Vacio

Vacio is a shadowdrifter from the planet Darkspire, and a Void Councillor for the Order of the Event Horizon: the dark, sinister cult who serve Blackhole, manifestation of the Void itself, and seek to join him in regurgitating the universe in his image.

He lives on New Triton, the political and financial capital of the Orion Corporation and, by extension, the cultural capital of the wider Milky Way Galaxy. Wherever there’s power to be claimed, Vacio’s never far away. A relentless social and political climber, Vacio has secured several critical positions of power throughout the galaxy – not just in the Orion Corporation, where he holds the position of Imperial Chancellor (second only to Empress Cassiopeia herself), but also in the Order of the Event Horizon as a member of the Void Council.

As the Void Council’s newest member, Vacio has joined Event Horizon’s inner circle with some very bold, radical ideas for the cult which has existed, largely unchanged, for thousands of years…

Physical appearance

Vacio is a shadowdrifter: a tall, winged creature with a thin, black body and a chalky white, skeletal face. He has large, pointed ears and long, draping wings which, on their insides, are all a bright, burning orange. His face is long and pointed, with both fangs and horns. Both of his wings bear the unholy mark of the Order of the Event Horizon, by which he has been irreversibly branded for life. His eyes are deep and sunken in his skull, and are a piercing, predatory orange. His fingers are long and sharp, resembling claws.

Even by shadowdrifter standards, Vacio is tall. He towers over most of the company he keeps, which is ideal, because he so loves to look down his skeletal snout at them. He is very thin, too, and like all shadowdrifters weighs only little.

He’s never seen wearing any colours but his trademark black and orange. Shadowdrifters are happiest in the galaxy’s darkest places, and Vacio, like the rest of them, likes to slip in and out of it seamlessly. His wings, though a bright, fiery orange, are very thin and lightweight, and he can wrap them tightly around himself to conceal them. In darkness, he can be invisible if he chooses and – as a shadowdrifter, who requires the life force of others to survive – he chooses this often.

Personality

Shadowdrifters are noted for their insatiable lust for power, and Vacio is no exception – he might even be hungrier than the rest. Darkspire was a world where only those with ambition could thrive: a lawless labyrinth of treachery and deception, where every last shadowdrifter craved power over its peers and supremacy over its subordinates. Darkspire itself may not have survived Blackhole’s destruction, but Vacio did, and his shadowdrifter instincts remain as strong as they ever were.

Unlike his master Necronyx, who loves a good cackle at the misfortune of his enemies, Vacio has no sense of humour whatsoever. No one who knows him has ever seen him smile or heard him laugh, and he hasn’t the time for jokes. The only joy Vacio knows is in power, and in doing whatever he must to attain more of it. Maybe, when he’s the most powerful man in the galaxy, he’ll finally smile and laugh. Until that time, he remains just as cold, just as emotionless, as ever.

Few villains are truly evil, but Vacio might just be the exception. Utterly ruthless in his ambitions, with absolutely no depths he won’t sink to if it means getting what he wants, Vacio is not a person to be underestimated.

Skills and abilities

Shadowdrifters like Vacio are not magic users, but they are strongly attuned to the forces of darkness and they all have three major abilities. They neither eat nor drink, drawing their sustenance directly from the life force of other living beings. Sentient prey provides greater sustenance, and all shadowdrifters possess hypnotic abilities to help them get it. They also have the power to extinguish light, filling a space with darkness without lifting a finger, which helps them to camoflague or evade danger. They can also fly.

Beyond his natural shadowdrifter abilities, Vacio is a master of all things manipulation and coercion. He knows how to get what he wants, whether by persuasion or bullying, and he has amassed tremendous amounts of power and influence by doing so. He’s second-in-command for the Order of the Event Horizon, and he’s a senior-ranking politician with the Orion Corporation too. Compared to others in his spheres, Vacio is relatively young. It’s startling, just how much he’s achieved at his age.

Unlike Necronyx, who’s wanted by galactic authorities and spends his days in hiding, Vacio prefers to hide in plain sight. He does so masterfully. He holds very senior, very public governmental positions, and although there are rumours as to his true nature, they remain just that. Rumours. He’s deeply charismatic: charming when he wants to be, and downright terrifying when he doesn’t.