Depheir Kogthar
Background
Son of Alvaria and Hargnor Kogthar, destined to be a royal guard one day. His childhood wasn't the same as most children. He was sent to a military school, when he ended six years. There he met first friends, fought first skirmishes. He was quite good at what he was destined to, but he wanted to study. Books was most fascinating products of civilization, as he thought. He wanted to read some at the school and, unexpectedly, he found one book under his bed.
"Arcane Magic and You: Introduction"
He hid it in a safe place and studied it only at night. Beautiful inscriptions, writtn in all upon it, had its inner power, what young Depheir didn't expect. Every verse glowed with a bright light, when read. He began to feel that wizardry is his true direction.
Soon after he read whole book, he wanted more books to read and after he ended fifteen years, he went away in search for magical books. Not a long time after, he meet a strange wizard.
"What do you seek, young one?", wizard asked.
"Do you, stranger, have any books that might interest me?"
"Yes, i have some of them to show you... if you will become my apprentice."
"Of course, master..."
He spent about twenty years in studying the arcane books. He knew almost every magical inscription written upon them. One day he read mysterious books, something happened. Something, for what he waited for so long...
Power answered to him!
His hands blazed as he casted spells he learned so long. He repeated them once more, memorizing their effect. He watched, as elements bended to his will, their energy pulsing, flowing, ready to answer his call.
"There is still much to discover, my apprentice", wizard repeated always when saw Depheir reading the tomes.
"How is it possible, to be unable to use magic?", apprentice asked his master once.
"You know, not every man puts a value on these inscriptions. Most of people are unable to cast spells only by their ignorance..."
Many events occured in his life were forgotten by him, except his death. He will never forget that day.
Night. Moon shining high above the trees. He and his books in the forest. He was reading the books, studying mysterious arcana. There was no incantation to be forgotten. He had to study.
Few thugs approached him. Each of them in a simple cloth armor, with a dagger in their hand. He defeated them with ease, using simple Fireblast spell. He didn't even lift his eyes above the tomes.
Each inscription was so beautiful to him. He explored them, one by one. Each of them gave him such power and enlightment.
Again, he was interrupted by a regular army of a town nearby. Such ignorants... they had to be punished!
Few spells and they died, amidst the searing trees. Screams of tortured men filled his ears, but few seconds later screams were stopped.
Suddenly, he felt a bite of venomous spider. He invoked an elemental barrier spell, but it was too late. Poison ran through his veins. He felt pain, greater with each second. He fell on the ground, clasping the book he read. The world swirled in his eyes. He felt his arms go numb, then torso, and rest of the body. Darkness was closing in over him. He screamed, but no voice came out.
Then, unexpectedly, the pain, the numbness, every feeling, left away, but he didn't die. He simply stood up, looked around and went away, wondering, how was that possible…
Attributes:
Constitution: Endurance - Depheir, as a nearly-dead being, doesn't need rest, or food, or drink to exist, but he sometimes truly enjoys feasts.
Dexterity: Dodge - Despite the fact of Depheir's military disliking, he found a thing in the fighting art which interested him: the art of avoiding hostile attacks.
Depheir, at his childhood, was sent to the military school, where he gained skills in using ranged weapons.
Crossbow specialization - when young, he was quite skilled in fighting with a crossbow. Unfortunately, he has no crossbow with him, but if he will find one, he'll make good use from it.
Way of the Willow - "Willow is flexible, and hardwood breaks", Depheir's old teacher told him one winter's midday, when looking on the trees with an immense amount of snow on it. There was a small willow that snow didn't land on it because of its flexibility. There was also an aged, heavy oak, branches of which didn't withstand the pressure of snow and fell on the ground.
In fact, it was the only sentence, which, besides those about crossbow mastering, Depheir turned into reality. He wouldn't allow many blows to be struck on him. He focuses in avoiding those and years of training helped him very much.
Intelligence: Spellcasting - He spent over a half of his life on studying arcane books and has many powerful spells under his command. They are called from a raw magical essence, and aren't dependent from environment, but from caster's power:
Spell 1: Fireblast: a simple and effective spell, allowing caster to transform his magical power into fire, mostly used to immolate a group of enemies, although it has many other uses.
Spell 2: Arcane shield: caster may invoke a force field from his raw magical essence in a purpose to guard him from attacks. If stronger blows are made upon it, the spell drains more essence of the caster to be maintained. A most needed spell for wizards that are in a melee combat.
Spell 3: Confusion: caster may send some of unprocessed essence to an enemy unit. Mostly it gives an effect of confusion, rendering enemy helpless in battle, but in rare cases it may give no effect (while fighting another skilled wizard) or cause further damage (if target is susceptible to magic).
Spell 4: Summon Elemental: even commanding elements isn't easy. Giving to conjured entities any essence of life is a sign of the master. Skilled wizard may summon a being made of a random element: water, fire, wind and earth. Summoning is a very exhausting spell, but it is worth an effort. If the skill will be mastered, elementals summoned may help his allies with their spells.
Spell 5: Arcane Weaponcharm: Even most skilled wizard will sometimes need to fight in a melee combat. This spell allows him or his ally to enchant his weapon, in effort to boost effectiveness of the attack. When strike will be blocked by the armor, arcane power will materialize and pierce through the armor.
Spell 6: Tremor: Quite interesting and fickle ability, which causes tremors and cracking of the earth in some area. It's power depends on the surprises, which await underground...
Spell 7: Telekinesis: Very helpful spell allowing caster to move objects from a distance. The more energy used for the spell, the greater objects can be moved, and from the greater distance.
Spell 8: Time Bend: A spell, which is not recommended to use amidst of battle or before the fight due to the energy drained by the spell. It exhausts the caster for a very long time and it is rarely worth an effort. It allows the caster to bend the time for about ten seconds. Bending the time may be performed by stopping it, moving it backward, or forward. The spell, if will be mastered, will unleash its true potential and will be much more useful.
Spell 9: Perspective
This spell allows the magic-user to see through the eyes of another person for a limited amount of time. In order to effectively use this spell, the target must be someone that the character is acquainted with, or someone that the caster has line of sight on. This spell may be circumvented by certain high-level Ageless/Forsaken, as some have wards to protect it. However, it will always work on mortals. As the caster continues to practice with this spell, it will become significantly more powerful.
Appearance: Depheir is a tall man with long, ebon hair, pale skin and black eyes. He died, while he had thirty-five years.
He always wears a brown, hooded robe, with strange runes in all over it. He also wears an amulet consisting of a blue gem inside a metal fitting.
The two scabbards he carries attached to his robe are for his weapons. Two longswords, razor-sharp and magically enchanted, are rarely used for a battle, but if needed, may be very, very useful.
Death Wound: Depheir Kogthar died from a venom of the spider. That means he is vulnerable for everything that carries a poison. Thus he has to maintain his shielding spell in a single combat in order to survive.
