Serata MacDermott

Mother of Shadows
Brill graveyard.

''A priestess, her lips sewn shut, stands next to a tombstone on which a pair of ravens rest. Three or four more seem to be circling. As you approach, the two birds on the tombstone speak in sync with one another. Their voices are raspy and feminine.''

"Welcome to Brill, child. Please, make yourself comfortable," the birds say as the robed woman looks to you directly and leans on her staff - a staff that looks, by the way, as if it's a creature's limb rather than wood or metal. "I am glad you survived the resurrection with your wits intact. Shadow willing, you will come out of the next few days much stronger than you were before your unforunate end."

"I am Sister Serata, a priestess of the Forgotten Shadow. I am here to guide you into your new life within the Shadow and offer you its comforts,"'' one of the birds says. The other is now busy picking a wing. The priestess doesn't seem to care, instead electing to advance on you and brush her gloved hand against your face. She cups your cheek gently, like a mother would cradle her child's face. "You see, the Light you once loved cares no more for you. It has left you in undeath. It burns your nerves and your mind, it seeks to put you in the ground when you seek nothing more than to live. You are one of us now, a child of the Shadow, and it loves you so, offers you power and protection like the Light never did," the bird continues. Shadowy tendrils pour from the priestess' fingertips and heal some of the minor damages to your face. ''

"Come, walk with me. We will talk of the Shadow and the Nexus..." ''she beckons and turns to walk, not waiting for you to respond. The bird who was speaking for her lilts from the gravestone to the end of her staff. She'll probably just keep walking if you don't follow her... maybe.''

Physical Description
Serata's visible facial skin is pallid and marred by recent hasty stitching and patching from other sources. Her eyes have been replaced by pale yellow witchlights. There are long slits in either of her cheeks caused by decomposition which are sewn (along with her mouth itself) into a permanent macabre mockery of an ear-to-ear grin with heavy gut twine.

The skin on the rest of her body is nearly translucent pale blue and stretched taut over a somewhat bent bony frame - she has nearly no muscle left to speak of, and even less body fat. A string of well-worn onyx prayer beads is wound around her thin right wrist and hand. One of the beads is a little larger than the others and is shaped like an anatomically correct heart. A little black prayer book hangs on a dainty (though tarnished) chain from the belt on her impeccably neat robes. Any weapons she carries swim with Sha energies.

She is always followed by three or more ravens, and occasionally one - or all - of the birds will seemingly speak for her in a hollow, raspy voice... or a chorus of them.

Serata smells, as many Forsaken do, of embalming fluid.

Shadowform Description
Serata's shadow magic ability allows her to shed her usual physical form and become the Shadow directly. Her shadowform is an indisctinct, wavering construct of deep purple and black color that maintains the general outline of her normal physical body; the only sign that she is a shadowform priest and not an actual shadow (aside from operation independent of a body that looks like her) is the fact that her eyes remain pale yellow witchlights.

Her shadowform eyes have been known to flicker red when she is particularly in tune with the Forgotten Shadow.

Serata's shadowform also has the marked advantage of having no scent.

Personality Description
When she was initially risen, Serata had little to no personality of her own due to the massive head trauma she suffered at her first and second deaths. She was instead an effective personality mirror and psychic blank until she managed to figure out shadow healing magic and mend her own brain.

Since that time, she has proven very much a mother bear personality despite her frail physique - she sees the followers of the Cult of Forgotten Shadows, and the Forsaken at large, as her children. As such, they are worthy of her protection, succor and guidance more than any other beings on Azeroth and will be afforded the best care and training she can provide them or direct them to. If that training should fail and someone or something else should threaten their well-being, she will swing into action and come out raging with the full force of her formidable shadow talents. Under normal circumstances she is level-headed; when provoked, all bets are off.

While the above is the case for Forsaken, she will come off as a bit stand-offish and strange to other Horde races. She knows she has no provenance over the living and tends to be curt (though polite) with them on a good day as a result.

She is generally hostile towards, though will not attack unless provoked by, the Alliance. This is mainly a result of their predisposition towards putting her clergy back in the ground.

Skills and Abilities
Shadow Magic: Serata is a veritable master of shadow magic, channeling the dark energy of the Forgotten Shadow as if it were breathing thanks to her devotion and zeal. She has abilities including, but not limited to: mental domination, shadow healing, creation of shadow-tendrils and creatures with physical bulk, draining the life-force from one creature and giving it to another, and creation of violent fears in an enemy's mind.

Charisma: Despite her somewhat grotesque looks and frail form, Serata is a very good public speaker and has a powerful presence when engaged in Cult activity. She is capable of manifesting an aura of command, and is very good at whipping people into a frenzy - especially if those people are her fellow Forsaken.

Inscription: In part due to her time as a personality mirror, Serata has learned to be a top-notch scribe. She can paint, draw, and write in veritably any style on Azeroth. She formerly illuminated scripture in bulk, and still does so for the newer Cult tracts and manuals. Her talented copy artist skills can - and occasionally will - be used to create forgeries of specific peoples' work, if it is deemed necessary.

History
((UNDER CONSTRUCTION))