Ceviran Tylen-Dan'ethe - Male Sun-Elf
Lawful Good True Flame - Patron Deity: Mystra
Creation Concept - Background and personality profile
Parents: Nyx, Astarial, Angela Amana (Godmother), Elise Davontis(rolled) (Godmother) (Yes, he has two godmothers.)
Close ties/Friendly predispositions - Zaidia (Retired from Arelith, family friend, thought of and referred to as an aunt), Isylinor (Aunt), Aila (little sister), Harpers, clergy/lay-servants of Mystra, Tymora, Sune, Oghma, Azuth, Savras, Lathander, and the Seldarine.
Opposes/ Unfriendly predispositions - The faiths of Shar, Bane, Cyric, Velsharoon, and Talos, their clergy and churches, the Zhentarim, the Cult of the Dragon, Red Wizards, and in general people who use magic to abuse or harm either those without power to defend themselves or those simply trying to lead happy lives without inflicting undue harm on others.
Ceviran hates bullies, and considers it a form of blasphemy to use The Art for something so base. Taken far enough, he will intercede on the victim's behalf, fighting if necessary to do so.
Religious Beliefs - Taking the domga of Mystra to heart, prominently to "Love magic for itself" and not merely as a tool to be used, Ceviran sees magic as a gift given and tended by Mystra for the sake of both survival and bettering the world for all in it who would live in peace with their neighbors and not commit atrocities upon their peers in the world. He sees the use of magic to spread harm and tyranny as a base blasphemy that must be opposed and quelled where it arises - a duty which will by necessity fuel the advancement of magic in its undertaking.
Idealogy - Ceviran would rather make friends than enemies, and attempts persuasion and even redemption where he believes it is possible, but does so in a guarded fashion until the individual gains his absolute trust, aware that such interactions could be ploys to get him to drop his guard. However, that right to redemption, in his mind, gives way the moment someone uses their existence (especially a magical one) to endanger the life of another- at that point, they are a pile of twisted flesh and ashes waiting to happen.
Convictions - Liberty and Truth. Ceviran believes in the right of all sentient humanoids (monstrous and otherwise) to live peacefully as they wish so long as they do not commit atrocities or wage war on others (or in some cases, themselves- who wants neighbors that engage in cannibalism or slavery?) Ceviran will not lie. He believes that if he cannot speak the truth, it is better to give no answer at all and deal with the consequences.
This does not mean he cannot be vague or frugal with details if the situation calls for it- but asked a direct question, he will never lie, backed by a mage-oath on his own magic. Ceviran isn't a paladin- but an intentional lie will cost him his magic permanently. An accidental one or one made under duress (say, to spare the life of an innocent), might allow an atonement to be performed to regain his magic, after seeking out a suitable priest or paladin of Mystra to undertake an appropriate penance and completing it.
Fears - For friends and family. Ceviran opposes some not so small factions in the world of Forgotten Realms, and by nature of his opposition (and his desire to join the Harpers due to both his upbringing and tales he's heard of them), it is likely that some day they could be targeted to get to him. Threatening Ceviran is something that can be water under the bridge - threatening his friends or family, much less actually harming them, can vary from a fit of temper and a fight in response, to a sun-elf devoting their patience and longevity to completely ruining someone...after resolving the situation involving the threat to said friend or family.
Weaknesses
- Hostage situations. Ceviran will take the shot- but until he's certain he has one that doesn't end in collateral damage, he will comply to keep an innocent safe. Ceviran is also fiercely protective of Aila, irrationally so given she shares the same gift as him, and may perform brilliant but short-sighted feats of stupid heroics on her behalf if he deems it necessary.
- Paperwork. Ceviran spent several decades of his youth confined inside of an extra-dimensional space inside of a staff with his father. Since they were stuck there, and Ceviran showed exceptional potential (18 base int), despite his magic being borne to him, Cev was tutored in arcane, planar, and religious lore of all kinds, as well as arithmetic, arts, and sciences alongside his spellcraft. In other words, paperwork reminds him of homework- LOTS of it- and he'll avoid it or pawn it off on others whenever possible.
- Loss. Ceviran values the connections he makes with people and people themselves more than magic- in fact, other than his ideals, those are the only thing he values more than his magic, seeing it as a gift from Mystra to help make the world a better place and protect the people important to him. Failing in either when he commits to it is likely to result in some wallowing and vulnerability.
- Antimagic/Dead magic. Ceviran has lived his entire life with his magic pulsing and breathing within him like a second heartbeat. The absence of that second heartbeat in these areas is enough to immediately set him on edge at the unfamiliarity of the feeling, with an urge to depart as soon as reasonably possible (or, you know, right the hell now, because).
- Passion. Ceviran is relatively quick to both sides of this emotion, positive and negative, for a sun-elf. He's not manic by any stretch, but perhaps a bit less patient than one might expect outside of his own detailed planning and contingencies.
Ongoing Compulsions, Oaths, Lingering Enchantments
There are several of these- I only ever actually expected one to see the light of day on-screen, one occurred and I never expected Ceviran (or anyone else really) to find out about the others - they simply set the background for a few of his personality and circumstance quirks. However, thanks to an amazing scene with Angela and Kazen, Cev knows about all of them now, which uhh... definitely throws a twist into Ceviran's mentality.
Current Mage-Oaths to Mystra, bound against his magic (and his loss thereof if broken.)
"I will speak only the truth, or I shall not speak."
"I will not share the identity of other Harpers."
"I swear fealty to the just rule of my king, his line, and my home of Cordor."
Contingency, Compulsion, Enchantments
Caster: His Father (Astarial, ESF Evo, ESF Abj, and ESF Enchant, Evocation Specialist)
Time Period Cast: Ceviran Age 6
Tantrum Contingency
This 9th level variation of the contingency spell is a spell developed by Astarial over a period of five years, shortly after Ceviran first manifested signs of his gift in the midst of a particularly nasty tantrum which nearly lit a forest clearing on fire. Realizing the danger that an untrained, limitless font of magical power could cause in a fit of temper, Astarial set about devising a contingency that would prevent or at least mitigate the risk to innocent life as a result.
Triggering Condition: Emotion: Rage (Not to be confused with Anger, Rage is defined in this spell as anger that results in loss of reason.)
Triggering Condition: Insanity
Triggering Condition: Spell Mishap that results in an AoE effect
Triggered Spell Effect: Teleported randomly to the nearest location on land that is uninhabited by humanoids as far as Ceviran's sight can see.
This spell explains both Ceviran's mistrust of portals and teleportation, and the random log-outs, disappearances, and odd portal/teleport bugs that occasionally happen in game- while Astarial is an evocation specialist, tying a contingency trigger to an emotion such as rage is bound to have the odd side-effect.
Litany of Truth
This is a variation of the Geas spell - and a masterwork piece of enchantment, which prior to Astarial, every mage in the family was a specialist in. Astarial went the evoker path instead, but did not forsake his heritage's teachings.
The subject of this spell feels compelled to be truthful- there are no negative ability penalties involved in this geas, however. Rather than harming the subject through some form of steadily augmenting curse when not living according to its dictates, whenever the subject is presented with an option between telling the truth and lying, the subject will "feel good" about contemplating honesty, and will feel a burgeoning sense of anxiety and unease as they contemplate telling a lie, lingering on the possible negative repercussions and the ways such a lie could spiral out of control. The more the subject attempts to rationalize these consequences and plan for them, the more they think about ways it can go wrong, increasing their sense of unease and discomfort.
As soon as they voice the truth, the anxiety goes away, and the "feel good" aspect is reinforced, similar to divesting oneself of a heavy burden or solving a puzzle - even in the face of negative consequences, this will remain, as the subject can easily contemplate how much worse it would've been if they'd started off with a lie and been discovered.
Choosing not to answer (option C) provokes neither a feel good response nor an anxiety response.
This spell has interwoven itself with Ceviran's mage oath to be truthful, and cannot be broken by conventional means so long as his oath is maintained.
Power Siphon
This piece of spellwork was meant as a two-fold preventative measure; the first, so that an untrained child didn't have a catastrophic spell mishap while learning to use their gift- and as a bit of a battery for the other spellwork woven on Ceviran by his father.
Done as a variation of the Spell Engine spell, this spell absorbs ambient magic from Ceviran- produced in constant, limitless supply- and drains off excess power in the event that he channels more than he can handle. As Ceviran gains in control of both his powers and his emotions, the power behind this enchantment slowly unravels - under examination, Angela suspects it will fall within a decade.
Aversion Charm
Woven into all of the previously mentioned spellwork, Astarial cast an Aversion charm, to prevent diviners (and Ceviran) from noticing these spells under inspection - typically by causing the person looking to be distracted by something else. Angela, however, is much less susceptible to this aversion charm than Ceviran is, and she noticed this, as well.
Permanence
Each of the previous spells has been rendered permanent with an application of the Permanency spell, and will continue to function except in the presence of dead magic zones or anti-magic zones. They will resume after leaving such areas.
Narrative Goals
- DON'T join the guard (Low difficulty) - Failed this one pretty hard- twice. Going for a third one now
- DON'T get involved in politics (Low difficulty) - ...Heh...hahahahaha... -.-; Seriously, why? I can't even begin to explain the levels of politics he got involved in that I actively tried to avoid. Playing Cev is like watching a sitcom where the main character never quite implodes but constantly has to deal with one of infinite things that could go wrong- because one of them always is. It's actually rather entertaining, when it isn't one of the things that jabs in the feels.
- Make friends (Low difficulty) - Making long-lasting friends turned out to be much more difficult than I anticipated, simply because so many people move on and roll - to be fair, it really drives home a validation behind the elven mindset of having a hard time getting attached to shorter-lived humanoids.
- Fall in love (Moderate difficulty) - Happily married
- Raise a family (Moderate to extreme difficulty, circumstantial) Children that have reached adulthood.
- Become a Harper (Moderate difficulty) - Became. Expelled, for extra credit.
- Bring about the fall of a major faction or headquarters for a malignant entity/force (Snowflake's chance) - ... Wharftown delenda est? Ceviran dearly wishes this is an achievement he wasn't a part of.
- Help usher in an era of peace through befriending people from widely varying groups and getting them to work together (Snowflake's chance) - Despite the difficulty in making long-term friends, Cev does seem to have a way with making short-term ones... and plenty of enemies, too. For the second book, he's going to be focusing a little more on this.
- Redeem a warlock (Unlikely to succeed) - Nope, not yet! Any volunteers?
- Redeem a priest of an opposed faith (Unlikely to succeed) - No- although he was orbitally privy to the changing of faiths of one, it wouldn't be fair to say he had any actualy doing in it happening - he just became aware of it.
- Retire rich and happy (Unlikely to succeed) - Retirement looks farther off the table the more time he spends on Arelith... probably gonna piss off the wrong people and die.
NEW GOALS (Because RP)
Join the guard- Again. (Pretty sure I can manage this one if I'm actually trying.)
Progress through the ranks, help recruit, help get the guard nice and robust and comfortable with working together even if they hate some of each others' guts. (Expecting this to be incredibly hard, but maybe my surprising luck will hold out)
IN A SURPRISING TWIST NO ONE (especially me >.<) SAW COMING - Become chancellor of Cordor, running on a platform of diplomacy, mutual defense, and a unification to purge the island of domestic threats to peaceful civilization. Institute policy reforms that leave a concrete foundation for future administrations rather than necessitating a from scratch experience each time. (DC: I'm a masochist.)
Do things that will upset the High Harpers without getting caught until it's too late to do anything about it, and set up fail-safes so that death at their hands will be less than a pleasing outcome. (DC: Seriously, this is what I get for playing a character with 9 wisdom.)
Possibly, maybe, kill his own father.