Stitch

Stitch, alternatively known as the “Ragged Knight”, is a damaged Vessel they are one of the children of the Pale King and White Queen, created of the Abyss with Void sealed within their shell, which appears to be slightly visible through the crack in their face-plate. Like most, if not all other Vessels, they are genderless, or at the very least possess no obvious gender specific traits.

Background
The Ragged Knight is a Vessel that has suffered a severe amount of damage, enough so as to crack the face-plate of their shell, however despite the aforementioned damage caused to them, they seem capable of containing the Void within their form, and also seem capable of holding their own in combat, wielding a pin-like weapon, an uncommon implement that has proven extremely deadly in their hands. Being a child of the Pale King and White Queen, the other Vessels therefore serve as their siblings.

Originally, before becoming the Ragged Knight, they were taken from the Abyss after their birth and brought to Hallownest, though eventually deemed impure, and therefore incapable of sealing the Radiance within themselves, but rather than being tossed aside, served as a Peacekeeper within the Pale Kings Kingdom, maintaining security, and ensuring that no plot would life to see fruition, while the Great Knights fought to defend the from outside threats, he fought against those that would strike from within.

When the infection took a hold on the denizens of Hallownest, they were tasked with assisting in the efforts of combating the infected thralls and bringing an end to the Radiance' influence within the nest, serving as a subordinate to the Pure Vessel and the Five Great Knights, participating in a great many battles and earning themselves some recognition from the greatest warriors of their time, though not quite able to match their abilities.

During one such battle, they were split from their fellow warriors and forced to fight through a number of infected creatures, some of which were far larger than them in both size and stature, regardless, they engaged their enemy without hesitation, exacting the will of their King and eventually destroying the creatures, but suffering severe injuries in the process, the halo-like headpiece of their shell being snapped off, as well as a crack located the near of their face-plate, despite this, they fought on.

After the Pure Vessel proved successful in defeating the Radiance and the tides of infection were quelled, they attempted to return to the Pale King, only to find that their master could not recognise them, dismissed as nothing more than a “broken thing”, they’d subsequently leave their home and ventured out onto the surface, forfeiting their memory in the process.

Present
Long after they’d forgotten who they were, they, like many over Vessels, heard the call back to Hallownest, feeling the pull back towards their home. Though they wouldn’t recognise the ancient underground kingdom, the familiarity was enough to spur something within themselves, something that lingered beneath their cracked surface, and sought to find out why he seemed to care for this place, why he felt remorse walking through its winding tunnels, the truth behind himself.

The name “Stitch” was provided to him by the Elderbug they encountered, likely for their rugged and patched appearance, though he seemed to accept it, many others would simply come to refer to him as the Ragged Knight, it would be sufficient until he discovered who he truly was.

Their weapon of choice is a metallic safety pin which has been sharpened, becoming the Sharpened Pin, for the most part appearing identical to its normal counterpart, however, one of the edges of the thin pieces of metal has been sharpened, turning it into a deadly slashing weapon capable of cutting even the toughest shells to shreds, however, unlike nails, it lacks proper piercing capabilities, but makes up with the shortcoming by being considerably lighter than the average nail. It is unknown how they came to obtain such a weapon, only that it has been the doom of many infected bugs since it fell into the hands of the Ragged Knight.

Personality
Formerly a fierce defender of his kingdom, his detachment from his home and memories have quelled the fires that once burnt brightly within their shell, and from the ashes grew a new person, calmer, significantly kinder than he once was, anyone that might've somehow recognised them with his rugged appearance would eventually come to doubt their beliefs upon encountering them, no destruction followed them, and they would inflict no wrath on the remaining denizens of the kingdom he once oversaw with an iron fist. His movements are slow and considerate, he doesn't rush pointlessly and appears to be keenly aware of their surroundings, changing their posture or manner of movement to avoid disturbing or waking the inert inhabitants scattered throughout the caves of Hallownest.

Naturally curious and inquisitive, and freed from the shackles of distrust and suspicion, he wanders the ruins of the once great kingdom, happily and without haste, exploring the ancient subterranean structure, rediscovering long lost treasures but for the most part leaving them undisturbed, stashes of Geo, Charms and other personnel affects were left as quickly as they were found, but prettier things, crystals, carvings and flowers were collected and treasured closely, only shared with those he trusted not to take or break them.

Like many of the creatures that remain within the tunnels of Hallownest, they count the Radiance as their enemy, unknowingly so however, unaware of the nature of the Infection and the one responsible for it, believing it to be nothing more than a sickness, or a kind of parasite, regardless, he attempts to keep his distance, avoiding contact where possible and when forced to engage in combat, escaping or eliminating his opponent quickly to ensure that their was no opportunity for himself to become host to the sickness that had already claimed so many.

They speak quietly, and even then sparsely, talking similarly to a child, asking question about things that they fail to understand and, on most occasions, misinterpreting or misunderstanding the explanations offered to him, but always thankful for the answers regardless of how useful or useless they ended up being. Commonly they will break off a conversation to look at or inspect something that had caught their eye, simply walking away from the other participants of the exchange and returning when satisfied, sometimes bringing whatever they found so interesting with them, not thinking to offer an explanation or trying to excuse the act in any capacity, but not doing so with the intention to insult anyone either, the action not being born of boredom or disinterest, but rather their curiosity overtaking all other priorities.

Appearance
Stitch's appearance is noticeably rugged and patched together, various pieces of fabric that has been carefully stitched together with thin thread, very clearly barely holding together, yet somehow managing to remain in one piece, concealing their arms, torso, and lower body, only barely exposing their darkened feet. They wear a hooded cloak with darkened grayish colouration, with holes cut in the hood so that what remained of their shells head-piece could poke through, and a longer, brown rags and patched cloth beneath it as to obscure the rest of their body and arms, the ends of which hare significantly shredded and therefore left in tatters.

Their face-plate possesses two wide eyes, something fairly standard for Vessels, but are also accompanied with a large, spider web-like crack near the center of their expressionless face, two of the longer cracks reaching quite far down the white shell, one reaching all the way down to the the chin-piece. Their head-piece, once believed to be interconnected, almost like an angels halo, appears to have been snapped, causing them to look more akin to jagged horns.

Behaviour and Tactics

 * Slash: Stitch will dash forwards, slashing at their enemy with their Sharpened Pin, moving a moderately wide distance along the battlefield, while moving, their hold their weapon back and will swing it forwards when their opponent is within range, this is most easily dodged by waiting for them to come near and quickly dashing out of the range of their swing.
 * Downward Slash: Jumping into the air and, depending on the distance between themselves and their opponent, dashing forwards, raising their Sharpened Pin overhead and bringing it down on their opponent, this attack is dodged by simply moving behind them or dashing away as they strike downwards.
 * Dash: A quick dash across the battlefield, mostly used to reposition themselves or avoid oncoming attacks, backwards or propelling themselves upwards into an overhead position, commonly changed with other attacks, particularly Slash, however, without being chained with an attack, the dash itself is quite harmless.
 * Chain Strikes: Dashing towards their opponent, Stitch will slash their weapon wildly, at first bringing it overhead and then following it with a number of attacks directed both in front and behind themselves, they may still be attacked from overhead with some difficulty, but it's best to simply remain beyond their reach until the attack has transpired, leaving them exhausted and exposed for a free couple of hits.
 * Parry: Using their Sharpened Pin in tandem with defensive techniques, Stitch will deflect their opponents attack and turn it back on themselves, not dealing any damage but pushing them away, putting some distance between themselves and their opponent, this will likely precede one of his other moves.
 * Shade Lunge: Using the Void held within their shell, letting it escape through the crack in their face-plate, Stitch performs a devastating lunge that can only be avoided by simply outrunning it, moving away as quickly as possible to avoid the attack, after using this attack, Stitch will become dazed until attacked again, and so the battle will continue.