The flowers of Ersand’Enise were lovely in a way that could never fully translate to paper. Of course, the beauty of any plant couldn’t be contained in a charcoal sketch—or Kaspar was not yet skilled enough to capture it. Despite that, he still tried.
A breeze pulled lightly at the edges of his cloak, sprawled across the grass beneath him, and carried away some of the heat that lurked beneath the heavy fur. It was impractical to wear in this weather, but it was a symbol of his house and his homeland, so the Helbahnese boy kept it on. Or, that was how he kept himself from thinking too deeply on the sense of comfort it brought, and the pricklings of anxiety that ran beneath his skin when he was without it.
He sighed, thinking to the plantlife he’d drawn in the gardens of Wentoft and the Elstrøm Estate, some that had been there long enough to have years of growth chronicled in his sketchbooks. For too long, the plentiful corridors and greeneries of that place had felt like a cage and a punishment. The life of a noble chafed on some, and it was harder when one was so heavily confined to solitude. But it, like everything else, became familiar.
”Are you hiding from your teachers, even now?”
He glanced only briefly over his shoulder at the jest, nodding to the figure who approached. She was older, of light complexion and graying-black hair with hard silver eyes. She was a sharp thing, with a fondness for the young Elstrøm that did not translate to leniency.
"Only from you, Master Willa," he called, returning to the lines of his sketch as she laughed. She stopped, lowering herself to the ground beside him, and tilted her head at his sketch, glancing between it and the subject with a critical eye. Finally, with a sigh, the woman retorted, ”I’m no master to you anymore, boy.”
Kaspar scoffed, stopping his sketching to look at her. She met his gaze, raising an eyebrow, and he shook his head. ”You’re no Zeno, but you’ll always be my master,” he replied, eliciting another chuckle from her. After a few minutes of companionable silence, he murmured, ”Won’t you be missed, when the rest of the caravan returns home?”
”Your parents enlisted me eight years ago to look after you. I can’t very well do that from three countries away, and neither can they,” Willa replied sharply. ”They’ll see it as a disobedience at first, but in a few short weeks they’ll be glad someone they trust is here in the city. They love you far too much to stand differently.”
She continued to watch Kaspar sketch for some time, pointing out any lines she thought were misshapen. The boy often lightly slapped her fingers away with his charcoal-covered hands, but it did nothing to deter her from trying.
Willa finally departed as the sun began to set, turning her own feet towards the Merchant’s Quarter. Kaspar watched her leave, brows furrowed in thought as he clutched his now-closed sketchbook. When she was gone, he reached forward and gently plucked a petal from the flower, holding it in his palm. Slowly, a rough rendition of the familiar stream-and-storm emblem of the Elstrøm family carved itself into the delicate surface, the soft edges curling away from it.
Kaspar swiped a thumb across his palm, and the petal was gone.
Kaspar slept when the sky got dark. In Helbahn, he may have studied or perfected drawings by candlelight, but he’d been sleeping more heavily since his arrival in Ersand’Enise. Not more soundly, perhaps, as he was still adjusting to the different sounds of night here, but this academy was certainly working him harder than his tutors had—and they’d not exactly been easy.
The tapping on his window went unnoticed at first, as the noble curled into his blankets and, in his sleep, ignored what he thought was the worsening of rain. It would take several more minutes for him to stir, finally awoken by the peculiar noise, and glance blearily to the window. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, pulling the covers off and trying to make sense of the dark shapes on the sill. He peered through the glass, before opening the latch and looking curiously at the pair of ravens—or near enough—staring beadily up at him, one of them clutching a paper in its beak.
He read the note, taking a few deep breaths to send oxygen to his half-asleep mind, and muttered a thank-you to the avians before turning away and gathering his clothes. He fastened his dark leather vest around the thin red tunic and ensured his black pants were tucked into the high leather boots. The red-eyed boy forwent digging for any of his rings, tucking his cherrywood wand into an inner pocket of his vest and pausing by the door to grab his thick cloak. Fingers buried in the fur, he decided it would only serve to be soaked in the rain, and there could be nothing easy about a nighttime journey at the behest of a bird.
By the time Kaspar made it to Hugo’s study, having taken a little longer to assess the bricks than he was proud of, the sleeves of his tunic were damp against his arms and his brown hair clung wetly to his face. He tossed his red gaze around the room, noting the odd dimensions and apparent lack of the storm that had battered the academy. He also saw a selection of students whom he’d met on occasion and the Hugo Hunghorasz himself. He felt small stirrings of reverence, tempered by his nature, and nodded, murmuring a quiet, “Paradigm,” before taking a seat.
The only one of these figures he was truly familiar with was Ayla; the girl also had an interest in art, and though their mediums differed, Kaspar found there was a peace of its own kind in creating alongside a companion. She was, perhaps, the closest thing he’d had to a ‘friend’ in many years, assuming she wasn’t being paid by his parents. Zarina and Ysilla were not strangers, but he’d interacted with them only sparingly. He knew the puppeteer had a more reserved demeanor than her sister, but did not mistake it for a sign of her abilities—none made it to Ersand’Enise for a lack of skill or ambition. The elder Al-Nader was well-talented in her own right—in both magic and dance, as he heard it—and had the air of a leader.
He was silently studying Jocasta and sipping the coffee offered by Zarina, glad to have something to add a sharpness to his mind at this hour, when Yalen arrived. The only thing Kaspar truly knew of the priest was his commitment to his faith, though he admired it—even if he didn’t share it. Yet it was his arrival that started the discussion, which the Helbahnese boy followed silently. He noted Jocasta’s concerns and Hugo’s assurances, willing to follow the girl’s interests so long as there were no immediate threats.
Pushing to his feet, he gave another nod to Hugo before stepping after his companions, through the rift.
LOCATION: Torragonese Desert
Surrounded suddenly by the cold desert air, Kaspar found himself grateful for the sort of chill he’d not yet found in Ersand’Enise, a temperature more like that of his homeland. Then it set into the dampness of his clothes, and he cursed it quietly in his mind. Suppressing the urge to shiver, he traced his eyes across their surroundings to get a feel for their environment, noting it was unsurprisingly comprised of sand. Thank the Pentad for his high boots, then—he’d have to be knee-deep before the granules filled them.
He heard Jocasta’s warning and turned in the direction she indicated, sensing for the first signs of the approaching Halassa. Kaspar had few martial skills, but doubted any he could’ve learned would’ve been much use against their thick-armored opponents. He would have to make do with something else, but straightened his spine and let the familiar confidence seep through him.
Ayla was the first to dart forward, and he smiled a soft thing at her eagerness. He observed the striking of her inks, formulating his own counter against the beasts, and moved to position himself against the far left of the coming herd. Hearing the laughter of Ysilla’s jester, he deepened his stance, sinking his feet slightly into the sand and reaching out with his senses toward the nearest Halassa, slowed by Ayla’s assault.
”Into the fray we go, it would seem.”
Kaspar took a deep breath and pulled at the sand beneath its feet, feeling the matter vanish as his manas took in the energy. He drew down, hoping the fluid nature of sand would work in his favor, and felt the familiar press of contained energy. He was skilled at drawing, but the boy had never used it on a scale like this—it would be a challenge, but he knew he was capable of it.
Yet, the energy would need to be released, too—he couldn’t hold it forever, and certainly didn’t want to damage his mana capacity so soon in the mission.
Pulling his cherrywood wand from the pocket of his vest, Kaspar pointed it toward the Halassa and imagined a barrier of stone in front of the beast, halting its progression and being drawn into it by the collapsing sand. The matter emerged, layer by layer, as sweat began to bead on his brow. He switched again to drawing, breathing deep and heavy. This was not an easy task, and certainly not at the speed he was trying to do it, but he hadn’t spent years honing his drawing to be incapable, and had no intentions of dying so young to an overgrown turtle.
He could do this. They all could, in their own ways—and they would have to.
Kaspar’s life has been marked by his tutelage. He is calm by necessity, having spent most of his youth practicing the ability to suppress his emotions, and he works very hard not to let them bubble up too much unless he’s completely alone. As such, he can often seem uninvested or uncaring. He feels his confidence in his own abilities is essential to his training and tackles everything with the belief that he is fully capable—but this can come across as cocky when he’s too vocal about it.
His curiosity and his dedication go hand-in-hand. Kaspar’s interest in gaining knowledge has driven him to many of his studies, and is the primary factor in his studies of Binding Magic, as he looks to hone his natural aptitudes. This curiosity can be concerning, however, when it drives him to study skills that others would avoid.
When it comes to social interaction, though, Kaspar is at somewhat of a loss. He’s spent much of his time away from public life, only interacting with his tutors and his adoptive parents. While he understands the general expectations of his manners as a Marquis’s son, he lacks any nuance in social interaction; combined with his typical lack of emotional behavior, he comes off as distant, anti-social, and even snobbish to some. Those who have spent time with him may instead see the boy as something akin to awkward and inexperienced—perhaps even endearingly so.
C H A R A C T E R A P P E A R A N C E
Kaspar’s appearance is, in many ways, misleading about his nature. He is a Bloodchild, but the mana type has been passed two generations from its origin; as a result, the only overt physical features that might distinguish it are his eyes, which hold an unusual red. His skin, though somewhat pale, is not light enough to be considered “albino”, and his hair is a standard dark brown that falls messily around his ears and eyes.
His features are not as strong as his Marquis father’s but are still enough to suggest his supposed noble heritage, despite his more common origin. His cheekbones are the strongest, set high and pronounced. His nose and jaw are softer, and his chin is more round than square. His expression is often schooled into something neutral and can seem harsh in particular circumstances. His height is relatively average, around 5’8” or 172 cm, with the likelihood of growing another inch or two, and his build is lean but not particularly well-muscled.
Kaspar tends towards fine clothes, often in red tones that draw attention to his eyes and dark colors to balance them out. He likes long coats and knee-high boots of leathers and furs. He likes jewelry but prefers to wear plain metal pieces, usually of gold.
L A N G U A G E S
Kaspar speaks Kerreman as his native tongue, but picked up Eskandish quickly enough to speak fluently. As a noble, he speaks Avincian semi-fluently and is decent at Perrench. He’s more recently begun learning Revidian and knows enough to scrape by, but is better at writing and reading than he is at speaking.
T H E G I F T
Kaspar’s first stirrings of The Gift began with an aptitude for drawing—from material sources, as is the way of Binding Magic. When it first developed, his control was lacking and often dangerous, necessitating interventions on his behalf. He’s a blackblood, and though it can be guessed at, it’s never been confirmed: Kaspar is a Bloodchild, the secondary mana type passed along from his maternal grandmother, who was revived at birth by her mother’s midwife.
At the age of sixteen, he absorbed a white aberration and gained the mana type Lightbringer. He knows little about this mana type; only Jocasta Re knows for sure he has it, though it was used to help Ingrid Penderson shortly after he obtained it.
His life as a noble afforded Kaspar with a selection of tutors to tame his natural abilities, and growing up one was never too far away. They worked through hours-long lessons nearly every day, trying to train him to draw from energies, but his skill there has never been as strong as his ability to draw from materials. Understanding that the options present were to limit his capabilities and use of The Gift or mold him into an individual worthy of learning Binding Magic, his tutors, with the approval of his family, selected the latter.
As such, much of Kaspar’s tutelage has centered on building precise control in his drawing. Casting fell secondary, and though he was taught low-level skills, his aptitude is not as natural. He’s also been taught and tested to develop the moral fortitude required, with heavy teachings on human anatomy and the applications of healing. He’s always been carefully watched, and often kept distant from all but his tutors. Though most of his teachings related to Binding Magic, the Elstrøm family historically specializes in Chemical. As such, he received some lessons in that when time permitted, often taught by his parents.
Kaspar, however, remembers his aptitudes—and the fostering of his intellect has made him a dedicated student, with a strong belief that you cannot tame something without first understanding its wild nature. Though his moral fortitude prevents him from any desire to test these abilities on living creatures, he’s determined to understand the nature of Blood Magic as an extension of Binding Magic. He’s not a fool, though, and knows the moral and legal boundary he treads; he’s kept this realm of study to himself, allowing his tutors to believe they know the extent of it by seeking their approval on some of the fairly tame, theoretical studies that can be found on books.
With strengths in drawing control and theoretical knowledge but a lack of skill in casting, Kaspar’s primary specialization is in Binding Magic, and he was pushed to choose Chemical Magic as his secondary specialty—however, he’s pursuing his interest in Blood Magic as a self-directed… extra-curricular activity.
R A S
❖ 7.73 ❖ [ Gained .13 in Through the Portal: Deserted Arc ] ❖ [ Lost .03 in Trials and Tribulations: Chapter One ] ❖ [ Gained .26 in Secrets ]
M A N A T Y P E S
❖ Primary: Blackblood ❖ Secondary: Bloodchild ❖ Other: Lightbringer, Demoncaller ❖ [ Gained Lightbringer in Trials and Tribulations: Chapter One ] ❖ [ Gained Demoncaller in Secrets ]
B I N D I N G
❖ Level Four: Journeyman ❖ [ Gained one level between Secrets of the Forked Tower and Nox Arcanum ]
C H E M I C A L
❖ Level Four: Journeyman ❖ [ Gained one level in Through the Portal: Deserted Arc ] ❖ [ Gained one level between Secrets of the Forked Tower and Nox Arcanum ] ❖ [ Gained one level upon completing First Year ]
B L O O D
❖ Level Two: Apprentice ❖ [ Gained one level upon completing First Year ]
D A R K
❖ Level Three: Adept ❖ [ Gained one level in Secrets ] ❖ [ Gained two levels in Secrets of the Forked Tower ]
B A C K G R O U N D
Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft was born the only child of Helbahnese Marquis Arvid Elstrøm von Wentoft and his wife, Katka. Almost from birth, his constitution was weak and he was frequently victim to illness. He was not much of a public figure, often too sick to leave the confines of his family estate.
At age eight, Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft died.
Very few people know this truth, and are sworn never to speak it: The Elstrøms and their privileged staff, a noblewoman close to Katka, and two artisans from Kerremand.
Alaric Weber of Kerremand was born in the same year as the sickly Helbahnese noble, to his own father Ehren and his mother Lark, a tapestry weaver and a dye-maker. He, like his mother, had The Gift, and the makings for a heritage Lark would not speak of.
His Gift went unnoticed for, perhaps, the first few months after it manifested—his draw was not particularly powerful, being only a boy of eight, and so it was only small things he pulled from; bottle lids or small portions of ingredients and threads going missing, believed to be misplaced. The first time he pulled from a human, he left a small, scrape-like abrasion on his mother’s elbow, not enough for them to yet suspect his talents.
These incidents grew, though, in both size and frequency. His mother was the first to recognize the link between these occurrences, his red eyes, and her own childhood; fearing suspicion and punishment, she refused to explain these connections or seek help.
Seven months after it manifested, Alaric’s drawing became too dangerous. While playing with his father, in a fit of youthful joy, he destroyed part of Ehren’s wrist. While the amount would have been painful but fairly inconsequential elsewhere, he damaged the valuable artery. It was only through the quick intervention of his mother, minorly skilled in Kinetic Magic, that his father survived, though it would take much longer for any of them to fully recover from the ordeal.
Frightened by him and realizing that her family would be endangered if her child stayed, Alaric’s mother sought a solution. Her connections linked her with a noblewoman familiar with Katka Elstrøm von Wentoft, who arranged a meeting between the two mothers after seeing Alaric. It had been mere days since Kaspar’s death, and no public announcement had been made while the family grieved privately. Bereft, Katka and Arvid agreed to take in Alaric, who bore strong resemblance to their late son, and raise him as Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft. Alaric Weber, to the knowledge of the rest of the world, was taken in the animal attack that nearly killed his father.
Little changed about Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft; he remained an infrequent public figure to the lower classes of Helbahn. Over the years, whispers came from the few nobles who saw him that the boy seemed to grow stronger in constitution, though his once-brown eyes had taken an unsettling crimson tint. There were those who theorized he had died, or come near enough, and been saved by Binding Magic that left its permanent mark on him.
No one suspected he was simply not the same boy.
Kaspar’s memories of his birth family are faint—he was forbidden to speak of them after he was taken in, for the safety of the secret that could not be revealed. His childhood became distant, and his life overcome with lessons; those that would prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again, and those that would shape him into a proper noble. The Elstrøms treated him like their trueborn son, sometimes as though they themselves had forgotten, but his Gift necessitated a more physically distant relationship.
He wonders, sometimes, if his childhood was real—if there was ever a boy named Alaric, or if he’d simply imagined it as a youthful fantasy. He threw himself willingly enough into his studies, trying to wipe the questions and memories from his mind, and can let himself believe he’s always been Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft, so long as he doesn’t think too much on it. While his birth parents’ abandonment stings, he’s grateful to be so welcomed among his noble family and enjoys the comfort their wealth provides him with.
Yet he sometimes still dreams of Ehren and Lark Weber, always accompanied by blood.
Visiting San Agustin de las Arenas, a refuge filled with unwanted Tethered, forced Kaspar face-to-face with some of his childhood trauma and resulted in uncharacteristic outbursts of emotion and lack of control. The stress of the mission and near-death encounters contributed, but also drove the youth to displays of vulnerability that allowed him to form bonds with those students ensnared in the same situation; Ayla Arslan, Jocasta Re, Yalen Castel, and Zarina Al-Nader.
He also learned the deeper truth behind the death of Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft: that it had never actually occurred. The biological son of the Elstrøms was discovered to have the Tethering. As is an unfortunately common practice, they had the boy sent to a Tethered refuge— San Agustin de las Arenas. There his memories were removed and he was renamed Felix. He would go on to become an Afortunado. During the revolution which killed Warden Tavio Ortega and gave San Agustin de las Arenas its independence, Vice-Warden Juan-Manuel Quintana Rojas revealed the truth to Kaspar.
Kaspar would, minutes later, share this information with Felix. The two decided to move forward together with this information, and have informally adopted each other as brothers. When Kaspar returned to Ersand’Enise, Felix and his girlfriend Luisa were among the members of the refuge to join the academy as students.
Kaspar was among those who fought the pack of froabas attracted to the battle with the Royal Sand Wyrm, and aided Zarina Al-Nader in taming the alpha. Alongside a number of others he co-absorbed an aberration, increasing his RAS from 7.37 to 7.50. During the brief period of aberration madness, he fought and rough-housed with several others, injured himself, and discovered two great truths about existence, the knowledge of which faded with the madness.
Hours after returning, Ayla Arslan gifted him with one of the three froabas eggs she won in the auction following the defeat of the Royal Sand Wyrm. The egg, red-orange and banded, is believed to contain a “false alpha” of currently indeterminate sex, named Varmkorv by its owner.
Kaspar joined seven student societies during the Student Society Faire. After aberrations appeared on the second day of the faire, he found and absorbed a white aberration. In addition to losing some RAS and gaining temporary immunity to aberration madness, he also gained the unique mana type Lightbringer. Shortly thereafter, he used this mana type for the first time to cure Ingrid of aberration madness.
Just before the Melon Derby, the birthday of Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft passed, meaning he is now supposedly seventeen. However, his birthdate as Alaric Weber has yet to pass, so he is still secretly only sixteen.
In preparation for the Melon Derby, Kaspar helped Team You Could Never catch and train small dragons to seek out melons. He retained three of these: one grape dragon, one blueberry dragon, and one raspberry drake. He also convened with a former student, Augusto, at a gathering held by the Arslan family, and used to opportunity to learn some inside information about the Melon Derby.
When Ayla’s betrothal was announced, Kaspar realized he has feelings for her. Over the course of the trials, he tried to put these feelings out of focus and succeeded, until he drank mana shots with the Hegelans prior to The Dragon. He then used one of his dragons to leave a charcoal sketch of Zarina Ayla, which he drew immediately following her betrothal announcement, in her dorm.
Team You Could Never finished the final trial tied for first place; following the votes in Right or Spite, they finished third overall. Kaspar’s prizes included temporary access to The Forked Tower, and The Everlasting Learner's Enchanted Bookmark.
Kaspar, along with Zarina, Yuliya, and Ayla traveled through Ersand’Enise on Bloody Victendes. He managed to subdue and cleanse an afflicted boar using Lightbringer. Later, after Yuliya, Ayla, and Nibbler were drawn into an aberration and became demonic, he used the same ability to soothe the enraged Nibbler.
In addition to gaining .26 RAS through consuming aberrations, he gained the mana type Demoncaller.
When the aberration magic struck, he was afflicted first with Apathy, then Anger, followed by Vigor, and returned once more to Anger. During this episode, he managed to summon his first demon—a fish. He had to be physically carried into the aberration by Ayla after trying to storm off.
Among the God’s grove, he selected the Buddha’s Hand as his fruit.
Kaspar gained entrance to the Forked Tower alongside Yuliya, Zarina, Trypano, Ingrid, and Jocasta. Together, the six of them managed to solve puzzles. Through this, they met Ahn-Dami, Ahn-Shune, and Shune-Zept, as well as gaining access to a temporally altered chamber.
When meeting Ahn-Dami, Kaspar and others were granted the chance to look into her eyes. There, they saw many things, including the prospective paths of their futures. Ahn-Dami also assured Kaspar that he is good, when he comforted Jocasta—but, knowing all, referred to him as Alaric.
Kaspar chose to use his time in the Forked Tower to study his newly acquired Dark Magic, learning better how to use it without being a danger—unless he chooses to be.
Following his time in the Forked Tower, Kaspar focused primarily on his studies. He advanced in both magic schools he's pursuing under the watchful eyes of the Zenos. His research on other magics continued, but without access to the materials in the Forked Tower, his knowledge remained only theoretical.
Inspired by an idea that had been percolating since his time in the desert, and the acquisition of an industrial lifetime's supply of barbeque sauce, Kaspar teamed up with Ingrid Penderson to start a sausage sandwich business, titled [R E D A C T E D].
He also considered some of the truths he learned in the eyes of Ahn-Dami, preparing himself, and a plan, for an event that has yet to pass...
M O T I V A T I O N
Kaspar, above all else, seeks knowledge and skill. His heavy training throughout childhood ingrained a desire to understand and develop his abilities to their full potential, perhaps a step further than his tutors intended. He seeks to do good, though less than he seeks to do no harm, but in many ways sees it as a tool to develop his Gift.
He’s excited to be out from under his tutors for the first time since he was eight, with an opportunity to practice much of the knowledge he only has in theory. He also hopes to find more space and information to support his study of Blood Magic, without the concern of his watchdogs always hovering.
Yet, he worries that all his pursuits will be meaningless. With so much focus on drawing magic and little skill in casting it, Kaspar fears that he’ll never develop the capabilities to truly use it, instead being damned to only ever knowing his Gift through theoretical knowledge.
I N V E N T O R Y
❖ [ Books ] Many of these books focus on magic, primarily Binding; some may include theory on Blood Magic, if he’s been able to find such books. There are a few selections on plant life, particularly those native to Revidia and Perrence. There are also several novels written in Revidian that are below his age level, which he’s using to continue learning the language.
❖ [ Cloak ] A thick, black fur cloak with soft, red-dyed leather and gold fastenings. While perhaps not frequently necessary this far north, it’s an item from his home that helps him feel more confident and collected as he leaves the Elstrøm Estate for the first time since he arrived there.
❖ [ Everlasting Learner's Enchanted Bookmark ] A magical bookmark obtained as a prize at the end of Ersand’Enise’s Trials. It can automatically locate a keyword or phrase in a library.
❖ [ Froabas Egg ] Red-orange with dark bands of color and holding a froabas named Varmkorv. The egg was one of ten laid by the Alpha Froabas at the end of Through the Portal: Deserted. Originally won by Ayla Arslan in an auction, she gifted it to Kaspar because he had not obtained anything in the auction. The egg is nearly hatched.
❖ [ Jewelry ] He has several rings he alternates, all of which are made of gold and lack any gemstones. Two have small designs etched into the metal, one of flowers and vines, and the other similar to a braided rope design. He has two more plain rings. He also has a plain gold necklace made with a herringbone chain pattern, that gives it the appearance of a single piece of gold unless examined more closely.
❖ [ Notebooks ] A set of five leather-bound notebooks with ornamental, gold-inlaid designs on the front. They contain notes on his studies, written in a combination of Eskandish and Kerreman and often in shorthand. None of these contain overt references to Blood Magic; any information or notes he takes on this include copious amounts of shorthand and abbreviation, and are only denoted as a cohesive subject by the consistent label “EX”.
❖ [ Sketchbook & Charcoal ] A leather-bound, smooth-covered book with sturdy, blank pages inside. The front third of the book is already filled; the sketches primarily consist of plant life, both ordinary and anatomy sketches, but also include human anatomy sketches and the occasional landscape. Most recently, he has been drawing sketches of his froabas egg.
❖ [ Wand ] A hand-crafted cherrywood stick with a black leather grip, used as Kaspar’s focus for casting. The leather is worn in.
P E T S
❖ [ Blåbærterte ] A small Blueberry Dragon caught prior to The Melon Derby. She’s smart but quite shy, and spends most of her time either with Tomsøthet or near Varmkorv’s egg in Kaspar’s dormitory. Her name means Blueberry Tart, because she’s small and blue.
❖ [ Feit-og-Sint ] A Raspberry Drake caught prior to The Melon Derby. He’s ornery and spends most days roaming around Ersand’Enise, but demands to be let back into Kaspar’s dormitory at night. He often hides under the furniture and eats fruit he’s stashed there. His name means Fat-and-Angry.
❖ [ Tomsøthet ] A Grape Dragon caught prior to The Melon Derby. He’s friendly but very absent-minded, and likes to explore Kaspar’s dormitory and get into trouble. He’s fond of Varmkorv’s egg and Blåbærterte. His name means Empty Sweetness, because his heart is big but his head is empty.
W E A L T H
❖ [ To Be Determined ]
S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S
❖ [ Control ] Kaspar’s crowning achievement in his study of The Gift is in his control of it—particularly over his ability to draw. But he also possesses strong mental and emotional control, cultivated by his tutors’ copious lessons. He can never want to hurt someone because he risks making that desire a reality. He has to maintain a hold on his emotions because he may be dangerous if he loses focus.
❖ [ Manipulation ] Kaspar has learned how to predict what his tutors want to hear, and how to feed them just enough information for them to believe they know the full picture. He doesn’t seek to manipulate others into giving him items and money, but rather into giving him trust; he views it as the only way for him to continue his personal studies uninterrupted, by preventing those watching him from suspecting he’s pursuing other interests.
❖ [ Memory ] While not eidetic, Kaspar’s memory is strong, particularly relating to things he sees or reads. It helps most often with his studies, but he can remember far more, and the applications are wide-ranging.
❖ [ Plant Identification ] His preferred subject for sketching, Kaspar has gotten quite familiar with plant life, and his memory certainly helps him remember key identifiers. However, he also occasionally practices his material drawing skills on plant life, trying to learn how this particular aspect of Blood Magic can be both precise and devastating. He likes to understand the plants he might be destroying, as a sign of respect for their use as a learning device.
❖ [ Sketching ] To further his emotional control, Kaspar sought a hobby to help him re-center and settled on sketching. He’s been fine-tuning the skill over years and prefers to sketch plant life outdoors, taking the peace of the location as yet another source of control.
W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S
❖ [ Casting ] Kaspar lacks skill in casting. He’s capable and not a danger to himself or others when doing so, but hasn’t developed the same knowledge or precision that he exercises in other areas. With his tutelage focusing heavily on fine-tuning his drawing to prevent dangerous accidents and no natural aptitude for expelling that mana, casting remains one of his weakest aspects of using The Gift.
❖ [ Confidence ] While it often helps him stay calm, Kaspar’s confidence enables him to put himself in risky situations. His own belief in his skills and his moral fortitude lead to a feeling of invincibility and his expectation that he can’t be a perpetrator or victim of terrible accidents like that of his youth, and that his interests are not immoral. Given his practice in Blood Magic, his lack of caution has the potential to lead to horrifying results.
❖ [ Curiosity ] His curiosity can lead to choices many would consider dangerous. When Kaspar wants an answer, he will seek it out—heedless of how others may think of his actions. He won’t stoop to injuring others or their belongings, but holds a belief that actions can only hurt them mentally or emotionally if they know about it. As such, he may take things a step too far in seeking answers, particularly from those he feels may be lying to him.
❖ [ Energy-based Drawing ] Kaspar has always struggled with drawing from energy sources, as is considered typical for most schools of magic. He’s capable of it, but is often less precise and slower in doing so, compared to his skills in drawing from material sources.
❖ [ Solitary Nature ] Kaspar’s personality is often enough to keep him isolated from others, but he’s not the kind to seek out connections. While he’s willing to allow others to trust him, and values the faith others may put in him, he does not allow himself to exercise the same trust. He keeps many things to himself, and won’t seek out support or assistance unless even he cannot deny he’s in far over his head—and by the time he understands that, he may be too deep in.
M I S C E L L A N E O U S
❖ Color is #B8041A ❖ Alt+0248 for "ø", if anyone wants it
G U I L D
❖ Enchanter’s Union
C L U B S
❖ Draconic Order ❖ Egalite Fraternite ❖ Essence Club ❖ Pragmatics ❖ Sleuths ❖ Society of the Grapes ❖ Surveyors
Update 9.3.22
❖ Header:
Raised RAS
❖ Personality:
Minor tweak added at end to reflect how others may view him
❖ The Gift:
Adjusted presence of Chemical Magic to reflect family specialty Added "Getting Technical" section to reflect new magic tier system and track progress
❖ Background:
Added section for Through the Portal: Deserted Arc
❖ Inventory:
Added Froabas Egg
❖ Miscellaneous:
Added Class Registration Forms Added Class Schedule Added Student Societies
Update 12.29.22
❖ Header:
Raised Age Lowered RAS
❖ The Gift:
Added section regarding acquisition of Lightbringer Adjusted “Getting Technical” to reflect recent changes Added section to “Getting Technical” for mana types
❖ Background:
Added section for Trials and Tribulations Arc
❖ Inventory:
Added Everlasting Learner's Enchanted Bookmark
❖ Pets:
Added section and contents
❖ Wealth:
Added section and contents
Update 2.20.23
❖ Header:
Changed Character Portrait Raised RAS
❖ The Gift:
Raised RAS Added Demoncaller Added section regarding acquisition of Demoncaller Adjusted “Getting Technical” to reflect recent changes
❖ Background:
Added section for Secrets Arc Added section for Secrets of the Forked Tower Arc Added section for Before Nox Arcanum Timeskip
❖ Inventory:
Adjusted description of Froabas Egg
❖ Wealth:
Adjusted contents to reflect current status
Update 7.2.23-1
❖ The Gift:
Added level in Chemical and Blood to reflect previously unmade changes relating to completing first year of schooling
Kaspar’s life has been marked by his tutelage. He is calm by necessity, having spent most of his youth practicing the ability to suppress his emotions, and he works very hard not to let them bubble up too much unless he’s completely alone. As such, he can often seem uninvested or uncaring. He feels his confidence in his own abilities is essential to his training and tackles everything with the belief that he is fully capable—but this can come across as cocky when he’s too vocal about it.
His curiosity and his dedication go hand-in-hand. Kaspar’s interest in gaining knowledge has driven him to many of his studies, and is the primary factor in his studies of Binding Magic, as he looks to hone his natural aptitudes. This curiosity can be concerning, however, when it drives him to study skills that others would avoid.
When it comes to social interaction, though, Kaspar is at somewhat of a loss. He’s spent much of his time away from public life, only interacting with his tutors and his adoptive parents. While he understands the general expectations of his manners as a Marquis’s son, he lacks any nuance in social interaction; combined with his typical lack of emotional behavior, he comes off as distant, anti-social, and even snobbish to some.
C H A R A C T E R A P P E A R A N C E
Kaspar’s appearance is, in many ways, misleading about his nature. He is a Bloodchild, but the mana type has been passed two generations from its origin; as a result, the only overt physical features that might distinguish it are his eyes, which hold an unusual red. His skin, though somewhat pale, is not light enough to be considered “albino”, and his hair is a standard dark brown that falls messily around his ears and eyes.
His features are not as strong as his Marquis father’s but are still enough to suggest his supposed noble heritage, despite his more common origin. His cheekbones are the strongest, set high and pronounced. His nose and jaw are softer, and his chin is more round than square. His expression is often schooled into something neutral and can seem harsh in particular circumstances. His height is relatively average, around 5’8” or 172 cm, with the likelihood of growing another inch or two, and his build is lean but not particularly well-muscled.
Kaspar tends towards fine clothes, often in red tones that draw attention to his eyes and dark colors to balance them out. He likes long coats and knee-high boots of leathers and furs. He likes jewelry but prefers to wear plain metal pieces, usually of gold.
L A N G U A G E S
Kaspar speaks Kerreman as his native tongue, but picked up Eskandish quickly enough to speak fluently. As a noble, he speaks Avincian semi-fluently and is decent at Perrench. He’s more recently begun learning Revidian and knows enough to scrape by, but is better at writing and reading than he is at speaking.
T H E G I F T
Kaspar’s first stirrings of The Gift began with an aptitude for drawing—from material sources, as is the way of Binding Magic. When it first developed, his control was lacking and often dangerous, necessitating interventions on his behalf. He’s a blackblood, and though it can be guessed at, it’s never been confirmed: Kaspar is a Bloodchild, the secondary mana type passed along from his maternal grandmother, who was revived at birth by her mother’s midwife.
His life as a noble afforded Kaspar with a selection of tutors to tame his natural abilities, and growing up one was never too far away. They worked through hours-long lessons nearly every day, trying to train him to draw from energies, but his skill there has never been as strong as his ability to draw from materials. Understanding that the options present were to limit his capabilities and use of The Gift or mold him into an individual worthy of learning Binding Magic, his tutors, with the approval of his family, selected the latter.
As such, much of Kaspar’s tutelage has centered on building precise control in his drawing. Casting fell secondary, and though he was taught low-level skills, his aptitude is not as natural. He’s also been taught and tested to develop the moral fortitude required, with heavy teachings on human anatomy and the applications of healing. He’s always been carefully watched, and often kept distant from all but his tutors.
Kaspar, however, remembers his aptitudes—and the fostering of his intellect has made him a dedicated student, with a strong belief that you cannot tame something without first understanding its wild nature. Though his moral fortitude prevents him from any desire to test these abilities on living creatures, he’s determined to understand the nature of Blood Magic as an extension of Binding Magic. He’s not a fool, though, and knows the moral and legal boundary he treads; he’s kept this realm of study to himself, allowing his tutors to believe they know the extent of it by seeking their approval on some of the fairly tame, theoretical studies that can be found on books.
With strengths in drawing control and theoretical knowledge but a lack of skill in casting, Kaspar’s primary specialization is in Binding Magic, and he’s chosen Chemical Magic as his necessary secondary specialization due to its accessibility—however, he’s pursuing his interest in Blood Magic as a self-directed… extra-curricular activity.
B A C K G R O U N D
Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft was born the only child of Helbahnese Marquis Arvid Elstrøm von Wentoft and his wife, Katka. Almost from birth, his constitution was weak and he was frequently victim to illness. He was not much of a public figure, often too sick to leave the confines of his family estate.
At age eight, Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft died.
Very few people know this truth, and are sworn never to speak it: The Elstrøms and their privileged staff, a noblewoman close to Katka, and two artisans from Kerremand.
Alaric Weber of Kerremand was born in the same year as the sickly Helbahnese noble, to his own father Ehren and his mother Lark, a tapestry weaver and a dye-maker. He, like his mother, had The Gift, and the makings for a heritage Lark would not speak of.
His Gift went unnoticed for, perhaps, the first few months after it manifested—his draw was not particularly powerful, being only a boy of eight, and so it was only small things he pulled from; bottle lids or small portions of ingredients and threads going missing, believed to be misplaced. The first time he pulled from a human, he left a small, scrape-like abrasion on his mother’s elbow, not enough for them to yet suspect his talents.
These incidents grew, though, in both size and frequency. His mother was the first to recognize the link between these occurrences, his red eyes, and her own childhood; fearing suspicion and punishment, she refused to explain these connections or seek help.
Seven months after it manifested, Alaric’s drawing became too dangerous. While playing with his father, in a fit of youthful joy, he destroyed part of Ehren’s wrist. While the amount would have been painful but fairly inconsequential elsewhere, he damaged the valuable artery. It was only through the quick intervention of his mother, minorly skilled in Kinetic Magic, that his father survived, though it would take much longer for any of them to fully recover from the ordeal.
Frightened by him and realizing that her family would be endangered if her child stayed, Alaric’s mother sought a solution. Her connections linked her with a noblewoman familiar with Katka Elstrøm von Wentoft, who arranged a meeting between the two mothers after seeing Alaric. It had been mere days since Kaspar’s death, and no public announcement had been made while the family grieved privately. Bereft, Katka and Arvid agreed to take in Alaric, who bore strong resemblance to their late son, and raise him as Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft. Alaric Weber, to the knowledge of the rest of the world, was taken in the animal attack that nearly killed his father.
Little changed about Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft; he remained an infrequent public figure to the lower classes of Helbahn. Over the years, whispers came from the few nobles who saw him that the boy seemed to grow stronger in constitution, though his once-brown eyes had taken an unsettling crimson tint. There were those who theorized he had died, or come near enough, and been saved by Binding Magic that left its permanent mark on him.
No one suspected he was simply not the same boy.
Kaspar’s memories of his birth family are faint—he was forbidden to speak of them after he was taken in, for the safety of the secret that could not be revealed. His childhood became distant, and his life overcome with lessons; those that would prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again, and those that would shape him into a proper noble. The Elstrøms treated him like their trueborn son, sometimes as though they themselves had forgotten, but his Gift necessitated a more physically distant relationship.
He wonders, sometimes, if his childhood was real—if there was ever a boy named Alaric, or if he’d simply imagined it as a youthful fantasy. He threw himself willingly enough into his studies, trying to wipe the questions and memories from his mind, and can let himself believe he’s always been Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft, so long as he doesn’t think too much on it. While his birth parents’ abandonment stings, he’s grateful to be so welcomed among his noble family and enjoys the comfort their wealth provides him with.
Yet he sometimes still dreams of Ehren and Lark Weber, always accompanied by blood.
M O T I V A T I O N
Kaspar, above all else, seeks knowledge and skill. His heavy training throughout childhood ingrained a desire to understand and develop his abilities to their full potential, perhaps a step further than his tutors intended. He seeks to do good, though less than he seeks to do no harm, but in many ways sees it as a tool to develop his Gift.
He’s excited to be out from under his tutors for the first time since he was eight, with an opportunity to practice much of the knowledge he only has in theory. He also hopes to find more space and information to support his study of Blood Magic, without the concern of his watchdogs always hovering.
Yet, he worries that all his pursuits will be meaningless. With so much focus on drawing magic and little skill in casting it, Kaspar fears that he’ll never develop the capabilities to truly use it, instead being damned to only ever knowing his Gift through theoretical knowledge.
I N V E N T O R Y
❖ [ Books ] Many of these books focus on magic, primarily Binding; some may include theory on Blood Magic, if he’s been able to find such books. There are a few selections on plant life, particularly those native to Revidia and Perrence. There are also several novels written in Revidian that are below his age level, which he’s using to continue learning the language.
❖ [ Cloak ] A thick, black fur cloak with soft, red-dyed leather and gold fastenings. While perhaps not frequently necessary this far north, it’s an item from his home that helps him feel more confident and collected as he leaves the Elstrøm Estate for the first time since he arrived there.
❖ [ Jewelry ] He has several rings he alternates, all of which are made of gold and lack any gemstones. Two have small designs etched into the metal, one of flowers and vines, and the other similar to a braided rope design. He has two more plain rings. He also has a plain gold necklace made with a herringbone chain pattern, that gives it the appearance of a single piece of gold unless examined more closely.
❖ [ Notebooks ] A set of five leather-bound notebooks with ornamental, gold-inlaid designs on the front. They contain notes on his studies, written in a combination of Eskandish and Kerreman and often in shorthand. None of these contain overt references to Blood Magic; any information or notes he takes on this include copious amounts of shorthand and abbreviation, and are only denoted as a cohesive subject by the consistent label “EX”.
❖ [ Sketchbook & Charcoal ] A leather-bound, smooth-covered book with sturdy, blank pages inside. The front third of the book is already filled; the sketches primarily consist of plant life, both ordinary and anatomy sketches, but also include human anatomy sketches and the occasional landscape.
❖ [ Wand ] A hand-crafted cherrywood stick with a black leather grip, used as Kaspar’s focus for casting. The leather is worn in.
S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S
❖ [ Control ] Kaspar’s crowning achievement in his study of The Gift is in his control of it—particularly over his ability to draw. But he also possesses strong mental and emotional control, cultivated by his tutors’ copious lessons. He can never want to hurt someone because he risks making that desire a reality. He has to maintain a hold on his emotions because he may be dangerous if he loses focus.
❖ [ Manipulation ] Kaspar has learned how to predict what his tutors want to hear, and how to feed them just enough information for them to believe they know the full picture. He doesn’t seek to manipulate others into giving him items and money, but rather into giving him trust; he views it as the only way for him to continue his personal studies uninterrupted, by preventing those watching him from suspecting he’s pursuing other interests.
❖ [ Memory ] While not eidetic, Kaspar’s memory is strong, particularly relating to things he sees or reads. It helps most often with his studies, but he can remember far more, and the applications are wide-ranging.
❖ [ Plant Identification ] His preferred subject for sketching, Kaspar has gotten quite familiar with plant life, and his memory certainly helps him remember key identifiers. However, he also occasionally practices his material drawing skills on plant life, trying to learn how this particular aspect of Blood Magic can be both precise and devastating. He likes to understand the plants he might be destroying, as a sign of respect for their use as a learning device.
❖ [ Sketching ] To further his emotional control, Kaspar sought a hobby to help him re-center and settled on sketching. He’s been fine-tuning the skill over years and prefers to sketch plant life outdoors, taking the peace of the location as yet another source of control.
W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S
❖ [ Casting ] Kaspar lacks skill in casting. He’s capable and not a danger to himself or others when doing so, but hasn’t developed the same knowledge or precision that he exercises in other areas. With his tutelage focusing heavily on fine-tuning his drawing to prevent dangerous accidents and no natural aptitude for expelling that mana, casting remains one of his weakest aspects of using The Gift.
❖ [ Confidence ] While it often helps him stay calm, Kaspar’s confidence enables him to put himself in risky situations. His own belief in his skills and his moral fortitude lead to a feeling of invincibility and his expectation that he can’t be a perpetrator or victim of terrible accidents like that of his youth, and that his interests are not immoral. Given his practice in Blood Magic, his lack of caution has the potential to lead to horrifying results.
❖ [ Curiosity ] His curiosity can lead to choices many would consider dangerous. When Kaspar wants an answer, he will seek it out—heedless of how others may think of his actions. He won’t stoop to injuring others or their belongings, but holds a belief that actions can only hurt them mentally or emotionally if they know about it. As such, he may take things a step too far in seeking answers, particularly from those he feels may be lying to him.
❖ [ Energy-based Drawing ] Kaspar has always struggled with drawing from energy sources, as is considered typical for most schools of magic. He’s capable of it, but is often less precise and slower in doing so, compared to his skills in drawing from material sources.
❖ [ Solitary Nature ] Kaspar’s personality is often enough to keep him isolated from others, but he’s not the kind to seek out connections. While he’s willing to allow others to trust him, and values the faith others may put in him, he does not allow himself to exercise the same trust. He keeps many things to himself, and won’t seek out support or assistance unless even he cannot deny he’s in far over his head—and by the time he understands that, he may be too deep in.
M I S C E L L A N E O U S
❖ Color is #B8041A ❖ Alt+0248 for "ø", if anyone wants it
Kyro’s life has been marked by his tutelage. He is calm by necessity, having spent most of his youth practicing the ability to suppress his emotions, and he works very hard not to let them bubble up too much unless he’s completely alone. As such, he can often seem uninvested or uncaring. He feels his confidence in his own abilities is essential to his training and tackles everything with the belief that he is fully capable—but this can come across as cocky when he’s too vocal about it.
His curiosity and his dedication go hand-in-hand. Kyro’s interest in gaining knowledge has driven him to many of his studies, and is the primary factor in his studies of Binding Magic, as he looks to hone his natural aptitudes. This curiosity can be concerning, however, when it drives him to study skills that others would avoid.
When it comes to social interaction, though, Kyro is at somewhat of a loss. He’s spent most of his time away from public life, only interacting with his tutors and his parents. While he understands the general expectations of his manners as a Marquis’s son, he lacks any nuance in social interaction; combined with his typical lack of emotional behavior, he comes off as distant, anti-social, and even snobbish to some.
C H A R A C T E R A P P E A R A N C E
Kyro’s appearance is, in many ways, misleading about his nature. He is a Bloodchild, but the mana type has been passed two generations from its origin; as a result, the only overt physical features that might distinguish it are his eyes, which hold an unusual red. His skin, though somewhat pale, is not light enough to be considered “albino”, and his hair is a standard dark brown that falls messily around his ears and eyes.
His features are not as strong as his Marquis father’s but are still enough to suggest his noble heritage. His cheekbones are the strongest, set high and pronounced. His nose and jaw are softer, and his chin is more round than square. His expression is often schooled into something neutral and can seem harsh in particular circumstances.
Kyro tends towards fine clothes, often in red tones that draw attention to his eyes and dark colors to balance them out. He likes long coats and knee-high boots of leathers and furs. He likes jewelry but prefers to wear plain metal pieces, usually of gold.
L A N G U A G E S
Kyro speaks Perrench as his native tongue but shows a similar affinity for Kerreman. As a noble, he speaks Avincian fluently and is decent at Eskandish, which he picked up as an interest due to its relation to Kerreman. He knows enough to get around in Revidian as well, though he’s better at writing and reading it than he is at speaking it.
T H E G I F T
Kainan’s first stirrings of The Gift began with an aptitude for drawing—from material sources, as is the way of Binding Magic. At a young age, his control was lacking and often dangerous, necessitating interventions on his behalf. He’s a blackblood, and though it can be guessed at, it’s never been confirmed: Kyro is a Bloodchild, the secondary mana type passed along from his maternal grandmother, who was revived at birth by her mother’s midwife.
His life as a noble afforded Kyro with a selection of tutors to tame his natural abilities, and growing up one was never too far away. They worked through hours-long lessons nearly every day, trying to train him to draw from energies, but his skill at drawing from energies has never been as strong as his ability to draw from materials. Understanding that the options present were to limit his capabilities and use of The Gift or mold him into an individual worthy of learning Binding Magic, his tutors, with the approval of his family, selected the latter.
As such, much of Kyro’s tutelage has centered on building control in his drawing, with casting nearly being secondary, and never in practice used on living subjects. He’s also been taught and tested to develop the moral fortitude required, with heavy teachings on human anatomy and the applications of healing. He’s always been carefully watched, and often kept distant from all but his tutors.
Kyro, however, remembers his aptitudes—and the fostering of his intellect has made him a dedicated student, with a strong belief that you cannot tame something without first understanding its wild nature. Though his moral fortitude prevents him from any desire to test these abilities on living creatures, he’s determined to understand the nature of Blood Magic as an extension of Binding Magic. He’s not a fool, though, and knows the moral and legal boundary he treads; he’s kept this realm of study to himself, allowing his tutors to believe they know the extent of it by seeking their approval on some of the fairly tame, theoretical studies that can be found on books.
With strengths in drawing control and theoretical knowledge but a lack of experience in casting, Kyro’s primary specialization is in Binding Magic—however, he’s pursuing his interest in Blood Magic as a self-directed… extra-curricular activity.
B A C K G R O U N D
Kyro believes he hails from the nobility of Perrence, the only child of the influential Marquis Arvid Kainan and his wife, Katia Kainan.
In truth, he was born the son of two artisans in Kerremand, a tapestry weaver and a dye-maker. His Gift went unnoticed for, perhaps, the first few months after it manifested—his draw was not particularly powerful, being a toddler, and so it was only small things he pulled from; bottle lids or small portions of ingredients and threads going missing, believed to be misplaced. The first time he pulled from a human, he left a small, scrape-like abrasion on his mother’s elbow, not enough for them to yet suspect his talents.
These incidents grew, though, in both size and frequency. His parents were unsure of exactly what was happening, not fully understanding the draw of the Binding and Blood Magics, but didn’t seek out assistance because they feared any manner of retribution or suspicion.
A year and a half after his Gift first became noticeable, Kyro’s drawing became too dangerous. While playing with his father, in a fit of youthful joy, he destroyed part of his father’s wrist. While the amount would have been painful but fairly inconsequential elsewhere, he damaged the valuable artery. It was only through the quick intervention of his mother, minorly skilled in Kinetic Magic, that his father survived, though it would take much longer for him to fully recover from the ordeal.
Realizing that her family would be endangered if her child stayed, Kyro’s mother sought a solution. Her contacts connected her with a noble family close to the Kainans, who arranged a meeting between them. The Kainan’s own young son had passed only days before, and they were in the process of privately mourning the loss before any public announcement. Grief-stricken, Arvid and Katia agreed to take in the child who bore resemblance enough to their son and raise him as Kyro Kainan, giving his birth family the peace and safety they needed and offering him the training only nobility could afford. His birth family claimed the boy was taken in the same animal attack that nearly killed his father.
Kyro doesn’t know of his origins, having been too young to form lasting memories. He’s grown up believing he is the biological son of the Kainans, and very few know any differently. They truly do treat him like their son, though their relationship is somewhat impacted by the need, over his years of training, to keep him physically distant from others. He dreams, sometimes, of hazy memories of his biological parents, but doesn’t understand these dreams or see them as anything more than the product of a sleeping mind.
M O T I V A T I O N
Kyro, above all else, seeks knowledge and skill. His heavy training throughout childhood ingrained a desire to understand and develop his abilities to their full potential, perhaps a step further than his tutors intended. He seeks to do good, though less than he seeks to do no harm, but in many ways sees it as a tool to develop his Gift.
He’s excited to be out from under his tutors for the first time in his memory, with an opportunity to practice much of the knowledge he only has in theory. He also hopes to find more space and information to support his study of Blood Magic, without the concern of his watchful tutors always hovering.
Yet, he worries that all his pursuits will be meaningless. With so much focus on drawing magic and so little on the effective casting of it, Kyro fears that he’ll never develop the capabilities to truly use it, instead being damned to only ever knowing his Gift through theoretical knowledge.
I N V E N T O R Y
❖ Books Many of these books focus on magic, primarily Binding; some may include theory on Blood Magic, if he’s been able to find such books. There are a few books on plant life, particularly those native to Revidia. There are also several books written in Revidian that are below his age level, which he’s using to continue learning the language.
❖ Cloak A thick, black fur cloak with soft, red-dyed leather and gold fastenings. While perhaps not frequently necessary in this climate, it’s an item from his home that helps him feel more confident and collected as he journeys, for the first time, from Perrence.
❖ Jewelry He has several rings he alternates, all of which are made of gold and lack any gemstones. Two have small designs etched into the metal, one of flowers and vines, and the other similar to a braided rope design. He has two more plain rings. He also has a plain gold necklace made with a herringbone chain pattern, that gives it the appearance of a single piece of gold unless examined more closely.
❖ Notebooks A set of five leather-bound notebooks with ornamental, gold-inlaid designs on the front. They contain notes on his studies, written in a combination of Perrench and Kerreman and often in shorthand. None of these contain overt references to Blood Magic; any information or notes he takes on this include copious amounts of shorthand and abbreviation, and are only denoted as a cohesive subject by the label “EX”.
❖ Sketchbook & Charcoal A leather-bound, smooth-covered book with sturdy, blank pages inside. The front third of the book is already filled; the sketches primarily consist of plant life, both ordinary and anatomy sketches, but also include human anatomy sketches and the occasional landscape.
❖ Wand A hand-crafted cherrywood stick with a black leather grip, used as Kyro’s focus for casting. The leather is worn in.
S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S
❖ Control Kyro’s crowning achievement in his study of The Gift is in his control of it—particularly over his ability to draw. But he also possesses strong mental and emotional control, cultivated by his tutors. He can never want to hurt someone because he risks making the desire a reality. He has to maintain a hold on his emotions because he may be dangerous if he loses focus.
❖ Manipulation Kyro has learned how to predict what his tutors want to hear, and how to feed them just enough information for them to believe they know the full picture. He doesn’t seek to manipulate others into giving him items and money, but rather into giving him trust; he views it as the only way for him to continue his personal studies uninterrupted, by preventing those watching him from suspecting he’s pursuing other interests.
❖ Memory While not eidetic, Kyro’s memory is strong, particularly relating to things he sees or reads. It helps most often with his studies, but he can remember far more, and the applications are wide-ranging.
❖ Plant Identification His preferred subject for sketching, Kyro has gotten quite familiar with plant life, and his memory certainly helps him remember key identifiers. However, he also occasionally practices his material drawing skills on plant life, trying to learn how this particular aspect of Blood Magic can be both precise and devastating. He likes to understand the plants he might be destroying, as a sign of respect for their use as a learning device.
❖ Sketching To further his emotional control, Kyro sought a hobby to help him re-center and settled on sketching. He’s been fine-tuning the skill over years and prefers to sketch plant life outdoors, taking the peace of the location as yet another source of control.
W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S
❖ Casting Kyro lacks skills in casting because so much of his training was based on controlling his drawing. He’s never practiced his skills on a living person, either, and lacks experience in that area.
❖ Confidence While it often helps him stay calm, Kyro’s confidence enables him to put himself in risky situations. His own belief in his skills and his moral fortitude lead to a feeling of invincibility and his expectation that he can’t be a perpetrator or victim of terrible accidents, and that his interests are not immoral. Given his practice in Blood Magic, his lack of caution has the potential to lead to horrifying results.
❖ Curiosity His curiosity can lead to choices many would consider dangerous. When Kyro wants an answer, he will seek it out—heedless of how others may think of his actions. He won’t stoop to injuring others or their belongings, but holds a belief that actions can only hurt them mentally or emotionally if they know about it. As such, he may take things a step too far in seeking answers, particularly from those he feels may be lying to him.
❖ Energy-based Drawing Kyro has always struggled with drawing from energy sources, as is considered typical for most schools of magic. He’s capable of it, but is often less precise and slower in doing so, compared to his skills in drawing from material sources.
❖ Solitary Nature Kyro’s personality is often enough to keep him isolated from others, but he’s not the kind to seek out connections. While he’s willing to allow others to trust him, and values the faith others may put in him, but does not allow himself to exercise the same trust. He keeps many things to himself, and won’t seek out support or assistance unless even he cannot deny he’s in far over his head—and by the time he understands that, he may be too deep in.
”I’m Mr. Fisher Halloway,” he said, sliding into the back seat of the private car. ”Marble Heights Academy. They said we’re supposed to arrive at the Oaklands Dorm Building or something?” The boy leaned forward a bit, partly into the open window between the driver’s cab and the seating area. ”Uh...Do you know where that’s at?”
”Of course, sir,” the driver replied, somehow sounding tired of his passenger already.
“Yeah, right, obviously you would—I don’t, but you, well… You’re driving,” Fisk supplied, awed at how stupid he sounded. A hand came up to run through his hair before he stopped, glanced at it, and dropped it back to his side. “And I… I’m gonna sit down. Now.”
“That would be for the best, Sir,” the driver responded, already reaching for the switch to raise the screen between them.
Fisk watched it rise, slowly, and made a mental note to avoid antagonizing his new roommates as quickly as he’d evidently antagonized the chauffeur. Back in NYC, his friends found his occasional nervous ramblings to be almost endearing—but they’d had several years to find the rest of Fisk endearing too. Marble Heights would afford him no such time. He took a deep breath, letting it settle in his lungs, and banished the nervousness to the shaking tips of his fingers.
He’d calmed considerably by the time they pulled up alongside the tall, ornate building Fisk would now be living in. He gawked out the window at it as the chauffeur walked around, opening the door and looking thoroughly unimpressed at the whole situation. The young Halloway climbed out of the car, readjusting the gray cardigan he was wearing overtop a plain black button-up. He turned toward the driver, hazel eyes trailing down to the rather obvious open palm. Glancing up at the man’s face, he saw a single raised eyebrow and that stagnant, unamused expression.
He pulled out his wallet, teasing a fifty dollar bill out and holding it out toward the expectant chauffeur. After a second of stillness, he met the man’s eyes again only to watch the slow and deliberate glance down toward the single bill and back up, graying eyebrow inching incrementally higher. Fisk narrowed his eyes in bewilderment. “I wasn’t that bad.”
With an exhaustive and belligerent sigh, the driver folded his hand around the bill, tipped his hat condescendingly, and retreated to the driver’s side of the car. Engine growling to life behind him, Fisk pushed his way into the massive building lobby muttering, “Note to self: delete ‘cheap chauffeurs near me’ from my search history.”
He really hoped that it was a matter of the chauffeur, at least. Fisk didn’t want to contemplate the possibility that it was a “San Francisco” thing, or a him thing. Marble Heights Academy was an opportunity—he could make first impressions here, in a way he wasn’t able to back in New York City. Starting off by annoying everyone around him? Well, it wasn’t… ideal.
He stepped into one of the elevators, pushing the button for the second floor and resisting the urge to hum or foot-tap through the brief ascent. He stepped into the hallway, still shooting glances toward the fine décor as he counted to the second door on the right—Suite 204, his new home for the foreseeable future. Or the next semester, at least. They were practically the same thing.
Pushing the door open, he felt a spark of gratitude that his mother had insisted on sending all his things ahead this morning—and arranging the delivery personally. Given his own transportation, Fisk suspected he might’ve managed to lose all his luggage on the first day. And no doubt his mother would’ve called him a dumbass for it, too.
Fisk stands at 5’7” with a slim figure. He’s been told he has his father’s facial structure, with the sharp lines and defined cheekbones, but undoubtedly has his mother’s eyes—a pale hazel color. His hair is dark brown and he usually fluffs it up somewhat before going anywhere, otherwise it falls over his forehead a bit. When he’s out in public, Fisk squares his shoulders and stands straighter, giving him a slightly broader appearance, but during the evenings and when he’s in his dorms, he can be spotted with a more relaxed posture and, occasionally, even a slouch.
His school uniform is, to outward viewers, perfectly standard. He wears the typical male uniform, and never takes off the jacket—partially because it helps give him the slightly boxier figure he’s going for, but mostly because of the pins and buttons he keeps on the inside. Right now there’s only a few, pinned into place over the right side of his chest: a trans pride flag, the first “He/Him Pronouns” button he ever wore to school, and a cheesy tourist “I <3 NYC” button. As a collector of pins and buttons, Fisk has every intention to cover the inside of his jacket with these bits of his personality.
Outside of the uniform, Fisk is all about layering. He typically wears plain t-shirts or button-downs (depending on his mood and the occasion) underneath an assortment of unbuttoned/unzipped jackets, hoodies, and cardigans, usually paired with dark jeans and lace-up dress boots. In the comfort of his own dorm (or on particularly lazy days), he often dresses in cozy sweaters or cardigans and plain black sweatpants. His clothes are specifically chosen to avoid anything form-fitting without appearing loose or baggy, and he’s always wearing either a binder or a compression sports bra, giving his chest a flat appearance.
| | R E P U T A T I O N | |
Fisk really has two conflicting views on his ideal social life at Marble Heights: being the kid with a solid group of friends who’s known as generally A-okay, or being the kid who only willingly talks to two people for the next three years—with the kind of name that most people don’t even recognize when it’s read out loud at graduation.
Problem is, he still hasn’t decided which approach he wants to take.
So Fisk hovers between forcibly-extroverted and reluctantly-introverted. He makes efforts to join conversations and befriend his classmates, but sometimes it can come across as lukewarm. Or, he shrinks back into his shell, keeps his head down and stays quiet, but there’s a look in his eyes like he wants nothing more than to be part of the group.
But as much as he’d like to fly under the radar, he can’t help himself—he’s the kind of guy to stop and help someone pick up their books in the hallway, to stand up to people he doesn’t know for someone else he doesn’t know, to sit down with a crying classmate at lunch when no one else will. He’s the kind of kid who sometimes dives deeper than he can swim but still pushes his way through the haze of what the fuck did I just do?
Fisk’s story, as many do, starts with his parents. Nikole Halloway is the daughter of long-time New York state congressman Richard Halloway, born and raised on the outskirts of bustling NYC. She runs Hallowed Industries, a prominent technology and communication enterprise she started at 20 years old. When they met, John Seward was a well-known math genius working in corporate financial analysis, persuaded by Richard Halloway to tour Hallowed Industries and consider taking a lead job in the company. He and Nikole quickly became a leading power-couple in the New York business scene, and they married two years later—John happily taking Nikole’s last name on the belief that it would be far more prominent than his own ever could.
Fisk is the only child of this dynamic duo, and was assigned female at birth. For most of his life, they’ve tried to be attentive parents—still, there are plenty of events they missed, dinners eaten with the nanny watching a press conference on TV, goodnights whispered into the darkness of his room long after he’s fallen asleep. They try to make time for bonding, though—with his mom, it’s going on long drives away from the city, blasting soundtracks to any one of dozens of musicals they’ve seen on Broadway. Or quietly humming in their seats, trying not to disturb the audience within the theatres themselves. With his dad, it’s watching movies and crying unashamedly through the entire thing, sharing a box of tissues and a pizza. And, when John has the time to spare, math homework—Fisk is absolutely, terribly hopeless at the subject. The only time it makes sense is in biology, and neither Fisk nor his father understand why that gets a pass.
Fisk, until this year, attended school near New York City. His freshman year of high school, he decided to join the Drama Club, fueled by a love of theatre and the whole swath of his friends that were planning to join too. Almost halfway through the year, in an exercise about playing characters out of their comfort zones, Fisk was charged with portraying the role of a male lead. He remembers that week, and the constant bursts of euphoria, the feeling of loss every time he had to take the costume off—and realizing that this was his missing piece. The world clicked together in a way he didn’t know it could, and so much suddenly made sense; the constant struggle to like himself, and the feeling like his place in society was an ill-fitting costume that chafed. A few weeks later, he cut his hair short and started trying out different names and pronouns around school.
To his delight, much of his school was accepting. There were the occasional bad eggs, but it was all-in-all a pretty wholesome experience. Home was a slightly different battle—one where Fisk never actually came out to his parents. He was reasonably certain they would accept him, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to have a full image to present to them, wanted to know who he was and what this meant for him before he finally told them. And he needed time for that. Time, and space, away from the people who knew the person they thought he was.
That’s why, at a rare family dinner one night, he brought up Marble Heights Academy. To his parents, it was a place where he could receive the best in education and make sure he’s starting his life on the right foot. For Fisk, it’s freedom and an opportunity to explore his identity, now that he finally knows the name he wants to give to the world.
| | B E Y O N D M Y R E P U T A T I O N | |
Fisk knew his exact approach to social life back in New York. Everyone in his grade knew him, and a lot of people above his grade had at least heard his name. He was generally well-liked, but he had a bit of a knack for sticking his nose into trouble and trying to resolve it—and everyone knew it. He was the too-nice kid, the helper, and the devoted mother-hen of his social group. But he was also the kid who cut his hair off halfway through freshman year, who changed his name and his pronouns out of, to most people, seemingly nowhere. And as accepting as the school seemed to be, that’s why he needed to leave—he needed to figure out who he was without the reputation and the expectations.
He also has a way-too-emotional side—something he gets from his father. It’s the one common thread between Fisk and his claw-your-way-to-the-top, math genius dad, the man who can charm his way through hundreds of acquaintances but thinks his wife is his only real friend. Yet the two bond over their ridiculously sappy natures. Every time Fisk has to hide his teary eyes through the end of an emotional movie—any emotion will do—or an even slightly sad song, he can’t help but text his dad a ludicrous amount of crying emojis.
His bond with his mother stems from a deep love of singing and drama. While Fisk’s mom doesn’t have a worthwhile acting bone in her body, she loves theatre productions and took him as often as possible when he was a kid, ingraining an appreciation that fanned into something more. She also has a decent singing voice, and Fisk has been developing his from a pretty young age, certainly surpassing her skill level.
Fisk stands at 5’7” with a slim figure. He’s been told he has his father’s facial structure, with the sharp lines and defined cheekbones, but undoubtedly has his mother’s eyes—a pale hazel color. His hair is dark brown and he usually fluffs it up a bit before going anywhere, otherwise it tends to fall over his forehead a bit. When he’s out in public, Fisk tends to square his shoulders and stand straighter, giving him a slightly broader appearance, but during the evenings and when he’s in his dorms, he can be spotted with a more relaxed posture and, occasionally, even a slouch.
His school uniform is, to outward viewers, perfectly standard. He wears the typical male uniform, and never takes off the jacket—partially because it helps give him the slightly boxier figure he’s going for, but mostly because of the pins and buttons he keeps on the inside. Right now there’s only a few, pinned into place over the right side of his chest; a trans pride flag, the first “He/Him Pronouns” button he ever wore to school, and a cheesy tourist “I <3 NYC” button. As a collector of pins and buttons, Fisk has every intention to cover the inside of his jacket with these bits of his personality.
Outside of the uniform, Fisk is all about layering. He tends to wear plain t-shirts or button-downs, depending on his mood and the occasion, underneath an assortment of unbuttoned/unzipped jackets, hoodies, and cardigans, typically paired with dark jeans and lace-up dress boots. In the comfort of his own dorm (or on particularly lazy days), he often dresses in cozy sweaters or cardigans and plain black sweatpants. His clothes are specifically chosen to avoid anything form-fitting without appearing loose or baggy, and he’s always wearing either a binder or a compression sports bra, giving his chest a flat appearance.
| | R E P U T A T I O N | |
Fisk really has two conflicting views on his ideal social life at Marble Heights: being the kid with a solid group of friends who’s known as generally a-okay, or being the kid who only willingly talks to two people for the next three years—with the kind of name that most people don’t even recognize when it’s read out loud at graduation.
Problem is, he still hasn’t decided which approach he wants to take.
So Fisk hovers between forcibly-extroverted and reluctantly-introverted. He makes efforts to join conversations and befriend his classmates, but sometimes it can come across as lukewarm. Or, he shrinks back into his shell, keeps his head down and stays quiet, but there’s a look in his eyes like he wants nothing more than to be part of a group.
But as much as he’d like to fly under the radar, he can’t help himself—he’s the kind of guy to stop and help someone pick up their books in the hallway, to stand up to people he doesn’t know for someone else he doesn’t know, to sit down with a crying classmate at lunch when no one else will. He’s the kind of kid who sometimes dives deeper than he can swim but still pushes his way through the haze of what the fuck did I just do?
Fisk’s story, as many do, starts with his parents. Nikole Halloway is the daughter of long-time New York state congressman Richard Halloway, born and raised on the outskirts of bustling NYC. She runs Hallowed Industries, a prominent technology and communication enterprise she started at 20 years old. When they met, John Seward was a well-known math genius working in corporate financial analysis, persuaded by Richard Halloway to tour Hallowed Industries and consider taking a lead job in the company. He and Nikole quickly became a leading power-couple in the New York business scene, and they married two years later—John happily taking Nikole’s last name on the belief that it would be far more prominent than his own ever could.
Fisk is the only child of this dynamic duo, and was assigned female at birth. For most of his life, they’ve tried to be attentive parents—still, there are plenty of events they missed, dinners eaten with the nanny watching a press conference on TV, goodnights whispered into the darkness of his room long after he’s fallen asleep. They try to make time for bonding, though—with his mom, it’s going on long drives away from the city, blasting soundtracks to any one of dozens of musicals they’ve seen on Broadway. Or quietly humming in their seats, trying not to disturb the audience within the theatres themselves. With his dad, it’s watching movies and crying unashamedly through the entire thing, sharing a box of tissues and a pizza. And, when John has the time to spare, math homework—Fisk is absolutely, terribly hopeless at the subject. The only time it makes sense is in biology, and neither Fisk nor his father understand why that gets a pass.
Fisk, until this year, attended school near New York City. His freshman year of high school, he decided to join the Drama Club, fueled by a love of theatre and the whole swath of his friends that were planning to join too. Almost halfway through the year, in an exercise about playing characters out of their comfort zones, Fisk was charged with portraying the role of a male lead. He remembers that week, and the constant bursts of euphoria, the feeling of loss every time he had to take the costume off—and realizing that this was his missing piece. The world clicked together in a way he didn’t know it could, and so much suddenly made sense; the constant struggle to like himself, the feeling like his place in society was an ill-fitting costume that chafed. A few weeks later, he cut his hair short and started trying out different names and pronouns around school.
To his delight, much of his school was accepting. There were the occasional bad eggs, but it was all-in-all a pretty wholesome experience. Home was a slightly different battle—one where Fisk never actually came out to his parents. He was reasonably certain they would accept him, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to have a full image to present to them, wanted to know who he was and what this meant for him before he finally told them. And he needed time for that. Time, and space, away from the people who knew the person they thought he was.
That’s why, at a rare family dinner one night, he brought up Marble Heights Academy. To his parents, it was a place where he could receive the best in education and make sure he’s starting his life on the right foot. For Fisk, it’s freedom and an opportunity to explore his identity, now that he finally knows the name he wants to give to the world.
| | B E Y O N D M Y R E P U T A T I O N | |
Fisk knew his exact approach to social life back in New York. Everyone in his grade knew him, and a lot of people above his grade had at least heard his name. He was generally well-liked, but he had a bit of a knack for sticking his nose into trouble and trying to resolve it—and everyone knew it. He was the too-nice kid, the helper, and the devoted mother-hen of his social group. But he was also the kid who cut his hair off halfway through freshman year, who changed his name and his pronouns out of, to most people, seemingly nowhere. And as accepting as the school seemed to be, that’s why he needed to leave—he needed to figure out who he was without the reputation and the expectations.
He also has a way-too-emotional side—something he gets from his father. It’s the one common thread between Fisk and his claw-your-way-to-the-top, math genius dad, the man who can charm his way through hundreds of acquaintances but thinks his wife is his only real friend. Yet the two bond over their ridiculously sappy natures. Every time Fisk has to hide his teary eyes through the end of an emotional movie—any emotion will do—or an even slightly sad song, he can’t help but text his dad a ludicrous amount of crying emojis.
His bond with his mother stems from a deep love of singing and drama. While Fisk’s mom doesn’t have a worthwhile acting bone in her body, she loves theatre productions and took him as often as possible when he was a kid, ingraining an appreciation that fanned into something more. She also has a decent singing voice, and Fisk has been developing his from a pretty young age, certainly surpassing her skill level.
Alternate titles include:
[list][*]certifiable mess
[*]afraid of people
[*]just doing my best
[*](but hey, at least there's pizza)
[/list]
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Alternate titles include:<br><ul class="bb-list" style="white-space: normal;"><li>certifiable mess</li><li>afraid of people</li><li>just doing my best</li><li>(but hey, at least there's pizza)</li></ul></div>
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Fallenreaper
