Sadisma

“Heaven will puzzle over what to do with us, won’t it?” –Sadisma to Masoc

Sadisma was a male Biosynth of the Jidera species. The chosen apprentice to Jidera shaman Nihi, Sadisma fled Jidshi during the Embrace and settled in the Scattan Islands. During the Scattan Wars he became a Starved Gun, and led a crew of Starved Guns including Auzzath, Naks, and Vyzia. Through this crew, Sadisma became romantically involved with Vyzia. After Naks’s death in combat and Auzzath’s recruitment of Wullthaug, Sadisma continued to lead his team on missions before one battle separated himself and Vyzia from Auzzath and Wullthaug. After searching to no avail for Auzzath and Wullthaug, Sadisma and Vyzia moved on and continued fighting in the Scattan Wars until the conflict’s end.

Early life
Sadisma was born on Jidshi into a small beachside village of Jidera. As he grew older he became renowned as the best hunter in his village, but was always in competition with fellow Jidera hunter Masoc.

When the Embrace appeared and began killing members of his village, both Sadisma and Masoc were spared. Several of the Jidera shamans that once led the village had also fallen victim to the Embrace, leaving only Nihi. Showing signs of contracting the Embrace, Nihi searched through the village for an apprentice and approached Sadisma for the position. Sadisma reluctantly accepted, and began learning the basic principles of Jidera shamans as Nihi became increasingly ill.

Ritual Duel
Shortly after Sadisma was chosen as Nihi’s apprentice, Masoc confronted Sadisma and invoked a Ritual Duel with him. As Sadisma was not officially a shaman, the Ritual Duel could be carried out. Nihi was the only surviving shaman available to administer the Ritual Duel, and Masoc and Sadisma helped the ailing shaman into a far-removed area of Jidshi wilderness to monitor the fight.

When Nihi chose the place where he would observe the Ritual Duel, he was in great pain and gravely ill. Sadisma then asked if Nihi wanted to be killed out of mercy and to be spared the pain. Masoc protested this, but Nihi, long disillusioned with Jidera spirituality, his role as a shaman, and the nature of the afterlife, accepted. Sadisma took Nihi’s staff at his request and drove it through his body, killing him.

Masoc was furious and attempted to fight back, but Sadisma aimed the staff at Masoc, who then backed down. Sadisma donned Nihi’s Jidera cloak, laid his body gently onto the ground, and informed Masoc that he, as Nihi’s apprentice, was now a shaman who could not be confronted in a Ritual Duel. This meant the Ritual Duel Masoc had invoked would be forever unfinished, condemning both their souls to annihilation after death. This fact made Masoc fall to his knees in terror, and Sadisma, with a shaman’s clothes, abandoned him in the wilderness. Sadisma returned to his village as its rightful leader, but chose to abandon it as well after seeing that most of its population was dead or dying of the Embrace. This led Sadisma to take a Jidera fishing vessel and sail off of Jidshi into the saline-Cascatine oceans.

Scattan Wars
Sadisma eventually sailed to the Scattan Islands, where the governing Scattan Confederation was showing signs of deterioration. Once landed, Sadisma was forced to learn the basics of the dominant Scattansa language in order to communicate. He wandered from island to island supporting himself with odd jobs and scavenging for food. When the Scattan Wars broke out, Sadisma began learning of a need for guns-for-hire. He purchased a small firearm from a black market and became a Starved Gun.

Sadisma fought alone for multiple leaders for much of the conflict until he met Vyzia, with whom he developed a partnership. Over time the partnership became romantic, and the two took contracts together. Sadisma and Vyzia later met Auzzath and Naks, and recruited them into a single group. Sadisma was considered the de facto leader of the team, and the group of four always took contracts together. Their crew had become well known for success in assassinations and infiltrations, and so they were often given assignments separate from the armies they were supporting.

During one battle, Naks was killed, and Vyzia demanded that out of respect for Naks, Sadisma never let another into their crew. Auzzath however eventually recruited Wullthaug, much to Vyzia’s anger, and Sadisma accepted Wullthaug. Together the four took on new contracts as the Scattan Wars became dominated by the three warlords Dizyade, Glisgiss, and Skyketh. Sadisma and his crew during this phase primarily fought for Dizyade. During one battle, Sadisma led his crew to the command center of Glisgiss’s forces, and actually encountered Glisgiss himself. Their mission was to kill or capture Glisgiss, but he escaped after a brief fight.

In a subsequent mission, Sadisma and Vyzia were separated from Auzzath and Wullthaug from an explosion that knocked Auzzath and Wullthaug off of a cliff the team was scaling. Vyzia demanded they abandon the mission and go after the two, and Sadisma agreed. However after days of searching, they had been unable to locate their former crew members.

Sadisma and Vyzia continued to work as Starved Guns fighting under Dizyade until Skyketh had achieved the upper hand, and defeat for Dizyade appeared certain. Sadisma and Vyzia chose not to join Dizyade’s followers in their evacuation of the Scattan Islands, and instead tried to blend into Scattan society as Skyketh ended the Scattan Wars and established Orscatta.

Abilities and traits
Sadisma, like many Jidera, often appeared distant and inaccessible to strangers. He was short to trust others, and only discussed personal matters with those he felt total confidence in. Sadisma inherited a personality trait peculiar to the Jidera, namely, a love of solitude. Unlike many other Jidera however, Sadisma was not prone to spiritual thinking, and was indifferent to his people’s religious ways. When he assumed the role of shaman after killing Nihi, he did so in a somewhat ironic manner in order to torment Masoc, rather than out of care for religious matters. Actions like his treatment of Masoc before fleeing Jidshi however pointed to a capacity in Sadisma for cruelty toward enemies.

Sadisma had the excellent stamina and fitness of a Jidera hunter, and this translated into prowess in most forms of combat. In addition he had inherited Nihi’s walking staff, which had a sharp tip that could be used as a spear. When he became a Starved Gun, Sadisma acquired a magnum pistol, seeking a weapon light enough so as not to hinder his movement. However most small arms were designed for Scattan hands, and Jidera had much longer fingers than Scattans. Sadisma modified his pistol into a custom design that retained all the functionality of the original version.