Rovias

[Rovias]

Rovias

Age  31

Gender  Male

Origin  Kaikias Desert

Occupation  Scholar

I was born on a shoddy wooden barge hauling unfortunate slaves to the Arshakan Empire from the Kaikias Desert. My mother was one of those poor aforementioned souls, and I was subjugated from my birth. I don't remember much of those first years, of course. Only that I was hungry, cold, and alone most of the time. Still, by some miracle, my mother and I managed to stick together. Our owner wasn't as cruel as some, and that, I suppose, was our blessing.

I believe I was five or six when I began to see the Shroud. At first, my Mother thought I was merely succumbing to illness, or perhaps tainted food. It wasn't until our Master overheard me that I was tested for aptitude, and showed promise. Those few months were a blur, but suddenly I was no longer made to do manual labor. Instead, I was given books and instructors. Our beds became softer, our food more filling, and our baths warm rather than frigid. It wasn't until adolescence that I realized I'd been groomed into a personal mage for a slave owner, but then, that service had also made my Mother's life easier, so I did not complain.

I can't recall much of what my new 'promotion' actually entailed. A lot of peacocking and bluffing, I imagine. For all that my Master loved to flaunt me, I did not actually have much in the way of power yet. My true gift was observing the shroud, predicting its behavior and understanding the silent words that it spoke. Regardless, for a man of business, it was a boon to be able to say you had a 'Shroudweaver' as a pet.

Thankfully, my Master's age eventually caught up with him, and with no heirs to follow his passing I was freed, along with my mother. I traveled back to our desert homeland and remained with her for a few more years, living off of my talents for scrying and, admittedly, more less-than-honest work as well. When she too felt the calling of age, I was at last left to my own devices. I used the last of my coin to sail back to Ilica, and threw myself fully into the studies that I had begun under my former Master, delving into all aspects of the Arcana. I learned to brew potions with powerful or damning effects, how to make certain materials interact with each other, and how to change one compound into another. I studied the history of our world, soaking in the knowledge left behind by our forefathers.

Then, I set out to use that knowledge, the gifts that I possess, to make these twin continents a better place. The most natural starting point was Astenvale Monastery, a bastion of justice, to be certain. I was, by that point, too set in my ways to swear fealty to their order, but I was able to work out a little partnership between us. I am at their beck and call when they need me. Admittedly, those times are rare.

That is fine. I have plenty to busy myself with. There is always more to learn, more to teach, and more to attain. The questions to the answers I seek most desperately still elude me, and my time runs thin. I will leave my mark upon this world, as more than a slave boy who rose above his station through luck. When I am done, it will be known that I have made a difference, and there will be a new appreciation for the Shroud.

In a time when its embrace is so often twisted and malformed, that goal means more now than ever before.
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