Caden Law
10-04-07, 07:33 PM
Name: Caden "Blueraven" Law
Age: 24
Race: Human
Hair Color: Light blond
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 175 lbs.
Occupation: Wizard, freelance navigator, alchemist, archivist, and translator
Personality: Caden generally comes across as a rather reserved intellectual -- awkwardly pleasant and genuinely unsympathetic when you can actually corner him into a conversation that doesn't rely on magic or one of his other occupations. He has a passion for travel by ship, whether conventional or otherwise. Besides that, Caden is a quiet cynic with sarcasm to spare; growing up in the frosty north left him with little more than a laundry list of complaints and a world of unsympathetic ears. Give him a situation, he'll give you a complaint. Give him an excuse, he'll give you a corpse. Even at age 24, he's had enough time and enough bad experiences to develop a keen mind when it comes to battle and life-or-death situations; his actions can seem downright impulsive, but he's always got some kind of goal, and he'll stick to it no matter what. Incidentally, Caden is never above fighting dirty -- even when he doesn't have to.
Appearance: Caden isn't terribly impressive. He barely tops out at 6'0", and most of his body mass consists of lean, skinny muscle. He's pale to the point of looking pasty, has freckles in a thin band from cheek to nose to cheek, and his eyes are defined as the plainest shade of blue that's ever existed. None of his facial features stand out, and you'd be hard-pressed to spot peach fuzz on his face, let alone an actual Wizardly beard. The rest of his hair is cut short and not at all neat; he has a near-permanent case of hat-head that looks like it could eat a comb when he wakes up in the mornings. Insofar as clothing is concerned, Caden's signature look consists of a blue longcoat -- about shin-length -- worn over black pants and a long-sleeved white shirt. Topping this off is a wide-brimmed, pointy-tipped hat -- a Wizard's Hat, thankyouverymuch. It's blue like his coat, bears a thick and heavy looking leather belt around it, and the top half just barely sags forward. More often than not, Caden can be found wearing glasses, and he always carries a pair of what, in modern senses, could be described as biker's goggles. The glasses and goggles are to make up for a small bit of nearsightedness. He also wears a pair of heavy-duty boots, but never any gloves.
Skills:
Magic: Caden is a Wizard, first and foremost. He practices a sort of freeform casting style that allows the user to maneuver while casting spells, but his magic is mostly generic (a fireball here, a magic missile there, the occasional lightning bolt and so on). While he often uses a wand for magic, he can do so barehanded with a little more effort. He has specific affinities for Earth, Thermal and Gravity magicks, but not enough to excel at any of them. Not yet, anyway.
Runic Spellwork: As a consequence of his Wizarding background, Caden is well-versed in how to write spells out in advance. Provided he's been given a good enough description, he can even write out spells he doesn't personally know. The catch is that, at this point, he needs to write them out using ink, lead, chalk, paint, or some other medium.
Alchemy: Another consequence of his Wizarding background. Caden is an adept alchemist -- not the best, not even above average, but he can brew up a potion and perform low-level transmutations as necessary. Unsurprisingly, his alchemic skills are useful for preserving food and medicine-making, though he's also been known to patch up clothing using alchemy. Not a combat skill; he can't even transmute most 'useful' solids.
Languages: Caden's time spent traveling the world has left him with the unique ability to pick up almost any language in a matter of hours, and he becomes literate almost as quickly. At present, he's got perfect fluency in Tradespeak, various dialects of Salvic, and Elven. He knows the rudiments of several Berevan tongues. His Wizarding background has also left him with a good grasp of Old Diamonic, particularly its written aspects. Incidentally, Caden has the irritating habit of forgetting spoken languages almost as quickly as he learns them, though he never forgets how to read or write in them.
Navigation: The last of Caden's noteworthy skills, and arguably the most useful in the long run: Caden is a master navigator. Whether by starlight, direction or landmarks, Caden is rarely, if ever hopelessly lost.
Equipment:
Grimmoire: The most prized of Caden's possessions, such that he never actually shows it to anyone. Caden's Grimmoire is a leatherbound book with a blue raven painted on the front cover, with the binding kept shut at all times by a heavy-duty padlock. One part journal, one part spellbook, one part alchemic record and one part world map, Caden would sooner kick a small puppy than lose his Grimmoire. While physically boasting only 600 pages or so, the actual interior is much, much larger. Caden has been known to use it as a focal object for spellwork in desperate situations. Otherwise, he keeps it secreted somewhere in his hat.
Wizard's Hat: The second most prized of Caden's possessions. His Hat is mainly noteworthy for never falling off, even when heavily damaged. Besides that, it's big enough inside to safely store his Grimmoire in, and its magic is sturdy enough to keep the Grimmoire intact even when the Hat itself isn't. Whenever significantly damaged, it simply needs to be repared for Caden to retrieve his book.
Wand: About as long as Caden's forearm and about three quarters of an inch thick, often kept hidden in his right sleeve. This is his primary focal object for performing magic. While relatively sturdy, Caden's Wand is hardly unbreakable. He doesn't need it to perform his magic, but it does quicken the process and remove some of the effort from it.
Familiar: A blue-feathered raven named Kaerul. While blue and capable of mimicking human speech a little better than a parrot, Kaerul has never demonstrated any other unique attributes. It comes and goes at random, never staying with Caden for more than a week and never being away from him for more than three months. It's more like a really eccentric pet than an actual Familiar.
History: Caden Law originates from any one of the hundred or more evershifting feifdoms in the League of Salvic States; specifically the small village of Evernorth. Evernorth was one of the furthest proper villages anywhere to the north of Knife's Edge, and was barely large enough to qualify for a genuine Church. Its existence largely revolved around icefishing and alchemy, and besides having a proportionately large number of local magic users originate from Evernorth, the place is really not even worthy of being a comma on the pages of history, let alone a footnote.
Caden himself was born as the eighth of ten children -- nearly all of them boys. He was the only son to show any magical talent whatsoever, something that ran strong in his sisters. Like most children with such talents, he was given an education that his parents, a fisher and a market-owner, could've never afforded without the local Church's patronage. Where his sisters took to the teachings of the Church like fish to water, Caden took it more like a bird to flight; clumsy, sometimes disastrous, and often painful. By his early teens, he'd acquired a well-deserved reputation with his teachers for disobedience. Rather than simple expulsion, due to his talents at magic and a gift with language, Caden was instead 'rewarded' for his learning by being apprenticed to one of the Church's roughest 'field agents' -- a Wizard and Priest acting on its behalf by negotiating peaces with the local tribes and warding off the various walking natural disasters that inhabited the area around Evernorth.
His name was Jolstice Aramson, better known locally as Greyspine. On his last day in Evernorth, Caden met Aramson and was given his own sorcerous name, Blueraven, because a blue raven landed on his shoulder mere moments after Aramson presented Caden with a wand, Hat, and Grimmoire. Caden spent roughly three years working with Aramson, learning the ins and outs of basic Wizardy. He showed a natural lean towards manipulating Gravity, Earth, and Temperature, all while trying to keep up with his other studies. Unfortunately, he and Aramson continued the troublesome relationship Caden had always had with the Church's teachings. They eventually had a full-fledged falling out, and Caden barely escaped their confrontation with his life and health.
For what little it's worth, Greyspine must've pulled a few strings. Despite the fact that they came to blows and basically tried to murder each other, Caden has never been pursued by the Church or any others for his desertion. He left Evernorth without so much as a good-bye to his family, and hasn't looked back since. Whether the village is still there, or has become a part of one of or more of the ever-shifting feifdoms that pockmark the League, Caden still doesn't know and still doesn't care. He made his way to Knife's Edge, working for a time as an archivist in a local library. Eventually, Caden saved enough money to fund himself as a member of an adventuring company.
He set sail with the crew, and spent the next few years simply wandering the world from one hectic situation to the next. He's survived his fair share of dirty deeds, both by and against him. Every so often, the old raven returns, babbles a few things at him in one tongue or another, and then vanishes again. He's established a few genuine friendships, gotten a working knowledge of the world at large, and he's done well enough to keep his head down and avoid making any sort of reputation for himself. Now, at age 24, Caden has decided to take a little break from the life of adventuring. He's stopped off at Scara Brae, and that...
...that is probably where his story really begins.
Age: 24
Race: Human
Hair Color: Light blond
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 175 lbs.
Occupation: Wizard, freelance navigator, alchemist, archivist, and translator
Personality: Caden generally comes across as a rather reserved intellectual -- awkwardly pleasant and genuinely unsympathetic when you can actually corner him into a conversation that doesn't rely on magic or one of his other occupations. He has a passion for travel by ship, whether conventional or otherwise. Besides that, Caden is a quiet cynic with sarcasm to spare; growing up in the frosty north left him with little more than a laundry list of complaints and a world of unsympathetic ears. Give him a situation, he'll give you a complaint. Give him an excuse, he'll give you a corpse. Even at age 24, he's had enough time and enough bad experiences to develop a keen mind when it comes to battle and life-or-death situations; his actions can seem downright impulsive, but he's always got some kind of goal, and he'll stick to it no matter what. Incidentally, Caden is never above fighting dirty -- even when he doesn't have to.
Appearance: Caden isn't terribly impressive. He barely tops out at 6'0", and most of his body mass consists of lean, skinny muscle. He's pale to the point of looking pasty, has freckles in a thin band from cheek to nose to cheek, and his eyes are defined as the plainest shade of blue that's ever existed. None of his facial features stand out, and you'd be hard-pressed to spot peach fuzz on his face, let alone an actual Wizardly beard. The rest of his hair is cut short and not at all neat; he has a near-permanent case of hat-head that looks like it could eat a comb when he wakes up in the mornings. Insofar as clothing is concerned, Caden's signature look consists of a blue longcoat -- about shin-length -- worn over black pants and a long-sleeved white shirt. Topping this off is a wide-brimmed, pointy-tipped hat -- a Wizard's Hat, thankyouverymuch. It's blue like his coat, bears a thick and heavy looking leather belt around it, and the top half just barely sags forward. More often than not, Caden can be found wearing glasses, and he always carries a pair of what, in modern senses, could be described as biker's goggles. The glasses and goggles are to make up for a small bit of nearsightedness. He also wears a pair of heavy-duty boots, but never any gloves.
Skills:
Magic: Caden is a Wizard, first and foremost. He practices a sort of freeform casting style that allows the user to maneuver while casting spells, but his magic is mostly generic (a fireball here, a magic missile there, the occasional lightning bolt and so on). While he often uses a wand for magic, he can do so barehanded with a little more effort. He has specific affinities for Earth, Thermal and Gravity magicks, but not enough to excel at any of them. Not yet, anyway.
Runic Spellwork: As a consequence of his Wizarding background, Caden is well-versed in how to write spells out in advance. Provided he's been given a good enough description, he can even write out spells he doesn't personally know. The catch is that, at this point, he needs to write them out using ink, lead, chalk, paint, or some other medium.
Alchemy: Another consequence of his Wizarding background. Caden is an adept alchemist -- not the best, not even above average, but he can brew up a potion and perform low-level transmutations as necessary. Unsurprisingly, his alchemic skills are useful for preserving food and medicine-making, though he's also been known to patch up clothing using alchemy. Not a combat skill; he can't even transmute most 'useful' solids.
Languages: Caden's time spent traveling the world has left him with the unique ability to pick up almost any language in a matter of hours, and he becomes literate almost as quickly. At present, he's got perfect fluency in Tradespeak, various dialects of Salvic, and Elven. He knows the rudiments of several Berevan tongues. His Wizarding background has also left him with a good grasp of Old Diamonic, particularly its written aspects. Incidentally, Caden has the irritating habit of forgetting spoken languages almost as quickly as he learns them, though he never forgets how to read or write in them.
Navigation: The last of Caden's noteworthy skills, and arguably the most useful in the long run: Caden is a master navigator. Whether by starlight, direction or landmarks, Caden is rarely, if ever hopelessly lost.
Equipment:
Grimmoire: The most prized of Caden's possessions, such that he never actually shows it to anyone. Caden's Grimmoire is a leatherbound book with a blue raven painted on the front cover, with the binding kept shut at all times by a heavy-duty padlock. One part journal, one part spellbook, one part alchemic record and one part world map, Caden would sooner kick a small puppy than lose his Grimmoire. While physically boasting only 600 pages or so, the actual interior is much, much larger. Caden has been known to use it as a focal object for spellwork in desperate situations. Otherwise, he keeps it secreted somewhere in his hat.
Wizard's Hat: The second most prized of Caden's possessions. His Hat is mainly noteworthy for never falling off, even when heavily damaged. Besides that, it's big enough inside to safely store his Grimmoire in, and its magic is sturdy enough to keep the Grimmoire intact even when the Hat itself isn't. Whenever significantly damaged, it simply needs to be repared for Caden to retrieve his book.
Wand: About as long as Caden's forearm and about three quarters of an inch thick, often kept hidden in his right sleeve. This is his primary focal object for performing magic. While relatively sturdy, Caden's Wand is hardly unbreakable. He doesn't need it to perform his magic, but it does quicken the process and remove some of the effort from it.
Familiar: A blue-feathered raven named Kaerul. While blue and capable of mimicking human speech a little better than a parrot, Kaerul has never demonstrated any other unique attributes. It comes and goes at random, never staying with Caden for more than a week and never being away from him for more than three months. It's more like a really eccentric pet than an actual Familiar.
History: Caden Law originates from any one of the hundred or more evershifting feifdoms in the League of Salvic States; specifically the small village of Evernorth. Evernorth was one of the furthest proper villages anywhere to the north of Knife's Edge, and was barely large enough to qualify for a genuine Church. Its existence largely revolved around icefishing and alchemy, and besides having a proportionately large number of local magic users originate from Evernorth, the place is really not even worthy of being a comma on the pages of history, let alone a footnote.
Caden himself was born as the eighth of ten children -- nearly all of them boys. He was the only son to show any magical talent whatsoever, something that ran strong in his sisters. Like most children with such talents, he was given an education that his parents, a fisher and a market-owner, could've never afforded without the local Church's patronage. Where his sisters took to the teachings of the Church like fish to water, Caden took it more like a bird to flight; clumsy, sometimes disastrous, and often painful. By his early teens, he'd acquired a well-deserved reputation with his teachers for disobedience. Rather than simple expulsion, due to his talents at magic and a gift with language, Caden was instead 'rewarded' for his learning by being apprenticed to one of the Church's roughest 'field agents' -- a Wizard and Priest acting on its behalf by negotiating peaces with the local tribes and warding off the various walking natural disasters that inhabited the area around Evernorth.
His name was Jolstice Aramson, better known locally as Greyspine. On his last day in Evernorth, Caden met Aramson and was given his own sorcerous name, Blueraven, because a blue raven landed on his shoulder mere moments after Aramson presented Caden with a wand, Hat, and Grimmoire. Caden spent roughly three years working with Aramson, learning the ins and outs of basic Wizardy. He showed a natural lean towards manipulating Gravity, Earth, and Temperature, all while trying to keep up with his other studies. Unfortunately, he and Aramson continued the troublesome relationship Caden had always had with the Church's teachings. They eventually had a full-fledged falling out, and Caden barely escaped their confrontation with his life and health.
For what little it's worth, Greyspine must've pulled a few strings. Despite the fact that they came to blows and basically tried to murder each other, Caden has never been pursued by the Church or any others for his desertion. He left Evernorth without so much as a good-bye to his family, and hasn't looked back since. Whether the village is still there, or has become a part of one of or more of the ever-shifting feifdoms that pockmark the League, Caden still doesn't know and still doesn't care. He made his way to Knife's Edge, working for a time as an archivist in a local library. Eventually, Caden saved enough money to fund himself as a member of an adventuring company.
He set sail with the crew, and spent the next few years simply wandering the world from one hectic situation to the next. He's survived his fair share of dirty deeds, both by and against him. Every so often, the old raven returns, babbles a few things at him in one tongue or another, and then vanishes again. He's established a few genuine friendships, gotten a working knowledge of the world at large, and he's done well enough to keep his head down and avoid making any sort of reputation for himself. Now, at age 24, Caden has decided to take a little break from the life of adventuring. He's stopped off at Scara Brae, and that...
...that is probably where his story really begins.