Dajaman

Tl;dr
- 36-ish zombie viashino - empathetic to the point of impulsiveness and optimistic to a fault - tries to balance living a simple, comfy life and working to improve the lives of others - mostly pacifist but will beat sense into you if he has to

Backstory
=== Early life === - Dajaman was born slightly before the Conflux to Jund into a small scavenger clan whose general attitude to the rest of Jund's people was to treat them as resources to be exploited and nothing more - Dajaman grew up to be a more empathetic, kind child than average. the clan expected him to grow out of it in adolescence and once he'd come to see more of the world around him. he didn't. the harshness of the world and the people around him made him even more stubbornly insistent on helping others and abstaining from living at other people's expense anyway - Dajaman also developed a childhood friendship with Rheila, a clanmate who'd been trained as a healer from an early age due to his natural talents. even though Rheila couldn't comprehend Dajaman's constant consideration for people outside the clan, he still cared for and supported Dajaman unlike much of the rest of the clan. over the years, Rheila came to understand and even share Dajaman's driving cause; this led to their friendship becoming even closer, and eventually, developing into a deeply loving mateship - Dajaman's "weakness" was tolerated with varying degrees of reluctance until he was finally given an ultimatum when he turned 18: kill a captive, or be exiled. afraid for his safety, he eventually chose the former. however, this only made him feel even more driven to do better, instigating him and Rheila to set more concrete plans for their shared goal into motion - as a scout who was allowed more freedom of movement, Dajaman would clandestinely mediate conflicts, share food and shelter with other survivors, give out packets of supplies and life force secretly prepared by Rheila, and save those caught in Jund's many environmental dangers. in contrast to the more practical and grounded Rheila, who was prepared to protect people through coercion and violence if necessary, the more idealistic Dajaman's faith in the better nature of those around him compelled him to approach their shared mission through compromise, patience, and second chances. even though the two came to disagreements, they still understood each other and tempered each other's perspectives: Rheila reined in Dajaman's recklessness, and Dajaman stoked the flames of Rheila's compassion - life went on somewhat steadily until the clan's leadership caught wind of the two's mission, resulting in exile (Dajaman was about 24 at the time). with Rheila handling self-defence, the duo made their way to the outskirts of Bant, supported by those they'd previously aided and forgiven. there, they were given a modest place to live, where they settled down and, after some time getting adjusted to relative peace and just getting to live peacefully as a couple, got the old itch back and re-established their charity work, occasionally going out into Alara for it

=== Sparking === - this lasted for four years until Dajaman caught wind of people near what were once the boundaries of Grixis suddenly and mysteriously disappearing. he set out to investigate, with Rheila having to stay behind - turns out it was a necromancer who needed specimen for testing out their experimental methods of creating longer-lasting, sapient unlife that they could control. they lured Dajaman into their laboratory, killed him, then got to work binding his soul to his body before it could depart - good news, it worked and Dajaman woke up again. bad news, the experience both retained and ignited his spark, throwing him into the Eternities and severing the necromancer's control over him - Dajaman came to on a peaceful, idyllic plane, disoriented and panicked. the denizens of a nearby village managed to calm him down and, after he explained his situation, took him in to live with them - here, Dajaman came to understand his planeswalkerdom as well as another transformation: he was now an undead being powered by raw mana, the internal engine fueling his bodily functions and soul bindings requiring vast amounts of food to satiate - despondent, he abandoned that village to try to planeswalk away, but just couldn't figure it out. eventually, the villagers caught up to him and stubbornly insisted he was welcome and that he didn't need to sacrifice anything for them - little by little, Dajaman began to, after living a life defined by working for the sake of others, value and defend his own needs and feelings as he lived alongside the villagers. his attitude towards his second life shifted as well; he began to think of it as a blessing and opportunity to pursue the personal happiness and fulfilment he now wanted to find for both himself and Rheila

New lease on (un)life, the great husbando hunt
- speaking of Rheila, his new attitude made Dajaman begin to train his planeswalking in earnest to bring them both to a better place in life. eventually, he managed to return to Alara, only to find out that Rheila had vanished off the face of the plane. initially believing that Rheila had sparked and thought he was dead, Dajaman hurried into the Eternities to find his mate so the two could start a new life - after frantically hunting for clues on first plane he'd travelled to, the possibility occurred to Dajaman that Rheila had returned to Jund and found out about his sparking. ever the optimist, Dajaman returned to their house in Bant and waited for some days for Rheila to return. when it became clear he wouldn't, Dajaman came to the false conclusion that Rheila was now searching for him across the worlds as well and so set out to the Eternities once again - with each successive world, a desire grew within Dajaman to enjoy what pleasures and possibilities they had to offer. torn between this desire and longing for Rheila, Dajaman spent more and more time on each successive plane just enjoying life in the plane du jour in between searching. he'd justify this to himself by believing Rheila would be both strong and kind enough to not need his help, but still eventually always start worrying for his mate too much to stay on a plane after it had been exhausted of leads - through these travels, he realized that he genuinely liked helping and supporting those around him and that living more for himself didn't have to entail giving that up completely. his condemnation of violence also grew even more stringent due to seeing worlds more peaceful than Jund do just fine in his eyes

Teaching moments
- after about two years of searching and having fun exploring the 'verse, Dajaman at last found a plane that Rheila had lived in, done some wholesome healer work in, and left; ecstatic, he decided to stay in the village he'd found this out in, waiting for his mate to return - eventually, reports came in of a foreign clan approaching. at Dajaman's urging, the town's leadership decided to enter trade negotiations with the clan's leader... only for the clan to take advantage of the vulnerability and murder-raid the village. oops - having been partially responsible for the death and suffering of a community that had accepted him left Dajaman kinda sorta completely devastated and anguished. unable to deal with it, he fled into the wilds to try to process it all - Dajaman came to the realization that he'd gotten so caught up in his carefree trust, insistent pacifism, and blind hope that things would just turn out alright that he'd been closing his eyes from the realities of conflict and malice around him. even back in Jund, his altruistic worldview had partly depended on sheer denial and other people, including his beloved Rheila, dealing with the harsher aspects of the world for him - after trying and failing to find survivors, Dajaman wandered the Eternities in a despondent fugue with no idea what to do with himself. on one plane, he came to witness a powerful mage causing danger and destruction, but being fought to submission. this sight made Dajaman realize that violence can protect and preserve peace instead of just causing harm - inspired by this, Dajaman resolved to expose himself to even more mind-opening and train to fight to protect peace, putting his search for Rheila on hold until he could feel worthy enough to face his mate as a better, stronger person

Pursuit
- for some years, Dajaman travelled, learning combat under masters, developing a broader understanding of the reasons that can drive people to harm each other, and maturing his pacifism into something more realistic: the belief that, while peace and abstinence should always be striven for, it isn't always possible, and that the best thing to do in those situations is to minimize harm, not give up completely - eventually, Dajaman found yet another plane that Rheila had lived in; only this time, he found out that Rheila had caused no small amount of mayhem there. his view of Rheila sticking by their shared beliefs without him now shattered, Dajaman almost gave up on him altogether; however, he then went on to reflect on his own past mistakes and how the two had patiently persisted in upholding bond through each other's mistakes back on Jund. this reignited his love for his distant mate and his determination to continue his search: so he could understand what drove Rheila to such a point, forgive him, and at least try move on as a couple as the two had before

Reunion
- eventually, Dajaman found his way to Rheila, who had been trapped in a mind prison by another planeswalker; after freeing him, Dajaman was too happy to discuss serious matters and just whisked the disbelieving Rheila away to a quiet spot just to spend one happy day catching up and getting close again - the next day, though, he knew they'd have to discuss what he'd heard Rheila do. although Dajaman was at first unsure of what would come next, after he heard the now-mortified Rheila's earnest regret at what his obsession had driven him to, Dajaman knew crystal clear how he felt; he still loved Rheila, wanted Rheila in his life, and found it easier than anything to forgive him. - having committed his own share of mistakes on his journey, Dajaman admitted them in turn and offered to Rheila that they could just move on as though none of it had happened and start new lives. Rheila, however, felt that it was his responsibility to at least try to make amends. glad and proud, Dajaman promised that he'd be by Rheila's side on that journey - from there, the two returned to places harmed by Rheila's actions and worked towards fixing things, getting closer once again and growing their loving relationship anew in the process. after the pair decided they'd done enough (with some convincing on Dajaman's part), they set out to retire from constant aid work and live peaceful lives... only to discover that neither of them really took well to sitting still and continue travelling, living both for themselves and others in a delicate balance.

Driving goals
Driving goals - have a comfy, fun life - help the people around him have that too - support and nurture his husband Rheila

Personality
- trusting by nature and by choice - a super optimistic outlook on life: thinks everything'll be alright in the end, believes the best of the people around him - very empathetic and considerate of others' emotional states - advocates for a healthy amount of selfishness and self-care - doesn't get angry often or stay angry for long, but when it's there, it's intense - emotion-driven: decision-making heavily based on what he feels is for the best for the people involved (including himself) in the moment - this is partly a conscious philosophy - in the heat of the moment, makes hasty snap decisions; in quieter moments, falls back on contemplating the situation from several angles before forcing himself to pick a stance and see it through to avoid having to regret inaction (but still vulnerable to aforementioned snap decisions) - conciliatory, doesn't like to argue - generous - _heavily_ believes in the sanctity of life and will be upset if you don't

Appearance
- big buff lizard man with a vaguely crocodilian head shape - gray scales - usually wearing loose clothing - may look rotten depending on current state

Metaphysics
- powered by a reactor in his stomach that pumps a mixture of blue, black, and red mana through his veins to simulate blood, powering biological processes - has to eat regularly and much more often than other people (once every approx. two hours) or his flesh starts rotting and other processes of death start kicking in - flesh rot is cancelled out by eating again - doesn't have to sleep, can't sleep - mana reactor can process anything and convert it into energy, without leaving behind bodily waste. it's just burned up in there

Abilities
- magic based on controlling soil and stone (learned, proficient) - magic that increases bodily performance like strength and speed (learned, proficient) - combat training focused on nonlethal suppression (proficient)

Weaknesses
- little appreciation for strategy or logical deduction, falling instead back on what _feels_ right - overly quick to trust - anti-magic things will be super fatal - slow

Relationships
- Rheila: husband