Falthis

Falthis, the Nihilist, is a gifted mage who went searching for answers on how to combat the breaches occuring in the second age. After connecting to the World In-between the Walls, he then had **his world view corrupted by Abzulor’s knowledge and laid dormant for hundreds of years.**

## Lore

### Backstory

Born into the second age of magical advancement, Falthis was a bright kid from birth. From early on in his youth, he would show a distinct proficiency in the understanding of magic as he began to writing his own papers and publishing his own theories. His family would be extremely supportive of the young child's brilliant mind, and praised him for his advanced theories. This fierce level of intelligence would cause the youngster's work to catch the attention of the Arcanist Conclave. Ushered on by his family, Falthis would soon join the conclave, who would take him in as their youngest ever researcher. Within the walls of the conclave's facilities, his fascination with magic would grow and grow.

However, despite all this: his own actual capability with magic was extremely limited. He had figured out many of the secrets behind magic, with the theory being second nature to him. But for whatever reason, Falthis was not exactly the best conjurer himself. Someone with as gifted as a mind as him should be able to cast complex magics, but try as he might, that's all he was: a simple researcher. Falthis' moral would slowly fall as the years went by, and eventually the prodigy would grow reclrusive. Simply a mind and nothing more, he confined himself to his research and attempting to ignite the spark of magic.

As the breaches first came into the material plane, the Arcanist Conclave and various other mage groups were at a loss at how to handle the abomination and perplexing phenomenons they would cause. The world was on fire once again, much like the first age: problems had begun to arise that affected everyone. Falthis however, his brilliant mind began to study the abominations and realised that they all weren't just lashing out indiscriminately: that there was another voice commanding them from beyond the veil. Bringing his research to the Arcanist Conclave's council, he saw this as a chance at the spotlight, despite his own shortcomings.

Taking a small research team of magi, he and his team went on a pilgrimage to a place they had believed would the house the solution based on their research: the Hidden Temple. A place that would allow them to discover the truths behind this. As their research had uncovered, this temple was somewhere agents in the first age had used to communicate directly to the All Mother. They theorized that this would allo them to cure the sickness that was the Grand Unmaker.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a happy tale for Falthis and his crew. On their journey to this temple, they had been led astray by fraudulant instructions and found themselves deep within the core of the planet. As they found themselves descending further and further away from the material plane, they began hearing voices which grew louder and louder. They had reached an area where they had become closer and closer to the World In-between the Walls, the walls of reality as thin as they could be. The eldritch voices leaked out, and grew louder still: their voices shattering and overwhelming some crew straight to their death beds. Falthis, determined not to fail, tried to resist the call of the monsturous deity. But eventually, this was too much for him and he too had to give in. But unlike the others, the voices didn't instantly overwhelm the poor researcher. While they had been versed in combat, Falthis' mind had been so atuned to the oddities from the World In-between the Walls, he began being able to understand the voices. He began to not only listen, but learn. So the voices fed him information, and revealed to him horrible truths of agony and despair that reality stood upon.

In suspended animation for hundreds of years sat Falthis, being fed nothing but the truths to the hideous mysteries behind magic, the grand design, and life itself. All of this knowledge overpowered the man, corrupted him, and began to physically alter him as the world code of the grand design's mistake tore him apart. Lost on their expidition, he was never heard from again, and his name lived on in legend amongst magi and the Arcanist Conclave, where his research still remains to this day.

### Recent Events

Like an alarm clock: the shattering of the Arklight woke up Falthis. After over a hundred years, Falthis was now reawakened from his slumber, now an entirely new being. A stranger in a brand new desecrated world rife with possibilities, Falthis could only see ignorant lost souls, desperate for purpose. Illuminated by the teachings his grand master whispered, now Falthis seeks to enlighten others and bring forth his master into the material plane to fix the wrongs of existence. Falthis had become one with nature, unfortunately for others: it was a nature based on sorrow, and vile anguish. He saw the evil truth of reality, on how it needed to be corrected.

## Personality

Falthis after suffering mental torture for thousands of years, is now extremely bitter. He has been enlightened with the truths of reality by Abuzlor, and as such sees this as a failing of the grand design, acting extremely pessemistic and nihilistic. He doesn't see others not in the service of Abzulor as beneath him, but simply unaware and ignorant. When corrupting people, in his own mind he is simply educating and preparing them for what the inevitiable in his eyes, completely disregarding their personal choice in the matter.

He is extremely intelligent, both before and after his transformation. Measuring his thoughts, Falthis comes across as quite condescending as he often just states things outright, as opposed to wording things in a more eloquant manner. He still maintains that studious and respectful nature to his master, and even most of his enemies. While he is now able to perform much better in combat now, he never really developed that competitive or ambitious edge, and carries himself with a very calm and distant manner when fighting. Simply aiming to educate them, even against their own will.

## Development Notes

* Falthis' name is from the Magic the Gathering summon of the same name. The name is the only relationship as the two characters share nothing else in common.
	+ This was chosen as Falthis' original inspiration was Leshrac from Dota 2, whom also took the name from an unrelated Magic the Gathering card.