Rhys

Formerly known as Rys Kingslayer, "Rhys" is byezbaneki: a Riverki outcast. He is a supporting character in the Unnamed Story.

Charismatic, friendly and strikingly handsome, he is one of the more successful courtesans at the Inner Sanctuary, a high-rent brothel in the city of Bostwick. Rhys lost his left eye in what he calls "an accident", the nature of which changes between tellings. When he isn't ruining the marriages of half the city and it's visitors with his private talents, Rhys doubles as a brothel guard and mercenary, an opportunity he takes to keep his other physical skills honed.

History
In his former life, Rhys (then Rys) was the first of two sons born by the Wolf of Clan Vatesh, Paal Kingslayer. Born in the long shadow of a hero father, Rys took to the challenge of matching his might, possessed of the need to be just as great. He excelled in sword-combat, eschewing the use of a shield out of spite, and quickly set himself apart as one of the most accomplished warriors in his class. But as his successes grew, so too did his pride. Shortly after attaining the rank of Reaper, Rys made a fatal decision: he challenged the Clan Elder--his own grandfather--to combat, in the interest of crowning himself successor. Given every chance to back down, he failed, only to be bested by the Elder, fifty years his senior. The price for his pride was mutilation, loss of his name, and finally, exile.

Now disfigured, with no name and no people, the unnamed warrior fled imminent death, disappearing into Kyravelle. As he crossed that border, the man who was Rys died. It is a loss he mourns every day.

Personality
Rhys is an oddity, a friendly, approachable barbarian, working in a brothel not as a guard, but a prostitute. Whether for his exotic appearance or his natural charm, he is wildly popular, drawing clients from all walks to his chambers. He approaches most situations with the easy disregard of a man with nothing left to lose, joking and grinning his way both into and out of trouble. The rare forces that would seek to truly menace him quickly find themselves dealt with, his skill in combat remaining even in the absence of his original identity.

Though well-liked and jovial, Rhys carries the air of a man permanently changed by his circumstances. The loss of his name and people left him, like many of his kind, crippled with a sense of aimlessness, cut off from a culture so rooted in brotherhood and loyalty. The shadow of his past hangs heavy over his back, clear to those who care to look past his smile.

The Unnamed Story
Though all byezbaneki are considered 'dead' to their people, the circumstances in which Rhys left had seemed to promise his death would be more than symbolic. It is a loss Cole carries close to his heart, but one he does not speak of. So when it turns out his brother is alive and well, Cole is understandably polarized. It is a brief conflict. By then riddled with the Blackness, Cole's health flags, forcing him to offer his long-lost twin a chance at redemption: take up his Contract, in penance for the shame he brought their name. Though he deeply resents the position this leaves him in, Rhys begrudgingly takes up arms for the first time since his exile, supplanting Cole as Creed's guard as the former priest searches for a cure. His influence forces Creed to adapt or fail, forging his growing combat skill in the flames of opposition. In his absence, Creed comes to realize just how easy Cole went on him.