Drakehold, Midian

Midian Drakehold
Wizard, level 3

Appearance: A man in his late thirties, early forties. He has blond hair tinged with streaks of gray and lines across his face created by years of strain and toil. His hands are rough for a magi, but when he uses them at the alchemists workbench they are seemingly rock steady and light as a feather in their grace and dexterity. A solid figure belies his magical knowledge, and his ocean blue eyes convey a hint of sadness and despair.

Personality: Midian is amenable with his fellow hunters to a degree, but the hedge wizard spends long hours alone studying his spells and crafting alchemical potions for the group to use for the next day. He sleeps only rarely, and when he does he awakens gasping for breath with his eyes wide in terror. An aura of sorrow trails at his heels, but he moves forward with a purpose and determination that is sometimes disturbing in its fortitude.

History: Midian was born and raised in a small village within Tethyr. He spent most of his life there, his father a farmer and his mother an herbalist. When he was eighteen, he was sent to the towns only hedge wizard, a rustic magi that welcomed the boy whom he had sensed magical talent blossoming within. Midian studied with the hedge wizard for a few years, gleaning knowledge of alchemy enhanced by his own previous teachings from his mother and father concerning the land. After the wizard passed away, Midian was left with his few possessions and began to serve as the town's magi in his stead.

It was through his appointment as the town's wizard that he met Miriam, a lovely maiden with hair more red than Sune herself (Or so he would claim betimes). She came seeking a magical cure for her brother, a young man seemingly ill. Midian worked tirelessly, and crafted a potion that would remove the ill effects from the boy. Midian asked how this came to pass, and Miram said that her brother had found a dagger buried in a field and pricked his finger upon it. He became deathly pale and drained, and Miriam had found him lying in the field with the dagger clutched in his hand. Fearing the worst, she had thrown it down a well and taken her brother home as quickly as possible.

After crafting the potion, Midian visited Miriam's homestead with the bottle in hand. He gave it to her brother, Havak, and looked on in slight pride as the boy became almost instantly well. Overjoyed, Miriam kissed Midian full on the lips as they celebrated her brother's well being. After this, Havak and Miriam would frequent the shop where Midian lived, speaking to him well into the evening. Midian took Havak on as an apprentice, as he asked for Miriam's hand in marriage.

It was a beautiful ceremony, with the entire town in attendance as Midiam looked into his bride's eyes with love unrivaled by any look ever given from a man to a woman. The shop being too small, he moved into a small cottage near his parents land with his new bride, making the trip into town every morning to craft potions for the townsfolk. Havak would meet him there, eager to learn as they worked well into the evening.

Life like this continued for quite some time in peaceful bliss, until word came that Midian's father had died. His grief clouding his mind, he gave up his wizarding practices to Havak, now old enough to carry on his own and took on the role of a farmer to support his mother, wife and new child on the way. Life went on once more, happy still, but in a different way. His first child they named Lional after his own father, and Sharala was born not a year or so later. Life in the fields suited Midian, but he always spent some time drinking and talking to his brother in law, Havak, about potion making and the small summoning spells that they had crafted together when master and apprentice.

However, Midian was disturbed by Havak's increasing fascination with necromantic arts. While not illegal outright, it was a dangerous subject in the very least. Havak had been trading for texts that were more than a little in the realm of the black arts, and Midian cautioned against them. Angered by Midian's lack of foresight, Havak stormed out of the cottage that Midian and his family lived in against the protests of his sister and brother in law. That was the last they saw of him for five years, in which time Lional and Sharala grew into happy and bright children, and Midian began to feel the oncoming of middle age. Despite this, they were happy.

One eve years later, Midian was walking to he and his wife's bedroom after tucking the children away into bed. He paused as old senses began to stir, magical energy leaking into the cottage. He turned slowly to the door, and was greeted by the sight of a cloaked figure with burning red eyes shrouded under the cowl. The figure identified itself as Havak, Miriam's brother that had years ago left the town in order to gain more knowledge of the black arts. He had gained it, through serving a vampire lord named Andurial of the Bones. As a last test of his master, he had been sent here to kill his sister and his family in order to finally achieve immortality as a true vampire. Havak only laughed as Midian picked up a shovel sitting by the door to swing at Havak, hitting nothing but air as Havak grasped Midian by the throat in a chilly claw.

"I want you to watch, short sighted brother of mine." He crooned into his ear. He slammed Midian into the wall with a hissed Bigby's spell, and nodded his satisfaction as Midian could only blink furiously at Havak from the wall.

Havak took his time with Midian's family. He slaughtered his sister first, beautiful Miriam with her red hair now covered in her own blood as he decapitated her corpse. He took the children next, raising a blood covered hand as he was about to slay them. At this point Midian was screaming like a madman, straining against his magical bonds so much so that he luckily passed out. He woke with the smell of fire in his nostrils, and scrambled out of his home as it went up in flames. Gasping for air, he only caught a glimpse of the undead Havak laughing until he vanished into the night. Swearing vengeance for his lost children and wife, Midian gathered his old magical gear stored away underground to begin searching for ways to kill his brother in law, and avenge his family.

Important Contacts:

Havak- Brother in law, and killer of Midian's family. Presumably a vampire himself, he is a powerful necromancer and servant to the Andurial of the Bones.
Miriam- His wife, murdered by Havak
Lionel and Sharala- Presumably killed as well by Havak
Andurial of the Bones- An unknown vampire lord of unspeakable strength and power

(Left unfinished to see if he knew any other characters in the group beforehand)

Motivation and Goals: His only motivation is to slaughter undead in whatever capacity he can find them. With the uprising of Myrkul and Colibrus in Sundren, he seeks to find this Andurial of the Bones and avenge his family. No matter what the cost.

Skills:

Thus far, Midian is out of practice to a degree, but has the skills of a hedge wizard. He can summon a minor creature to serve him, and is skilled to an extent with alchemy and potion making.