"I see what The Doctor sees, but I don't yet understand what I'm looking at. Give me time. Give me blood. Give me answers."
Who Is Khore?
Names and Identity
Khore (pronounced "KOH-ray", like the ancient Greek "Korē" meaning "maiden") is The Doctor's apprentice and one of the rarest beings in Nowhere Land: a human born within the domains rather than arriving through a portal.
She is also called L'Apprentie (The Apprentice), The Blood-Walker, The Scarlet Girl, and Kora by those unfamiliar with Platonic references. The name Khore references the Chora—the Platonic concept of a receptacle or space that contains and births all things. Khore is a vessel of potential.
🌹 Always a Young Woman
Unlike The Doctor and The Count, who shift gender freely, Khore is always a young woman—typically appearing between 17 and 25 years old. Her form is stable because her identity is still forming. She hasn't yet achieved the fluidity of the Exalted.
Appearance
Physical Description
Khore has a distinctive appearance that makes her recognizable across domains:
Face & Body
Young, sharp-featured, with eyes that seem too old for her face. Skin tone varies by domain influence—sometimes pale, sometimes dark—but always marked with subtle eye-shaped freckles or birthmarks. She moves with the restless energy of someone who hasn't learned stillness.
Hair
Often wild, untamed. Color shifts between dark and auburn depending on recent blood absorption. When her boots have fed recently, her hair takes on reddish highlights.
Clothing
Practical traveling clothes—often patched and well-worn. She carries a small satchel with journals, sketch supplies, and strange artifacts she's collected. Frequently wears a scarf with eye motifs (gift from The Doctor).
Expression
Curious, impatient, sometimes frustrated. She's aware of her power but not yet in control of it. Her eyes often dart to things others can't see—watching invisible phenomena.
The Scarlet Boots
Khore's Signature Artifact
Khore always wears a pair of long scarlet boots—knee-high, the color of fresh blood. These are not ordinary footwear. They are Living Artifacts bonded to her since childhood.
🩸 Blood Absorption
The boots absorb blood on contact. Walking through a battlefield, touching a wound, or stepping in spilled blood feeds them. The boots store this blood, growing heavier and more saturated. When full, they pulse with warmth.
💧 Blood Release: Liquid Form
Khore can release stored blood as a pressurized liquid spray—a jet that can blind opponents, create slippery surfaces, or mark targets. Range: 10 meters. Damage: 1 Wound (blinding for 1 round on face hit).
🗡️ Blood Release: Solidified Form
The boots can solidify stored blood into hard crystalline structures. Khore uses this to create: temporary blades (2 Wounds, shatters after 3 hits), wall segments (1m × 1m, 5 Wounds to break), or restraints (TN 12 Forma to escape).
⚡ The Boot Attack
Khore's signature combat move: she releases a solidified blood spike from her boot while kicking. This is her "boot attack"—2 Wounds, piercing. If the boots are full, she can extend the spike up to 2 meters.
Khore's Powers
Abilities & Limitations
Khore shares The Doctor's gift for observation but has not yet mastered Potential. Her abilities are incomplete:
👁️ Scrying (Partial)
Like The Doctor, Khore can borrow the eyes of others—but with limitations. She must touch something to see through it: a statue's eyes, a painting, an animal. She cannot observe through celestial bodies like The Doctor can. Range: same domain only.
🔍 Truth-Seeing (Unreliable)
Khore can sometimes see through lies and illusions—but the visions come unbidden. She cannot control when this activates. Roll d6 when Khore encounters deception: on 5-6, she perceives the truth involuntarily.
🌀 Portal Sensitivity
Khore can sense nearby portals within 1 kilometer. She cannot create or control them, but she always knows when one is close. This makes her an excellent guide—if travelers can convince her to help.
🛡️ Domain Immunity (Partial)
As a native of Nowhere Land, Khore is resistant to domain curses (advantage on all saves). She can also ignore minor environmental effects that would harm travelers. She is not immune to major threats.
Personality & Motivations
Who She Is
Khore is young, impatient, and fiercely independent. Key traits:
Curious
She wants to understand everything—domains, portals, travelers, The Count. Her journals are filled with sketches, notes, and questions. She asks uncomfortable things.
Frustrated
The Doctor's cryptic teaching style annoys her. She wants clear answers, not riddles. She sometimes runs off to find answers on her own—which is how she gets lost.
Protective
Despite her youth, Khore has a fierce protective instinct. She defends the helpless, especially children and other native-born beings. Her boots have tasted the blood of many predators.
Lonely
Born in Nowhere Land, she has no home domain, no family, no people. The Doctor is her only constant—and The Doctor is often absent. She craves connection.
⚖️ Relationship with The Doctor
Khore respects The Doctor but resents the endless mysteries. She wants a parent figure; The Doctor offers a mentor. She wants answers; The Doctor offers questions. Their relationship is warm but complicated.
Khore's Origins
Born in Nowhere Land
Khore was born in the liminal space between domains—the "nowhere" of Nowhere Land. She has no memory of parents, no origin story. The Doctor found her as a child, already wearing the scarlet boots, already seeing things others couldn't.
Theories about her birth:
Theory: Domain Offspring
Khore was born from the death of a domain—the final essence of a collapsed reality taking human form.
Theory: The Doctor's Creation
The Doctor created Khore as a successor, a vessel for knowledge. The Doctor denies this.
Theory: Traveler Transformed
Khore was once a traveler child who was so changed by Nowhere Land that she became native—losing all memories of her origin.
Theory: The Count's Daughter
Some whisper that Khore is The Count's offspring, raised by The Doctor in secret. The tension between the three supports this theory.
Stat Block
Khore as NPC
Khore, The Apprentice
Type: NPC - Traveler | Tier: Elite | Domain: Liminal
Forma: 2 (Agile, not strong)
Anima: 3 (Clever, intuitive)
Umbra: 4 (Expert observer)
Reverie: 3 (Imaginative, impulsive)
Wounds: 8
Armor: 0 (relies on mobility)
Blood Reserve: 10 units (max)
Skills: Observation (d10), Stealth (d8), Acrobatics (d8), Intimidation (d6), Survival (d6)
PASSIVE — Borrowed Eyes: Can see through any eye she touches (statue, painting, animal) for 10 minutes. Range: same domain.
PASSIVE — Portal Sense: Always knows direction and distance to nearest portal within 1km.
PASSIVE — Curse Resistant: Advantage on saves vs. domain curses.
ACTION — Blood Spray: Expends 2 blood units. 10m range. 1 Wound + Blinded 1 round on face hit.
ACTION — Boot Kick: Expends 3 blood units. Melee. 2 Wounds, piercing. Can extend spike 2m if boots are >8 units full.
ACTION — Blood Wall: Expends 5 blood units. Creates 1m × 1m barrier. 5 Wounds to break. Lasts 1 hour.
ACTION — Blood Blade: Expends 3 blood units. Creates sword. 2 Wounds per hit. Shatters after 3 hits or 10 minutes.
REACTION — Blood Shield: Expends 4 blood units. Creates instant barrier. Blocks up to 3 Wounds of damage.
Using Khore in Play
Trickster's Guide: Khore
Khore can serve multiple narrative roles:
As Ally
Khore can join travelers temporarily—especially if they're investigating something she's curious about or protecting someone she cares about. She's a powerful but unpredictable companion.
As Quest Hook
The Doctor asks travelers to find Khore, who has wandered off again. She's gotten into trouble, or she's stumbled onto something dangerous, or she's deliberately investigating something The Doctor forbade.
As Information Source
Khore knows things about domains, portals, and hidden places. She's willing to share if travelers earn her trust—but she communicates in fragments and hunches rather than certainties.
As Rival
If travelers are pursuing something Khore wants—an artifact, knowledge, access to a domain—she may compete with them. She's not malicious, but she's determined and resourceful.
As Kidnapping Victim
Factions who know of Khore's connection to The Doctor might capture her as leverage. This is dangerous—The Doctor will not tolerate her imprisonment, and Khore's boots have killed many would-be captors.
Encounter Table: Khore
When Does Khore Appear?
Roll d10 or choose when travelers might encounter Khore:
| d10 | Encounter Context |
|---|---|
| 1 | Following travelers because she's curious about their mission |
| 2 | Lost and frustrated, looking for The Doctor |
| 3 | Investigating the same mystery travelers are pursuing |
| 4 | Defending travelers from ambush (she saw it coming) |
| 5 | Captured by a faction, boots confiscated |
| 6 | Requesting help to reach a dangerous location |
| 7 | Warning travelers about something she's scried |
| 8 | Buying/trading at a market (poorly—she has no concept of money) |
| 9 | In conflict with local creatures (boots are full, she's dangerous) |
| 10 | Acting as The Doctor's messenger (reluctantly) |
Khore's Words
"I was born here. Nowhere Land is my home. The portals are my doorways."
"The Doctor sees everything. I only see what matters."
"These boots have walked through the death of three domains. They remember."
"I don't need your protection. I need your answers."
"When the eyes find you—that's when you know you matter."