twibeast | Orthrus Info/Background Post

Appearance

Normally, Orthrus appears as a mostly human looking man save for the two pairs of horns on his head (one set pointing up, another curling down) and long, prehensile snake like tail. He is nearly 7 feet tall (6'10), slender and physically looks to be somewhere between his late 20's and early 30's. His hair, eyes, horns and tail are all black. His main outfit is primarily black as well, with the top having a purple underside, gold embroidered trim and a fluffy white fur collar. A lot of his chest and tummy are exposed. He is never seen without a black crystal earring hanging from his left ear - this earring cannot come off. Attempting to touch it will result in it heating up to the point of burning the toucher until they stop. Other details one might notice are his slightly pointed ears and little fangs. It is possible for him to hide these things and his horns/tail but he chooses not to.

Of course though, Orthrus is a shapeshifter and this is not his true form. His true form is based on, well... Orthrus, brother of Cerberus. He is a two headed canine with a snake tail and (mostly) black fur. There is a patch of white fur on his chest, where the crystal that forms his earring sits embedded in his skin. His horns are split between the two heads with the left one having the upwards horns and the right having the downwards ones. At his full size he is ~~Clifford~~ bigger than a house, though he usually keeps himself shrunk down to something more manageable (but still uh. Huge. Like around the size of this ~~or a twilight movie wolf~~. edit: for WCB this is nerfed to the size of a St. Bernard). That said he is considered “small” for his kind on account of his age - most of his kind are more along the size of uh. Kaiju. Like Godzilla.

Orthrus also has a female form that he created while he was working on his shapeshifting abilities and figuring his identity as a "person" out (Astral Beasts don't have the same concept of gender as humans and Orthrus only turned into a man at first to please his first love, who was a homosexual man). This form is called "Circe" and has dog features in place of his horns and tail. Though he came to the conclusion that he is happiest identifying as a man, he still uses this form on occasion, especially if he doesn't want to be recognized.

Audio wise he sounds like a character voiced by Liam O'Brien (at this age/canonpoint he's closest to Cent from Drakengard 3 here and here - warning for video game blood in the links). In his true form his voice is overlapped, like both heads talking at once, but his mouths never move. When in his true form I put his dialogue in italics because of this.

Basic Background

Orthrus is an Astral Beast, a race of sentient, quasi-immortal shapeshifting beasts from the world of Astrath. They were created by Astrath's goddess Echidna and her husband, the volcano monster Typhon, using the divine clay that comprises Echidna's body and magic obsidian fire crystals created by Typhon which act as their core or heart. They all resemble (and are named after) various mythological monsters, usually Greek, and also all have horns regardless of whether or not their real world equivalent did. Once an Astral Beast comes of age, their clay "hardens" and they can no longer die of natural causes - the only way they can die is by being slain by another (which they sometimes refer to as being "shattered"). They learned shapeshifting as a defense mechanism after humans started killing them (either because of fear or a desire for glory), usually disguising their crystals as jewelry and subconsciously resembling their mother's human half.

For reasons that will for now be left unsaid, Orthrus left Astrath and found himself in another world called Rhearth, governed by a different goddess. Rhearth is considered unique in that it is so rich in mana that it's possible for the mana of other creatures to rub off on and change the genetic make up of other lifeforms they hang around over several thousand years, resulting in a sort of magic evolution. For example, people with cat ears or dog ears exist because of the popularity of cats and dogs as pets, domesticated animals learned to talk, those who settled where elemental mana was densest became more elemental based themselves and so on. Because of this, "humans" no longer exist in the traditional sense, with their closest biological relative going by a different name.

Orthrus was found by a group of people known as the Beastials and cared for by them. By being around the Beastials Orthrus learned how to be human himself and experience new things such as love and grief. After the death of his first lover, Orthrus became the Guardian of the Beastials, who consider him their kin and revere him like a weird sort of father figure guardian deity. The Beastials themselves also changed after exposure to Orthrus' mana and eventually took on the traits of various mythological creatures such as dragons and phoenixes (so they're basically all half mythic creature because of him) and so Orthrus often came to be referred to as "the father of beasts".

Orthrus usually travels constantly to experience new things. He became an expert in shield and barrier spells as a means to keep the Beastials’ settlement (Aeaea village, in a forest of the same name) safe while gone. He is especially fond of food even though he has no need to eat - however, as most animals eventually become sentient and capable of speech in Rhearth, the majority of the population (Orthrus included) are staunchly vegetarian. He is also a harp player, after being taught how to by his best friend.

Other Stuff

Because he's lived in two different fantasy worlds, Orthrus will often casually mention things from said worlds or refer to things with names other characters will likely not know. This is especially true wrt all of the different fantasy humanoid races that exist in Rhearth. Here is a quick rundown for clarity (please note that these are usually referred to with a "the" before them, like "the Beastials", "the Furred", etc):

Resilient: Your unchanged human, named because of their resistance to the effects of mana. As they are less vulnerable to these effects, they have a slightly higher aptitude for controlling it and wielding magic. They also are sometimes gifted with the ability to channel spirits but this is extremely rare.
Furred: Furry light, kemonomimi, miqo'te special flavour, whatever you wanna call them. Have furry animal ears and tails but still mostly human looking. Canine and feline are the most common but less common types like rabbits also exist.
Feathered: Bird people. Have feathery wings somewhere on their body depending on bird type (swans = hips, crows = back, etc). Unfortunately the wings were all they inherited from birds, and since they do not have the other traits necessary for flight like hollow bones, the most some of them can do is glide short distances (and even then only those with large enough wing spans).
Aquatic: Whale based mermaids influenced by the collective mana of the ocean. Their legs become a tail when they make contact with the ocean, but not with bodies of fresh water. Often have a dorsal fin on their lower back in and out of water but not always.
Elementals: Elemental magic based giants, affected by areas where specific elemental mana was densest. Split into four clans which represent fire (Ashrain), water (Deepblue), ice (Evercold) and wind/lightning (Cloudview, the only one with a combination of two elements). Have unique skin colours like blue, red, and green, as well as horns unique to each tribe.
Polished: Rock/gemstone people. Considered to be a cousin of the Elementals in the sense that their changes came from high concentrations of earth mana underground, but are much smaller in stature (closest to dwarves) and have no horns. Their skin is covered in a thin layer of solid rock, and their hair looks gem like. (Think Land of the Lustrous more than Steven Universe)
Beastials: Orthrus' kin. Prior to Orthrus’ arrival it was believed their changes came from the residual mana of the being that created the forest they lived in, making them take on an appearance similar to high fantasy elves with two toned hair. Like the Polished they were considered another cousin of the Elementals, but with wood mana. After Orthrus’ influence though they all became part mythical creature and gained horns.
Fair: A tribe of people who lived close to fairies and assist them and the Goddess. Their traits come from the fairies themselves: long ears, cheek markings, starry eyes and a fuzzy, prehensile tail. They are also often gifted with prophecies, as thanks for assisting the goddess.
Fairies: Not a humanoid race, but also not like Earth folklore fairies. They are extensions of the goddess herself and help regulate the flow of mana in Rhearth. Basically they're like bees and the goddess is the queen. When the goddess dies a newborn fairy will eventually ascend and take her place. Along with the traits the Fair inherited from them, fairies also have mana based wings that appear and disappear at will, and the adults are said to have long, spindly limbs (though adults usually stay invisible). Some malevolent fairies become other creatures, such as Enthrall Flowers, and prey on the mana of other beings.