What is Khon?
Khon is a human male, though not a normal one. He was raised as a Sannyasin.

What is a Sannyasin?
In the real world, a sannyasin is the final stage of the varna and ashram systems of Hinduism, and these are people who have renounced life to study Hinduism and seek enlightenment and wisdom. In Khon?s world, a Sannyasin is a warrior, trained from birth, selected for their innate resistance to magical energies. They also renounce life, but only to pursue war. Battle is their life, their purpose. They are specifically made to combat magicians and any sort of magical creature. All Sannyasins possess two weapons imbued with a demonic spirit, usually some type of gun, and a form of melee weapon, but not always.

What is Harava?

Harava was once a free-roaming demonic spirit, until Khon summoned him and bested him in one-on-one combat, then bound him to his gun. This is a process every initiate must go through to become an official Sannyasin, and very few survive. Harava is a sentient spirit, forever imprisoned and bound to the revolver that Khon keeps at his right hip.

Harava shoots powerful elemental enhanced bullets (usually fire, but not always). Under special circumstances, Khon may inscribe runes onto individual bullets and make them even more powerful, but this is a time-consuming process and Khon rarely enjoys it. Harava can fire just like a regular gun as well if Khon forces him into his dormant state.

As the demon was bound to the weapon, so Khon was bound to it. Harava cannot be lost or taken far from Khon by force, as it will always return of its own will.

Harava is usually in a dormant state, and awakens to its summoning word and name, ?Roar, Harava.?

Harava was modeled after a variety of real-life guns, including the Smith & Wesson No. 3 Russian Model .44 caliber, the Colt Navy Model 1861, and a little bit of an early 18th century Turkish flintlock carbine.

What is a Mahatma?

Mahatma is a real-world term in Sanskirt that means ?Great Soul.? It?s sort of like an equivalent to the Catholic title of ?Saint.?

On Khon?s world, the Mahatmas were known as ?Elder Souls? and were feared and revered as beings of great wisdom and near infinite age. The Mahatmas were not human, though they had the basic appearance of men. The few substantiated recordings of Mahatma sightings from Khon?s world always described them as very old men with eyes stitched shut, six fingers on each hand, and the All-Symbol tattooed on their foreheads.

Mahatmas have always appeared just before times of great importance or disaster, usually to foretell the outcome, give warnings, or simply to observe. However, Mahatmas were believed to be extinct as of several hundred years ago. The Lord Magus of Mambra al-Khish at the time ordered their destruction for fear of their powerful insight and their position as demigods in the minds of the people.

It is uncertain where the Mahatmas came from originally, if they were created at the same time as the rest of the multiverse, aided in its creation themselves, or at some other date. They are seen both as wise councilors whose advice is highly valued, and harbingers of death and destruction to be feared.

To read about Khon's encounter with the last Mahatma, go here:

http://rdi.dragonsmark.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t= 11414

What is the All-Symbol?

The all symbol is a sacred written character from Khon?s world. It is the written symbol of the sound spoken by the Creator that started the universe. According to holy men on Khon?s world, the sound will be spoken again at the End Times when the Creator turns and becomes the Destroyer, and ends the multiverse.

The All-Symbol is a representation of all things, hence its name. It represents good and evil, the masculine and the feminine, creation and destruction, love and hate, everything.

The people of Khon?s world view the All-Symbol with such high regard that many refuse to even write it, for fear that putting it into physical form would eventually result in its defacement or destruction. For ages, writing the All-Symbol on paper, painting it on canvas, even carving it into stone was forbidden by law. When the Lord Magus and the Mage?s Parliament ascended to power, they overthrew this practice and put the symbol on everything, which was seen as an unforgivable act of blasphemy by many.

The Mahatma?s bear the All-Symbol on their forehead, but as they are divine creatures, it is seen as an outward manifestation of their greatness, and not an insult to the Creator.