Avalux Kesterven
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 106 
Age: 42
Appearance: Avalux is quarter elven which makes his age slightly hard to guess. His hair had turned a silvery blonde when he was quite young and most of the signs of age on his features are due more to squinting to read in candlelight than his years. He is on the tall and lean side but not to an excessive degree. Perhaps a hair's breadth over six feet and with enough meat on his bones to be healthy. His features are angular and they have a slightly severe cast as his habitual expression is a frown of thoughtful consideration.
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Equipment: Utterly insufficient for the task he has been presented with but he has the essential. A fresh notebook, a pen enchanted to replenish its own ink over time, a rune scribes etching tool, his glasses, and various crystals for creating apparatus.
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Skills and Abilities: Avalux is a magical engineer (Artificer if you wish to offend) and researcher. He specializes in the creation of devices that use magical power to power mechanical designs. He tackles magic with the scientific method trying to quantify something that most people believe to be unquantifiable. His drive and determination to do so often make him overlook certain things.
Registered: Nov 14, 2021 12:43:02 GMT -5
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Post by Avalux Kesterven on Dec 5, 2021 14:23:07 GMT -5
"Well, there is certainly an argument to be made for that. However, I spent much of my life having people accuse me of being insane so I have a level of understanding."
It had become clear that he should have stopped talking earlier than he had. When he'd started to pitch ideas he hadn't really thought about what would go through her head. He was just providing a few hypotheses not actual answers after all. But one of those answers had set her off and he'd listened to what she had to say for some time.
"First of all, it sounds like you have been through a substantial amount of trauma and you may have some mild battle shock. Perhaps some survi... Actually, I've learned my lesson about theorizing too much. I am not a doctor, just generally educated. Still, none of what you describe sounds like the sort of thing that builds a strong base of mental health."
Then with an absent wave of his hand, he adds.
"Besides, without meaning to sound egotistical, I would guess my lifetime contribution to raising the amount of magic being used eclipses yours by quite a lot. Though this theory is suspect as I am beginning to suspect we either come from different worlds or different times as I've not heard of you and you would most certainly have heard of me. I industrialized the process of magic in my world, within the span of twenty years I managed to take my family's fortune and increase it until I had more money than the kingdom. Not the just the king, the entire kingdom. According to the last fiance report I read, the last few countries I wasn't currently selling to had finally caved in and profits were rising as fast as product could be produced. As it transpires, the old saying is true. If you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door. I figured out how to make an enchanted charm that warded away pests. It cost a few coppers to make, I sold it for a silver, and the world was changed forever as soon everyone was using magic to make life easier."
There was a slight note of bitterness to his words as he looked out at the sea for a moment.
"Anyway, if you can't guess this is why I am not suitable to speculate further. My mental health is questionable at best and we might be better off heading into town and getting something to eat. Before we find another reason to start talking magic or about our respective woes."
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Jun of the Celadine
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 305 
Age: 33
Appearance: Jun stands at about 5’ 4”, with a willowy, slightly rectangular build. Her tawny olive skin has lost its flush from constantly wearing cloth armor, and she is dotted with small scars, including wrinkled patches of old burns on her left arm. She has deep brown, slightly hooded eyes and not quite straight dark auburn hair. Her face is still youthful and strong, though her gaze suggests she’s seen way too much for her age.
Equipment: An emerald, muddy long coat-style gambeson. A chrome blue longsword with a rusty hilt. Rusted shackles on her wrists ending in broken chains, giving a false impression that she had been a prisoner; the bracelets are easily removed.
Skills and Abilities: What remains of Jun’s power is a mix of animal friendship and elemental control. She can communicate with and control weaker animals, like insects, and request the help of larger, sentient animals (though they are not compelled to obey her). She can perform subtle manipulations of fire, water, earth, wind, and other “elements” like light and shadow. Her most unique ability is to imbue elemental magic into other life forms and channel her spells through them.
She is a decent cook and survivalist and has a solid academic understanding of agriculture and ecology. She is also a decent sword and hand-to-hand fighter.
Biography: Jun of the Celadine was a stereotypical hero of legend. She was one of Isra's mightiest spellcasters, had gone on dozens of adventures, possessed several powerful artifacts, and helped bring peace to the world on many occasions.
A notorious overachiever and workaholic, Jun had driven herself to near madness pursuing powerful magic. In standard fashion, it was the power of friendship that kept her sane.
Now Jun must cope with the fact that much of the world she helped protect has been lost, and that most of the magic power she had accrued over the years has stopped working.
Her family (whose whereabouts are unknown) was a clan of farmers and gardeners. Her tribe lived in peace and harmony in a mostly forested region. Every two hundred years or so, their people produced a powerful mage and master of all elements. Jun was not this chosen one, but rather her grandmother was. Still, Jun's (somewhat unhealthy) obsession with keeping up with her ancestor made her a pretty close second.
Jun has no regrets about her journey, though she sometimes wishes she had spent more learning other skills, like cooking and dancing. She also feels she made a poor lover, though it's likely her old partners passed away in the floodwaters anyways...
Registered: May 25, 2021 13:33:31 GMT -5
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Post by Jun of the Celadine on Dec 8, 2021 12:57:12 GMT -5
Jun listened calmly, absorbing the man's story. She half suppressed a sort of aggressive yet sheepish grin when he brought up her mental health, which was a popular topic as of late. Her head gently bopped against the tree trunk one more time. It was true, and she knew it.
But at least he understood. Mentally unstable overachievers were a rare breed. Jun wondered if, in another world, she might have been like Avalux, or if perhaps Avalux would have been like her. A part of her wondered what their lives would have been like without magic, too. Avalux probably would have a regular mouse trap mogul.
When he was finished, she got up, dusted off her gambeson, and resisted the urge to play with her leaves some more.
"Yah, you're right. Besides, we can always talk while getting food and settling in. Us crazy people need to stick together right?" She gently backhanded Avalux's arm and would bid him to follow her towards the nearest village.
"You know, I had a friend in my world, a man who had been horribly tortured and forged into an assassin. I recorded his story on a magical sound recorder. I had intended to use his story to try to develop some sort of discipline for helping people with damaged minds, a science of some sort. I think a zombie invasion happened shortly after and I never got around to it. Oh well..."
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Avalux Kesterven
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 106
Age: 42
Appearance: Avalux is quarter elven which makes his age slightly hard to guess. His hair had turned a silvery blonde when he was quite young and most of the signs of age on his features are due more to squinting to read in candlelight than his years. He is on the tall and lean side but not to an excessive degree. Perhaps a hair's breadth over six feet and with enough meat on his bones to be healthy. His features are angular and they have a slightly severe cast as his habitual expression is a frown of thoughtful consideration.
-------------------------
Equipment: Utterly insufficient for the task he has been presented with but he has the essential. A fresh notebook, a pen enchanted to replenish its own ink over time, a rune scribes etching tool, his glasses, and various crystals for creating apparatus.
-------------------------
Skills and Abilities: Avalux is a magical engineer (Artificer if you wish to offend) and researcher. He specializes in the creation of devices that use magical power to power mechanical designs. He tackles magic with the scientific method trying to quantify something that most people believe to be unquantifiable. His drive and determination to do so often make him overlook certain things.
Registered: Nov 14, 2021 12:43:02 GMT -5
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Post by Avalux Kesterven on Dec 8, 2021 17:17:54 GMT -5
Avalux had done his best to keep his explanation brief and it appeared to have done its job. Jun's mood improved enough that she no longer seemed to be in a funk. He was glad, he did not like talking about his achievements overmuch. He felt like a braggart even when what he was speaking of was factually true. Though it was not really the mouse trap that had earned him money. It was the rune array that let an enchantment gather energy without requiring a magic user.
After he patented his rune array, well, most enchanters starting out used un-patented rune arrays to create the basic charms and such they sold. So he'd started creating those types of charms and selling them himself. His were just better since they didn't require annual recharging by the same mage. Since his were self charging, they just worked for years until the actual material it was made of degraded. So his started to sell like hotcakes, at which point he'd created a rune press and things had rapidly spiraled from there. After all, even the poorest villager would rather pay five copper to protect his store house for ten years from vermin rather than five copper every year for the same service.
The funny thing was, any wizard at any point in history could have done what he'd done. They just hadn't because they had no desire or reason to make magic available to the masses. After all, the magical guilds had a monopoly on magic why would they ever want to risk that by making it more widely available? An attitude that had wound up costing them dearly. As many of the minor members they relied upon for guild dues lost their income the magic guilds power and influence had rapidly dried up... Despite numerous attempts at sabotage
"That is an excellent idea please lead the way."
Avalux said falling into step beside her as she lead the way to the village and told her of her friend.
"I imagine that this idea formed when you thought that shouldering the burdens of the world was a perfectly sane and rational thing for you to do?"
The man said with a soft chuckle his tone suggesting that he'd had very similar thoughts when he was younger. Which he had, because for many years his sole goal had been trying to make the world a better place. It had taken him quite a long time to learn a valuable lesson. You could save people who were in danger, you could save them from poor living conditions, you could make the world a better place. But at the end of the day, you couldn't save people from themselves. The world got along fine before him and it would get along fine after him because no matter how much he thought he knew what was best for everyone, he really didn't.
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Jun of the Celadine
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 305
Age: 33
Appearance: Jun stands at about 5’ 4”, with a willowy, slightly rectangular build. Her tawny olive skin has lost its flush from constantly wearing cloth armor, and she is dotted with small scars, including wrinkled patches of old burns on her left arm. She has deep brown, slightly hooded eyes and not quite straight dark auburn hair. Her face is still youthful and strong, though her gaze suggests she’s seen way too much for her age.
Equipment: An emerald, muddy long coat-style gambeson. A chrome blue longsword with a rusty hilt. Rusted shackles on her wrists ending in broken chains, giving a false impression that she had been a prisoner; the bracelets are easily removed.
Skills and Abilities: What remains of Jun’s power is a mix of animal friendship and elemental control. She can communicate with and control weaker animals, like insects, and request the help of larger, sentient animals (though they are not compelled to obey her). She can perform subtle manipulations of fire, water, earth, wind, and other “elements” like light and shadow. Her most unique ability is to imbue elemental magic into other life forms and channel her spells through them.
She is a decent cook and survivalist and has a solid academic understanding of agriculture and ecology. She is also a decent sword and hand-to-hand fighter.
Biography: Jun of the Celadine was a stereotypical hero of legend. She was one of Isra's mightiest spellcasters, had gone on dozens of adventures, possessed several powerful artifacts, and helped bring peace to the world on many occasions.
A notorious overachiever and workaholic, Jun had driven herself to near madness pursuing powerful magic. In standard fashion, it was the power of friendship that kept her sane.
Now Jun must cope with the fact that much of the world she helped protect has been lost, and that most of the magic power she had accrued over the years has stopped working.
Her family (whose whereabouts are unknown) was a clan of farmers and gardeners. Her tribe lived in peace and harmony in a mostly forested region. Every two hundred years or so, their people produced a powerful mage and master of all elements. Jun was not this chosen one, but rather her grandmother was. Still, Jun's (somewhat unhealthy) obsession with keeping up with her ancestor made her a pretty close second.
Jun has no regrets about her journey, though she sometimes wishes she had spent more learning other skills, like cooking and dancing. She also feels she made a poor lover, though it's likely her old partners passed away in the floodwaters anyways...
Registered: May 25, 2021 13:33:31 GMT -5
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Post by Jun of the Celadine on Dec 8, 2021 20:11:51 GMT -5
The nearest village wouldn't be too far. It was rather fitting actually that her new friend had shown up in the same place she had washed ashore.
Alden's life was a sensitive topic with Jun. Although she didn't hold it against Avalux, she didn't really like having the idea dismissed, though of course Avalux did have a point.
"Heh." She folded her arms and blinked with a wry smile as she walked. "Well, sanity is somewhat subjective."
Jun gazed at the direction of the village wistfully.
"I think, people with privilege, who don't use it to help others, in a world filled with monsters, that to me is insanity. Witches and wizards who hide in caves, raising armies of undead so they can force young boys with metal sticks to rise up and fight against them, that is insanity. I lived in an insane world. That world made me. Maybe all I ever really wanted was for the forces of darkness to behold the monster they made, the craziest bitch on the planet."
She unfolded her arms and put a gentle hand on Avalux's shoulder.
"You know, maybe I just love people too much. Sometimes I think the rage of a kind woman ought to be the deadliest thing in the world. Vampires and evil warlords don't deserve that privilege."
You're welcome for saving your life again by the way, she thought, though she didn't dare say out loud that a saner person might have failed. Something in her eyes might give the sentiment away. Maybe.
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Avalux Kesterven
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 106
Age: 42
Appearance: Avalux is quarter elven which makes his age slightly hard to guess. His hair had turned a silvery blonde when he was quite young and most of the signs of age on his features are due more to squinting to read in candlelight than his years. He is on the tall and lean side but not to an excessive degree. Perhaps a hair's breadth over six feet and with enough meat on his bones to be healthy. His features are angular and they have a slightly severe cast as his habitual expression is a frown of thoughtful consideration.
-------------------------
Equipment: Utterly insufficient for the task he has been presented with but he has the essential. A fresh notebook, a pen enchanted to replenish its own ink over time, a rune scribes etching tool, his glasses, and various crystals for creating apparatus.
-------------------------
Skills and Abilities: Avalux is a magical engineer (Artificer if you wish to offend) and researcher. He specializes in the creation of devices that use magical power to power mechanical designs. He tackles magic with the scientific method trying to quantify something that most people believe to be unquantifiable. His drive and determination to do so often make him overlook certain things.
Registered: Nov 14, 2021 12:43:02 GMT -5
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Post by Avalux Kesterven on Dec 12, 2021 15:38:07 GMT -5
"Of course, most things are when you get philosophical."
Avalux inclined his head when she declared the subjective nature of sanity. If ever there was a topic that lent itself to a lack of consensus it was minds arguing with other minds about how they should behave. About what was normal behaviour.
Holding back his first response to her declaration when her hand pressed against his shoulder. There was genuine emotion there as she gave him a look that said this was the philosophy that had led to her saving his life. Like recognized like and he saw much of himself in Jun but not quite as jaded as he was.
"I think the finer points of this debate can wait until after we have food in our stomachs."
That was what he finally decided to respond with. Because as much as he was enjoying this conversation, as much as having a peer to talk to was a wonderful thing, he knew that getting into how justice itself was subjective was going to lead to another debate and they should really stay on task. Because he very much wanted something that wasn't salt pork and grog.
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Jun of the Celadine
Dedicated
Roleplay posts: 305
Age: 33
Appearance: Jun stands at about 5’ 4”, with a willowy, slightly rectangular build. Her tawny olive skin has lost its flush from constantly wearing cloth armor, and she is dotted with small scars, including wrinkled patches of old burns on her left arm. She has deep brown, slightly hooded eyes and not quite straight dark auburn hair. Her face is still youthful and strong, though her gaze suggests she’s seen way too much for her age.
Equipment: An emerald, muddy long coat-style gambeson. A chrome blue longsword with a rusty hilt. Rusted shackles on her wrists ending in broken chains, giving a false impression that she had been a prisoner; the bracelets are easily removed.
Skills and Abilities: What remains of Jun’s power is a mix of animal friendship and elemental control. She can communicate with and control weaker animals, like insects, and request the help of larger, sentient animals (though they are not compelled to obey her). She can perform subtle manipulations of fire, water, earth, wind, and other “elements” like light and shadow. Her most unique ability is to imbue elemental magic into other life forms and channel her spells through them.
She is a decent cook and survivalist and has a solid academic understanding of agriculture and ecology. She is also a decent sword and hand-to-hand fighter.
Biography: Jun of the Celadine was a stereotypical hero of legend. She was one of Isra's mightiest spellcasters, had gone on dozens of adventures, possessed several powerful artifacts, and helped bring peace to the world on many occasions.
A notorious overachiever and workaholic, Jun had driven herself to near madness pursuing powerful magic. In standard fashion, it was the power of friendship that kept her sane.
Now Jun must cope with the fact that much of the world she helped protect has been lost, and that most of the magic power she had accrued over the years has stopped working.
Her family (whose whereabouts are unknown) was a clan of farmers and gardeners. Her tribe lived in peace and harmony in a mostly forested region. Every two hundred years or so, their people produced a powerful mage and master of all elements. Jun was not this chosen one, but rather her grandmother was. Still, Jun's (somewhat unhealthy) obsession with keeping up with her ancestor made her a pretty close second.
Jun has no regrets about her journey, though she sometimes wishes she had spent more learning other skills, like cooking and dancing. She also feels she made a poor lover, though it's likely her old partners passed away in the floodwaters anyways...
Registered: May 25, 2021 13:33:31 GMT -5
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Post by Jun of the Celadine on Dec 12, 2021 21:58:26 GMT -5
Jun playfully shoved Avalux. "We're almost there. I told you, these people make excellent pork stew."
Jun had always been extremely emotional. As a sorceress, it was her greatest strength. As a person, it was a mixed bag. While training and experience had tempered her somewhat, the fire was still there, so to speak. It was easy to take pride in it when it was a legitimate source of power. Now next to a man like Avalux, it felt a bit silly.
But, lately she felt a bit safer being silly. In fact, despite the horrors of the isles, she'd been feeling a bit safer in general. And for some reason, Avalux seemed like a consistent part of the trend.
<Exit>
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