The Black Merchant
"Now... do we have a deal?"
This is a character idea that's been bouncing around in the back of my head for a while, in various forms. Figured I'd see what League thought of him.
The Black Merchant is a dealer in souls and the dead. He has the power to bring anyone that has ever died back to life (albeit one at a time and over the course of several weeks) and bargains these powers to clients in exchange for their services. He generally seeks out skilled clients, because aside from the soul rezzing the Merchant is just a regular guy.
The problem is that he can only really control WHO comes back. When they do, they could be horribly scarred, blind, deaf, mute, or have near-total amnesia. Some may have their personalities flipped, or become near-unrecognizable (which is kind of a problem when you specifically bargain to bring one particular person back to life). The longer the person is dead before he revives them, the worse they're going to come out. Someone as old as Azir, he can't revive at all - the longest back he managed was 250 years, and she died within minutes of the revival.
Now, unlike, say, Tahm Kench, the guy isn't making the deal to screw you over later (in fact, he loathes Tahm for precisely this reason). I'm thinking he'd be really shady, but ultimately deal in good faith. Like, he'd ask you to break into a place and steal some s$#@ you shouldn't be touching, but he'd keep his end and bring your friends and family back. Not a terrible guy, but not one you'd trust either.
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Some Taunts (I'm about to fall asleep on my keyboard so these may be terrible):
: Zero sum is not "balance", that's "stagnation".
: At least I don't need to screw my clients.
: Your bargains are rotten, and so is your breath.
: You will not tempt me, River King. I know when a deal's sour.
: (resigned) Well. My turn, I guess.
(when allies) : This does not make us friends.
(when allies) : Hello again.
: I don't go against the motion, Illaoi; I put the motion back.
: The Bearded Lady, it's such an hono- oh. Wait...
: Your god cannot stop me; YOU certainly can't.
Jokes
: Wait, wait, wait... who are you?
: You really could have pushed for a better deal.
: (sarcastic) Oh goody, Illaoi's here. I always love to hear about how what I do is a violation of the natural order she just made up.
: Have you heard the word of our lord and savior, the cost-benefit analysis?
: I've sold enough bad hentai to know where this is going...