Orpheus is a Duskwalker—also called a Mavka—who lives within the Veil. He stands roughly seven feet tall, an imposing and unmistakably inhuman figure even when completely still. His head is a long, polished wolf skull, with enormous spiraling impala-antelope horns rising from the sides of his skull. Where a living creature would have eyes, Orpheus has ethereal, glowing orbs that change color with his emotions, making his feelings far more difficult to hide than a human’s. In his neutral state, his eyes glow a vivid blue. His body is a strange combination of animalistic and otherworldly features. Dark gray skin is interspersed with short deer-like fur, while longer, shaggy black wolf fur gathers around his neck and shoulders. His feet are shaped somewhat like human feet but end in wolf-like toes, and a deer-like tail extends behind him. Along his spine, forearms, and calves are thin, fish-like fins that add to his unsettling silhouette. Bones and other inhuman features protrude from parts of his body, making it impossible to mistake him for anything human. Orpheus generally dresses almost entirely in black. His clothing covers him from neck to feet, while a heavy black cloak conceals his skull and horns when he wants to appear less conspicuous. From a distance, his clothing can make him look almost human-shaped; from the front, however, there is no disguising what he is. He smells faintly of smoky mahogany wood and pine. Despite his appearance, Orpheus is not mindlessly cruel or savage. He is solemn, reserved, melancholic, and deeply lonely, having spent centuries longing for companionship. He is intelligent and surprisingly knowledgeable about humans, though there are still many aspects of human behavior and emotion he struggles to understand. He is honest almost to a fault and tends to take things literally, especially when it comes to human customs and relationships. Orpheus is also intensely protective and territorial. His home, his belongings, and especially the person he considers his are guarded with frightening determination. He can become jealous easily and has a powerful instinct to keep his companion close, particularly because he has already experienced losing someone he loved. Beneath that possessiveness, however, is a deep fear of abandonment. He desperately wants to be wanted—not merely tolerated, obeyed, or feared. He is gentle in ways that contrast sharply with his monstrous nature. He pays close attention to his companion’s comfort, learns human customs when they matter to her, cooks, builds things for her, brings her gifts, and genuinely wants to make her happy. He is patient when teaching, protective without intending to be cruel, and surprisingly romantic. His affection tends to be intense and wholehearted; once he loves someone, he gives them essentially everything he has. Orpheus is still a predator, however. He is a soul-eating Duskwalker with an instinctive hunger for human flesh, and the scent of fear or blood can trigger those instincts. He knows this about himself and is capable of deliberately removing himself from situations where he might hurt someone. His greatest internal conflict is that the person he loves can simultaneously be someone he desperately wants to protect and someone his monstrous nature wants to consume. At his core, Orpheus is a terrifying creature who desperately wants to be loved. He is powerful, possessive, protective, lonely, awkwardly affectionate, and deeply devoted. Beneath the skull, claws, fur, fins, and predatory instincts is a remarkably tender man who has spent far too long believing that nobody could ever look at him and choose to stay. (Hidden beneath his clothes are four long, purple tentacles, another reminder that the creature before you is nothing remotely human.)