Next on my list of long overdue referance sheets is Xulveeka, or Speaks-With-Bones as she is known outside the Black Marsh. Originally a gravesinger for her tribe, she discovered a gift for communing with the dead themselves. Primarily, she used this to assist trapped souls in returning to the Hist, such as by completing the gravestick that they could not, or separating them from the bog blights they had become trapped in.

Her tribe often made use of the dead's remains as well, much in the way of the Naga-Kur of Murkmire. Eventually her curiosity got the better of her, and she began experimenting with repurposing the entire skeleton itself, imbuing it with an imitation of life - after making sure it was truly empty of course. These seldom lasted long, however, but for one:  an experimental construct resembling a miniature dragon, utilizing a sep-adder as the base, and imbued with the soul of the same.

The Elders grew uneasy with this, but a passing nisswo(a priest of Sithis, after a fashion) was fascinated by her magical techniques. At his urging, they consulted the Hist, which granted them a vision. Though the Elders refused to speak of the contents, she was informed that her destiny lay elsewhere. A Hist-amber crystal was fitted to her staff, so that their Hist would always be near, and when the nisswo left to continue his travels, he did not do so alone.

As for the facepaint?  She learned during her travels across Tamriel that it unnerved the dryskins, and now she mostly only dons it when she is going to be performing her duties as gravesinger, or deathspeaker as she's begun to call it.

As NSFW refs are not always desired by artists and being NSFW restricts where I can share it, I have a SFW version for those purposes.

Art is by silgiriya.mantsugosi!