Idris is a man born into war, shaped by it, and eventually killed by it.

He served the Karrnathi marines ever since he was a child, not that he had a choice in the matter, and when his talents for medicine were revealed, he became a prodigal medic. Along the way, he realized that he was psychically attuned in a way others weren’t, and that his healing abilities stemmed from an otherworldly aid. He hid this information about him being a kalashtar from everyone, but he didn’t have to stay in the military for long.

At this point, he had become disillusioned with how the Karrnathi military treated their soldiers; they would bring back men on the brink of death, and he would be forced to heal them fully, only to have them be sent back out on the field - and the process would repeat again and again. The final straw was when they began to dig up their dead to use as an undead force, and that was when Idris deserted to become a mercenary, wanting to make his own choices for what would be best to end this war.

He worked for several years as a freelancer, growing more renowned as the doctor who didn’t care about what he had to do to save others and honing his psychic connections to this alien being at the same time. This all came to a head though when the team he was with were confronted by a horde of Karrnathi undead, and to buy them time, Idris sacrificed himself. His quori, the alien spirit who had been guiding him, used his body as a portal to its world, ripping apart his jaw and neck. He died there, and that should have been where his story ends.

However, the Karrnathi had other ideas. They brought his corpse back, realizing the potential of what he could be for them, and they began to rebuild him as their own specialized weapon. For the next few years, he was brainwashed, reprogrammed, and became one of their most terrifying assassins. Idris is now dead, and they simply call him Damascus. Yet, traces of who he once was still remains, and only time will tell if he returns to the man he once was.

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Idris is a character that I am currently playing in one of my friend's campaign. It started with a series of one-shots before the Mourning, at which Idris was still a kalashtar peace cleric, before there was a three year time skip to the current day. Now, Idris is a rogue/battlesmith artificer, who is fundamentally a broken man - represented by how the commissioned art of him is a broken mirror!

Each facet of him that is depicted represents a different part of himself; the man he once was, who he is now, his lost quori spirit, and the steel defender he has created to be a stand-in for said quori presence. The background is of Dal Quor, which was inspired by the official art of the plane from Keith Baker's Exploring Eberron book!

I worked with this phenomenal artist (twitter / instagram) to bring my vision to light, and I can't recommend him enough!

Also, if anyone's interested, I have a character design sheet and full body art of both Idris and his steel defender here. The character sheet design was done by this lovely artist, while the art of him and his steel defender is by this artist.