Aidan

Aidan on the cover of Zurai's first book, Chosen

### Date of Death

Fifthday, 3rd week of the 7th month, Godless Age 597;Fourthday, 1st week of the 8th month, Age of the Chosen 1

## Appearances

### Debut

Zurai Bk 1: Ch 3: The Voice That Calls to Adventure

## Statistics

### Traits

Limitless, Cunning Linguist, Crown of the Exalted

### Alignment

Altruistic (+1), Loyal (+1)

Aidan is Daniel Stewart's embodiment and player-character in The Realms. As such, the decisions we see him make, the emotions he feels, and his thoughts are all Daniel's. Towards the beginning of the journey, however, they are dissociated, as Daniel initially believes The Realms to only be a video game.

### Relationships

Brighid Fireheart: Aidan's first friend in The Realms, and eventually, his Bound Companion and Soulmate.

### **Spells**

Aidan currently has access to the following spells:

#### **Air Magic**

**Sound Barrier:** Air Magic, level 1.

This spell stills the air in a thin dome 5 feet in radius, preventing any sound from passing the boundary in either direction. Those inside the dome cannot hear what happens outside, and vice versa.

Cost: 100 Concentration. Duration: Concentration. Cast Time: 10 seconds.

**Electric Arc:** Air Magic, level 5.

Sends tendrils of electricity from an outstretched hand into one or more creatures within 15 feet of you and 3 feet of each other. Each target takes 15 electricity damage per second, and living creatures with a central nervous system have a minimal chance to be afflicted with Stun.

Cost: 75 Concentration. Duration: Concentration, up to 15 seconds. Cast Time: 1 second. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

**Windwall:** Air Magic, level 10.

Protects the caster and those nearby with a barrier of intense winds that will attempt to deflect any attack with a physical substance that passes across its boundary. Attacks are deflected based on their speed and mass, with faster and more massive attacks being deflected less than slower and lighter attacks.

Cost: 150 Concentration. Duration: Concentration, up to 2 minutes. Cast Time: 0.25 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.

#### **Animamancy**

**Call Soul's Familiar**: Animamancy, level 1.

Every living creature is given a soul at birth—but not a complete soul. Somewhere, out in the infinite multiverse, another being has the other portion of your soul. This spell will call that creature to you to serve as your familiar.

Cost: 200 Concentration, 5,000 experience. Duration: Instantaneous. Casting Time: 4 hours.

**Ensoul Object**: Animamancy, level 1.

Through the use of this spell, you can imbue a soul into an inanimate object. The soul is tiny and is not self-sustaining, and the target will not be truly alive, but a clever caster can find many uses for this ritual.

Cost: 50 Concentration, 500 experience. Duration: Concentration. Casting Time: 1 hour.

**Fortify Soul**: Animamancy, level 5.

This spell protects the target's soul from outside influences, helping to reduce damage to the soul and to protect the soul from effects that might alter or corrupt it. The target gains 20% resistance to soul damage from external sources and 25% resistance to effects that would negatively affect their soul.

Cost: 50 Concentration. Duration: Concentration. Casting time: 10 seconds.

**Lesser Soulbind**: Animamancy, level 5.

Through the use of this spell, an Animanancer can infuse an object with their own soul, causing it to be Soulbound to them. Having an object Soulbound to you carries many benefits, from always knowing where the object is, to severe penalties for anyone else who tries to use it. As a Chosen, there is an additional benefit to you: any object which is Soulbound to you and near you when you die will be brought to you when and if you return to life. This ritual can only Soulbind common, uncommon, or rare objects, and cannot Soulbind an object which is already bound.

Cost: 500 experience times rarity multiplier. Duration: Permanent until final death. Casting Time: 1 minute.

#### **Beast Magic**

**Minor Shift**: Beast Magic, level 1.

Changes one aspect of the target into that of another creature. This cannot grant new senses, attacks, Traits, or Abilities, but can alter appearance and enhance or deaden existing senses, attacks, Traits, or Abilities.

Cost: 10 Concentration. Duration: Concentration, up to 5 minutes and 45 seconds. Casting Time: 1.5 seconds.

**Soothe Beasts**: Beast Magic, level 5.

Some say that music soothes the savage beast, which may be true, but Beast Magic is far more effective. Casting this spell will cause one or more animals to grow less hostile towards you and your party or Warband. Each target becomes calmer and less likely to attack. The effectiveness depends on the intelligence and Willpower of the target and the spell power of the caster. This effect continues even after the spell has ended, but is not permanent.

Cost: 50 Concentration per target. Duration: Concentration, plus spell power minutes. Casting time: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 2 hours.

**Summon Steed:** Beast Magic, level 5.

This spell summons an unremarkable mount suitable to the current terrain: horses for grasslands, goats for mountains, deer for forests, and so on. The steed will be large enough and sturdy enough to bear you as a rider and will never balk or attempt to dislodge you; however, it is not suited for combat. The steed comes with appropriate riding gear, though not with any storage containers.

Cost: 200 Concentration. Duration: Concentration, up to 8 hours. Casting Time: 1 minute. Cooldown: 4 hours.

#### **Earth Magic**

**Enrich Soil:** Earth Magic, level 1.

This spell causes soil in a 30 feet by 30 feet wide by 5 feet deep area to become richer in nutrients. Plants grown in an area affected by this spell grow more quickly, are more resistant to disease and pests, and have increased yields. The effects of this spell stack.

Cost: 25 Concentration. Duration: Concentration up to 1 month, at which point the effect becomes permanent. Cast Time: 10 minutes.

**Prospector's Blessing:** Earth Magic, level 5.

When cast, this spell allows you to know the direction to and richness of the nearest mineral vein. Increased Skill with Earth Magic may allow you to search for specific minerals or otherwise manipulate the results.

Cost: 100 Concentration. Duration: Concentration. Cast Time: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.

#### **Fire Magic**

**Flame Jet**: Fire Magic, level 1.

Fires a thin jet of fire from your hand or implement that deals 10 fire damage per second to anything it touches.

Cost: 25 Concentration. Duration: Concentration, up to 5 seconds. Casting time: 1 second.

**Burning Barrage**: Fire Magic, level 10.

Creates several fiery orbs in the air around you. These orbs can be launched, individually or as a group, at one or more targets within 30 feet of you. Each projectile deals 20 fire damage on impact, then explodes, dealing 5 additional fire damage to creatures and objects within a 1-meter radius. These projectiles do not need to be fired in a straight line and can be guided mentally with a further Concentration cost.

Cost: 50 Concentration; 5 Concentration per second per guided projectile. Duration: Until expended. Casting time: 2 seconds. Cooldown: 15 seconds.

#### **Oneiromancy**

**Shared Dream:** Oneiromancy, level 1.

Allows the caster to create a dream and draw another person into that dream with them. The caster does not have control of the dream once it is created, and this ritual will fail if the target is not asleep and near to dreaming. This spell does not force either the caster or the target to remain asleep, and if either awakens, the effects end. Nothing which happens in the dream is reflected in the real world.

Cost: 200 Concentration; can only be cast while asleep. Duration: Until one party awakens or the dream ends. Cast Time: Special.

#### **Vivimancy**

**Patch Wounds**: Vivimancy, level 1.

The target recovers 10 Health over 2 seconds. This healing is caused by pure life energy and will not cause scarring. This will cure Wounds of Minor magnitude.

Cost: 50 Concentration. Duration: 2 seconds. Casting time: 10 seconds.

**Pulse of Life**: Vivimancy, level 10.

Waves of life energy pulse outwards from you, healing every living creature within 2 meters of you for 5 Health each second and harming every undead creature for a like amount. This energy comes at a cost, however: your Stamina is consumed to fuel the ritual. The healing is caused by pure life energy and will not cause scarring.

Cost: 100 Concentration; 10 Stamina per second. Duration: Concentration. Casting time: 10 seconds.

**Summon Golden Fawn**: Vivimancy, level 10.

Golden deer are magical creatures heavily steeped in life energy; merely being near a golden deer will restore small amounts of Health and Psyche damage. This ritual summons a very young golden deer which is not capable of participating in combat but still has the Aura of Life Ability of an adult.

Cost: 100 Concentration, 1 sprig of leaves edible by a golden deer. Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour. Casting Time: 30 seconds. Cooldown: 6 hours.

#### **Multi-School**

**Summon Obsidian Salamander**: Beast Magic and Fire Magic, level 1.

Summons a level 5 Obsidian Salamander, which will obey your orders faithfully to the best of its ability. Obsidian Salamanders are small fire-breathing reptiles with tough, glassy black scales. They are sturdy for their size, but they prefer to cook their prey from a distance rather than fight directly.

Cost: 75 Concentration. Duration: Concentration or death of the summoned creature. Cast Time: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.

**Soulfire Blast**: Animamancy and Fire Magic, level 1.

An extremely dangerous spell for both the user and their target, Soulfire Blast burns a piece of the caster's soul to power a blast of fire hot enough to melt stone on contact. Deals 100 fire damage per second to a target within 10 meters; due to the intense heat and the nature of the flames' source, the target is afflicted by the Soulburn debuff, which lowers their resistance to fire damage by 50% for 10 seconds.

Cost: 50 Concentration, soul damage. Duration: Concentration. Cast Time: 0.1 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

**Phoenix Pyre**: Animamancy, Beast Magic, Fire Magic, and Vivimancy, level 1.

This unique and selfless spell sacrifice's the caster's health, stamina, and concentration to damage nearby enemies and heal nearby allies. Such is its power that, if used quickly enough, it can even revive the recently-slain. Unless the caster is interrupted by external forces, this spell will always result in their death. Deals fire damage to all enemies within 30 feet and heals Health, Stamina, and Psyche to all allies within 30 feet each second. Damage and healing is based on the caster's life force. Healing from this spell is caused by pure life energy and does not cause scarring.

Cost: 99% Concentration; Wounds equal to 10% of maximum Health and Stamina per second; additional costs may apply. Duration: Concentration. Cast Time: 2 seconds. Special: This spell cannot be canceled once begun.

**Spark of Life:** Fire Magic and Vivimancy, level 5.

This spell summons the spark of life into a creature of death. This will consume them from the inside, dealing 50 fire/life damage initially and inflicting them with the Burning Life status, which causes them to take 25 fire/life damage per second for 5 seconds. Because of the unique mixture of the two damage types, this is affected by vulnerability to either fire or life damage, but can only be resisted by creatures with resistance or immunity to both fire and life damage. This ritual has no effect on creatures that are not aligned with death.

Cost: 25 Concentration. Duration: Instantaneous. Casting Time: 1 second. Cooldown: 5 seconds.

**Magma Blast:** Earth Magic and Fire Magic, level 10.

Conjures a superheated ball of stone and propels it towards an enemy. If the attack hits, it deals 40 impact/fire damage and causes the target to be afflicted with Burning for 5 seconds as the stone cools and hardens. After 5 seconds, Burning ends (unless also inflicted by another source), and the target is afflicted with Partial Petrification.

Cost: 50 Concentration. Duration: Instantaneous. Cast Time: 1 second. Cooldown: 5 seconds.