Description
This is a skinny thing who could not be taller than 5' 4" when standing
straight. His arms show very little muscle and his legs are short and
stumpy. His skin is pale pink, nearly white, and looks sickly. His
clothing is baggy and without looking at his face, one might wonder if
he were a child and not a human man. If being kind, one might describe
his physique as... unimpressive.
His hair is dark black and is neatly kept, except for a few patches that
are missing. His expression is often hard to read, but tends to seem
very calm. His eyes are the most expressive part of his face. They are
a deep blue colour, with flecks of gold. They show an energy that does
not fit with the calmness of his face or the sicklyness of his body.
They may show the fire of anger, the green of jealousy, even the light
of pleasure. Behind all that, there is a coldness, as if he is always
observing, pondering and calculating.
Role
A dream
Added Mon Jan 16 19:08:25 2006 at level 51:
Larinus had a very unusual dream recently.
He was running in fear, and when he finally turned and looked,
behind him was a cave that was darker than black. It seemed
somewhat similar to the Chasm. He is unsure if the dream
suggests he is too fearful. He does not believe this to be so,
because he has constantly come to defend the Chasm even alone
against 4 or 5, dying several times. He is definitely not the
best killer, but he is no coward. However, the dream may have
another meaning which will only become clear in the future.
He will now be watchful for anything that seems... related.
Weapons
Added Fri Dec 23 12:11:30 2005 at level 45:
I meant to add this much earlier.
Some may have noticed Larinus using weapons, though he had intended to use none
except magic over his hands, but for when it aided in learning. He has found
it to be near impossible to parry any attacks with that magic, and being able to
survive better helps his research greatly. Therefore he decided to use weapons,
but only those practice weapons he has always found useful, and magical weapons.
The future
Added Thu Nov 10 18:25:27 2005 at level 17:
He saw that it was magic which had given him his escape from a life of
despair, magic which had shown him pleasure, and magic which he could
use to form his new life. He resolved to explore the world with an eye
to all knowledge, but especially that of magic. He would depend on
magic for as much as he could, even using the magic of spells over his
hands as his only real weapon, though he might learn some more of other
weapons where necessary to defend himself or where it might help learn
of magic. He would learn of other forms of magic even though he knew
where his talents lay. He would always be careful of warriors, using
them sometimes perhaps but rarely trusting them and certainly never
seeing them as intellectual equals to one who could draw on magic.
Perhaps he would join with a group of others who shared his thirst for
knowledge. Perhaps one day, he would even hear the voice of the
wonderous one called Zebulus.
Vengence
Added Thu Nov 10 18:15:20 2005 at level 17:
There was a great party, and Larinus' parents got quite drunk. He knew
from experience that when they were so drunk, they slept as deeply as
the dead. When they went to sleep, he finally put his plan into action.
First, he moved buckets of water to the four corners of the bed, and two
to the head and foot of the middle of the bed. He wrapped the metal
handles of the outer buckets around the four posts of the bed. He then
gently placed Corlus' left foot and hand and Lonia's right foot and hand
into the four outer buckets. He placed Corlus' right foot and Lonia's
left foot into the same bucket, and Corlus' right hand and Lonia's left
into the same bucket. He carefully chanted the spell of 'frost fingers'
and used the magic to slowly freeze the water in all six buckets solid.
Then, when Larinus was sure the ice was secure, he chanted the spell of
'acidic secretion'. His parents were slightly groggy but they awoke
quickly when he touched acid directly to the throats of both. They
woke in agony but unable to say a word or even scream. "How does it
feel to be unable to speak, Father?" Larinus said. Without awaiting a
response, he turned to Lonia, "And mother, I wondered if anything could
make you shut up." He then touched acid to their chests and legs,
watching them die in agony, thrashing about and eventually breaking
some of the buckets from the posts. He left the house, and used the
spell of 'channel heat' to spark a blaze in the kitchen which would
consume the house. He visited Corrias even as the house burned, and
told of what he had done. Corrias was shocked at the cold of Larinus'
voice as he spoke of such cruelty. He told Larinus to leave, that he
would be hated by the village for killing his father, the strongest
warrior around, and well-respected. Corrias hid his own sudden dislike
for Larinus, himself not a killer at all. He did feel glad that the
house was burning and would cover up the obvious magic in the murder of
Larinus' parents. Corrias told him to find an invoker's guild in
Voralian City, or Galadon. They would be able to teach him far more
magic than Corrias ever could. Larinus thanked Corrias profusely for
all the help he had given, then left to eventually take a home in
Galadon, and continue his education.
The message
Added Thu Nov 10 18:04:13 2005 at level 17:
One day, when Larinus was sixteen years old, a messsage came to Corrias
for Larinus. It was like a dream. The message said that Larinus had
been accepted to apprenticeship at the Tower of High Sorcery. Corrias
had applied for him. Finally, he could leave. Corrias said he would
send a reply accepting the offer, and Larinus could leave in a week.
Larinus was so excited, he decided to show the message to his parents.
This would show them that he was not "good for nothing" and that others
saw him as very skilled at something. It was a mistake. Larinus'
parents were furious, especially Corlus. He yelled "Magic is a tool of
evil. It is used only to debase others and weaken the soul of the user
himself. You will not be going!" and hit Larinus. Corlus then picked
up Larinus, who was just beginning the words to a spell. Corlus was
horrified and quickly grabbed his son by the throat, squeezing it and
cutting off the spell. Larinus' throat was damaged enough that he
could not speak at all. When Larinus tried and barely pushed out gasps
of air, Lonia finally spoke up, only to say "That will teach you, boy.
It doesn't sound like you'll be making any magical spells for a while,"
and laughed. Larinus was locked away in the house for four weeks
before Corrias eventually managed to speak to him privately and sadly
informed Larinus that the offer from the Tower had expired. Larinus was
completely crushed. He healed enough to whisper in about another two
weeks, and told his parents that he got a message saying the offer had
expired. They did not need to lock him away anymore, he was not
leaving, and he still could not cast anything. Larinus did not tell
his parents that Corrias had taught him, instead claiming to have figured
it out himself. Though they were brothers, Corrias knew Corlus' views on
magic before this and could see how zealous Corlus had now become. He
did not want to risk being caught even speaking of magic, and stopped
coming around. Larinus' parents hated him more and were even more cruel
now. Larinus kept on whispering even when his voice healed, not wanting
his parents to know he might be able to cast magic again. He bided his
time, and made plans. It took six months before an opportunity came.
The teenage years: His luck changes
Added Thu Nov 10 17:50:59 2005 at level 17:
His luck seemed to change shortly after his thirteenth birthday, when he
walked in on his uncle, Corrias, in a dark corner... with the glow of
flames flickering over his right pointer finger. He was about to jump
on Corrias and attempt to smother the flame or something of the like,
when he noticed that Corrias did not seem to be in pain and his finger
did not seem to be melting or blackening. He watched for a minute as
Corrias let the flame bounce from one finger to another. Larinus had
never seen or even heard of magic, and he was in awe. He gasped as the
entire hand sprung into flame. The flame went out instantly, and
Corrias turned toward the sound. "Larinus? What are you doing?" he
asked. "I was just wandering. That was amazing Uncle Corrias. How
did you do that?" Larinus responded. "That was magic. I will tell you
more, if you promise not to tell anyone else." Larinus did not see why
this would be such a secret, but he promised. He had always liked his
Uncle Corrias, who treated him kindly and did not insult him. Corrias
was a fair sized man but not nearly as big as Corlus. He was not known
for fighting the way Corlus was, but could hold his own. But this was
a whole other side that Larinus had just discovered. Corrias began to
teach Larinus of simple invokation magic. He taught the spell of
'channel heat', enough to burn other things without burning his own
hands. He taught of 'frost fingers' which could freeze things with a
touch, but again without harming the caster. And he taught of 'acidic
secretion', which Corrias claimed was the hardest of these to control,
but could still be held without harm to the caster, yet would eat
through things touched with the power of acid. Larinus practiced hard
at these spells, always when he could be sure no one was looking, as
he had promised to Corrias. From the first time Larinus cast a spell,
he found it better than anything he had ever done before. The feeling
of magical power filling his body, and focusing to come through his
hands was wonderful and thrilling. The energy was strong and full of
what seemed like life itself, and controlling it was like nothing
Larinus could have imagined. Larinus showed Corrias frequently how he
cast the spells, and Corrias watched the improvements. Larinus also
complained about his parents, and spoke of one day leaving the village.
Corrias told him stories of many places all over the world, especially
places of great magic such as the Tower of High Sorcery. Corrias even
told of a mystical being called Zebulus, who was said to guide all magic.
Early childhood
Added Thu Nov 10 17:41:02 2005 at level 17:
Larinus Caelus was born in a small village slightly west of Voralian
City. When he was only a baby he had an illness which was caught late,
which left his skin permanently pale and stunted his growth. As he grew
up, he was always the shortest of the children of his age, always skinny
and weak. He was in fact generally healthy as far as any other disease,
but no amount of food or exercise would remove the sickly look from his
body and features. His parents were both warriors. His father, Corlus,
was the strongest man in the village. His father was very disappointed
to have such a weak son, especially since the delivery injured his
mother, Lonia, such that she could not have any more children. His
father tried to make the best of it, to make up for size and strength by
training Larinus in the many weapons with which Corlus was skilled.
However, Larinus barely managed to become adequate in what Corlus saw as
the easiest of weapons, the mace, whip and dagger. Larinus could barely
hold up Corlus' large axe with both hands, and his first attempt at
swinging a sword nearly resulted in his own impalement. In his defence,
he was only seven years old when he attempted that sword swing, the sword
being the first weapon his father taught. Corlus would not accept this
as an excuse however, especially as Larinus aged and trained and still
showed no talent at all for any style of combat. By the age of ten,
Larinus had been branded "good for nothing" by his father. Larinus'
mother hated Larinus from the day he came home from the healer, sickly
and stunted. She always supported whatever her husband said, and was
only too happy to agree with this judgement. Lonia had been attracted to
Corlus because of his large muscles and his toughness, and she would
complain to Larinus, "How will you ever find a wife when you're such a
wimp?" and insult him even more vocally than his father did. Many days
she bothered him so much and so loudly that he wished she would lose her
voice, but he never had such luck. Larinus tried to improve on what
skills he had, and read when he got the chance though the village had few
books. He began to dream of the day he could leave, but wondered if he
would ever have such luck.