Heida Maura

Heida Maura is a Kepian historian and leading figure of the Kepian Archaeological Society. He is most noted for his work on deciphering the art of Scriptural Law, and is one of the very few people in the world actually able to wield it. Proficiency in Scriptural Law is so rare in fact, that he is considered to be a Living Virtue.

## History

A magician from the Iser Colonies, Heida showed magical competence at a young age was accepted as a student of The Shard. Excelling at any magical branch he chose to study, he quickly became a lazy genius and the pride of the school.

Though he initially drifted through school on his talents alone, he became enamored with the art of Scriptural Law after being introduced to it in school. With no specialized teacher to help him, he self taught himself in the art and became one of the youngest funded researchers of The Shard, gaining said status at the age of 28.

Although he gained enough proficiency to be considered a professor in the art and even was named as a Living Virtue, he was ultimately driven to madness in his study of the art, becoming assimilated by magic and turning into a mindless golem that hungered for mana. As Leandoros has the largest amount of ambient magic in the world, his golem started traveling in that direction, walking directly into the sea.

Ultimately, Heida was saved by his disciple Milan Lidergern, who had put together an attack force consisting of various students and professors from not just The Shard but also hundreds of other schools in the area, including every member of the Melchoir Collection. This group launched an assault on the golem in the middle of the ocean, and defeated it in a large scale battle that was later named the Assault of Rander Depths.

Afterwards, he decided to settle in Kepia, where he would be able better analyze various texts from the lost century, even securing a position amongst the KUI.

## Personality

### Intelligence

A lifetime of study dedicated to the magical arts and the title of Living Virtue leads to a unique confidence and faith in one's own abilities that is distinctive of such accomplished individuals.

### Perfectionist

Heida is intelligent, and he is very much aware of this fact. This awareness comes with a bit of a perfectionist streak, which is evident in the manner in which he goes through day to day life. When Heida sets out to do something, he expects to do it well, and does not handle failure particularly well.

His large success in the study of magic has led to a somewhat naive expectation of perfection, which makes him easily deterred by failure and prone to frustration when things don't go his way. However, when things do go his way, his proficiency in his field makes inevitably makes him stand out in comparison to his contemporaries.

### Conscientious

Although somewhat aloof when interacting with others, Heida takes his debts very seriously. Should he owe someone a favor, he will act to the best of his ability to repay said favor. His focus on perfectionism makes it difficult to accept that he could have been helped by another, and makes him put a high priority on helping those who have helped him in the past.

### Mildly Psychotic

In comparison to most other branches of magic, Scriptural Law requires an overwhelmingly large amount of dedication and study to become proficient in. In fact, the amount of knowledge required to use it without the aid of manuals, tomes, etc, is so large that a side effect of becoming more proficient in the art is an ever worsening insanity. Practitioners will often suffer from extremely painful headaches, will hear voices, and will not be able to sleep because their minds cannot settle down and are in a constant state of critical thinking.

Although Heida's depth of knowledge is nowhere deep enough to prevent him from being a functioning member of society, his lifetime of study has given him a number of mental afflictions, including paranoia, neuroticism, etc. The most debilitating of these afflictions is a moderate case of agoraphobia (fear of open spaces). Heida feels extremely uneasy out in the open, and is almost always indoors. His office is quite small, almost too small to fit more than a single person, and his bedroom is more akin to a walk in closet than an actual sleeping quarter. He also sleeps in a makeshift coffin.

## Kepia-Fikiri Conflict

Heida does not care for the Kepia Fikiri conflict, and views such conflicts to be beneath his own interests. As long as his scholarly life is not interrupted, he will not join a side. Since Kepia is funding his research, he will tend to favor Kepia.