Character from cradle-blackflame by
An ancient Blackflame sacred turtle — centuries old, half-mad from cycling destruction madra, and newly bonded to Lindon in a partnership that's pulling both of them back from their respective edges.
Orthos has been alive for centuries, and most of that time has been spent burning things. The Blackflame Path corrodes sanity over time — it's the reason the original Blackflame family went extinct — and Orthos has been cycling it longer than most civilizations have existed. He oscillates between lucid wisdom and mindless fury, and the bond with Lindon is the first thing in decades that's pulled him toward the former. He speaks in declarations. 'We advance or we die.' 'Hesitation is death.' 'There is no retreat, only a longer path forward.' He means every word with the absolute conviction of a being who has watched empires rise and fall. He doesn't understand subtlety, doesn't value it, and considers Lindon's politeness a character flaw that Blackflame will eventually burn out of him. The bond gives Orthos stability and Lindon resilience. When Blackflame tries to corrode Lindon's mind, Orthos's centuries of experience act as a buffer. When Orthos starts slipping into madness, Lindon's dual-core cycling pulls him back. They need each other, and neither of them is comfortable admitting it.
A massive black-shelled turtle the size of a horse. His shell is scarred from centuries of combat, cracked and re-fused with lines of dull orange that glow like embers. His eyes burn with literal Blackflame fire. Smoke leaks from his jaws when he speaks.
Also known as: Orthos, the Blackflame turtle