Post by corvus9 on Mar 23, 2016 5:15:13 GMT
Alain Ravenswood was born thirty years ago in the city of Eff, which lies along the border of the Wall of Sis, in the lower foothills of the Carasis Mountains, along the southern border of Kingdom of Mog. Part of Eff's small community of humans, he was witness to the pageantry of the arms forces of Mog as they headed out to make war on the more Southern Kingdoms, and developed a case of wanderlust as a result. His community had always had some facility with magic, and cantrips such a Mending and Light and Prestigitation were commonly learned among them. (Alain once knew these cantrips, but Mending and Prestigitation have since fallen out of his head to make way for the three cantrips he most values, Chill Touch, Message, and Light).
As Alain desired travel, and had some skill with magic, when a wizard happened to pass through town one day, he sought to be taken under the man's wing as an apprentice. The older wizard accepted, and so Alain left home at the age of 17, to study the craft and profession of magic.
For 7 years he trained with this old Wizard, whose name was Ingram, and then Ingram determined that Alain had learned all he could under Ingram’s tutelage, and it was time for him to set out and adventure for himself. 'Return to me when you have grown powerful enough to find me,' Ingram told him, 'And I will teach you how to conquer death itself.'
With only the 6 spells in his spellbook learned, Alain set off. He soon rid a small village of a trio of zombie's that were attacking it every night by climbing up into a tree and hurling spells upon them. He then saved another village from a contingent of bandits through the casting of Sleep, allowing the townspeople to beat the unconscious men to death. The leader of this band was known as the Shadow, and Alain slew him with the spell witch bolt. The shadow was known as the Shadow for the strange cloak he wore. It was black as night, as shadow, as ink. Completely unnatural did it appear in daylight. Alain thought it was quite fetching, and kept it. Shortly after this he worked out how to cast the spells False Life and Ray of Sickness.
Then he traveled through an ancient crypt he had heard contained a tome of ancient arcane knowledge. After a long search, he found it. As he opened it, and words and pictures seemed to float out of it and into his mind, taking him to some otherworldly realm.
He was walking along the edge of a forest, and heard laughter from within. The laughter drew him into the shadows beneath the trees. He tucked under a branch, and moved through the underbrush, searching for the origin of this laughter. He thought it further inwards, then to his left, then to his right. Was he actually surrounded by it? He thought then that he saw two orbs of light ahead in the darkness, which now competed with the Shadow’s cloak. He traveled forward, trying to make out what sat behind those lights. He thought, for a moment, that the orbs were eyes, and behind them was a face. He moved even closer then, but something was catching at his cloak. It was tearing at it. But he paid it no mind, for he had to know what was ahead of him.
There was another tear, deeper this time, into his flesh. Then another.
And his mind of was in the crypt and he was back and his body and he was surrounded by skeletons. He cast the spell false life upon himself, giving himself some heartiness against such violence. To do this, he was forced to drop the Tome of Ancient Knowledge. He fled then, and the skeletons left him along, but gathered up the book and traveled deeper into the crypt. For a moment then, Alain lost all sense of self-preservation and turned about to reclaim the book, but after but a few steps, a wraith appeared, an undead spirit he knew he could not best. Alain fled.
It was at this point Alain decided it might be best to travel with a crew of fellow adventurers.
Alain is a Necromancer, as his master Ingram was a Necromancer, and he sees nothing odd about that in the slightest. Humans die often and with great ease and quickness, and he sees no harm in controlling the forces of death, for it holds no horror for him. Besides, if you are going to trifle with magic, why stop from trifling with the most potent magic of all!?
Alain is tall, well over six feet, and with his long black beard is often thought to be much older than he actually is. The quiet, timid manner in which he speaks also connotes one of advanced years. However, Alain can be quite active in battle. He carries a tall walking stick that doubles as a quarterstaff, and a satchel in which he keeps his small number of personal items. In addition to his shadow cloak, his robes are black as well.
As Alain desired travel, and had some skill with magic, when a wizard happened to pass through town one day, he sought to be taken under the man's wing as an apprentice. The older wizard accepted, and so Alain left home at the age of 17, to study the craft and profession of magic.
For 7 years he trained with this old Wizard, whose name was Ingram, and then Ingram determined that Alain had learned all he could under Ingram’s tutelage, and it was time for him to set out and adventure for himself. 'Return to me when you have grown powerful enough to find me,' Ingram told him, 'And I will teach you how to conquer death itself.'
With only the 6 spells in his spellbook learned, Alain set off. He soon rid a small village of a trio of zombie's that were attacking it every night by climbing up into a tree and hurling spells upon them. He then saved another village from a contingent of bandits through the casting of Sleep, allowing the townspeople to beat the unconscious men to death. The leader of this band was known as the Shadow, and Alain slew him with the spell witch bolt. The shadow was known as the Shadow for the strange cloak he wore. It was black as night, as shadow, as ink. Completely unnatural did it appear in daylight. Alain thought it was quite fetching, and kept it. Shortly after this he worked out how to cast the spells False Life and Ray of Sickness.
Then he traveled through an ancient crypt he had heard contained a tome of ancient arcane knowledge. After a long search, he found it. As he opened it, and words and pictures seemed to float out of it and into his mind, taking him to some otherworldly realm.
He was walking along the edge of a forest, and heard laughter from within. The laughter drew him into the shadows beneath the trees. He tucked under a branch, and moved through the underbrush, searching for the origin of this laughter. He thought it further inwards, then to his left, then to his right. Was he actually surrounded by it? He thought then that he saw two orbs of light ahead in the darkness, which now competed with the Shadow’s cloak. He traveled forward, trying to make out what sat behind those lights. He thought, for a moment, that the orbs were eyes, and behind them was a face. He moved even closer then, but something was catching at his cloak. It was tearing at it. But he paid it no mind, for he had to know what was ahead of him.
There was another tear, deeper this time, into his flesh. Then another.
And his mind of was in the crypt and he was back and his body and he was surrounded by skeletons. He cast the spell false life upon himself, giving himself some heartiness against such violence. To do this, he was forced to drop the Tome of Ancient Knowledge. He fled then, and the skeletons left him along, but gathered up the book and traveled deeper into the crypt. For a moment then, Alain lost all sense of self-preservation and turned about to reclaim the book, but after but a few steps, a wraith appeared, an undead spirit he knew he could not best. Alain fled.
It was at this point Alain decided it might be best to travel with a crew of fellow adventurers.
Alain is a Necromancer, as his master Ingram was a Necromancer, and he sees nothing odd about that in the slightest. Humans die often and with great ease and quickness, and he sees no harm in controlling the forces of death, for it holds no horror for him. Besides, if you are going to trifle with magic, why stop from trifling with the most potent magic of all!?
Alain is tall, well over six feet, and with his long black beard is often thought to be much older than he actually is. The quiet, timid manner in which he speaks also connotes one of advanced years. However, Alain can be quite active in battle. He carries a tall walking stick that doubles as a quarterstaff, and a satchel in which he keeps his small number of personal items. In addition to his shadow cloak, his robes are black as well.
