Name: Aidan Thrane

Age: 1,897 - appears to be in his 30s

Race & Gender: Human Male



Physical Description: [mfw409]
Aidan is 6'3" tall with a powerful build heavily adorned with toned muscles.

With shaggy black hair, a full but trimmed beard, and broad shoulders he cuts a striking figure.

Three curse marks plague his body - one on his left shoulder, another on his right forearm, and the third in the center of his back. Some have mistaken them for runes, assuming that he is a friend of the dwarves. They are very wrong. The curse marks are what hold the Amulet in place, marking him as one cursed by the Old Gods.


Personality:
Overall, Aidan is a nice, fun loving guy. When not obsessing over his curse, he is pretty down to earth.

Though he has his good days and bad days, just like everyone else, he is fairly laid back.

His attitude and demeanor can become very professional when on assignment from the Bracers.

In general, he is pretty relaxed.

Background:
Aidan was born a northman (on the Gaernach Glacier) many centuries back, the son of a tyrannical king who had driven his people into poverty and famine due to his own greed and monumental taxation. Raised by a brutish warrior with a lack of finesse, and a habit of beating his children on a daily basis, the prince grew up strong, defiant, and emotionally damaged beyond repair.

He grew up in a world, in a country, in a city, that hated him. He grew up in a civilization that wanted him hanged, beheaded, or burned at the stake for simply sharing the same blood as the man who oppressed them.

At the age of 7, Aidan learned to tap into magic. He was a natural, one of the few humans who could utilize primal magic as the Elves and Dwarves did.

Aidan studied under the most prominent, the most powerful, mages in the northern kingdoms.

By the age of twelve he had surpassed them all, dwarfing their abilities with his own.

By the age of thirteen, Aidan had had enough of his father's oppression, of him treating the people like animals. He took matters into his own hands and challenged his father to a duel to the death, winner take all, including the throne.

Aidan won easily, leaving pieces of the elder man in his wake. As reward for his achievement, he took the Dragon Bone blade that his father wielded, parted it from its hilt, and fixed it to the end of his personal staff.

After he took the throne, he changed the Glacier for the better. He lowered the taxes, upped the trade with bordering countries, and by the age of 30 began a military expedition to expand their hold on the continent.

The northern tribes and nations banned together under the Thrane banner, and marched south. Allying with the citizens of the White Forest, their numbers grew exponentially and they were able to conquer the cities of the Kershun Glacier with ease.



During their trek south, the army stumbled upon an ancient cave system. Hoping to utilize the caves to sneak into the Old Forest and strike at the heart of the Elves who lived their, Aidan led his armies into the dark tunnels.

During his time there, he ran into strange minerals that are known today as Magicite. Though there were many of the magical rocks in the caves, one stood out in particular, on that glowed blood-red.

Aidan experimented with the dangerous stone, and quickly found that he was able to amplify his magic, through its use, as well as utilize other types of magic.

Drunk with power, and the lust for more (due to the stone's unstable nature having a dangerous affect on his mind), the King furthered his experiments in the caves, and even tested out his newfound power on his men. Finding that he could use their blood (as well as his own) to enhance his abilities, he thought himself invincible.



After weeks of trekking through the dark, damp tunnels, they reached the Old Forest. However, the cave did not end where Aidan and his army had hoped. It came out miles from the center of the forest. As soon as they had stepped foot into the forest, it came to life, sensing the intruders, the threat they posed to its inhabitants.

The plants, the trees, the beasts, and even the Elves joined in and reigned down hell on the northmen and women.

The army was slaughtered with few casualties to the Elven forces, and even less damage done to the plant life that had so damaged their forces.

Aidan retreated back into the tunnels gravely wounded, but the Old Gods did not let him die. As he laid there bleeding out, hoping for death, but none came.

For his transgressions against the land, for his experiments on humans, for patricide, and for the thousands of deaths that he had caused...they cursed him. They cursed him to live forever, never forgetting what he had done, and to always regret his actions. It was at that moment that the amulet and the marks appeared, draped around his neck like an anchor to the mortal realm. He would be chained to the land of the living until the gods decided otherwise.

As part of the curse, he was never allowed to return home, he was never allowed to go farther north than the Old Forest. He was forced to flee through the forest into the southern kingdoms.

After fleeing the forest, Aidan swore off the use of other peoples' blood in his magic, due to it being one of the reasons he was cursed. Wracked with guilt, he spent centuries trying to off himself and found that it was impossible. He even resulted to paying others to attempt to kill him or take off the amulet to no avail.

Afterwords, he moved on and decided to attempt to pay for his transgressions, rather than avoid them. Deciding as much, he traveled the land, cursed, helping whoever he could.

As he journeyed throughout the lands attempting to help himself by helping others, the north quickly forgot him. They went back to their broken tribes, quarreling among each other.

Stories have been passed around for centuries of a black-clad man, a cursed man, who wields a bladestaff. A man who wields Blood Magic, an art that few dare to meddle in. It is said that he has fed the hungry, clothed the poor, and put his life on the line countless times for those in need, all in an attempt to rid himself of his curse.

The stories are known far and wide, they are known for their countless tales of a man known as either the Forgotten King or the Cursed Mage. It has become a bedtime story for those who do not believe, and a cautionary tale for those who do believe. A warning to keep your ambitions in check, as well as your pride.

Within the last 70 years, Aidan had his Magicite refined. With the unstable nature of the gem long gone, his head has finally cleared. He can see the countless mistakes he has made throughout his life, and wishes to atone for them.

Over the last fifteen years, Aidan has joined the Bracers guild, worked through many missions, and made a name for himself among the guild members. He is easily recognizable to those who have heard the tales of the Bracer Blood Mage who wields a Dragon bone bladestaff. His weapon and choice of magic tend to raise eyebrows in certain areas of Tarduril, but they are well worth the trouble they bring. Though he has worked alone on several occasions, he does work well with companions and prefers to have some company in his travels.

These days he cares more about the people he can help, rather than focusing solely on the curse. At times he even sees the curse as a blessing. Curses and blessings are all dependant on perspective. As Aidan learned and grew, his perspective changed.

The history of the Forgotten King tells of a man of good intentions that was too ambitious for his own good. Too proud of his own strengths and the strength of his people that he put their lives on the line in an attempt to conquer the southern kingdoms. A man who meddled in dark magic to further his goals. We all know what they say about the path to hell and good intentions.

Skills/Abilities:
Master of Blood Magic: Blood, the life force of countless creatures, is a very powerful magical catalyst. The power that is intrinsic to Blood can be used in several ways, if one has the know how and is inclined to do so. A Blood Mage may utilize their own blood to heal minor wounds. The source of the blood used in this form of magic is unimportant, except when healing oneself. It can come from the caster or an outside party, willingly or otherwise.

Adept in Augmentation Magic: Augmentation Magic (otherwise known as Enhancement Magic or Amplification Magic) is utilized for the enhancement of physical/mental attributes and collaborative spell casting - though there are limitations and repercussions for augmenting physical aspects of one's body (fatigue, pain, etc). Collaborative spellcasting is the use of one's magic to boost another's person spell, in an attempt to make its effects much more potent in the process. (boosted to a master level, when using magicite as well as Blood when casting)

Highly Skilled in Bladestaff Use: Aidan has spent nearly two millennia using the same weapon. As a result, he has become a master in all different forms, stances, and styles that one may use with a bladestaff.

Stealthy: Aidan learned early on in his life, when he and his armies were marching south, to be stealthy. It was best to sneak up on a larger enemy or force and catch them off guard whenever possible. He learned to stalk his prey silently and blend into shadows.
[Example of his abilities excluding the fire, lightning, and dimensional magic displayed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VEhy_bfKm0]

●Main Weapon: Staff of Parthalan
A bladestaff with a blood-red chunk of Magicite on one end and a three foot long blade made of carved dragon bone on the other.
- Allows user to use Blood Magic at a master level.
- Blade has no magical properties, but is able to pierce most armor due to the strength of the dragon bone.



●Off Hand: Ritual Dagger
- A well-made, intricately-carved golden dagger with no magical properties.
- Used by Aidan to cut his arm when he wishes to utilize Blood Magic, rather than having to use the blade of his staff.


●Helm: Hood
- Aidan does not wear a helm, but there is a hood attached to the cloth worn underneath his armor. No magical effects, it's only use is keeping his head dry.

●Armor: Armor of the Cursed
- lightweight stygian armor laced with magicite, with the defensive capabilities of the strongest plate armor
-cuts magic damage by 25%


●Accessory: Amulet/Curse of Pharika
While one would assume an Amulet of Pharika, the goddess of affliction, would cause some sort of illness...one would be wrong. Affliction takes many forms and, at times, is subjective to the feelings and opinions of each individual person. For one who wishes for long life, immortality is a boon, a gift unmatched. For one who wishes only to die, to pass on to whatever afterlife awaits him, immortality is the worst sort of illness, an inhumane curse even.
- Curses wearer with immortality. Wearer is not invulnerable, they simply do not age.
- Deflects all self-inflicted damage that would mortally wound, and damage willingly taken from an outside source. Put simply, the wearer cannot kill his/herself and is not able to purposefully be harmed by anyone or anything else. Damage taken unintentionally due to lack of the skill to block or avoid it will still affect wearer (wearer cannot simply claim to intentionally take damage to avoid consequences presented by the GMs).