[@Artifex] My character is ready for review.

[hider=Alebard Aulric]
[b]Name | [/b] Alebard (AL-e-bard) Aulric
[b]Age | [/b] 16
[b]Gender | [/b] male
[b]Level/Tier | [/b] Adept, Tier 2
[b]House | [/b] Dracona
[b]Appearance/Attire | [/b] Alebard stands at a somewhat impressive 6'4" in height with olive-tone skin that has a healthy tan due to spending much of his time outside.  He sports a thick mop of hair that is somewhere between golden blond and platinum blond in color with a few strands of a more red color scattered through the unruly mass.  Overall, the lighter color of his hair compliments his darker skin tone nicely, but it's tendency to tangle and it's propensity toward disorder cause no end of frustration to Alebard.  Below his disheveled mop, Alebard's face is fairly angular with bright, sapphire blue eyes; a narrow, long nose; and a well-defined, rigid jaw.  He has a slender, somewhat athletic build, but with little visible muscle, but he is stronger than his apparent lack of muscle would lead most to believe.
For clothes, Alebard tends to dress simply in light, somewhat loose-fitting tunics that he tightens around his waist with a brown leather ring-belt, and a simple pair of pants.  His clothes tend to be of moderate shades, ranging in color from red to brown.  On colder days he will also wear a black cloak fastened with a brass clasp in the shape of two dragons with interlocked wings.  Alebard will go barefoot wherever he can and will wear only the simplest, lightest sandals when he must wear something on his feet

[b]Alignment | Defender[/b]

[b]Personality/Habits | [/b] Despite being in House Dracona, Alebard is actually a kind, humble, sort of person.  He understands the inherent difficulties of summoning dragons, but doesn't think that being able to summon them makes him somehow better than others, and even if it does, it is only in one small way and others are better than him in other ways.  Despite this, Alebard still studies as hard as he can to be the best invoker that he possibly can be.  He takes his studies seriously, sometimes to the point of being nearly a hermit, spending all of his out of class time in one of the academy's libraries until being forced to go to his dorm to sleep.  At other times, however, Alebard will be a bit more laid back and relaxed, usually after nearly burning himself out during a period of intense studying.  Alebard is well acquainted with the truth of the adage: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," but he seems to have trouble finding a good balance.  Even so, Alebard does well in his studies overall without ever burning himself out too much at any one time.

[b]Background | [/b] Alebard was born to a middle class family in a town of little reputation.  He knew neither luxury nor poverty, but he knew of the mystic ability of Ars Invocata, his parents both posessing Runic Blood, which was, naturally, passed on to Alebard.  When his parents first tried to teach him the art, however, they feared that the talent had somehow skipped over Alebard as their son could not even open a portal to another realm, let alone summon anything, be it spirit, beast, dragon, or machine.  Troubled, Alebard's father, Ecklebert, wrote to his old mentor from L'Mordryn, explaining the situation and asking if such a thing had ever happened before.  A week later, Ecklebert received a reply from his mentor explaining that, yes, of a rare occasion the Gift would skip a generation or even fade from a line for several generations only to reemerge more powerful than ever a century or two later (the how and why of this was still unknown).  However, it was also possible that Alebard's power was simply lying dormant and would emerge in due course.  He advised Ecklebert to wait a few years and test Alebard again when he was about 10 years old.  Ecklebert and his wife, Celestra, were still concerned, but they heeded the advice of Ecklebert's old mentor.

Alebard, in the meantime, read what he could about Ars Invocata, though his unsuccessful initial attempts at summoning somewhat dampened his enthusiasm for the subject.  He didn't know about his father's letter to his old mentor or his parents plans to try to teach him again in a few years time.  As the years passed, Alebard grew like any other boy, living an ordinary life, attending school and playing with other boys his age in the town.  A few weeks after his tenth birthday, his parents asked him to attempt another summoning.  Alebard was hesitant at first, still disappointed at how his attempts had failed the last time he tried, but he attempted it once more.  This time, he could feel beings from realms beyond his wildest imaginings.  A wide smile spread across Alebard's face as his mind soared through the realms, connecting briefly to this being or that being.  Finally, he zeroed in on one.  It was small, compared to some of the other beings he had found, but it was friendly and gave a happy, purring noise as Alebard's mind brushed against it.  With some additional thought, Alebard bound his mind to the small creature, and with a bit more work, the creature was in the room with him.  When Alebard saw the dragon appear before him, he let out a loud whoop of joy.  Immediately, the dragon yelped in fright and vanished.  Alebard immediately cast his mind back to the realms and found the dragon again.  The dragon was still spooked from Alebard's outburst, but after a few coaxing thoughts, the dragon calmed down, and Alebard was able to summon him back to his house.  He was able to contain his enthusiasm this time when the miniature dragon appeared in front of him.  He let the creature crawl up his arm and perch on his shoulder.

"We're going to be the best of friends, you and I," he proudly said to his new companion.

The dragon didn't say anything, but did let out a sort of contented purring sound as Alebard stroked its head affectionately.

"But I suppose you ought to have a name," Alebard said a moment later.  Having touched the mind of the dragon in order to summon it, Alebard knew the creature was capable of intelligent thought, though it's anatomy made it almost completely incapable of intelligible speech.  Alebard gently probed the mind of the dragon, asking, "Do you have a name?"

After a moment, a series of sounds and images passed through the mental link between boy and dragon.  Even the sounds were mostly impossible for a human to speak, and a confused look came across Alebard's face as the Dragon conveyed his name.  "I can't say that," Alebard said.  "I can't even understand it."

The dragon conveyed his name again, slower this time.  Alebard attempted to repeat the sounds that the dragon conveyed, but his tongue got tied in knots before he got through the first syllable (which was longer than some words Alebard knew).  "You're going to have to settle for something shorter," he said after a third attempt ended in a coughing fit.

Alebard sensed the dragon's disappointment and mild frustration, but as it pondered, he felt the dragon's mind probe his, looking at the sounds that Alebard was capable of producing, and after a moment of consideration, it rumbled a name, vocally this time, and Alebard repeated, "Zalek.  I like it."

Alebard and Zalek became fast friends, though Alebard often had trouble maintaining his link with Zalek for extended periods of time at first.  Even his initial conversation with Zalek had nearly expended him, and Zalek had returned back to his own realm shortly after the two agreed on a name.  Alebard had been unable to summon Zalek again until the next day.  Still, as Alebard continued to practice, Zalek was able to stay with him for longer periods of time until he is now nearly constantly with Alebard, or at least in the same realm as his summoner.

After a few more years, Alebard was old enough to attend L'Mordryn Academy, and he was quick to apply.  He immersed himself in his studies, and after a year of study and hard work, he was advanced to Adept, Tier 2, mainly due to his summon of Bask, who has since become something of a mentor to him.

[b]Favorite Summons | [/b] Zalek, a green miniature forest dragon.  Zalek was the first dragon Alebard summoned and is now a near constant companion.  He is only about four feet long from snout to tail with a wingspan of about five feet.  He is covered with iron-hard scales of a leaf green color that are slightly reflective in sunlight.  He has four bone-white horns on top of his head that angle back slightly.  He is most often found sitting on Alebard's shoulder, or trying to sit on Alebard's head despite Alebard making it abundantly clear that he does not want Zalek sitting on his head.  Also, his real name is not Zalek, but Zalek is the closest approximation that a human is capable of saying.
[/hider]
I'll get Bask up in a bit.  I don't suppose he'll be too hard since Alebard hasn't known him for very long yet.