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Better infamy for the right reason than glory for the wrong. |
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— Himself |
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Shaedwyn might have been a born crusader if his life had taken a more heroic path. Instead, his life took a darker, more morally ambiguous path. In idealist at heart, he believes in doing what's best for the world, whether the world likes the idea or not. Of course, ideals are all well and good, but sometimes it's all about just getting by. He is a capable mage, but not everyone considers him particularly reputable, especially more traditionalist elves. Thief, blackguard, and ne'er-do-well are some of the nicer names such people tend to call him.
Personality
Shaedwyn believes in "good" in a very relative sense, though he does have a strong moral compass in his own way. He's quite willing to act the unscrupulous or ruthless role, if it gets him what he wants or what he feels is right. He cares little for social convention or following the law, though he holds great compassion for others, especially the abused and downtrodden, and he will often go to great lengths to help the needy. By the same token, if he believes someone is greedy and hoarding more wealth than they need, he sees little harm in helping himself to some of what they have.
While he does enjoy meeting new people, Shaedwyn doesn't quickly trust others when he first meets them. He's often polite and sociable, even friendly, but true trust must be earned. If he has a blind spot where trust is regard, it's that if he meets someone who seems truly helpless and in need, especially someone younger than himself, he may be much quicker to trust them. And when Shaedwyn does form ties to others, he becomes fiercely protective of them. At times he may even seem slightly territorial, in that he keeps vigilant watch over the ones he cares about. He won't always be overt about it, and he tries not to interfere too much, but he values nothing more than friendship. In fact, growing up as he has done, he tends to treat any close friend as family, and he will do anything for his family.
When he's wronged, however, there are few who hold grudges so well as Shaedwyn. It takes a lot, such as a betrayal, to make him truly hold such a grudge, but once he starts he has a very hard time letting go. He may never forget any deeply felt wrong, and he can be quite ruthlessly vindictive on that score, especially if someone seriously threatened the safety of those Shaedwyn cares about.
Background
The Death of the Black Moon
The elf-kingdom of Sylvania has been home to many families and houses, different families and lines with their own gifts and traditions. One of those houses was called House Mor'Ithil, the House of the Black Moon. It was a very small house made up of seers and scholars, of sorcery and secrets. Neither the most prominent nor the least, it was not a house without enemies, but its elders underestimated that their enemies would strike so swiftly or ruthlessly as they did, and the house was destroyed. From the matriarch of the family down to the lowest servant, all were killed. The Mor'Ithil clan had been wiped out, but for one small exception. The last scion of the house was not the son of its highest elder, not a prince or notable heir, simply a child whose mother was clever and skilled enough to hide him away before the assassins found them. Thanks to her skill, the boy survived. This is the story that Shaedwyn Mor'Ithil grew up hearing.
The Monk Pickpocket
Brother Kendrin Thornton was a monk, originally, devoted to the goddess of love and passion. Though noble, his idealistic ways were not very lucrative, and the human cleric found himself starving on the streets of Lyne, where he then lived. Times were hard, but where others would have felt that their goddess had forsaken him, Kendrin saw inspiration. He used his charm and grace to become a thief, stealing from corrupt elites as a means of survival. Over time he became extremely good at it, and he began to share his success with homeless, orphaned youngsters. This was partly altruism, but it was also simply good business -- the boys had fleeter fingers and were quite good for business. His greatest protégé was a young elf named Shaedwyn, who he taught to be the greatest pickpocket in the city. It was in many ways a beautiful partnership, giving the lost boy a new home and something of a new family.
Shaedwyn came to admire Kendrin greatly, particularly the monk's skill as a healer. Kendrin had taken an Oath years earlier to offer his skills as a healer without accepting any payment or reward, and so he did... and thus stole to survive. While Shaedwyn admired the ideal of love, he found the practical skills of theft and healing much more useful. Even so, he dreamed of being a healer one day, of living a good life where he would not have to scrounge for food and coin.
A Healer's Apprentice
Within a few decades, Shaedwyn was growing into a handsome young man, particularly by human standards. This served him well, and he grew up among humans, reasonably content, until Brother Kendrin died. He was an old man by then, and he went peacefully. His final gift to Shaedwyn was a long-held favor called in from a fellow healer, a woman named Marya. Saddened by his old mentor's loss but grateful for this opportunity, Shaedwyn accepted his apprenticeship to the human woman. She was warm and friendly, but also stern when he displeased her, and the swiftest way to do that was by stealing. Marya was very forthright in her disapproval of any form of dishonesty, and it remained a major point of disagreement between them. Still, Shaedwyn tried to conform to her path... at least, as far as she knew. In truth, he simply worked to become a better, more discreet thief, and satisfied his conscience by keeping nothing for himself. He gave all he stole to the less fortunate, many of whom he still knew from his days with Brother Kendrin.
Marya practiced a form of healing which involved mentalism. Through drawing a patient's pain onto oneself, the healer was able to ease their suffering and administer medicines to inspire healing. Careful mental stimulation of the patient's body urged it towards swifter recovery, and because they felt stronger than they actually were, their improved outlook made the healing more effective (or so Marya instructed him). Shaedwyn began by learning of medicines and herbs, the basics of healing, and loved each moment of it. The one part of Marya's philosophy which he struggled with most was that a healer must "never act to harm another, not even in defense of life." As before, he tried to simply follow her path, but it was a struggle.
Once a Villain...
For several years Shaedwyn grappled with Marya's path, growing ever more frustrated that she would not teach him any actual healing magic. He had become skilled with making various potions and draughts, good at applying bandages and tinctures, but he knew nothing of "true healing." Finally, he confronted her. The human woman calmly told him that she would not teach him until he had left all "dangerous impulses" behind. She feared he would use her teachings violently or dishonestly, corrupting what she saw as the higher, healing purpose of her life-craft.
They argued and debated, and Shaedwyn tried long and hard to convince her, at first, of his virtue, but she refused to accept the notion. She insisted that he had an old anger buried in him, and that it made him dangerous. She was happy to teach him, but his magical training would go no farther until he learned to accept what he could not change and adopt the "path of peace." He finally voiced all his disagreements, telling her that he would never accept a road of indolence and apathy. If he could better himself or others by theft or violence, he would do so without shame. Their positions clear and opposed, they chose to part ways. Once again, Shaedwyn was alone.
He returned to the streets and began, again, to earn his living through wit and guile. Within a month he was living better than he had in the old days. All was well until he made the mistake of picking the wrong pocket, that of a magus of great power, and landed himself all new trouble.
Apprenticed Anew
The magus was a human named Kassar Northellin, an alchemist and shadowmancer who was also a major player in the Emberwing Order. Kassar was amused by Shaedwyn's attempts to steal from him, but it was the young elf's latent magical abilities that drew most of the magus' attention. He released Shaedwyn with an invitation, if the boy could find his way to the top of Kassar's tower, located on a cliffside outside Altur that overlooked the Great Lake Telliosan, then Kassar would teach him the ways of magic.
Finding the hidden door from the central stairwell was complex, and involved working out a complicated runic brick puzzle in the wall, but within an hour of entering the tower Shaedwyn had solved the puzzle. Kassar was impressed, but of course did not admit it. Rather, he berated the boy for taking too long and generally acted as though he were about to throw Shaedwyn back out on the street. Instead, of course, he set Shaedwyn to some menial task and gave him a book to read. Eventually, Shaedwyn came back to him with the task completed and questions to ask. Kassar challenged his new apprentice until the knowledge was set or spell could be cast, and Shaedwyn was given a new task. So their relationship would be for years yet to come.
As Shaedwyn aged towards adulthood in the slow manner of the elves, Kassar never seemed to grow any older. It was revealed, in time, that the man had developed some process through alchemy to avoid aging. He taught Shaedwyn much of alchemy, but always the emphasis was on mentalism and shadowmancy, Kassar's magical specialties. As Shaedwyn approached his coming of age, he was also growing into a much more impressive practitioner of mage-craft. Fittingly, learning shadowmancy allowed him to elevate his skills as a thief and a sneak to wholly new levels, and he had no qualms against sneaking off, now and again, in search of new lore that might impress his master. Kassar was pragmatic enough not to ask too many questions, so this worked out. And, in this manner, so passed the remaining decades of Shaedwyn's adolescence.
A New Adventure
Shaedwyn left Kassar without fanfare or tragedy. They had no great falling out, though Kassar did not fe
SKILLS
ALCHEMY - Competent: Potion brewing, recipe making, pellet creation (smoke, gas, etc.)
ATHLETICS - Expert: Running, climbing, jumping, swinging, swimming, tumbling, etc.
CHARISMA - Competent: Charming, intimidating, interrogating, persuasion, negotiating, etc.
EXPLORATION - Competent: Cartography, dungeon and ruin delving, boat piloting, riding, etc.
LARCENY - Expert: Burglary, pickpocketing, sleight-of-hand, etc.
LORE - Competent: Magic knowledge, creature knowledge, legend knowledge, library use, cryptography, etc.
MEDICINE - Competent: Herbalism, making and applying medicine, chirurgery.
SHADOW WEAPONS - Expert: Use of weapons conjured with shadowmancy: usually simple blades, whips, or thrown weapons.
STANDARD WEAPONS - Competent: Daggers, swords, staves, archery.
STEALTH - Expert: Sneaking, hiding, avoiding detection.
SURVIVALISM - Competent: Navigation, camping, living off the land, dealing with wildlife.
UNARMED COMBAT - Competent: Street fighting, grappling, holds, etc.
POWERS
ENCHANTMENT - Basic: Shaedwyn is practiced at casting minor enchantments, which may last from hours to years depending on how much energy they require and how long is spent preparing them. These are generally effects of convenience, such as enchanting a cloak to keep the rain off, a mask to obscure one's features (or filter toxins from the air, or allow water breathing, etc.), clothing to be more durable, weapons to hold an edge longer, objects to provide light, a campsite area to give warning if it someone enters it, or other basic enchantments. He can also imprint a basic version of any spell effect that he knows how to perform on an object or location.
KINETOMANCY - Basic: Shaedwyn can lift and manipulate small objects magically just by concentrating on them. This allows him to throw small objects, such as stones or daggers, telekinetically about as hard as he could physically throw them or to levitate small objects, such as tools, across a room. With concentration, he could even probably lift a person, but that is about the upper limit of his current ability. This power is far more useful for its fine manipulation, making things like picking locks much, much easier.
MENTALISM - Enhanced: Shaedwyn is a trained mentalist, able to send and receive telepathic messages, read unshielded or weakly shielded thoughts, implant basic images or suggestions in the minds of the willing or the mentally weakly defended, cast his perceptions over a distance or through unwarded barriers with clairsentience, and otherwise perform all typical feats of mentalism to a strong degree of effectiveness. By using the right mental spell preparations, Shaedwyn can also speak and understand effectively any language with perfect fluency. He also has exceptionally strong mental defenses, making it very difficult to affect his mind with deceptions, illusions, compulsions, or other attacks or intrusions.
PHYSIOLOGY - Enhanced: As an elf, Shaedwyn has excellent stamina, dexterity, and reflexes, all operating at the Enhanced level. He also resists poisons, venoms, toxins, ailments, physical spell effects, and other ill effects at the Enhanced level. His strength and toughness are at the peak end of Basic level, and he is generally in excellent health. He also routinely gives himself alchemical treatments, making poisons, venoms, or toxins less effective against him, which is doubly effective when coupled with his natural resistance and hardiness. Another alchemical effect he has is that his body gives off no scent at all, making him very difficult to track by smell.
SENSES - Enhanced: Based on his species and magical talents, Shaedwyn has keenly enhanced senses. All his senses work well beyond the normal human limits, allowing him to see clearly at great distance, hear sounds more clearly over longer distances and in a greater range of pitches, see perfectly in darkness, discern even the slightest variations in taste or scent, discern a great deal about an object via touch, and so forth. Combined with some of his other magical abilities, he can also effectively "map" areas of darkness, allowing him to "see" all around him and into every nook and corner of a darkened area. In the darkness, it is almost impossible to surprise him.
As a trained magic-user, Shaedwyn is quite sensitive to magic and other mystical forces. He can generally detect the presence of spells, enchantments, or supernatural creatures nearby without difficulty, and he can in most cases identify the nature of such when observed with only moderate effort. It is difficult to fool him with illusions or other deceptions.
SHADOWCRAFTING - Enhanced: In combat, the primary ability of a shadowmancer is shadowcrafting. This ability lets Shaedwyn create solid shadows, such as blades, tendrils, whips, staves, or various throwing weapons. He can also create defensive barriers of varying types, though strong enough light-based magic may dispel them. In general, these must be simple shapes rather than complex objects. Then can flow and shift freely as per his desire, but they cannot form complex devices or the like. They also cannot appear to be "real," as they will always resemble inky black shadows.
SHADOW STEALTH - Supreme: Using his shadowmancy, Shaedwyn can enhance shadows, melt into them and vanish, or even become completely invisible, even in a well-lit area. He can silence his movements and even dampen scents, making him effectively undetectable when he's employing on his stealth magics and abilities. With enough concentration, he can even extend this effect to a group of other people around him, if they all remain very close together. Strong enough magics can counter this, of course, but only most powerful can do so. This is the strongest aspect of Shaedwyn's shadowmancy, and it is made all the stronger by his decades of experience as a thief and a sneak.
SHADOW SUMMONS - Basic: Shaedwyn can summon animated shadows into his service. Essentially, this means binding or befriending minor shadow spirits to perform specific tasks. At his current level of ability, he can manage minor shadow-spirits, such as small, physically weak shadow-creatures, which are not good for much beyond carrying messages, scouting, or spying. He can also summon simple shadow-laborers, which can perform basic physical tasks, such as cleaning or carrying, but are too stupid to communicate much or perform complex tasks.
SHADOW TRAVEL - Enhanced: With minor concentration, Shaedwyn can step through shadows and emerge from another shadow in a location that he has been to or seen before, so long as he can clearly visualize it in his mind, up to a range of hundreds of miles. With moderate concentration, he can expand the shadow passage into a gate, allowing others to pass through along with him for as long as he can hold the gate open. If an area is enchanted with any kind of mystic beacon that he can detect, then it is possible that he can also travel or open a gate to it, as well, even if he has never been there before.
ADVANTAGES
CONTACTS Shaedwyn has many contacts, especially in the kingdoms of Lyne and Altur, though in various other places as well. He knows a fair few respectable mages thanks to his association with Kassar and the Emberwing Order, but more than that he knows people, usually people on the lowest rungs of society. Street folk, vagrants, and thieves are the sorts of people who Shaedwyn knows well, and among them he is very often welcome and able to seek at least limited aid when needed.
GEAR Shaedwyn routinely carries a variety of basic gear, ranging from his supple elven-made "leathers" (actually made of mystic plant fibers) to several daggers secreted about his person, a variety of simple potions that can be imbibed (antidotes, healing draughts, etc.) or thrown at enemies (causing smoke, grogginess, etc.), survival and traveling supplies, and other typical adventurer's gear. Notably, his personal effects are all treated with alchemical preparations to ensure that they give off no scent.
RESOURCES Shaedwyn manages to keep himself well-supplied via various means. He's not wealthy, but he doesn't wnat for much, either. If he can't afford something, then he can likely figure out how to get it. He has collected the start of a very creditable occult library and laboratory, and he has a number of handy bolt-holes here and there, one in most major cities. Most notably, he has partially restored the ruin of an old tower, fortifying it and making it up to serve as his personal home and hideaway.
WEAKNESSES
CURIOSITY Shaedwyn isn't curious in the sense that he has to open every box or door he encounters. It's on a larger scale than that. He seeks to constantly learn and discover more about the world, which leads him to venture farther, delve deeper, and otherwise put himself out there and take more risks than he otherwise would. He can resist the little things well enough, but if there's a ruin nearby that promises to hold interesting secrets, guarded by a legion of undead? He's probably down there already.
MEDDLER Never one to leave well enough alone, Shaedwyn tends to meddle in various affairs. Especially if he believes there's an injustice being done, he tends to get involved. He is especially inclined to stand up for those who the law and society don't always make the most allowances, and he is generally unafraid of putting himself at odds with respectable people, or even the law, if it means doing what he believes is right.
OUTSIDER Looking different than most elves isn't that important to everyone, but it's still something that can make one feel more like an outsider. Add to that Shaedwyn's checkered past and unusual upbringing, and he's just generally an outsider who fits in better at the fringes of society than in the bright centers. He's not an outlaw, but he's not exactly welcome at most popular social gatherings, either, especially among respectable society.
