Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.
EyesClear blue with a darker ring around the edge HairDeep auburn, favoring red more than brown Height181cm / 5’11” BuildToned and athletic, but slender by almost any definition Description
Built on a light frame and with fine features, Aidan’s slim physique defies traditional masculinity. One could describe his face as narrow, his straight brow as thin, and his lips shapely. But he also has high and well-defined cheeks, the line of his jaw is clear and sharp, and his trim silhouette is comparatively broad-shouldered. So maybe he’ll never be bulky enough or tall enough to accuse him of being ‘manly.’ (It might even be fair to call him beautiful instead.) But most would probably consider him strikingly handsome, with balanced proportions, artfully long legs, and eyes as bright and blue as the sea.
For all his aesthetic charm, though, Aidan does nothing to build on it with his demeanor. He comes across as stolid and emotionally distant, seldom lowering his guard and never smiling. To find warmth in his expression is rare indeed.
Still, he cares for appearances, no matter his effort to pretend otherwise. What he projects is exactly what he wants others to see. Casual disregard suffuses him, from the relaxed confidence in his bearing to the slight messiness in style when he pulls his auburn hair back. The idea he’s in control and thinks nothing of others’ perception of him is one Aidan has spent a lifetime cultivating, and outwardly little betrays it.
But in motion, he tells another story, all fluid grace and martial economy. Here is a young man with the capacity for much more than the feline insouciance he presents at ease.
Stoic · If one had only a glimpse to try and know Aidan and just a single word to try and describe the experience, some might settle on ‘stoic.’ Maybe even distant or chilly. This is the facet of ego he shows to the world; the front he wears as another would armor. It’s something composed and stolid, controlled and unflinching. It is a carefully-built wall, constructed from bricks of experience and scars, pieced together to shelter a heart Aidan never learned to smother. It’s also more than that, though. Call it an irreversible part of him, indelible as the marks wrought by all the strife he’s lived through. Aidan hopes others will see it and think, ‘that’s that, then,’ never digging any deeper. Life is simpler when they don’t. Safer, even. If stoicism is, in fact, only a fraction of the self he keeps under the surface, well… He’s been fighting a lifetime to hide it. And he’ll keep fighting still.
Earnest · Aidan may try to obscure his inner workings, but honesty rests so near the surface, it tends to show anyway. Not in the sense of his lifestyle; having plied trades most would shy from and keeping secrets as foragers hoard for winter, he has no stake in the claim. No, his honesty is in his sincerity. In his being so forthright, it makes him both earnest and unapologetically blunt. Waste no time ‘reading between the lines’ with him; it’s an effort in futility. Aidan says what he means and means what he says, at the expense of politeness if necessary. He’s neither oblivious nor malicious, but the truth isn’t always kind, and he’d never sacrifice it to spare feelings. That Aidan could has no bearing. Even white lies hold no interest for him, and others may note he’s not big on formality. Nor shallow small talk, for that matter.
Willful · If stoicism is the core of Aidan’s guard and sincerity is the foundation for his demeanor, sheer grit is the pillar on which the rest of his persona leans. It touches every part of him, from the steel in his spine to the fire in his eyes and his never-say-die resolve. Aidan will not bend. He won’t break, and he doesn’t quit. Not even when the going gets tough (or he knows he probably should). In a kind light, that force of will makes him committed, determined, and doggedly persistent. Someone less charitable might call him intractable, uncompromising, and frustratingly headstrong. Aidan has it in him to be defiant too, and he’s fiercely independent as a rule. He does things in his own way and with his own strength, innately resisting outside influence. Even convention and tradition are abstract, shallow, and meaningless to him, and he isn’t one to abide so much as social norms if he sees no sense in them.
Altruistic · For all Aidan wants to seem impassive and aloof, he cares far too much about too many things to bury the signs entirely. So, so many times, he’s almost wished he could. Just ignore it. Walk away. Never mind the objection. But he can’t. Misfortune, injustice, and greed are anathema to Aidan, and he can’t do nothing if there exists even the slimmest chance he might do something to help. Self-preservation doesn’t come into it; a bone-deep need compels him even to the point of being daring. There’s almost nothing he wouldn’t do in the service of his ideals, and he has on occasion proven it. And yet… At his core, Aidan is a fundamentally compassionate soul. In the interludes, when his passion gentles, it shows in quiet kindness and enduring patience. In his thoughtfulness and giving nature. But the rest of the time, he can also be intense. He’s never worried much over little things, but when push comes to shove, Aidan acts with conviction and devotion.
Clever · Finally, to the center of it all. The piece of self underscoring the rest, metering Aidan’s tendency to rely on heart and instinct. Cleverness is his counterpoint, even if it shows more in his being an analytical and critical thinker than the bright curiosity he used to have. Both logical and observant, he excels at using sound judgment to make quick, on-the-spot decisions, and seeing straight to the root of things is typically effortless. Aidan also possesses keen wit, and though he’s too brief and introverted ever to fire off quips, conversation proves him consistently pithy, possessed of considered weight and occasional deadpan humor. On a less positive note, though, his sharp mind also makes him a natural perfectionist, and his standards are exceedingly high. Aidan can’t help but ask too much, especially from himself. In failure, he tends to curse himself for things he didn’t do or didn’t do well enough, and one might say he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.
In Short · Unabashed irreverence aside, Aidan cares deeply about others and will go to great lengths to help and protect them. What he lacks in apparent warmth, he makes up for with unerring integrity, empathy, and a belief actions speak louder than words. He may be private, quick to judge, and terse in his opinions, but he’s also insightful and selfless, and he’ll never give up on trying to do the right thing for the right reasons.
Family & History
ParentsAvelyn Amberden x Josef Alden-Amberden (Deceased) SiblingsNone Noble FamilyAmberdens of Qorthes Description
TW. abuse, murder, suicide, trauma
1405.11 · 00
Aidan may never know it, but his story truly starts before he was born, with the ravaging pass of the Final Storm. His mother, Avelyn, was one of the unfortunate few caught out in it, and though she and her nascent child survived, Healers will claim it hinged on her clinging to life with maternal resilience.
Her failing strength gives out months later, bereaving the world of her vibrancy mere hours after her son joins it.
If his family blames him, they never show it. Aidan grows surrounded by people who cherish him, from his father Josef to his governess Marciella and the staff who tend the Amberden estate. If Avelyn’s brother, Harlyn, seems an exception, well, with his being her twin, surely he might be forgiven.
Despite the weight of their loss and the trials of rebuilding, life is good. Maybe even happy.
1409.00 · 04
Generations ago, the Amberdens received a crown-given charge to look after Qorthes and its holdings, from the grand family estate to the fringe of its outermost cottages. Avelyn’s last wish was to secure it, her final gift to the son she couldn’t raise, and Aidan is old enough now to start understanding what that means.
Josef tells him he’d need a lifetime to learn everything he’ll want to know, but not so long to be ready. With help from Marciella—Milla to Aidan, Marci to everyone else—they paint broad strokes for responsible stewardship, from care and consideration to patience and preparedness.
When Aidan reaches the age of majority, the Amberden mantle will be his, as will the onus of repaying the crown’s trust in them. But until then, he will nurture the skills that shaped his home holding, from the troubled land it used to be to the thriving territory it is now. Everything he will need to rise to the occasion once it arrives.
His father will keep it safe until then.
1411.00 · 06
Roughly a year has passed since a formal tutor joined the circle of people Aidan interacts with daily. Johan is the hire’s name, and according to him, imparting the young master with wisdom his solemn duty, due the utmost respect.
His manner feels terribly stuffy to Aidan, who possesses an irreverent streak wider than he is tall, but the wealth of things the old man knows is staggering. Not a day passes without him discovering something about language, math, and science. Aidan has always been bright and inquisitive, but given a host of new things to learn and an able instructor to help him do it, his natural doggedness has blossomed into uncommon focus.
His clever diligence delights Johan, but his warm manner charms most everyone else. Still, he’s also a small boy, wont to climb everything he can reach or ply the stablehands for extra rides.
1413.04 · 07
Freedom to express his growing independence shows Aidan to be as kind and conscientious as he is keen. He’s selflessly open with his time and belongings and brings sometimes surprising thoughtfulness to interaction.
Maybe more moderation would do well, but he’s young yet, with plenty of time to strike a balance. Josef is proud of him. Avelyn would be, too, had she the chance to know him. He may even reach his parents’ dream for him someday.
Or maybe he could have, had his briefly idyllic life not fallen to pieces.
Tragedy shatters it when a pack of boggles ambushes his small family convoy on the road. Josef, Marci, and Harlyn are with him, as is a light escort of guards, and they’re en route to visit his maternal aunt, Lorelai. Aidan has met her only a handful of times since he was old enough to travel, and the occasion has spirits high until they crumble.
The skirmish is sudden, short, and violent, leaving his father and governess dead and his uncle missing. Monsters would have gotten him, too, but a burst of light halts the carnage, making desiccated corpses of everything nearby.
Aidan appears to be the sole survivor, collapsed like a rag doll and drifting on the edge of consciousness.
1413.04 · 07
It takes two days for lucidity to return, but several revelations await when it finds him.
A well-dressed stranger calling himself Lord Corvan has taken him in. Aidan’s surviving family wants nothing to do with him, you see, and Corvan has magnanimously offered guardianship in their stead. They’ll do great things together, he promises. But first! Aidan should recover; his magic breaking out took a heavy toll on him.
Feeling ravenous and too weak to move puts the truth to the claims, but he needs a long time to absorb it all.
Aidan is a mage, and he may never see Lorelai, Johan, or the others again. After what happened to the convoy…Unmoored isn’t a strong enough word to describe his sentiment.
1413.05 · 07
Though Aidan isn’t there to see it, Harlyn has reappeared in Qorthes, styled as the head of Amberden. His looking no worse for wear might make one wonder.
Meanwhile, Aidan’s stay at Corvan’s residence has shown little in common with his life at home.
Corvan acts nothing like Josef, or even Milla did, using boy as his name and substituting firm callousness for understanding. Even the household staff are starkly different, seeming to ignore him in contrast to the warm souls he remembers from his family estate. But Aidan himself might be the most changed of all: grief has smothered his cheerful manner, and he keeps to himself anymore.
Then there is his mage talent, marking him forever aberrant. Though Corvan tries to wake him to its wonders, the enticements fell on numb indifference those first few weeks.
Just when it seems he may never take an interest, Aidan finally starts making headway, displaying an aptitude his elder regards almost avidly. This is the potential he saw! But an unexpected arrival interrupts a courtyard practice before they can really explore it.
Aidan gets shooed inside too quickly to overhear anything interesting, but the visitor's subservient greeting as he walks away makes inference easy. Lord Belmore, Corvan called him. Some sort of superior. A patron or client? Someone his guardian seems distraught with if the tone fading into the distance is any indication.
Either way, it’s a name he’ll never forget. Not after he’s told he’ll be leaving with the imperious newcomer.
1413.05 · 07
Lord Belmore—Lynden—all but washes his hands of Aidan when they arrive in Haven, at what looks to be a boarding house.
Oh, but it’s a school according to the staff who greet him; one of the best. After all, only the finest for the Lord’s most promising protégés! Isn’t he lucky to have been chosen? Why, he could have been sold to a foreigner or put to work at a labor camp, or even worse! With a cute face like his?… No, this is better. Much, much better. He will train here, developing skills the Lord prizes and serving as one of his pages. Five other boys live here with him; he starts lessons with them tomorrow.
Half a dozen questions later, Aidan decides for himself it’s a prison, despite his having no word for that yet. Leaving the grounds unescorted is strictly forbidden, and though they intend to provide for him, they go on to state he owes Lynden his life and fealty.
He doesn’t dare mention it, but his father always taught him he owed those to crown and country.
1414.00 · 08
Despite everything, Aidan remains a capable student. His new curriculum is blessedly, unexpectedly typical, and circumstance has done almost nothing to diminish his love of learning. Nowhere is his progress more evident than with his mage talent, which sees uncanny improvement having overcome his reluctance.
But everything else about settling in at Lynden’s academy has made for a jarring adjustment, seeming frequently adversarial.
For instance, two of the Belmore boys, Kartis and Colrin, have chosen to make a nuisance of themselves, jeering and spitting slurs whenever they’re in attendance. (They’d do worse if they could, Aidan is sure.) And Bevan, the ringleader of his peer cohort, decides from the start he’s a problem and never misses a chance to harass him, with or without Fetching. Then there are the instructors themselves: stringent, demanding, and often at odds with his unflinching defiance.
One tutor in particular seems determined to make him ‘more’ than he is. Aidan privately calls him the Taskmaster; nothing he does ever seems good enough.
1415.12 · 10
Sorrow and anger have warred in him these past two years, but Aidan has managed somehow to keep his head down. No, not without tribulations, but nothing one might call an incident.
Not until now, the first occasion he’s made to play “page” to the year-end gathering Lynden brazenly calls a party.
Near as he can tell, it’s overwrought and illicit; an opportunity to rub elbows with disreputable partners and clients, and to show off ill-gotten gains. Given Lynden’s sordid guests and the haughty demands they make, Aidan finds the evening a trial in patience and holding his peace.
In different circumstances, maybe he would have fared admirably. But in this one, he is frayed, tense, and frustrated, and he fails spectacularly when he ends a would-be confrontation with Kartis having a screaming fit. The Belmore’s blistered, angry red palm is the only truth anyone needs.
Aidan was supposed to demonstrate his mage talent, but his public whipping has to serve instead. Just enough to articulate the point: harming his betters has consequences.
1416.10 · 10
Two months before the next annual festivities, the pressure on Aidan is thick enough to cut with a knife. He has to do better this time. Behave. Exceed expectations. Let everyone see the power he’s been striving toward!
But that’s their dream, not his, and on an ill-considered impulse, he says so. He won’t, he tells them.
His refusal goes over about as well as one might expect, marking his introduction to the infamous Solitary cell. The other boys whisper about the room like it’s haunted, but Aidan pays no credence to the rumors until he’s sitting in it.
He sees no disembodied apparitions there with him, but leaning morosely against the door inspires such poignant, desperate terror it can’t possibly be his. Let me out, let me out! it seems to cry. Horrified despite himself, Aidan bolts, forgetting in his haste the door should have been locked and flying through like it wasn’t. He makes it all the way to an exit before someone intercepts him.
Escape attempts have consequences too, though, no matter how unthinking. Just shy of a year since his first lashing, Aidan earns another.
1416.12 · 11
At last, the dreaded second party has arrived. It’s every bit as ostentatious as Aidan remembers from last time, and his sullen apprehension sits heavy in his stomach.
If keeping his calm was a trial before, it’s a torment tonight. Almost every illegitimate artifact he sees offers some sort of agitation, and gossip seems to assail him wherever he tries to find refuge. By the time he’s due to make his exhibition, his emotions are high, and his patience short.
They want to see power? Fine. Let them!
Aidan’s tutors bid him create an explosion. A small, tightly-controlled explosion. He opts to make his containment somewhat bigger instead, filling the area with roiling flames in an instant. Right up to the edge of the show space, close enough the audience can’t escape the oppressive heat. So close, Lynden’s mages erect shields in a panic.
Understandably, the guests are startled. His instructors act aghast. The Lord seems amused.
Afterward, Aidan can’t help feeling like he misstepped.
1417.00 · 11
Things have changed since Aidan’s fiery display.
His tutors have never been partial to him, but some have turned increasingly guarded since then. Sometimes even fearful, as though he might suddenly snap and execute everyone. (That sounds like Lynden’s propensity, not his.) The thought sits uneasily.
He’s drawn further into himself instead, putting more distance between who he is now and the sunny boy he was just four years prior. Even the solemnity he wore afterward looks different, forged into something distant and chilly.
Maybe it hides his heart and intentions. Aidan can only hope.
To stay here even a moment longer than he has to would be unbearable. He hates this place. Has always hated it, and mistreatment has made him more determined than ever to leave. But this won’t be the wild flight of his last attempt. He can be patient. Watchful. So he bides his time while he practices and plans.
Being caught out of bed after curfew earns him a few reprimands for his efforts, but Aidan’s troublemaking is no surprise by now, and these newest infractions are among his least egregious. Nothing noteworthy results.
1418.06 · 12
Finally, more than a year of preparation has come to fruition.
Aidan has taken great pains with his caution this time, meticulously plotting his route around staff and guards. Between training and stealth—not magic, just the mundane variety—nothing stops him when he steals away into the dead of night.
Dashing from the academy’s wealthy district to its neighboring trade district seems endlessly harrowing in comparison. Still, he’s careful here, too, searching out a hidden nook on a sheltered roof before he bunkers down. Convincing his panicked, fluttering heart to calm takes longer, but hours of attentive watch eventually fade when he falls asleep.
If only he’d known Lynden’s scrying mages would find him the following morning.
The Lord’s whip punctuates his return with savage emphasis. Maybe this time, he’ll take the point.
1418.06 · 12
Aidan is languishing miserably in his pain and abject failure when a school mage pays him a visit. One of his less zealously-resentful instructors, he notes with suspicion.
He can’t keep doing this, she tells him. Rebellion is untenable. Either he gets himself killed, or he finally breaks. Would it matter if it meant losing control or bowing to Lynden?
(It would be easier to ignore her. Maybe even safer. But what hope does he have of escaping alone?)
No, it doesn’t matter. He tries not to dwell on it, but Aidan understands this school aims to make a weapon out of him, and others have reason to fear his destructive potential. Still, he doesn’t want to die!…
Nor should he. An accomplished mage herself, she will teach him to hide from the others, and together they will quit this detestable place.
Oh, and her name is Katya, she adds on the way out. Not the name he knew her by. Her real one?
Whatever the case, practice begins in secret once he’s well.
1419.00 · 13
Progress in mastering the shroud spell is slow. Sure, Aidan can cast it without issue in weeks, but to protect him from scrying, it needs to be sustained. Not just consciously, but always, even while he’s asleep. Convincing the body to form a new habit is harder than he might have thought.
Secrecy further complicates the effort. The finesse required to keep the spell beneath notice is beyond anything he’s tried before, and finding time to work means snatching opportunities outside his other obligations. Then there’s the constant threat of discovery, keeping him constantly on edge.
All the while, old aggressors circle like sharks, waiting for a moment of solitary weakness. Aidan does his best to take care.
1420.02 · 14
Contention comes to a head when Kartis and Colrin finally catch Aidan alone. He’s been so careful since that first offense, making sure to have oversight whenever they’re around, but still, they manage. Things have been so stressful lately, he must have slipped.
Both boys significantly outweigh Aidan these days, who has yet to start his teenage growth, and it escalates more quickly than last time. He knows better, but when things turn for the worse, he can’t help himself. A magical shove sends them sailing into neighboring walls.
Aidan walks away with several new bruises and a cut on his cheek, but those pale in comparison to the lashing afterward.
It never does get easier.
1420.03 · 14
He’s only recently recovered when Katya finds him to say it’s time. Aidan is as ready as he can be, and they’re out of time. Lynden has decided his latest offense is his last, and dire consequences wait on the morrow.
They move tonight.
After midnight falls, the plan goes as flawlessly as he could have hoped. Aidan slips into the chill night air without incident. He tucks into a cranny near the school to wait for his mentor, stretching his patience as long as he dares, but Katya doesn’t show. Eventually, Aidan has no choice but to leave, lest Lynden’s people realize his absence before he’s truly gone.
He spends a long time considering afterward. Katya couldn’t have left through some other vantage. But no alarm sounded, and he trusted her when she swore she’d never stay. Still, neither did she say she’d follow.
The implications are bleak.
1421.00 · 15
Let loose on the streets of Haven with nothing to his name but the clothes on his back, Aidan might have struggled to make his way if not for one final tip from Katya: find The Bawdy Bull, and meet a friend of hers behind it an hour after closing time. Tell the contact she sent him.
He knows the way; she brought it to his attention once on an infrequent outing.
On his arrival, the introduction is brief and informal. A grizzled trunk of a man conducts it in an unfamiliar accent, identifying himself as Bosker and telling Aidan to call him Boss. He claims a crew of ‘about ten’ and offers Aidan a place if he wants it. Ain’t much, Boss tells him, but it’ll keep him fed and dry.
Aidan later discovers the number to be nine: Boss, him, four older children, and three younger. Both boys and girls, to his mild surprise.
Less surprisingly, he has difficulty fitting in, with his highbred pronunciation and noble bearing making him too markedly different. Blueblood, some name him. Worse, he hasn’t been sociable since he was little, and can’t bring himself to act as he did then. Too much has happened.
But there’s also Amilie, a peer he trusts above the others. Someone he likes and almost finds relatable. When they’re together, he comes close to thinking he can forget the tragedy he’s lived through. Like maybe he’s at least a little less broken than he feels.
They may even be friends, if he can be said to have any anymore.
1422.03 · 16
A full two years have passed since Aidan joined Bosker’s crew. In the interim, he grew like a weed and polished a set of unconventional skills.
Aidan was already competent with stealth and roof-walking, but Boss also set aside time to teach him sleight-of-hand and lockpicking. It’s slow practice—picks in particular take an inordinate amount of time to be useful—but it’s interesting practice, too, and he doesn’t mind.
Once his progress satisfies, he’s put to work.
See, Bosker is an information broker. And though Aidan has never met the source to confirm it, all signs indicate a patron guiding the crew’s efforts—one secure enough to finance interest in aristocratic goings-on. Jobs have him and others moving all over wealthy districts, keeping their ears open, bypassing locks, and copying documents.
Despite a few close calls, he’s attentive, quick, and quiet. No one seems the wiser.
1422.05 · 16
The reprieve of Aidan’s relative anonymity comes to an end when Boss finds him drilling with magic.
No, he never really stopped. His relationship with his talent is complicated at best and fraught at worst, but it’s also an intrinsic part of him, and he doesn’t want to forsake it. He’s done his best to keep it secret though, making time to practice when the others are asleep or out, in places no one ever seems to go.
No one but Bosker, this one time in the hundreds of sessions Aidan has otherwise spent alone.
In the moment, the crew leader shows less surprise than Aidan might have expected. Just a ponderous exclamation: Yer a mage? It’s the best news he’s heard in an age! And that’s that, except he calls Aidan ‘my boy’ with a crooked grin as he says it. A first.
How the others learned after, Adain will never know, but to say their reaction is mixed would be generous.
Still, there’s Amilie, as lively and loyal as ever. If she minds his new eccentricity, she doesn’t show it. Instead, their friendship has flourished, and they can be found together with increasing regularity.
1422.11 · 17
Boss takes an escalating interest in Aidan’s magic over the next six months, starting as a passive observer and eventually probing his aptitude with questions. He can feel a plan taking shape, but it’s more than mere curiosity, and Aidan hedges whenever he can.
Things are looking more and more like he needs to remove himself as a factor—to run again—when forces outside his control decide for him.
One moment, he’s settled at the base, trying to sleep through a monstrous headache. The next, he finds himself sitting up, blinking blearily from a clearing nestled in a ring of majestic trees. The pain in his head still roars, but the din he was suffering has diminished to a hush.
His also having unexpected company should probably alarm him, but it doesn’t, despite his inability to recall how he got here. Said company is an august Companion, lounging at his back as if it hasn’t a care in the world, in a state too natural to feel concerning.
No explanation is immediately forthcoming, but the Companion’s rising to shove and cajole him out of the grove and across an open field to Haven’s palace is message enough.
Not just any Companion. His Companion, he learns shortly, if he’ll only take the responsibility of being a Herald. Saying no never even crosses his mind.
1422.12 · 17
Aidan spends the next few weeks alternating between adjusting to his new circumstances and learning to manage the torment of his headache, which returns with a vengeance whenever he strays far from the Companion.
As it turned out, the Companion’s name is Kishan, and Kishan is helping to control his emerging Mindspeech.
According to others, his Mindspeech has allowed him to hear thoughts. Not just a few thoughts, but the musings of a large swathe of Haven at once. Hence, the headache and the din. Given time and practice, his Gift will be capable of great feats indeed, or so Aidan is told, but until then, common wisdom suggests focusing on just blocking the noise.
Unfortunately, the worst comes later, once he takes over maintaining his own shield.
One might think Aidan would be glad to finally converse with Kishan (who has been blocking his Speech in his efforts to protect his Chosen), but he first wants to explain everything to Amilie. To say goodbye, if he must. When he raises the prospect to Kishan, though, the Companion has a confession: Amilie and the others were beset by an enemy. Bosker’s crew is gone.
Aidan is too distraught to pause. He sets off for the safehouse without thinking, leaping astride the Companion and urging him into a ground-eating lope.
Their arrival reveals a burned-out husk of a building, devoid of life and reeking of dark magic that burns against Aidan’s mage sense. Nothing about it looks like an attack by a rival or opportunist. Another mage did this. Retaliation? A message? An act against him, almost certainly, whatever it was.
He should have been here. Should have stopped it!
Kishan can say nothing to assuage his grief.
1422.12 · 17
Present tense finds Aidan back at the Collegium, fighting to regain his balance after his recent devastation and upheaval. With nightmares hounding his sleep and the fragments of memory he can’t quite grasp chasing him like an echo, peace is elusive.
1405.11 · 00
Born in the months after the Final Storm to an ailing mother who leaves it just hours later. Despite the loss and the struggles of rebuilding, Aidan grows surrounded by people who cherish him.
1409.00 · 04
Aidan starts learning what it means to be the heir of Amberden. He’s too young yet to inherit, but Qorthes will be his someday, as will the onus of repaying the crown’s trust in his family. His father strives to ensure he’ll be ready.
1411.00 · 06
A year into formal lessons, Aidan has proven both bright and diligent. His clever focus delights his tutor, and his warm manner charms most everyone else. But he’s also a little boy, wont to climb everything and ply the stablehands for extra rides.
1413.04 · 07
Betrayal surfaces when boggles ambush Aidan’s family on the way to visit his aunt. His father falls to the violence, but the onslaught stops when Aidan desiccates everything nearby in a burst of light. Unless one counts his now-missing uncle, he is the sole survivor.
1413.04 · 07
Aidan wakes two days later to meet the knife behind his family’s demise, a mage who introduces himself as his guardian and claims his family doesn’t want him. A lie, but he doesn’t know he still lives because the mage saw an opportunity in his magic.
1413.05 · 07
Aidan’s uncle, the betrayer, has reappeared in Qorthes, reaping his rewards as the head of Amberden. Meanwhile, Aidan’s mage talent improves just in time for the assassin’s patron to note it on a visit. Despite his ‘guardian’s’ protests, the Lord takes Aidan with him when he leaves.
1413.05 · 07
Patron leaves his new acquisition when they arrive at his ‘school’ in Haven. It feels like a prison to Aidan, but the staff insists he was lucky the Lord chose him. Things could have been much worse! He will train here, fostering skills the Lord prizes while he serves as a page, or so he’s told.
1414.00 · 08
Aidan remains a capable student, but everything else about settling in at the Lord’s academy is a struggle. Detractors are evident within months, including two of the Lord’s sons and the leader of his peer cohort. Jeers and slurs are a near-daily trial.
1415.12 · 10
The Lord has Aidan fill his role as a page for the first time, serving at his year-end festivity. Guests are clients and partners, disreputable all. Aidan puts an end to his part in it when he interrupts a would-be confrontation with the Lord’s heir having a screaming fit. It’s just an angry red palm, but harming his betters has consequences. His public lashing replaces the magic display he was supposed to give.
1416.10 · 10
Undiscovered Touch Reading gets Aidan into extra trouble when his backtalk sends him to Solitary—a room several other boys were trapped in when they died. Reading their desperate terror sends Aidan fleeing through the door he magically unlocks to an exit, where a guard intercepts him. His unthinking escape attempt earns him another lashing.
1416.12 · 11
Aidan’s second effort at playing page to one of the Lord’s unscrupulous parties. He manages admirably until his tolerance runs out, and he’s due to give his demonstration. What should have been a small, contained magical explosion ends up rather larger instead, spooking the guests, horrifying his instructors, and amusing the Lord. Afterward, Aidan feels sure he misstepped.
1417.00 · 11
Some of Aidan’s tutors have turned guarded and occasionally fearful since his fiery display, as though he might suddenly snap and kill everyone. He would never, but Aidan has drawn further into himself instead, using frosty stoicism to conceal his determination to leave. His efforts earn him a few reprimands for being out of bed after curfew, but he also gains planning and practice.
1418.06 · 12
After more than a year of preparation, Aidan runs a second time. His stealth and caution get him all the way out and to a trade district, but the Lord’s scrying mages find him the following morning. A savage lashing punctuates his return. Maybe this time, he’ll take the point.
1418.06 · 12
One of Aidan’s less zealously-resentful instructors intrudes on his miserable recovery to tell him his rebellion is untenable. Either he gets himself killed, or he finally breaks. But it’s an offer to help, not a censure. An accomplished mage herself, his instructor will teach him to hide from the others, and together they will quit this detestable place.
1419.00 · 13
Mastering the shroud spell has gone slowly. Aidan can cast it within weeks, but casting it subconsciously and subtly is an altogether different ordeal. Secrecy further complicates the effort, and all the while, old aggressors circle like sharks waiting for a moment of weakness.
1420.02 · 14
Aidan’s vigilance fails him when the Lord’s sons catch him alone. Just the two he’s been trying to avoid all along, but both boys outweigh him significantly, and they’re looking to prove it. When things turn for the worse, he sends them sailing into nearby walls. A few new bruises and a cut on his cheek mark him when he walks away, but they’re nothing compared to the lashing after.
1420.03 · 14
Shortly after he’s recovered, Aidan’s clandestine mentor finds him to say it’s time. He’s as ready as he can be, and the Lord is short on tolerance for his antics. They move the same night, but Aidan is alone when he manages his escape. He’ll never know why, but his mentor took her own life rather than stay or try and follow.
1421.00 · 15
Thanks to one final tip from his late instructor, Aidan falls in with an information broker’s crew once he hits the streets. He and his highborn manner fit in badly—some call him Blueblood—but he also manages to make a friend, and running with the crew keeps him fed and dry.
1422.03 · 16
More than two years after joining the informant’s crew, Aidan has grown like a weed and developed a set of less-than-prestigious skills. (Stealth, roof-walking, sleight-of-hand, and pickpocketing.) These days, he works for the crew’s patron, running all over the wealthy districts, keeping his ears open, and copying secured documents.
1422.05 · 16
Despite everything, Aidan never stopped practicing with his Mage Gift, and his relative anonymity ends when the crew leader catches him at it. He’s been careful to keep it secret, but not careful enough. The boss takes an escalating interest in it over the next six months, starting as a passive observer and eventually escalating to probing his aptitude with questions.
1422.11 · 17
Aidan is starting to think he should run again when forces outside his control choose for him. One moment, he’s at the base, trying to sleep off a monstrous headache. And the next, he’s waking beside a Companion and surrounded by trees. His Companion, he learns after the stallion has risen to shove and cajole him out of the Grove and to the palace.
1422.12 · 17
The next few weeks are a blur of adapting to his new circumstances and learning to manage the torment of his headache, which abates at first only because his Companion is helping control his emerging Mindspeech. But once Aidan takes over his own shield, he finds out an enemy beset the crew. They’re gone. Aidan makes for the scene only to see signs of a mage attack, and though he wasn’t here to intervene, it was probably an act against him.
1422.12 · 17
Present tense finds Aidan back at the Collegium, fighting to regain his balance after his recent devastation and upheaval. With nightmares hounding his sleep and the fragments of memory he can’t quite grasp chasing him like an echo, peace is elusive.
* Celeanor’s NPCs (Colrin, Kartis, Lynden) used with permission
Extras
Likes cats; calmness; sincerity; martial arts; high places; helping others; rain and spring Dislikes being manipulated or demeaned; nosiness; dishonesty; cruelty; helplessness; cold weather Talents & Skills
Bladework · Aidan has been training with bladed armaments since he was old enough to hold a wooden sword, but Lynden’s efforts to forge him into a living weapon honed the skill to a lethal edge even before he joined the Heralds. He’s particularly adept with hand-and-a-half and longsword styles, but Aidan can also handle short swords, daggers, and knives. Though he’d prefer not to use them, he will if needs must. In spite of his being a mage.
Magecraft · If Aidan owes his skill with swords and their ilk to practice and diligence, his magic aptitude can be paid at least partly to prodigious talent. He’s never met a spell he couldn’t cast. Though sometimes a reluctant mage, he’s been training since he was seven and has yet to find the edge of his ability.
Ice Skating · One of Aidan’s few ‘traditional’ hobbies. He hasn’t had much opportunity in his life for “fun,” but he picked up ice skating as a small child in Qorthes, and snatched occasions to maintain it even in his stint training under Lynden’s order. It will never be more than a seasonal recreation to him, but he dabbles in both racing and figure skating and is competent enough to be a pleasure to watch.
Larceny · Not one of his prouder traits, but Aidan has a deck of cloak-and-dagger skills from the life he led before he was Chosen. Be it stealth, roof-walking, sleight-of-hand, or lockpicking, he can probably still do it. One’s survival depending on proficiency makes it hard to forget, even if he doesn’t have much cause to practice anymore.
Other Details
Aidan is left-handed. One need be only a little observant to notice; he writes and wields weapons with his left and wears a sword on his right when he has one.
Some may find his presence surreal. Magic is an indelible part of Aidan, and even mundane observers can occasionally sense his power while he’s not suppressing his aura.
He sports a collection of scars, but none are more startling than the web of long stripes on his back.
Aidan avidly dislikes being touched, and his personal space is uncommonly large.
It’s not uncommon to find him on rooftops and in trees. Aidan’s safe places are almost always up.
He’s an organized person who leads a spartan lifestyle. Aidan holds no particular aversion to grime or mess, but endeavors to keep his minimalistic space orderly and clean.
Name Kishan Nicknames N/A Species Companion Age ?? Birth 12/1422 (Groveborn) Height 17hh Gift(s)
Strong Mindspeech (85/100)
Average Gift of Tongues (55/100)
Powerful Mage Gift (97/100)
Appearance
Kishan’s well-portioned physique rejects the notion nothing in life is perfect. He is grace and power. Strength and finesse. Ferocity and serenity. Here is a Companion made for precision, sculpted from clean lines and angles tapered just so—as if wrought by the Goddess’s own hand. Though lean describes him better than hefty, he is both tall and athletic and moves with comfortable intent.
Calm · Aidan may want to seem composed and all but impossible to ruffle, but for Kishan, it’s close to true. He is profoundly easygoing, weathering life like a stream bubbles over stones. Sometimes, his even temperament can give the illusion of distance or disinterest, but his warmth and level-headedness reveal him. He’s not uninvested, just mild. Where others might excite or upset, he understands and patiently endures. It also means he’s not prone to fretting and seldom feels riled.
Confident · Beneath his halcyon surface is a core of unshakeable certainty. Doubt is foreign to him, and not once has he considered himself anything less than capable. On the one hand, Kishan has resolve in abundance, believing innately there’s nothing he can’t accomplish if only he tries hard enough. On the other, he can seem quite like his Chosen: uncompromising, unyielding, and difficult to please. This is not a Companion who suffers incompetence gladly, and his pride demands equality, if not respect.
Kind · Saying Kishan demands being treated well would be a disservice without mentioning he’s a magnanimous Companion, too, as adamant on behalf of others as he is for himself. Courtesy is a matter of course with him, and he cares deeply for everyone, comporting himself with kindness and compassion. He is a genuine supporter, wanting nothing more than to soothe and assist in any way he can. But when words aren’t enough, Kishan can also make for a stalwart protector, as ready to defend his notions of justice and equality as he is to practice them.
Deliberate · To claim Kishan isn’t given to flights of fancy would be an understatement. One can see it in how he presents himself and moves, but it also shows in his speech and manner. Words are concise and thoughtful; actions are careful and measured. Though his wit and confidence make him quick to react, he’s never one to dive in first and ask questions later, and can sometimes seem too serious.
Headstrong · Kishan is ultimately serene and superficially amicable, but his will is also immovable when he sets himself to it. He’s every bit as headstrong as his Chosen, and it’s equally fair to call him rigid. He knows his own mind, has strong opinions, and there’s no changing either. And while he’s not a bully, neither is he spineless. He will assert himself—with force if need be—if he’s adequately convinced he’s in the right.
