Polaris

*"As they love to say in the stories, we all have a role to play."*

## History

Born in a small elven settlement near Omesta, Kyonin, Polaris was originally named Ruven Trislamin. Ruven lacked many of the talents commonly considered iconic for the elven race. His arcane aptitude went no further than activating wands and scrolls, he had no affinity for nature, and his archery was average at best. He did, however, possess a sharp mind and good instinct for non-magical book-learning. Not only did he devour book after book of learning, but he also regularly visited the gnomes living in the trees above Omesta. While the short folk were too unruly for his liking, he got along with them well and picked up considerable knowledge of their mechanical engineering.

It took several decades for young Ruven to discover that he did in fact possess mystical powers. At the height of elven puberty Ruven manifested the internal power known as psionics, albeit in a rather weak form. It was a mere curiosity for the elf, who had by now learned to hunt with his peers using his contraptions. Idle experimentation with these weak abilities did not turn into serious training until several years more had passed, when Ruven discovered that the tales and legends he had studied resonated with these mental powers somehow.

After extensive self-study, Ruven learned he could psionically channel echoes of these Legends. He had believed his powers to be weak because they were unrefined, used without purpose. Like a dress of the finest cut, these powers were next to nothing without the right person to wear them.

So Ruven draped his mind around these tales, became a shell for them to wear to walk the earth once more. At first it simply involved prancing about in the library or near the guardhouse wearing a wizard’s hat or a pot helm, but the more he practiced, the more he learned. What started as small spikes in his psionic output eventually turned into full-on manifestations of these heroic tales, echoes brought to life through Ruven’s mind alone.

He forged the strongest connections with seven of these Legends, though his knowledge with them did not seem to affect these bonds, only how well they resonated with him as a person. The more he played these roles, the more he found that their personalities blended into his, and that their desires were tugging him beyond his little corner of the world. Nearly an adult, Ruven decided it was time for him to leave the little Kyonin settlement and wander the breadth of the elven land.

Even after years of wandering the Kyonin countryside, eventually reaching elven adulthood in the process, Ruven could feel the echoes pulling him beyond the borders of his homeland and into human lands. The nature of this pull was becoming more clear as well - each of the seven Legends died with a last wish or regret. After their deaths, their spirits had lingered. Ruven theorized that his psionic mind had become a beacon of some sort, drawing the shreds of their lingering souls towards him. He was a willing alternative to the torment of existence as a ghost.

It was at this point that the wandering Ruven found his faith, when a priestess of Desna happened upon him one night. The hunt had been fruitless the past days, he was almost out of rations, and he was far from the nearest town. He was hungry and weak, huddled under his blankets around a fire. The wandering priestess appeared from the darkness and asked to join him at the fire’s warmth, sharing her rations with him in return. They spoke until deep into the night, and Ruven found himself drawn to the goddess.

With the echoes pulling at him like a fishhook in his guts and dreams of the outside world in his head, he decided to follow Desna’s teachings. He would walk the paths of the world and help those in need, while guiding the lost souls swirling around him to achieve their final wishes. To symbolize this change, he took the name Polaris, making his natural identity something private and intimate. He left Kyonin, departing for different lands to learn about the people living in them. If anything his wanderlust was reinvigorated.

For several years he indulged that wanderlust, seeing more of the Inner Sea region as he followed leads to learn more about both his Legends and the nature of their last wishes. He was directionless, merely following clues when he had them or following one of those tugging sensations when he did not.

Results were disappointing to say the least, but Ruven had time. Seven years with minimal progression was frustrating, but it was a fraction of an elf’s lifespan. He changed his tactics, deciding to focus rather than going for the shotgun approach. When he made this decision, he was in Almas, Andoran. One of the Legends tugged him further south-east, to Absalom. Where better to make a new start for his search than the adventuring capital of the world? He could always leave when he felt like it, after all.

## Personality

Born in Kyonin, Polaris lacks the melancholy seen in the Forlorn elves many in Avistan are more familiar with. He’s humorous, upbeat and friendly, though he can sometimes come over as if he’s making fun of the shorter-lived races. He has a tendency to smile as if he knows a joke nobody else in the room is aware of. Sometimes he makes jokes even in serious situations, which can be offputting to others.

One of Polaris’s prominent personality traits is his eagerness to learn. The young elf is quick to be distracted and takes risks without hesitation if there is a mystery to unravel. If said mystery is related to one of the seven Legends, it’s nearly impossible to keep him from rushing headlong into the unknown. Similarly he greatly enjoys exploration, something reflected in his Desnan faith. If an adventure provides new experiences or information, he will gladly accept a lower reward.

Outside of such situations Polaris is always happy to put his extensive knowledge to good use. Whether it’s advice, alchemy or information, Polaris will not spare any effort or expense to help his friends or those truly in need. He’s no priest, but always enjoys interactions and conversation with fellow followers of Desna to exchange tales of their journeys.

## Legends

* *The Curator:* Polaris's Archmage Legend. Though the Curator is the Legend that Polaris has the strongest connection with, he is also the one the elf knows the least about. Polaris knows the Curator was a male human wizard with great arcane power and an insatiable appetite for knowledge. He died in his old age, and that's where Polaris's knowledge stops - he doesn't even know the man's name.

* *Sir Jason*: Polaris's Champion Legend. A Hellknight of an unknown order, Sir Jason is the Legend that Polaris has the weakest connection to. Sir Jason's strict lawful personality clashes with Polaris's more open-minded, good morals. Nonetheless Polaris seeks to fulfill Sir Jason's goal, for he believes it to be good and just: the destruction of Sir Jason's nemesis, an ancient enemy who caused great chaos and destruction. This enemy's identity is not known to Polaris, however.

* *Saint Wolfe:* Polaris's Guardian Legend. An Absalom-born half-elf male who became a member of the Platinum Band, a congregation of humanoid worshipers of Apsu. Chromatic dragons knew and in some cases even feared him, but they became his doom. Though canonized after his passing, Saint Wolfe died with a single regret: being unable to save a young angel captured by the malicious dragon that claimed the knight’s life. It was Wolfe who drew Polaris to Absalom.

* *Stargazer Zuvrek:* Polaris’s Hierophant Legend. A Desnan cleric from Nidal, where his faith was banned. He spent many a year helping the inhabitants of the Land of Shadows, evading the authorities and practicing his craft. Polaris does not know which part of the country or even how big his following was, but he knows Zuvrek’s last wish: to redeem a particular sinner, which he failed to do in life. It will be up to Polaris to figure out who this sinner is.

* *Gaius Thrune:* Polaris’s Marshal Legend. A distant ancestor of Queen Abrogail II, and a fairly public figure. Polaris knows much about Gaius’s identity and history, but his death is shrouded in mystery. Though a great leader of men, apparently Lord Thrune died alone. Gaius’s last wish is simple: to see his bones laid to rest. Whoever or whatever killed him did not entomb his body with the rest of his family. Finding the corpse is already a barrier, as divination magic somehow fails to find it and over a century has passed since his death. Interring him with his family will be a whole different issue.

* *The Living Flame:* Polaris’s Overmind Legend. A Kelish seer whose powers were granted by a number of different gods of fire and passion. Though she had the mysterious powers of an oracle, her own emotions could often flare up into amazing outbursts - the power of a wilder. Unlike the Curator, she is a known legendary figure in Kelesh known only as the Living Flame. The Living Flame died in a very public manner, burning herself in a psionic flame so intense it even turned her bones to ash. If anyone knows why, though, it’s not common knowledge, and Polaris seeks to find out why and what he must do to give her peace.

* *Thaddeus Gray:* Polaris’s Trickster Legend. An urban legend among the thieves’ guilds of the Inner Sea, Gray was supposedly such a capable thief he stole a ring from Mammon’s Vaults and lived to tell the tale. Though he followed Norgorber’s aspect of the Gray Master, something he supposedly often joked about with his name, Thaddeus was not known to be an evil man, instead thieving for the thrills and preferring dangerous marks over profitable ones. Gray’s last job was to steal an artifact of some kind. It was well-guarded enough that Thaddeus was interested, but also an object of such sinister power that it plucked on what little moral fiber Gray had left. He died during the theft, and now wants Polaris to finish the job for him.