Varis Galanodel

**Varis Galanodel** was a High Elf wizard born in Keywater Mill in 3979 ANW. He was a student at the College of Xilokiir, where he decided on his life goal of becoming the Arch-Mage of Xilokiir, before an incident resulted in a bounty on his head and his exile from the city. Varis was 190cm tall and weighed 143lbs. He had dusky brown hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. He died in the Vestyan Mage Tower in 4118 ANW.

## Backstory

### Childhood

Varis, childhood name Vell, was born to Eris and Lucial Galanodel in Keywater Mill. When he was 12, he and his best friend Eryn investigated a forbidden cave just outside the town. Eryn didn't believe the stories of cave monsters the village told and wanted to see what was in the cave herself. Unfortunately, these stories had some truth to them. Eryn was taken by a shadowy figure and was never seen again.

Soon after, the Galanodels moved to Xilokiir. Too poor to afford housing, they were taken in by the Velhammer family: Paelius, his wife Vermina, and his father Armingiir. The three ran a tavern in the city. Working there for a few years, the Galanodels eventually earned enough money to buy a house.

### College of Xilokiir

With Paelius' help, Varis was given a scholarship to pay for his attendance to the College of Xilokiir, a prestigious magic school. He began attending the school at age 19, and quickly became friends with a fellow Elf named Evendur. Evendur was rowdy and often got into trouble, but Varis thought he could steer him in a better direction. The two often fantasized about their future magical careers, with Varis deciding on his lofty goal of becoming Arch-Mage of Xilokiir.

When Varis was 21, Armingiir Velhammer fell ill with a mysterious disease. After analyzing the sickness, Varis determined that a specific ingredient was required to produce a cure: a St. Callonith's Lily. These flowers, supposedly created by an ancient Elven demigoddess of life and healing, only grew in the forbidden catacombs beneath the College. Varis, Evendur, and Paelius devised a plan to break into the catacombs. They found the area full of animated skeletons and other undead. Barely making it to the catacomb's terminus alive, they became separated from Evendur. Once they had retrieved the flower and returned to the surface, they found Evendur with a squad of Xilokiiri guards, selling them out for their trespassing and theft.

Varis took the blame for organizing the crime, allowing Paelius to escape with the flowers. Armingiir was healed, but Varis was now a wanted criminal. He fled the city as a bounty was placed on his head, one much larger than would be expected for simple trespassing.

### The Burning Rage

Wandering Vestya, Varis sought deific guidance. He knew of a temple to the Amnian god Canis somewhere in the woods near his old village. Perhaps he would be welcome there. Unfortunately, when he arrived there, he found the temple overrun by gnolls. These gnolls were strange; something about their eyes was... off. Varis ended up captured by the gnoll clan. While he was imprisoned, the gnolls applied some sort of acidic concoction to his arms, causing intense burns all across them. This was the Burning Rage, a magical ailment that caused increased aggression when the burns were irritated or inflamed. Varis was subjected to various kinds of torture to keep his aggression high. Blinded by rage, only one thing could get through to him: the Light of Canis. Guided by it, he broke free and found the Voice of Canis, a magical short sword and artifact of the Amnian god, beneath the Temple. With that, he slew the entire gnoll clan.

Varis spent the next several months learning to control the Burning Rage. The burns on his arms never healed, but he was able to soothe their pain by keeping them wrapped in bandages and out of direct sunlight.

### Bloodflame Vengeance

Over the next few years, Varis tracked where the gnoll clan came from. He would have tracked them sooner if he hadn't avoided a difficult truth: all signs pointed to Keywater. Had the gnolls overrun the village? Did anyone survive? Upon arriving at Keywater, however, Varis found something different had taken over the village: the Cult of Bloodflame, who worshipped the Demigod Sinner, Shykan the Recusant. Part of the same pantheon as St. Callonith, Shykan was imprisoned for murdering the Saint eons ago, but somehow he escaped his fate. Upon seeing the cult's leader, Nera Zokad, Varis instantly knew this is what took Eryn in the cave all those years ago. Letting the Burning Rage overtake him, he killed the cultists and freed the village. The people of Keywater begged him to stay and protect them, but Varis knew his Burning Rage was dangerous. If he couldn't control it, he could end up hurting those he cared for. It was then that the guidance of Canis pointed him towards a different god.

### Acolyte of Oghma

Worship of the God of Knowledge, Oghma, was a calm, contemplative one. The perfect thing to help Varis control the Rage, or at least distract him from it. Varis was led to the Cathedral of Oghma in eastern Elendul, where he became an Initiate, and soon an Acolyte. Varis never sought to move further up the Cathedral's ranks, as the duties of an Acolyte had him in a repetitive, calming routine that was perfect for him. When he did seek more, he looked to a friend at the Cathedral, a human named Kastor Freeshard. He had joined years after Varis, but continued his path beyond Acolyte all the way up to Elder. Varis saw him as a role model, despite his shorter career at the Cathedral.

However, this would not last. After nearly 80 years at the Cathedral, it all came crashing down when Varis lost control of the Burning Rage. He was banished from the Cathedral. As he was escorted out, Kastor could barely stand to look at him.

### Apprenticeship and Jealousy

Varis stuck around Elendul for a while, eventually crossing paths with a young Amnian Fox wizard named Cistell Whyte. Sensing her untapped magical prowess, he took her on as an apprentice. The two started going on adventures around Vestya, with Cistell inviting her friend, an Amnian Skunk storm sorcerer named Lennart Tyde, to come along with them.

As their adventures continued, both Varis and Len developed feelings for Cistell. Varis was the first to turn his feelings into action, however. His and Cistell's romance flourished, while Len simmered in quiet jealousy.

### Evendur and the Necromancer

On a quest to track the remnants of the Bloodflame Cult, Varis, Cistell, and Len discovered a dungeon just outside Elendul. Within, they found the necromancer Uhaathoss the Rot-Heart raising the dead, his magic using the same arcane sigils of Shykan as the Cult's magic. As the trio slew the necromancer, Varis noted that the undead here resembled those in the catacombs of the College of Xilokiir. He was distracted from this thought by another discovery within the dungeon: an imprisoned Evendur.

Varis did not feel the Burning Rage this time, but you wouldn't know it just looking at him. Evendur tried to explain his betrayal, his findings in the catacombs that led him here, but Varis would hear none of it. He murdered Evendur, before he and his friends fled the dungeon.

### The Gnoll Massacre

Upon exiting Uhaathoss' lair, the group found Elendul in flames. Gnolls had invaded the city, and were specifically targeting the Cathedral of Oghma and surrounding areas. Rushing in to fight them off, the trio ended up in the burning ruins of the Cathedral. During the battle, Varis took an arrow to the chest. With the building coming down around them, Cistell and Len had to chose between saving him and escaping alive. They chose the latter.

As the fire blazed around him, the bandages on Varis' arms burned up. The flames aggravated the Burning Rage, giving Varis a last burst of strength. He killed every gnoll he saw, before collapsing in a pool of blood.

### A Jovian Meeting

Varis was found by a group of cityfolk and nursed back to health. One of the people who assisted him greatly during this time was Toland Jupiterra, folk hero of Ostad. Their friendship grew as Varis recovered.

The two began adventuring, but Varis never reconnected with Cistell or Len (now Caracene Tyde; Varis would not know of her transition until years later). They had fled to Drimwell, before joining the Thiamor Stone Mages' Guild. Varis heard vague rumblings about the Guild's activities, but never found the time to seek it out.

### Irwel

Ten years after the Gnoll Massacre, a young boy found Varis, claiming to be his son. His name was Irwel, an orphan from Drimwell. He had heard stories about his father being a great wizard, so he ran from his home to find him. Varis took in the boy, training him in the ways of magic. As he had less time for adventuring, Toland left for other adventuring parties, but the two kept in touch.

Irwel's mother remained a mystery to Varis. The timeline matched up with his time with Cistell and Caracene, but Cistell couldn't be the mother, could she? She's an Amnian, after all. Irwel looks as Elvish as Varis.

### The Cataclysm

Varis lost more than most during the Cataclysm. Immediately following the event, he and Irwel found themselves in the ruins of Keywater Mill. The town was empty, but evidence suggested a great battle had just taken place there, one that the pair had fought in. No bodies remained, however. Varis found his sword stabbed into the ground nearby, stained with blood. Upon picking it up, it felt emptier somehow, like all its magic was gone. That same emptiness soon found its way into Varis as well. Canis' guidance was gone, but something more primal drew him to seek out Xilokiir.

Vast swaths of Varis' memories were missing. He spent his years after leaving the Cathedral with... someone. He had some amount of closure with Evendur, but he couldn't remember why or how it happened. While everyone was focused on the missing Cataclysm, these thoughts were what consumed Varis.

Heading to Xilokiir, he found the city gone, a crater left in its place. His dreams of becoming the city's Arch-Mage were dead. He spent the next decade continuing Irwel's training, eventually also taking on an Amnian Bat named Nick Eklund that Irwel had fallen in love with. He wanted to bring them on their first quest, but he never committed to anything whenever the conversation was brought up. At least, until he found a patch of lilies growing near the Xilokiir crater...

## Attitude

Varis is a generally kind person, but has a temper with no limits. He is very open-minded and self-motivated but can lose his temper quicker than most. Varis' anger towards gnolls plagued him until late in his life, when he met Ayeb Reimert, a survivor of his massacre in Elendul that was raised by an Amnian family in the city.

## Appearance

Varis is tall and very skinny. He wears dark grey bandages all around his forearm due to the Burning Rage and has scar tissue around his right eye. His hair is dusky brown and is somewhat straight. Varis' eyes are bright blue and has a pointed chin. Varis wears a dark grey robe and a combat belt, along with his iconic messenger bag. He wears brown combat boots and has a gold lining to his robe.

## Weapons & Tools

Varis has two main weapons; The Voice of Canis (shortsword), and his quarterstaff. He is known to carry a large spellbook, several tomes on his studying of Canis and an assortment of potions wherever he goes. He also wears a Talisman of Youth that has the symbol of Canis as the head.

## Relatives

* Eris Galanodel (Mother)
* Lucial Galanodel (Father)
* Irwel Galanodel (Son)

## Quotes

* "Throw me to the wolves and I will return the leader of the pack,"

## Trivia

* The fact that Varis and Cistell had a child together may be possible, since Amnians have slightly similar DNA to Elves and Humans. It is unlikely though.
* Varis hates Gnolls.
* Varis and Toland Jupiterra are great friends.
* Varis has studied the origin of Amnians but are not sure where they derive from.
* Canis isn't actually the first god Varis worshipped. The Galanodels were intense followers of Kord.
* Varis Galanodel is played by Starfoxer117.