest of places, perhaps even seeing things made invisible by magic.
On his back, the Dreaded Nighthawk wears a reversible cape of dark red on the outside and dusty black on the inside. This cape is not attached to the hood that covers his head, and pulling on it will simply detach it (as several thugs who tried that in an effort to incapacitate the Nighthawk learned). The bottom of the cape is weighted by small lead weights sewn into the cloth. One robber claimed he saw the Nighthawk whip off his cape and use it like a weighted net, tangling his opponent in the heavy fabric before knocking him unconscious with a vicious kick to the head.
Specialized Equipment
The Dreaded Nighthawk wears a pair of weighted knuckle gloves that give his blows more power and damage. He is known for carrying a short length of silk rope and a grappling hook that can be disassembled, along with several clay vials filled with various fluids - some create a large area of smoke (like a smoke grenade), others give off a gas that makes a victim nauseous, still others will render people unconscious. Some thieves have reported a gas that causes fear in the inhaler; most who have heard such tales chalk it up to the cowardice of the storyteller.
The Nighthawk's gauntlets house several feather-shaped knives that are balanced for throwing and return when thrown. He carries no other weapons.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
No one knows where the Dreaded Nighthawk came from. He appeared for the first time on a moonless summer night in Auldmarket, breaking up a mugging and leaving three thugs bloody and unconscious. Since then, he has appeared irregularly, always at night. While his main targets appear to be robbers and muggers and the like, he has forcefully closed down one drug den and beaten a serial raper close to death. Two fences in stolen property have closed up shop since he began operating.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Rumors abound about the Dreaded Nighthawk. The most persistent story is that he was a humble peasant who has made a pact with a shadow power calling itself the Night’s Wing, an ancient guardian spirit once worshipped by Human clans during the Second Age, but dormant for centuries. According to this tale, the man, dying from wounds suffered by a gang of bandits, was offered life in exchange for servitude to the Night's Wing. When he accepted the pact, he was branded with a spectral sigil that normal eyes cannot see, but lets him feel the pull of the city’s hidden corruption like a physical ache. By day, the man is still just a man. But on certain nights, a hawk's shadow will pass over the moon above, transforming the man into the Dreaded Nighthawk, supernatural avatar of the Night's Wing and bringer of dark justice.
Rumors claim that Nighthawk’s strength grows from the darkness he fights; Every act of cruelty, every crime, every whispered betrayal draws power to the spirit of the Night's Wing — and to him. The more evil he faces, the stronger the Nighhawk grows, but at the cost of his Humanity. The more he fights injustice, the thinner the line between man and myth becomes. Someday, the Nighthawk may cease to be Human; what happens then is anyone's guess.
According to the legend, the Nighthawk is superhuman, able to appear from nowhere and return into that darkness once more. Other tales claim he can fly invisibly and silently, striking from above like a bolt of lightning.
Image created using Hero ForgeTM
Current Location
Species
Age
uknown
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
unknown
Hair
unknown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
unknown
Height
5 ft, 9 in
Weight
198 lbs
Quotes & Catchphrases
"The night sees all."
"Your crime ends here."
"Surrender to justice!"
"Run if you wish... it will not avail you."
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