Character History
Nov. 24th, 2011 06:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
notafirewithinBirth and crèche
Ioann, and his younger brother Mikhail, are the children of a carefully arranged marriage between Fyador D’Breliven (grand-nephew of Pyotra, the current High Wizard of Breliven) and Polina D’Loradon (A powerful healing mage and cousin of the High Wizard of Loradon). The marriage was arranged by Pyotra for the purposes of producing children with both high magical ability and ties to multiple royal lines. Both children were immediately separated from their parents and put into a crèche care and pre-schooling with the other children of the Breliven royal line. Individuality was discouraged and conformity praised, and loyalty was hailed as the highest virtue that a Breliven can possess. The children lived in close quarters, with communal possessions and shared tasks. The primary form of punishment was public shaming, but the general air was that of happy and healthy children.
Early schooling
While his healing magic manifested within his first year, it was the growing strength of it that caught the attention of Master Healer Equard and lead to the wizard laying claim to the boy as a future healer. As he got older, Ioann was assigned to more lessons than the other children, with little time for play, and began to be singled out as special and valued because of his healing magic. One of his few non-Breliven friends was Jonath D’Loradon who was being fostered there, though the older boy was largely considered to be a distraction. Ioann’s life ambition was to become a Master Healer. While it was traditional to send children of royal lines to the University-Court at age ten, Pyotra delayed sending Ioann on the basis that the politics there would interfere with his studies.
Being sent to university
When Ioann was eleven, Pyotra’s son Vanya, who had been the Breliven Heir at University-Court, declared his intention to defy his mother and refuse the role, pleading psychological strain at having been away from Breliven too long. Vanya’s shameful defiance left Breliven under-represented, and as a result Ioann’s lessons where interrupted and he was sent to University-Court, much to everyone’s frustration. Once there, Ioann lived with his aunt Lidiya and her fully grown son Aleksandr, who had been born and raised at court. Having never left Breliven before, Ioann was very homesick and intimidated by the sheer grandeur and wealth of the floating city.
Apprenticeship to Arthan
He was apprenticed to Master Healer Arthan D’Hann, a well known and respected wizard who Ioann had met several times when Arthan would visit Breliven. It had been intended for several years that Ioann would study under Arthan, and the Master Healer adjusted well to the schedule change. While a great deal of his studies was done individually, Ioann befriended and often worked with Linetta D’Cless (a plant mage) and Dirk D’Serance (animal healing). Both were of his age, though neither of them had such a close tie to a royal family, having earned their invites on the basis of their power not their linage.
Harassed by cousin and war mages
Neither of them were able to accompany him to high social events, and he found the politics of the University-Court to be boring, confusing, and embarrassing. Aleksandr considered Ioann to be a threat to his attempt to claim the role of Breliven Heir, and Lidiya was often cold and distant, engrossed in her own brand of study. Ioann’s cousin harassed Ioann on a constant basis, and often sabotaged him, though Aleksandr never interfered with the healing lessons, since becoming a Master Healer would disqualify Ioann from the role of Heir. As a result, Ioann sought refuge among the healers and his lessons. Many of the other royal children were studying to become war mages, which was much more prestigious, and were disgusted that Ioann would favor his Breliven healing magic over his Loradon fire magic. Ioann learned to hide his emotions and avoid social situations in order to escape their abuse.
Darkfire attack
After a year, Ioann was just beginning to adjust to the self-based culture of the court, when the Darkfire wars began. While the renegade mage’s exploits were common gossip among the war mages, the healers had little to do with politics. Things hit home when the Darkfire Wizard attacked the floating city, leveling whole buildings with highly caustic and infectious darkfire metal bombs. The healer’s concave was particularly targeted; while Ioann and Arthan avoided being harmed in the attack, they were heavily involved in rescuing survivors and supplies. Despite wearing containment suits, being in the presence of the metal that Darkfire is derived from rendered their use of magic problematic, and the work had to be done by hand. While trying to save Dirk, Ioann’s hand got sliced open by darkfire metal debris that ripped through his insolating gloves.
Loss of magic
The darkfire contamination began draining Ioann’s life magic and life force, burning in his blood with a dangerous fever that developed within minutes of being cut. Most of the injured darkfire victims died within days, but after a few weeks, his wound stabilized at a drain only slightly higher than his body could produce, leaving him with a debilitating fever. His hand was mangled beyond repair, and while the healers studied the darkfire effects on him, nothing they tried could stop the gradual decay of his hand and arm. He lost all ability to manipulate his healing magic, rendering his years of study worthless. The worst part of it all is the other Healers’ pity. Despite his weakness, he persisted in what ever medical role he could, and helped other darkfire victims since he was already contaminated.
Exclusion from Breliven
During a particularly bad bought of fever, a large number of Breliven healers came to add their power in an experimental attempt to cure Ioann. Because of the Breliven tie to the land, Ioann’s injury was not just draining him, but was having a noticeable effect on the rest of the family. With Aleksandr’s urging, it was decided that Ioann must be removed from the connection, for the greater good. Once they did so, the contamination’s effect on him increased, and it became clear that he had only a short time left before it would consume him. Ioann had never felt so lonely, or betrayed by the people he trusted.
First kill and fleeing
Still unwilling to give up on his life’s work, he became a medical assistant, doing the most menial of jobs. The first time he killed, it was accidental, when giving first aid to a badly injured patient after a darkfire attack; Ioann’s injured hand came into contact with blood and the darkfire flared, almost instantly draining the victim. It happened several more times before Ioann realized what he was doing. In a panic, he confessed to Arthan, who examined Ioann and determined the draining had temporarily improved his own condition. Arthan urged Ioann to flee, for draining the magic of another wizard is one of the most illegal things a mage can do, and punishable by death. On Arthan’s suggestion, Ioann took some of Dirk’s clothing that he had saved, changed his name to ‘John,’ and ran away. The Master Healer told everyone that Ioann had finally died of his injury.
Refugee
Ioann had little money, and it was quickly taken away from him by the first band of thugs he encountered, who also administrated to him his first real beating. He was found nearly dead, and was assisted by a group of refugees, who he traveled with towards Loradon, in the hopes of somehow finding and contacting his old friend Jonath. He learned a quick and dirty kind of fighting with a knife, primarily seeking to score an open wound, which he could then use to drain his opponent. It took him several months to reach Loradon, and the ragged, demoralized boy who arrived in that land had lost all true hope of assistance. Instead, he developed a dark obsession with revenge, and knew that current speculation traced the Darkfire wizard’s origins to the mountainous region of Loradon.
Mercenary
Ioann’s refugee group stumbled over a group of Darkfire soldiers and was slaughtered, with only a bare handful able to flee and give warning to the village that was going to be attacked. The commoners assumed that Ioann was recently wounded, and treated him as such. When a mercenary group fighting for Loradon forces came looking for recruits, Ioann joined as a scout, largely because of his small size. Joining gave him an increased access to victims. He was bitterly jealous of the unit’s few mages, and tried to copy their fire magic, which is how he discovered he could produce a small, similar effect with darkfire energy. Doing so increased his need to kill, but made him feel powerful again, and he yearned for that, since a wizard without magic is nothing.
Alain
The soldiers in the mercenary camp were an eclectic lot, and many were less than savory individuals. At first, Ioann had to go to great lengths to protect even his right to food, let alone what little pay he received. An ex-farmer turned fighter by the wars took on an almost fatherly interest in the boy who was the same age as his deceased son. Alain was dour, quiet, and menacing, and he and Ioann got long very well, each sharing a desire for revenge. One night, Alain caught Ioann practicing with darkfire, and very nearly killed him in anger, and their friendship almost ended. They reached a kind of truce, where Alain vowed to kill Ioann should the darkfire ever completely take over.
Ioann, and his younger brother Mikhail, are the children of a carefully arranged marriage between Fyador D’Breliven (grand-nephew of Pyotra, the current High Wizard of Breliven) and Polina D’Loradon (A powerful healing mage and cousin of the High Wizard of Loradon). The marriage was arranged by Pyotra for the purposes of producing children with both high magical ability and ties to multiple royal lines. Both children were immediately separated from their parents and put into a crèche care and pre-schooling with the other children of the Breliven royal line. Individuality was discouraged and conformity praised, and loyalty was hailed as the highest virtue that a Breliven can possess. The children lived in close quarters, with communal possessions and shared tasks. The primary form of punishment was public shaming, but the general air was that of happy and healthy children.
Early schooling
While his healing magic manifested within his first year, it was the growing strength of it that caught the attention of Master Healer Equard and lead to the wizard laying claim to the boy as a future healer. As he got older, Ioann was assigned to more lessons than the other children, with little time for play, and began to be singled out as special and valued because of his healing magic. One of his few non-Breliven friends was Jonath D’Loradon who was being fostered there, though the older boy was largely considered to be a distraction. Ioann’s life ambition was to become a Master Healer. While it was traditional to send children of royal lines to the University-Court at age ten, Pyotra delayed sending Ioann on the basis that the politics there would interfere with his studies.
Being sent to university
When Ioann was eleven, Pyotra’s son Vanya, who had been the Breliven Heir at University-Court, declared his intention to defy his mother and refuse the role, pleading psychological strain at having been away from Breliven too long. Vanya’s shameful defiance left Breliven under-represented, and as a result Ioann’s lessons where interrupted and he was sent to University-Court, much to everyone’s frustration. Once there, Ioann lived with his aunt Lidiya and her fully grown son Aleksandr, who had been born and raised at court. Having never left Breliven before, Ioann was very homesick and intimidated by the sheer grandeur and wealth of the floating city.
Apprenticeship to Arthan
He was apprenticed to Master Healer Arthan D’Hann, a well known and respected wizard who Ioann had met several times when Arthan would visit Breliven. It had been intended for several years that Ioann would study under Arthan, and the Master Healer adjusted well to the schedule change. While a great deal of his studies was done individually, Ioann befriended and often worked with Linetta D’Cless (a plant mage) and Dirk D’Serance (animal healing). Both were of his age, though neither of them had such a close tie to a royal family, having earned their invites on the basis of their power not their linage.
Harassed by cousin and war mages
Neither of them were able to accompany him to high social events, and he found the politics of the University-Court to be boring, confusing, and embarrassing. Aleksandr considered Ioann to be a threat to his attempt to claim the role of Breliven Heir, and Lidiya was often cold and distant, engrossed in her own brand of study. Ioann’s cousin harassed Ioann on a constant basis, and often sabotaged him, though Aleksandr never interfered with the healing lessons, since becoming a Master Healer would disqualify Ioann from the role of Heir. As a result, Ioann sought refuge among the healers and his lessons. Many of the other royal children were studying to become war mages, which was much more prestigious, and were disgusted that Ioann would favor his Breliven healing magic over his Loradon fire magic. Ioann learned to hide his emotions and avoid social situations in order to escape their abuse.
Darkfire attack
After a year, Ioann was just beginning to adjust to the self-based culture of the court, when the Darkfire wars began. While the renegade mage’s exploits were common gossip among the war mages, the healers had little to do with politics. Things hit home when the Darkfire Wizard attacked the floating city, leveling whole buildings with highly caustic and infectious darkfire metal bombs. The healer’s concave was particularly targeted; while Ioann and Arthan avoided being harmed in the attack, they were heavily involved in rescuing survivors and supplies. Despite wearing containment suits, being in the presence of the metal that Darkfire is derived from rendered their use of magic problematic, and the work had to be done by hand. While trying to save Dirk, Ioann’s hand got sliced open by darkfire metal debris that ripped through his insolating gloves.
Loss of magic
The darkfire contamination began draining Ioann’s life magic and life force, burning in his blood with a dangerous fever that developed within minutes of being cut. Most of the injured darkfire victims died within days, but after a few weeks, his wound stabilized at a drain only slightly higher than his body could produce, leaving him with a debilitating fever. His hand was mangled beyond repair, and while the healers studied the darkfire effects on him, nothing they tried could stop the gradual decay of his hand and arm. He lost all ability to manipulate his healing magic, rendering his years of study worthless. The worst part of it all is the other Healers’ pity. Despite his weakness, he persisted in what ever medical role he could, and helped other darkfire victims since he was already contaminated.
Exclusion from Breliven
During a particularly bad bought of fever, a large number of Breliven healers came to add their power in an experimental attempt to cure Ioann. Because of the Breliven tie to the land, Ioann’s injury was not just draining him, but was having a noticeable effect on the rest of the family. With Aleksandr’s urging, it was decided that Ioann must be removed from the connection, for the greater good. Once they did so, the contamination’s effect on him increased, and it became clear that he had only a short time left before it would consume him. Ioann had never felt so lonely, or betrayed by the people he trusted.
First kill and fleeing
Still unwilling to give up on his life’s work, he became a medical assistant, doing the most menial of jobs. The first time he killed, it was accidental, when giving first aid to a badly injured patient after a darkfire attack; Ioann’s injured hand came into contact with blood and the darkfire flared, almost instantly draining the victim. It happened several more times before Ioann realized what he was doing. In a panic, he confessed to Arthan, who examined Ioann and determined the draining had temporarily improved his own condition. Arthan urged Ioann to flee, for draining the magic of another wizard is one of the most illegal things a mage can do, and punishable by death. On Arthan’s suggestion, Ioann took some of Dirk’s clothing that he had saved, changed his name to ‘John,’ and ran away. The Master Healer told everyone that Ioann had finally died of his injury.
Refugee
Ioann had little money, and it was quickly taken away from him by the first band of thugs he encountered, who also administrated to him his first real beating. He was found nearly dead, and was assisted by a group of refugees, who he traveled with towards Loradon, in the hopes of somehow finding and contacting his old friend Jonath. He learned a quick and dirty kind of fighting with a knife, primarily seeking to score an open wound, which he could then use to drain his opponent. It took him several months to reach Loradon, and the ragged, demoralized boy who arrived in that land had lost all true hope of assistance. Instead, he developed a dark obsession with revenge, and knew that current speculation traced the Darkfire wizard’s origins to the mountainous region of Loradon.
Mercenary
Ioann’s refugee group stumbled over a group of Darkfire soldiers and was slaughtered, with only a bare handful able to flee and give warning to the village that was going to be attacked. The commoners assumed that Ioann was recently wounded, and treated him as such. When a mercenary group fighting for Loradon forces came looking for recruits, Ioann joined as a scout, largely because of his small size. Joining gave him an increased access to victims. He was bitterly jealous of the unit’s few mages, and tried to copy their fire magic, which is how he discovered he could produce a small, similar effect with darkfire energy. Doing so increased his need to kill, but made him feel powerful again, and he yearned for that, since a wizard without magic is nothing.
Alain
The soldiers in the mercenary camp were an eclectic lot, and many were less than savory individuals. At first, Ioann had to go to great lengths to protect even his right to food, let alone what little pay he received. An ex-farmer turned fighter by the wars took on an almost fatherly interest in the boy who was the same age as his deceased son. Alain was dour, quiet, and menacing, and he and Ioann got long very well, each sharing a desire for revenge. One night, Alain caught Ioann practicing with darkfire, and very nearly killed him in anger, and their friendship almost ended. They reached a kind of truce, where Alain vowed to kill Ioann should the darkfire ever completely take over.