Carric Ilphelkirk

Carric Ilphelkirk was a High Elf Mage highly regarded within the Seating of the Nine, a founder of the Kirk-Hill Institute, and ultimately a convicted heretic and blasphemer. Much of his work focused on practical applications of magical energies and while his name has mostly been scrubbed from common history his few surviving designs still play critical parts in the lives of many or are highly sought after artifacts.

## Kirk-Hill Institute

Growing tired with the increasingly bureaucratic nature of work within the Seating of the Nine, Ilphelkirk set out with a colleague from the Seating, Sannl Aichill, to form an independent research institution; the Kirk-Hill Institute. The institute's mission statement was thus: To unite beings from all over the world to push the frontiers of magic and technology, for the benefit of all.

Ilphelkirk spent the early years after the founding of the institute working the field applying magical energies to common problems often utilizing techniques that allowed lay people to control the process with only rudimentary magical training. Many of the devices he designed only required periodic magical recharging by a trained mage essentially allowing the common citizen access to limited magical power.

### Notable Designs

* Automated Percussion Drill: A wagon mounted well drilling device with limited horizontal and water seeking capabilities.
* Clifton Suspension Bridge: Spanning the Avon Gorge the bridge connected the formerly isolated community of Hill Dwarves know as the Leighvale Clan and the Wood Elf community of Avontol. The resulting connection brought on a economic boom in the region and the resulting prosperity ended the intermittent raiding each community had conducted on the other for generations. From a design standpoint the bridge is notable as one of the first uses of magically spun iron support cables and decking. At the time of completion it was longest single span bridge in existence.
* Tri-Channel Dowser: Drawing upon energy from the Fire, Earth, and Water Elemental Planes this device greatly increased the safety and effectiveness of all forms of tunneling. Likely developed during the lengthy excavation of the Coffer Hill Tunnel. Only three prototypes are known to exist.

## The Dragon Civil War

Following the assassination of Sannl Aichill and razing of the Kirk-Hill Institute by the Seating of the Nine Ilphelkirk was approached by agents of Mora Regent who offered protection and funding if he transitioned his research to the development of weapons.

### Fremontii Research Facility

Struggling with grief, Ilphelkirk selected an isolated and easily defensible location on a forested mesa near Mora Regent's main fortress. The mesa was once home to a Druidic Enclave called the Fremontii Grove, long a place of training for young druids. There he founded the Fremontii Research Facility dedicated to the creation of an ultimate weapon to wipe the Seating of the Nine from all the planes of existence. This device became known as the Trinity Device.

#### Trinity Device

Conceptualized as the ultimate weapon that would bring end to all major conflict and specifically The Dragon Civil War the Trinity Device brings wave functions from the Positive Plane and Negative Plane into direct conflict with each other superimposed with their corresponding particles in the Material Plane. In theory the resulting energetic release would be like if the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky.

## Personal Life

During his adult and life Ilphelkirk was mostly reclusive except when directing work in the field. The few surviving accounts of his interactions with common folk describe him as jovial, kind, and evenly respectful to all, even those of the most humble origins. However, a remaining fragment from one of Sannl Aichill's journals quotes him from a darker period saying: "I need magic more than friends."

Beyond cursory and pleasant relationships with a diverse set of common folk and a deep partnership with Sannl Aichill the only relationship of note was with a Human woman known only as Mary Elizabeth. Little is known about the exact relationship between Ilphelkirk and Mary Elizabeth as she was often present during his forays into the field it is assumed that she was an apprentice brought on by Aichill and Ilphelkirk when they founded the Kirk-Hill Institute.