Mandross

Mandross is now an elderly wizard that has seen much in his time and regrets most of it. He was an arrogant boy and grew into an arrogant man that saw only what riches his magic could give him. In time he realized what suffering he caused as well, but no before many who trusted him died. His long life has given him a far better perspective and now he is looked to as one of the wise Magister who will do well when he is reborn upon the wheel.

He has taken two apprentices over the years. The first died of fever, but the second is a young woman of both talent and ambition. He feels great sadness over the death of the first, but is more troubled by the second. He sees much of himself in her and has worked tirelessly to dampen the ambition before she follows him on the same dark path.

Born in the town of Ithius, Mandross' father hoped that his oldest son would follow in his footsteps and become a tailor; however, Madross was always drawn more to the minstrels that would visit during the feasts. It was the minstrels themselves he was interested in, but instead he loved their stories of heroism in far away places. With that in mind, young Madross began to try and mimic their great battles with his other friends. Unfortunately nature was not very kind to Mandross and his lanky body was ill-suited for rough play. He was almost always left in the dirt with a bloody nose or cut lip when he tried to defeat the evil troll.

During one particularly difficult beating something came alive inside of Mandross. Words of power flowed from his mouth and both of the boys hold him where thrown against the nearby trees. The town bully who was beating on him tried to run away, but vines snaked from the ground and held him in place. As he began to beat on the bully the power slowly faded away until the other boys could run away. By the time he let the bully free, felt ashamed of himself. How could he be a true hero if he let his anger overcome his sense — completely forgotten were the words he had spoken that started everything.

Mandross left his town and never returned. With no belongings and little sense of what lay outside other than from the minstrels story, Mandross was figuring he would be eaten by a troll with the week. Such a thing didn't happen, for trolls rarely came around the well settled area in which he lived. Instead he simply got hungry and tired as time wore on. For the next two years he worked anything for meal and place to sleep. The road hardened his body, but deadened his mind. It was when he knocked on a strange green door that his life would again change.

The woman inside called herself Nadine and by her look Mandross guessed her to be from the great snowy north. She gave him a hot meal and warm bed in exchange for some help with the wood. While he was chopping wood Mandross felt a tingling spark up his spine and all of the wood around him began to spin in a slow circle around his body. In about a minute it fell to the ground, Mandross was too stunned to chop any more wood and wandered back into the small house. He tried to explain what happened, but Nadine pushed his excuses off and told him that faerie wood was always difficult to control. Mandross was stunned, but even more so when she offered to help him expand his natural gift if he would stay and keep up her house.

For six years Mandross kept the house in good order, fetched water, and hunted game for the Nadine. In exchange Nadine taught him his numbers, letters, and how the various combinations could be used with certain objects to cast magic. She introduced him to the faeries that lived in the woods and streams and taught him how to speak to certain beasts. While Mandross could not remember too many stories about heroic wizards the dreams of glory began to again take shape in his mind. When he felt like it was time to leave he thanked Nadine for all that she had done for him and promised to repay her someday.

After only two years of additional learning, Mandross joined a mercenary company called the Red Serpents. Mandross made quite a name for himself with the other members and knew that the group only needed a large victory over a dreadful evil to spur the ministrels into making a ballad about them. After researching what was required, Mandross suggested that they go north and slay the dragon that has been terrorizing a nearby town. The others were very reluctant, until Mandross told them he knew of many spells that would protect them. With that and the promise of great fame and gold the others agreed.

The battle turned into a disaster in which Mandross was the only survivor. While the other companions charged the great beast, Mandross held back and cast spells of protection about them. However, the dragon was very powerful and tore his wards apart without any effort. While his companions were dying, Mandross was left standing in place by the dragonfear. Finally, with all of his friends dead the shock was too much and Mandross unleashed all of the magic that remained in him. That was the last thing he remembered.

Mandross awoke in a small Dakarian hamlet with no memory of who he was or how he got there — only that he was a tailor. Once his body recovered, probably ambushed by a gang of bandits, he left the hamlet to find himself.

Mandross is a middle-aged Irillian male with short cropped black hair and deep brown eyes. His very light olive colored skin suggests that he originally comes from one of the southern districts. His right ear is notched twice at the top and his upper torso if covered in tatoos of all manner of animals. When not slouched over, something he commonly does, he stands almost 5' 10“ but most of the time he barely reaches 5'6”.