I always liked the idea of 'Drifters' being less of a race and more of a concept, a group of nomads. Hyper Light Drifter already has: The Drifter, The Guardian, and The Librarian. So following the same theme, I created a version of Mari that is simply known as The Pathfinder.
Pathfinder
Phantom Dash Expert
Observant | Resourceful | Afflicted
A quiet and reserved nomad.
Walking paths erased by time, Mari is one of the many drifters within the World of Light.
Using forgotten technology, Mari explores the world looking to uncover a new path forward.
Mari's specialty is being able to Chain Phantom Dashes with ease. Quickly becoming an expert earnt him a pair of boots that help him control the precision and speed of each dash.
As a Pathfinder, precision and speed are key, being able to quickly move from place to place, testing routes to find the safest and easiest path is your job.
As such his equipment is focused around being light on your feet and offer great flexibility.
The downside of such speed is having little to no armour or defence. Thankfully the goal is never to engage in combat unless you absolutely have to.
Mari likes to carry very little equipment when he's out exploring and performing his role as the pathfinder.
His blade of choice is a hard light long dagger, and he pairs it with a custom made handgun that is outfitted with three separate firing modes.
The blade is chosen to be small and easy to use, making it easier for Mari to focus on movement, only ever going in to attack if a vulnerability or opening is spotted.
It does have a heavy strike, super charging the hard light until it fractures to produce a much stronger, larger blade, however it comes at the cost of becoming inactive for a short while after.
The handgun has an energy capacity of six, however due to its limited ammo it's been custom designed to be multi purposed.
The muzzle at the end of the barrel rotates and adjusts the lens, changing it between three firing modes:
Entropy
Disease Manifests
Canine | Presentiment | Interlinked
Ever-present, always watching, inevitable.
The Immortal Cell, Judgement, Entropy. Every drifter sees the same entity, however its form is always different, unique. For Mari it takes the form of a large wolf.
There is a disease that plagues all drifters within the world of light. It's a sickness that manifests as a living shadow to each drifter, appearing before them in a personalised form for each drifter. These hallucinations typically follow with your own imagined death, a symptom that is replicated across all drifters. Mari refers to his 'Judgement' as Entropy giving it a name that he found to be fitting for a disease that only serves to degrade you.
Entropy taking on the form of a wolf is no coincidence. The hallucinations that each drifter sees is a byproduct of their own fears, instincts and even desires. For a rabbit, ones natural predator was always going to be how Entropy showed itself, playing at Mari's instincts and ensuring that when Entropy appears before him a cold sweat runs down his back.