Name: Arkady Rylov
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Appearance: Arkady stands at an even six feet tall, unremarkable in stature outside of his broad shoulders. His physique is typical for someone who spends his time split between outdoor excursion and long periods of scholarly cloister; maintained but not noticeably so. His face is short but at par in size with his shoulders, cut by a square jaw, cheek bones that rest under his perpetually bagged eyes, and a low forehead. His head is covered in a messy mat of auburn hair that tints red under the summer sun and brown in the winter, which he keeps cut neatly around his slightly receding hairline. A fiery beard speckled with white winds from ear to ear, advancing an inch or so past his chin. Dotting Arkady’s face are two ordinarily brown, almond shaped eyes and a broad nose.

For attire Arkady typically chooses dark or earthy tones including browns, dark greens, grays and burgundys. When not traveling he keeps multiple wool sweaters, button downs and a pair of scuffed leather shoes. When on the road he prefers loose fitting tees and weather-appropriate leather or down jackets and a simple pair of broken-in hiking boots. In either case he can be found in well worn denim or khaki.

Hometown: Ward
Personality: Arkady has an air of polite reservedness in public, often not speaking unless spoken to but entertaining conversation when it does come to him. He has a Wardian simplicity to his tone and his mannerisms, is well spoken and not easy to excite. He is not particularly stoic or sullen though, or even introverted. He enjoys the company of others when not engrossed in his own work. He is not particularly shy or unforthcoming and if given the opportunity will quickly digress in conversation down a path of his own interest, sometimes to his own or rather another’s detriment.

His main interests involve primarily Atrenian history, specifically inter-city political and economic relations. Subjects like mythology tend to lose his interest, although he will occasionally delve into a religious or cultural text to break the monotony. He does, however, voraciously devour historical texts and in most cases when travelling makes a location’s library his first stop, sometimes even before a place to sleep. Arkady is in no way a savant or even ingenious, quickly forgetting details that do not immediately lend any value. The speed and patience with which he studies is instead wrought from decades of experience. Indeed, his obsession comes from a deeply seated need to form a coherent and all encompassing analysis of the world he has experienced, past, present and future. The urge to form a material narrative of the reality around him has been a constant one since early childhood, deepened by life experience and inspires most of his pursuits.

Other tangential interests include an appreciation for and being within nature, various board games, and the refinement of his magic.

Relic Description: Arkady’s relics manifest as yellowed pages bound in a weathered tome. The spine and leather covers of the book have splintered with age, left ragged from years of use by Arkady and its former owners. Imbuing the book with the power of a relic sprouts a new page from the spine, though they always appear as ancient as the binding. When capturing a Natrelmon, a lightly drawn sketch of the creature begins to form on the page, the capture concluding with the final stroke of the intangible pencil. He keeps a small leather case strung to his belt which houses the tome when not in use.

Starting Natrelmon:
Mythari (Lvl. 15)
Kelqua (Lvl. 10)

Starting Spell Schools:
Stonewarding - Rank III
Mistshaping - Rank III

History: Son of a Ward miner and a seamstress, Arkady came from humble but fulfilling beginnings. His parents, both amateur academics themselves, spent what little surplus wages they had left after the demands of life on texts, books and novels of all kinds. The walls of their single room hovel were lined with columns of books stacked perilously from floor to ceiling, and so it could be said that Arkady was familiar with the feel of a freshly pressed page in his hand before he could walk or speak. Often his dad would cradle him with one arm and read to him from a dry historic text that regardless if he even had a firm grasp on language, nonetheless lulled him to sleep. These formative memories and his exposure to scholasticism are what shaped Arkady’s passions into what they are.

At the age of 12, tensions, that through the ranting and long sermons of Arkady’s father were already apparent to him, erupted into the East-West War. For as long as he could remember his father bemoaned the hegemony of the east - specifically what he oft bitterly referred to as the imperial core of Lifan - so the revelation that his father was heading to the front, which now was not too far from Ward itself, came as no surprise. What did come as a surprise was not his father’s return, but the darkening of their door by a Wardian militia footsoldier, with news that stole from Arkady his childhood and his mother her sanity.

Not long after, the West’s forces were pushed back into Ward proper, and with Arkady too young to fight he was left to suffer in abject poverty as the siege choked away the life of Ward’s already beleaguered citizens. Arkady, experiencing this as a child, had a more than difficult time processing the constant bombardment of trauma in so few moments, and internalized it into an insatiable need to understand what happened, not just to him, but his country. He was not satisfied with understanding it on a mere narrative level, and instead borrowed from his father’s more material understanding of reality and began his deep scholasticism into Atrenian history.
Professions:
Tracker
Mage

Noteworthy Skills:
Impressive knowledge of the material history of Atren, especially the East-West war and various preconditions and consequences that it entailed.
Above average survival skills and knowledge of land traversal.
Speed reader.
Good at board games.