Description
Standing a bit taller than a tall human, this slender being is garbed in a
long, pale blue garment of lightweight cloth that will not interfere with his
power of flight. The clothing has been painstakingly decorated with vertical
stripes of dark blue embroidery, which blends interweaving lines with
intricate arcane symbols that seem to flow and change as you watch. Though
human-like in some ways, the arial is partly clad in richly patterned
feathers in shades of brown, tan, yellow, and white. He has a sharp beak,
which opens and closes occasionally to emit a few birdsong-like sounds as he
gazes confidently around him with dark orange eyes, while his skin is a
coppery brown color. When something catches his notice, he tilts his head on
one side for a moment, like a curious bird. He carried a long, pierced silver
wand festooned with ribbons that seem stirred by everlasting, random puffs of
wind.
Role
Background
Added Sat Feb 1 22:46:08 2014 at level 31:
The son of a prominent Special Guard named Frithegardon noted in the free
cities for his fighting skills, Mazbathain spent his early years being
tutored in the arts, sciences, and letters. His father's relatively high
station gave his family the ability to afford decent teaching, and it was
during this time that Mazbathain's skills as an invoker were first
discovered. The young arial, who already delighted in spreading his wings and
flying high above the crowded uproar of the streets in the quiet, spacious
realm of air, showed great interest in his new powers. He naturally focused
on Air as his favored element among those taught by the Guild of Invocation,
and was soon able to cast a number of basic but highly useful spells.
Frithegardon's ability to defeat and capture, or kill, even some of the most
dangerous Outlanders earned him rich rewards, but put him under ever greater
strain and peril. The city's leaders urged him to seek out ever more deadly
Outlanders, basking in the glory that he brought to their city. Many Special
Guards and Tribunals came to be trained by Frithegardon, with many of the
training fees going to the leaders.
Frithegardon's superiors urged him constantly to greater efforts to boost
their reputation and fortunes. Motivated by the flaw of pride and the virtue
of a sense of duty, Frithegardon drove himself to exhaustion and threw
caution to the winds in an effort to keep up with their expectations.
Eventually, he became haggard and worn, and was wounded more and more often
while bringing Outlanders to justice.
As soon as he was old enough, Mazbathain began to help his father in the
pursuit of this lethal quarry. His spells proved to be extremely useful.
Tales are told of how he used his magic to trace a pair of arial thieves
through the sky itself, after they seized the six Rubies of Sunset from the
miter of the High Mage Hrugxyer. A serious youth, he dedicated himself to
study and to helping his father, catching some of the zeal and persistence
that his sire brought to each chase.
Frithegardon never allowed his son to get in harm's way, particularly as he
had no other. As soon as their quarry was found, Frithegardon and his
assistants moved in to capture them. Mazbathain was expected to immediately
hide himself using a spell that concealed him within a cylinder of whirling
air, and not emerge until the fight was concluded. Though his heart burned
within him with the desire to aid his parent directly in battle, Mazbathain
obeyed, partly out of the sense of duty he had learned, and partly out of
fear of his father's rage. Frithegardon loved his son after his fashion but
expected him to obey without question, particularly in moments of danger.
This iron view of his patriarchal rule over his son was, tragically, to prove
his undoing.
(continued in next chapter)
Background (cont)
Added Sat Feb 1 22:47:28 2014 at level 31:
It came to pass that Frithegardon was sent forth to slay one Thasrid the
Fiery, a brigand captain equally skilled with a well-honed blade or a
powerful blast of magic. With Mazbathain's aid, Frithegardon overtook Thasrid
on a dusty plain far to the South East of the city. Frithegardon and his
assistants attacked while Mazbathain concealed himself. Thasrid the Fiery was
a bold and dangerous foe, however, and had in his company six Hythascian
swordsmen, serving as a bodyguard while he rode to confer with another bandit
lord.
As Mazbathain watched from the concealing depths of his spell, a terrible
battle erupted between the two small parties of warriors. Blades and spells
crossed and clashed, and blood soon spurted over the dry, sun-seared earth.
On Thasrid's side, four of the Hythascian swordsmen died, and a fifth was
wounded so badly that he could no longer aid in the fight, but lay groaning
and writhing amid the scrubby tussocks nearby. On the side of Frithegardon,
all of his assistants were slain, and he himself wounded and thrown down.
Thasrid the Fiery prepared to finish off the famous Special Guard, but this
was not to be.
Casting aside his cloak of air in a whirl of dust and hissing wind,
Mazbathain cried out the words of the most powerful spell he knew. Stones
leaped up from the ground and were flung through the air at Thasrid as if
from a catapult. The cloud of flying rocks missed the prostrate Frithegardon
but tore Thasrid and his remaining swordsman to shreds. Mazbathain was also
injured, however, as the swordsman's blade shattered explosively and a large
fragment of steel slashed through the young arial's left thigh, narrowly
missing the artery.
Far from being thankful for his deliverance, Frithegardon was furious that
Mazbathain had disobeyed him and shouted that he would never bring the youth
with him again. Angered now himself, Mazbathain retorted that he would follow
whether his father wanted him to or not. Accordingly, the older arial went
forth on his next hunt without telling his son beforehand, and was still not
fully healed from his last fight. From that hunt he returned only as a
severed head, flung derisively against the gates by a band of jeering
Outlanders before they rode swiftly away. Frithegardon's body was recovered
several days later, and it was clear from the wounds that it bore that he had
been tortured for some time before his head was cut off.
Background (cont2)
Added Sat Feb 1 22:48:13 2014 at level 31:
Mazbathain still bears some scars of this ordeal upon his soul. Believing his
father's rigid adherence to duty and inability to accept his son's
independent action to be the causes of his parent's death. Rather than it
let Mazbathain develop a deep distrust of all kinds of rigidity and orthodoxy
in thinking, it spurred him to join the Spire as a Magistrate. His hatred
for Outlanders is strong, as with most of the Tribunal.Outside of these
quirks, he is an intellectually curious individual who takes great pleasure
in the variety and wonder of the world, and views life as a rather perilous
adventure. He still pursues the study of Air invocation zealously, and is
something of a perfectionist, unconsciously mirroring some of his father's
attributes.
PK Wins
Jan 30, 2014|Lv 21|The Past Grove|Frijer vs 3: [26] Corvain (54%), [24] Crella (21%, cleave), [21] Mazbathain (24%)
Feb 2, 2014 |Lv 31|Seantryn Modan|Frijer vs 1: [31] Mazbathain (100%, wall of fire)
Feb 6, 2014 |Lv 38|Hamsah Mu'tazz|Sindy vs 2: [38] Gerbuhk (100%, infernal power), [38] Mazbathain (0%)
Feb 7, 2014 |Lv 38|Hamsah Mu'tazz|Sindy vs 1: [38] Mazbathain (100%, acid blast)
Feb 8, 2014 |Lv 38|Hamsah Mu'tazz|Sindy vs 4: [51] Vree (77%, defilement), [38] Mazbathain (8%), [42] Corvain (5%), [41] Unathalese (8%)
Feb 16, 2014|Lv 44|The Dragon Sea|Rehle vs 3: [44] Mazbathain (55%, wall of fire), [51] Vree (34%), [46] Ormee (9%)