Agias

Agias of Kyprion
Race	Human
Age	28
Height	6'1
Weight	176 lbs.
Class	Wizard/Warlord
Level	3
Alignment	Neutral Good
Status	8
Condition	Alive

Agias is a young noble from Kyprion who left his home in search of adventure, poetic inspiration, and greater meaning in his life. He found plenty of the first thanks to his partnership with a Northland warrior-woman, Kalda... too much, at times. Together, the two ventured to Jokari to investigate the fabled Tomb of the Serpent Kings, thinking its reputation might serve both of them well.

Background

Agias of House Cymede was born the youngest of eight children, but these children only shared their father in common. Nostos Cymede was a powerful and influential man, whose seemingly endless political ambition saw him making friends in high places and treating anyone within his reach as a tool to be leveraged. The man took eight different wives to father eight different children, each marriage gaining him more influence, and each child intended to grow up and enter another marriage politically convenient for Nostos.

This left the children to compete amongst themselves for the attention of their superiors. Agias was no exception, receiving no special favour or attention from his birth through to his childhood. However, it soon became clear that he was cut from a different cloth from his siblings. He excelled in every area of his education, learned the noble decorum quickly, and could play the noble’s game of courtesy well. If there was any area one of his siblings specialized in, Agias was as good or better at it. He was the top student, the lead performer, the charming socialite.

Naturally, this earned him a lot of praise from Nostos’ associates and the other members of the house, who routinely highlighted Agias’ talents and achievements. But over time, such compliments felt hollow to Agias. The youth began to wonder what was even worth praising about him. If he was so talented, where was the merit in his achievement? What was the virtue of being born gifted? He felt as though he hadn’t worked hard or earned what he had.

His talent did not win him any friends among his siblings - but on some level, Agias preferred this. The scorn for him that they were unable to hide through their decorum and pleasantries was at least a genuine feeling, rather than the false politeness they all showed each other. This furthered his disillusionment, with his siblings’ envy being the only response that felt genuine from everyone around him.

The combination of false merit and false emotion led him to find refuge in epic poetry and stories of heroism. The emotions evoked by simple words upon paper struck a chord with him - these heroes showed real merit, and their tales had real feeling. They went on grand adventures, vanquished evil - and, often enough, fell in love. Far from the expectations Agias had of a life of courtly intrigue and politically motivated marriage.

Getting absorbed in the writings, Agias found himself fantasizing about his own life as an adventurer. Somehow who could go out and discover lost treasure, have incredible journeys, or find romance in a fellow adventurer. Such ideas continued to buzz in his mind until an opportunity came around that made him feel that he might actually fulfill them.

Due to his academic achievements, several of Nostos’ associates had already suggested at one party or another that Agias could become a fine wizard. The idea had obvious appeal in a noble family, as wizards were highly valued as court advisors. But wizards were also known to make fine adventurers. Playing along, Agias relied on the Cymede name to secure a prestigious mentor - the mage Talaveus.

Talaveus’ reputation preceded her in two ways. The first, was that she was a capable wizard who learned many powerful spells in her travels. The second was that all of her previous apprentices had quit, with very little to show for their time spent under her. Agias was not scared off by this prospect at all. He’d accomplished with ease many things that were supposedly ‘difficult’ and saw no reason for this to be different.

Indeed, his study of the arcane arts had a promising start. Talaveus mentored him directly while Agias learned how to cast spells for the first time. Despite Talaveus reassuring Agias that casting the first spell was the hardest step, Agias took to it without difficulty. Really, it was just like something out of the stories Agias had read - the enigmatic but famous mentor that no student could prosper under, until the hero of the tale proved to be the only one capable of mastering their teachings.

But during the next phase of his training, he soon learned why the previous students had failed. After learning to cast spells, Talaveus advised that a proper wizard must always seek out new spells, copying them into their own spellbook. From that point on, Agias would copy his spells directly from Talaveus’ spellbook to learn them.

And thus, an insurmountable challenge was presented itself to Agias. Talaveus had incredibly poor handwriting.

Agias tried his best to reason out her spells and reproduce them, but the results were middling at best. The worst, and most shameful of these, was his attempts to produce her Burning Hands spell. Somehow, instead of conjuring a cone of fire, the spell Agias learned drew from the realms of shadow to mediocre results. Dangerous to the caster and lackluster in effect, a shameful combination.

Agias knew he would not flourish under Talaveus, but he also knew that his abilities would not take him far adventuring on his own. He felt foolish for even thinking he might have become an adventurer himself.

This made Agias step back and consider what had put such ideas in his head. He began to truly appreciate not just the inspirational ability of the heroes he had read about, but also of those who recorded their journeys. After all, he had not seen any of these events first hand - no, it was the poems and histories that had lit a fire in his heart. To become one who chronicled such events, and inspired further generations of heroes - that was something Agias could aspire to.

So Agias set out from his home in Vespras. He travelled west, using performances of heroic tales to pay for his lodgings and motivate any listening adventures to contribute their own tales. The process worked well enough, but after a time Agias began to feel his methods were lacking. He began to think that more direct experience was needed to truly capture the emotions in his poetry.

Then, in a tavern in Donnermark, Agias would be offered the exact opportunity he was looking for. After performing his usual poetry reading, Agias was approached by a stunning Northerner bearing drinks. She introduced herself as Kalda Gullinhár, and she seemed intensely interested in Agias. Flattered, and extremely nervous, Agias accepted the offered drink and got to talking. Kalda was a warrior who sought glory, hoping to have stories told about her so that her valor could be recognized in Valhalla. It seemed like a perfect match to Agias. She would inspire his stories, and his stories would further her valor. As the night continued, the empty mugs began to gather around the flustered young man. Kalda offered to pledge something she called the Varyag’s Oath to him, and Agias drunkenly agreed without any further knowledge.

With that, they made plans to head out to the nearby Raven Tower as part of Kalda’s religious pilgrimage. Which was entirely Kalda doing the planning and Agias slurring out agreement to whatever she proposed.

The following day, Agias had begun to understand that he may have made a mistake. Kalda’s fighting style was obscenely reckless, and her idea of protection Agias left a lot to be desired to the wizard - her priority seemed to be on causing as much damage as possible, rather than preventing it. Agias’ fanciful ideas of heroic adventure were immediately crushed by the reality of fleeing from ravenous undead as Kalda chased Agias and undead alike down the hallways of the tower while laughing maniacally.

Somehow, the pair survived the experience, clearing out the undead and completing Kalda’s pilgrimage. To Agias’ surprise, Kalda expressed a lot of appreciation to Agias for accompanying her, and he was taken aback. Kalda repeated her desire to pledge the Varyag’s Oath to Agias, and he strongly considered backing out of it while he still could.

But he had already agreed to it, even while drunk. And Kalda’s thankfulness made him decide to keep to his word, and pledge the oath to her. After pledging the oath, and being informed by Kalda that she would now follow his lead, Agias decided to follow up some rumours he’d heard of an ancient tomb far to the south. Kidnappings, strange visions, promises of wealth and danger… it seemed like a perfect draw for both of them. Even better, it had already attracted other adventurers to its sight - more adventurers to inspire Agias’ writing. And so the pair journeyed south, moving far beyond the reach of house Cymede… or so Agias thought.

He had underestimated his family’s interest in him, in particular. For although Nostos had a distant relationship with all of his children, he still kept a close eye on their talents. They were his tools, after all, and he was particularly looking for one to become his most valuable tool of all: his heir. The aging noble would only accept the most outstanding of his children to succeed him...

Arrival in Jokari

Agias took place in his first delve during Week 41, recruited by Hywel alongside Catherine, Zalverk, Steelscab and Veigar on a mission to rescue Brand from the Tomb. The party was successful, and Agias spent some time with each of the adventurers to get to know them better - even going on a date with Catherine. However, things did not proceed after it became clear that the two had very different expectations from a relationship. It was definitely a mutual decision.

Warlord Training

After his first delve, Agias sought to take lessons in leadership to be of better use in the delves. He met Anivere, who gave some advice from her own experience, and eventually met with the heir to one of Jokari's ruling houses - Leon Lamane. Though initially reluctant to help, Agias' passionate decree for help eventually swayed the melancholic man enough to train Agias. Agias was content with the progress he displayed on his first outing since, but now he wishes to return the favor to Leon by helping him out of his depression...