Alfric the Cursed

## **Early Life**

Alfric was born a human on a continent far away from Rathnir. His childhood was fairly ordinary until, at abut age 6, he was cursed by an unknown entity. The six-year-old boy was afflicted with unbearable pain, and through a week-long ordeal, Alfric's features became more and more inhuman. After the physical pain resided, relieved as he might have been, he would late wish he had died of it, rather than be faced with the reality that his own face now terrified him.

He had developed six green eyes, his skin scorched, black like the night sky, and grey fluff rested over his body. His face now resembled a spider, and the curse left him with a face that even a mother could not love. Following a tumulous six months, his mother took Alfric out of his village, and left him in the woods. Maybe it was an act of mercy? A moment of weakness? Alfric never found out... It broke his heart. He never considered returning to the village; if his mother didn't want him there, no one would. Instead, he tried his best to survive.

In the beginning, things were tough for the young boy. He became aware of the effects his new face had on creatures of the night and humanoids alike. To survive, he would use this to his advantage initially, shocking people away from their food, or snarling at wolves as a spider would. He started to associate his features with safety; learned to accept his face when no one else could.

Alfric did not know how many years he spent in the wilderness, in the forests and caves with beasts, insects, moss and stone. One day, however, after he had grown, he found an abandoned fortification. Books, trinkets, works of magic lay strewn across the place as if a massive conflict had happened there not long before he arrived... Yet, no one remained. He had never been to a place like this in all his life. The villages on the outskirts of the woodland was the most advanced he had ever seen humanity - or any other creature for that matter. But here this structure was, in the heart of the forest.

### The Fortress of Arbitri

Alfric had never learnt to read. He would have been a farmhand if he had stayed with his mother. His curiosity about the knowledge and history that remained in this place gnawed at him, however. At first, it was subtle, like the temptation to have another puff on a pipe almost completely smoked. The more he thought about it, the 'louder' the urge became. He pushed himself to try to decipher the symbols written in the archaic books, and the hieroglyphics stretched all over the walls. He was convinced spirits were restless in this place. Many times he woke to rattling bones at night, or moans derived from ancient wounds. Daily, he would read a little more, and gain insight into the citadel, which had become his home.

A name emerged consistently from the text: Arbitri. Arbitri was a spirit of this civilisation's religion. The more Alfric read, the more he realised Arbitri was alive, with him now, in the fortress he had inherited from the dead. This realisation summoned Arbitri to the physical plane, and it began to educate Alfric in the philosophy of Arbitrary:

Why was he cursed? *Why not?*

Why did his mother abandon him? *Who cares?*

What is his purpose on this lonely world? *Whatever he likes.*

Does it matter you look like a spider and have the manners to match? *Of course not.*

After this realisation, Alfric had a transformative period. His learning was bolstered by an ancient spirit of a forgotten land, and he read through the library in a matter of years, before being blessed by Arbitri. Although this was against the principles of Arbitrary, the spirit urged Alfric to find a cure for his disfiguration and directed him to a continent far to the West. There he would find open-minded scholars, and worldly characters, which would not judge him so harshly for his appearance. Alfric gazed at the spirit, shrugged, then left it there, setting off on his journey to Rathnir.

### Further Ambitions

Alfric the Cursed experience at the Fortress of Arbitri was such a profound experience for him, that he became obsessed with history, religion and culture. He was therefore determined to continue this and sought out to establish a secure research centre in the wild.

When he arrived in Rathnir, the Kingdom of Lucania was becoming independent and he wanted to be apart of the history of what could one day be a great nation. Building a small settlement near their fortifications he offered his services as a chronicler, historian, and minor magic to aid in the establishment of a legitimate kingdom.