Wanderer Garren Darkwood (in progress)

[Master Onike]

Name: Garren Darkwood
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Order: Serendith
Weapon:

While Garren would define his most powerful weapon as his mind (as would many mages, no doubt) when it comes to physical confrontations, Garren uses a long, thin dagger which he keeps hidden under his robe at all times. Due to his unusual mastery of curses Garren is not incapable when it comes to a close-quarters fight. His physical strength certainly cannot match that of more combat-oriented foes, but it’s difficult to take advantage of superior strength when your body does not function correctly.

The dagger was a gift from Garren’s father when he came of age. It’s blade is enchanted to allow it to remain so thin as to almost be transparent but still never lose its edge, and compete with steel in a fight. Garren uses it far less than he once did due to his increased skill in magic, the blade has saved his life more times than the man can remember.

Familiar:

Garren’s oldest friend and most (perhaps only) trusted companion is Foyle, a small, exceedingly sarcastic white ferret. Were Garren is often dark and brooding, Foyle is a shaft of light in the darkness. He is unerringly optimistic, and has an enormous gift to find the silver lining in almost any situation. Both man and ferret are exceptionally facetious, and share a very dry humour, but where Garren tends to feel the weight of the world on his shoulders, Foyle is simply along for the ride. Garren has often said that without his constant, whimsical companion he would have lost his mind ages ago. As it is, Foyle keeps him grounded and cheerful, and Garren keeps the eternal optimist from getting himself into too much trouble.

Magic Domain: Necromancy
Magic Subdomain:

Garren’s subdomain is curses – a skill he discovered at a very young age when he saved his best friend Baelar’s life by inadvertently cursing him to trip – just as an arrow shot through the space where his friend had been standing. Baelar – born to a local wealthy family, would have been assassinated on that day had it not been for Garren’s childish (and unexpectedly effective prank). Garren had meant only to push his friend, but his power allowed him to accelerate the desire into a physical curse. For his part, the would-be assassin realized he had lost his chance and disappeared, only to be apprehended by the local militia a few days later and subsequently executed.

Garren’s true power, as he would later discover, is to bring an action to its fullest potential. If he nudges a rival, that man may find himself off balance for the week to come. If he pokes a vital joint, that arm may feel stiff and ineffective for days. In combat, Garren tends to charge in and use his surprising dexterity to quickly land his palm on his opponent’s chest, using physical curses to assault their nervous system. This effect can be lethal, given time, but more importantly seriously damages his opponent’s ability to fight properly.

Mentally, Garren is no slouch either, able to use his curses to bend his will into a physical weapon. In combat with other mages, Garren uses curses to cause their spells to misfire, or even damage their users.
His power is a complex one, and one that even Garren himself does not yet fully understand. But, many of his peers when he was an Acolyte believed the young man’s potential to be immense, and envied him for it – creating many rivals in his youth.

Appearance:

Garren is unusually well-built for a mage, since his power relies on his ability to touch his foes in order to be used to its fullest effectiveness. While he is not as physically strong as a swordsman, Garren is extremely fit, and able to move quickly and gracefully both in combat and in day to day life. His face is gaunt from years of hardship and a tendency to not obtain enough food. He also looks much older than his 25 years, the many trials his life has thrown at him aged the man considerably. Notably, there is a thin scar which runs from behind his ear to the base of his jawline.

Clothing:

Garren’s robes are a faded grey, and unlike the dark black of his leader Selinor, they bear no ornamentation – they serve only as a practical barrier to the elements for the mage, and are worn and faded from years of hard use. While many of the mage's colleagues felt the chioce showed a lack of personality, Garren believed they would serve him most practically on his frequent travels - as they allowed him to blend into crowds largely unnoticed.

History:

Garren was born in a small village on the edge of the Guild’s control. There, the law was not decided by members of the guild so much as by the small village’s own elite hierarchy. There rich families essentially controlled the town council and the local militia, and Garren’s closest childhood friend Baelar was heir to the largest.

When both boys were ten years old came the first assassination attempt on Baelar’s life, and the discovery of Garren’s powers. By the time both boys had come of age at 16, the attempts were in the dozens, and Garren had become Baelar’s primary bodyguard.

That was until members of the guild caught wind of Garren’s budding magical powers.

On a crisp, fall afternoon in the village, a group of Serendith came to recruit Garren. He refused initially but the mages would not be denied. They demanded that Garren do his duty to the guild for their protection and accompany them to be tested by their order. Garren did not appreciate the line of their thinking, and the negotiations soon turned violent. Despite his considerable skill in magic for an untrained amateur, Garren was no match for three full-blown Serendith and the mages soon knocked the young man out, with some minor injuries sustained to them (one would find his left knee never quite worked properly again).

Garren was never seen in his hometown again. Rival families wasted no time, and the assassins struck again that night – this time more ferociously than ever before.

News of Baelar’s death would not reach Garren for years. To this day the mage blames himself for it.

Meanwhile, Garren was essentially forced into a life of hard training under the Serendith order. He excelled in his training as an acolyte, earning numerous rivals amongst his peers due to the mage’s obvious immense skill.

Next came the trials. While brutal and exhausting, Selinor found Garren worthy of the position of a full Serendith, and it was here that the mage took on his faded grey robes – strictly functional, with little ornamentation. Garren had always wanted to return to his hometown, and to that end took on a number of assignments requiring travel to the far reaches of the guild’s territory, always hoping to end up near his village. He came to love the travelling despite never returning home, and even though the guild carefully kept him from returning to his home, he came to long for the wide open freedom of the road, and the joy of adventuring.

((Note that the rest of Garren’s history will be explained through a series of short posts that will make up a short story explaining how he came to be the mage he is today. I didn’t want to clog this post with it though, so they will be posted elsewhere. To all those interested in Garren’s story – I’ll post a link here once they’re finished.))

Attitude:

Many tragedies in Garren’s life have made him largely a pessimist. While Foyle’s cheerful company does temper the man’s inherent angst, it doesn’t prevent him from occasional brooding and an overall sense of melancholy on certain days. Nevertheless, Garren is exceedingly driven to succeed, and his determination can sometimes border on obsession. He is frequently stubborn and once he has chosen his path, Garren rarely swerves from it.

Other:

This is the second of three characters intended to be involved in the beta - the third will be my Von Guard who is currently nameless.

Sample Post:

Sample Post:

Themesong:
Picture: