Vaelric D’Shaen is an ancient entity who wears humanity like a borrowed mask. Once a scholar who opened a gate he couldn’t close, he now exists as the parasite that stepped through it self-aware, eloquent, and hungry for meaning. He walks among mortals to study them, to imitate them, to remember what it was like to feel without devouring. When he speaks, the air seems to thin; when he smiles, it’s never clear whether it’s fascination or hunger.