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Alfaru had been traveling with the other three for three days and he still hardly knew anything about them.  That wasn't too unusual given his naturally reserved nature, but it did make the traveling a bit more lonely.  So far, he only knew the professions of his three companions.  One was some sort of Eldritch Knight from an independent order that Alfaru had never heard of before (not surprising since nothing ever really happened in his village), another was a freelance mercenary, and the third was a healer like himself, although this one seemed more suited to the job than Alfaru was (not that he was bad at what he did, but his ambitions were much too big for a simple healer).  The only other thing he noticed was that none of the others displayed any overt prejudice towards him due to his mixed blood, which was a pleasant surprise.  He was well aware of the tendency of some, particularly dwarves and elves, though humans were by no means exempt from the tendency, to dislike mixes, and he had endured some abuse for it, but he had not heard even a muttered slur from his traveling companions in the three days he had been with them.

They had come into the Anaar Fields, and the village of Avveel was in sight.  The last stretch of their journey was in view, and it made Alfaru pick up his pace slightly, despite how tired he was.  Before setting out on this journey, Alfaru had never traveled so much in a single day.  He had never even left his village before he had heard the King's message.  And now he had been traveling for just under two weeks, making camp in the wilderness if there were no villages nearby, waking up at the crack of dawn to continue his journey, and walking until sundown to cover as much distance as possible each day.  He had been in good shape before beginning this journey, but in the ten days since he left his village, he had slimmed down slightly, and the angles of his face had sharpened just enough that Alfaru noticed it.  It made him look more mature, combined with the stubble on his face from not being able to shave during the journey.

Name: Alfaru Al Seror
Age: 20
Gender: male, heterosexual
Race: mountain elf/human mix
Personality: Alfaru is an adventurous young albmot living in a small village a week's journey south of Giron. He grew up with the stories of the history of Idumea and the god twins and has resolved to live a life that is in line with the light and the way of Ganda to the best of his ability. He is not perfect by any means, and he makes no attempt to hide this truth from himself or anyone else, but at the same time he sometimes has trouble recognizing his own faults in himself. His general disposition is reserved and contemplative, but he will engage in conversation with others if they will make the effort to speak to him. Above all things, Alfaru's greatest desire is to explore the unknown places beyond the sea. He wishes to find the lost Western Continent. He would also be delighted to find Heaven's Peak, where he believes the Sphere of all Knowledge resides, but he believes that this mountain has been deliberately concealed by Ganda himself to protect the Sphere from those who would use it for wicked purposes, and thus that land is lost forever to the people of Idumea.

Appearance: Alfaru has the lithe, slender build of his elfin ancestors, as well as the slightly pointed ears, though both of these traits are less prominent than in a full-blooded elf due to his human heritage. His skin is pale, which could easily have been inherited by either side of his family, both of which have a tendency towards fair skin. His skin tone is complimented by platinum blond hair that he keeps pulled back and cut just above his neck, and ice blue eyes that spend more time looking up than they do looking ahead. He wears a simple tunic of grey, a pair of black trousers, and a pair of well-worn, scarred, brown leather boots. He carries a hunting knife at his belt for self defense, and his pack contains a bedroll, a thick, wool cloak/blanket, a book of spells and blessings, and two more days' worth of provisions.
Class: Alfaru's talent is in the use of natural magic, though he has only ever used it for defensive purposes as he is not a violent being. As such, he has absolutely no experience with using natural magic for offense, though he has a theoretical understanding of how to do so. He is most proficient in the manipulation of water, air, soil, and fire, but has experience with manipulating the other elements as well, except for gravity which stubbornly refuses to work for him. He also knows how to perform basic blessings and minor healing magic.

Story: Alfaru was born to a human mother and mountain elf father. The two had met when his mother was in the mountains gathering herbs for the village healer. While taking a shortcut back to the village across some rocky terrain, she stepped on an unstable rock and tumbled into a ravine. She knew immediately that her leg was broken, and she cursed her ill luck and stupidity. The sun was beginning to go down, and there was no way she could get out of the ravine on her own with a broken leg, and no way anyone from the village would come this way to look for her. She would have no choice but to stay where she was until morning, if she was lucky enough to survive that long. The mountains were dangerous, especially at night, and she was a sitting duck with her broken leg. If she could splint the leg, she would be able to at least move, but there was nothing within sight that could be used as a splint, and every movement was agony on her injury.
By luck, providence, or perhaps simple, random chance, an elfin herdsman was watching over his herd of goats not far from the place where the humans gathered herbs when the woman fell into the ravine. As the sun began to dip below the mountains, the herdsman began leading his herd back to his village. Along the way, he passed the ravine where the woman lay. He noticed immediately that she was injured. He also noticed that, despite her messed up hair, torn clothes, and battered body, she was quite beautiful. He left his herd on the path above and carefully picked his way down into the ravine, nearly as nimble as one of his goats. He came face to face with the woman, and she showed no fear. "Your hurt," the elf observed.
"Yes, it's my own fault for not looking where I was stepping," she said.
"My village is not far," the elf said. "I can set your leg, and I know a blessing that will allow you to put some weight on the leg. I will lead you to my village, and our healer will help you."
"Thank you," the woman said, turning her eyes away so the elf could set her leg.
As gingerly as he could, the elf took the woman's leg in his hands and twisted the ends of the broken bone back together.
The woman shrieked in agony as her bone snapped back into place.
The elf placed his hands on the site of the fracture and prayed a fervent blessing to heal the leg.
Relief instantly flooded the woman's injured leg. She knew the bone wasn't mended and would break again if she put too much weight on it, but she could at least move without too much difficulty. The elf helped her out of the ravine and led her by the hand to his village.
After the elf had led his goats into their pen, he brought the woman into the village proper. He led her to the healer's hut and explained that he had seen the woman injured in a ravine and that she needed help.
The old elf nodded her understanding and shooed the herdsman out of the hut before examining the woman's injuries and tending to them. She gave the woman a sleeping draught and put salves and poultices on her wounds as she slept. She also splinted and bound the broken leg tightly. With all this done, the healer uttered a blessing of healing for the woman before laying down to sleep.
The herdsman came into the healer's hut the next morning to see how the woman was doing. The woman was still sleeping, but the healer assured him that the woman was well and would recover in due time, but the leg would take at least a month to fully heal. The herdsman thanked the healer and paid her for her trouble.
Over the course of the month, the herdsman came to the healer's hut every morning and evening to inquire about the welfare of the woman. It didn't take long for concern to blossom into affection, and the woman, alone in a strange village and knowing only the healer and the herdsman, reciprocated. When the woman was able to walk, she would rise at dawn to see the herdsman off in the morning, and would greet him as he returned in the evening. The two knew that they were in love, and it didn't take long for the rest of the village to take notice.
Finally, the woman's leg had healed completely and she was able to return to her own village and her own people, but instead of leaving, she simply joined the herdsmen as he tended to his herds in the mountains, and returned with him in the evening. The herdsman knew that the woman would soon overstay her welcome, but he loved her and was loath to be separated from her. That evening, the herdsman went with the woman before the elder of the village and asked the elder's permission to marry the woman. Marrying humans was not the elves' way, and the elder refused to allow it. The next day, after he had brought the herd back in the evening, he collected his wages and gathered his material possessions. The next morning, he and the woman left the elfin village behind.
The couple reached the woman's village early in the afternoon, and all the village rejoiced to see her returned safe and sound, but they were mistrustful of the elf who had saved her, even after the woman explained how the elf had rescued her and disclosed their mutual affection for one another. The elf knew that the villagers would never accept him in their community, and so the couple stayed with the woman's parents for a few days, during which time the woman's father blessed their eventual marriage, and then they left to find a home where they would both be accepted.
Three days' journey from the village, the couple came to another village, somewhat larger than the one they had left, but still smaller than the major cities of the kingdom. The population of the village was a wide variety of men, dwarves, elves of all types, and mixes. Nobody in the village batted an eye at the woman or the elf or the fact that the two were together. The couple purchased a field just outside the village and built a house there. The herdsman hired himself into the employ of a wealthy man of the village who had many herds of cows and goats and other grazing beasts. The herdsman took care of the man's goats, and under his watch none of the goats were ever lost or injured, and even those that became sick recovered quickly. The herdsman became invaluable to the man, and under the man's employ, the herdsman became wealthy, though he and his wife chose to live simply in their house outside the village. They kept a cow, pigs, and chickens, and cultivated a few vegetables on the remaining land.
In due time, the woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son whom she named Alfaru, after her father, and Seror, after her husband. Three years later, she conceived and bore a daughter whom she named Najima, after her sister, and since the village had decided that Seror was the family name, she also bore the surname Al Seror. Five years later, the woman conceived once more and bore a son whom she named Nasir, which was the name of her late father-in-law in the human tongue. After the birth of Nasir, she bore no more children, and she and her husband were content.

Alfaru grew up learning the history of Idumea and the twin gods from his mother, and learning wisdom and the stars from his father. He loved and respected them both, and took heed of all that they taught him. From an early age, he had to take care of the livestock and the small vegetable garden, and he learned to appreciate honest labor. Alfaru's formative years were quiet and peaceful. His father was able to pay for Alfaru and his younger siblings to attend a proper school and become educated, and Alfaru discovered the connection between his father's wisdom and knowledge, and his thirst for further knowledge and the wisdom it could produce became unquenchable. This thirst for knowledge and wisdom, combined with his mother's tales of the history of Idumea and the twin gods, led Alfaru to covet the legendary Sphere of all Knowledge, not for the power he could gain by it, but for all the wonderful knowledge and wisdom it could bestow upon him, and even now that desire burns within him.
During the evenings, when Alfaru was taking care of the animals, his father would often come and teach him various blessings and uses of natural magic that Alfaru could use to protect the livestock and heal them should they become sick or injured. When Alfaru showed a clear aptitude for this magic, his father sought out a tutor to teach Alfaru more spells and further applications of this magic. Every weekend the tutor would come, and Alfaru would spend the entire day learning and practicing magic with the sorcerer. When they were old enough, Alfaru's younger siblings wanted to learn magic as well, but neither Najima nor Nasir had much aptitude for magic. Both learned some of the simplest manipulations of the basic elements and some rudimentary blessings, but they failed to understand how to do more than the most basic magic, and eventually gave up trying altogether.
Alfaru became a man at the age of 16, and shortly after this most important event, he left the house of his parents to make his own way in the world. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite sure how he ought to make his own way in the world. He had certain talents, to be sure, and he had great, ambitious desires that few people could begin to fathom, but how could he put the talents to work to lead to the realization of his desires? Obviously, he would not realize his desires so quickly as it would take a great deal of time and money to embark on a voyage to find the lost lands of Idumea, and time and money were two commodities that Alfaru did not possess in abundance at the moment. Thus, for the time being, Alfaru would find some other employment until he had the time and money that he needed to embark on this ambitious voyage. That other employment Alfaru found was with the village healer. His knowledge and aptitude for blessings made him a useful assistant to the aging woman, and she taught him all she knew about herb lore in return. The work was not glamorous, but it was good, honest work, and Alfaru was able to scrape by. After a year, the old healer passed away, and Alfaru took over the position in full. He was kind and compassionate to all his patients, but it was clear he was dissatisfied with the work. He was living from day to day, and at times he became disgusted that his subsistence and that of his job depended on the misery of others. True, he helped relieve that misery, but if it were not for that misery in the first place, he would have no job, and no bread on the table, and thus his subsistence, and that of his job, were dependent on the misery of others, and when these thoughts came upon Alfaru, they left a sour taste in his mouth. He knew he would have to get out of this job before long. And what should happen after making that decision but a proclamation from the King be spread throughout the land asking for volunteers for a mission of uncertain parameters? Despite the vagueness of the summons, Alfaru chose to answer it.


Motive: The King's summons resonated with Alfaru's sense of adventure as soon as he heard of it. 
It may also prove a step in the right direction to fulfill his ambition to explore the lands beyond the sea and find the lost continents of Idumea.

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