Klaus Dittmar

Klaus Dittmar is a Circle Mage and member of the ‘Silver Griffons’ adventurer's company.

## Appearance

Klaus is small but mighty. This is the easiest way to describe him. He holds himself tall, despite his small stature and build. His robes also have a habit of not hanging correctly on his slight frame but he never cared. The very fact that he had the honour to wear them makes him feel happy in himself.
He wears his long, dirty blond hair in a bun the majority of the time, only taking it down to wash or to go to sleep. Even then, he can be seen sometimes, head resting on a book whilst he sleep; his hair drifting out of the loose bun he threw it in before starting to work.
His eyes, however, tell a different story from the rest of him. You can see a spark within them. A spark few have anymore. His eyes, though icy blue, burn through you with a ferocity that can’t be placed. The determinism you can see within him burns as bright as the sun. He was born into poverty, but you can see that he wants to escape it.

## Combat Information

### Armament

* His Circle’s Robes, a classic mix of blue and purple
* Circle Iron Staff (Lightning). (Klaus hasn’t had a chance to name his staff yet, seeing as he has only just left his Circle. His apprentice staff he called Sparky, for the small arcs of lightning that always ran across it’s wooden countenance when he was casting spells. This staff was too new to have the emotional attachment required for a worthy name for his new weapon.)

### Abilities

* Arcane Bolt: A small blast of arcane energy surges forth from the mage’s stave causing minor spirit damage
* Lightning: An arc of lightning connects the mage’s stave and the assailant. This causes lightning damage and leaves small scorch marks on the recipient.
* Heal: Warmth suddenly fills you, a strange feeling of minor wounds knitting together fills your body. You feel better, like you can suddenly continue fighting just that little bit longer.
* Spell Wisp: A floating orb is following the mage around. It seems as if it is granting the mage a small amount of power as ever since it appeared, it feels like the mage’s spells seem to hurt just that bit more.
* Flame Blast: The mage’s stave drops to their side as they raise their hands towards you. A cone of flame erupts forth, engulfing you in searing fire.
* Shock: The mage seems to tingle with electric energy as they hold their hand out towards you. Lightning springs from their hand and strikes you, causing bolts to shudder through your core.

### Skills

* Creation Magic
* Primal Magic
* History
* Alchemy
* Diplomacy

## Biography

Klaus was born to a poor family in the Denerim alienage. He never knew his mother as she died during childbirth, and afterwards, stricken with grief, his father became distant. Therefore, he was more raised by the village rather than his actual father. Klaus did his very best to stay out of the way of his actual relatives, no matter how distant they are, simply because he was seen as the cause of his mother’s death. He knew deep down that it wasn’t his fault, but he couldn’t help but constantly feel guilty.
Therefore, his childhood was spent mostly with children who hadn’t been influenced by their parents enough to stay away from him. What his mother had done to be so well loved by everyone in the Alienage to the point of him being hated, Klaus never found out, but anytime he tried to bring it up to his father he soon found his face blooming with a bruise. He never really had friends, per say, only other children who didn’t know about his past. It was a sad existence to any of the adults on the outside, but Klaus didn’t know any better so he was never really bad for him.
Klaus often took time, whilst playing with his very few acquaintances, to look up at the Vhenadahl and look at it’s majesty. He had heard through whispers on the wind that some other Alienages had actually chopped down their trees to use for firewood during some particularly harsh winters in recent memory. There was an unspoken rule, however, within this particular Alienage, that the Vhenadahl would never be cut down. It was their one tie to their past and therefore they could not afford to lose it. Klaus, during these times of reflection, would often touch the tree and feel the power flowing through it. Green and pure; protecting everyone within this Alienage to the best of it’s ability.

His power’s first started to manifest when he was three years old, unable to truly understand what was happening, he almost burnt down a table with his young mind’s experimentation. His father was furious with him and a young Klaus did not understand why. As he grew older, he could see the adults of the Alienage talking and as soon as he went over, they would suddenly stop and smile a strange smile with an emotion behind it that Klaus later realised was pity. It was only the night of his sixth birthday that he realised what was happening fully.
As the people of the alienage gathered around the Vhenadahl to enjoy the festivities, Klaus’s father pulled him off to one side. Klaus smiled up at him, finally happy that his father was going to give him his present. They went behind one of the houses, Klaus totally trusting, and his father was not looking him in the eye. Two tall men and another elven woman were standing there. The men stood in full plate, with swords at their sides. The woman was in full robes with a staff across her back. Klaus looked up at his father, confused. So many questions burned on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t find the courage to ask him anything.
Klaus’s father didn’t say anything, just nodded to the extra guests. One of the men nodded back. No words were said but there was a clear silent exchange that Klaus was too young to understand. Klaus’s father made to leave and Klaus tried to follow, but a hand fell on his shoulder. It was the woman in the robe. Klaus tried to scream, but no words came out of his mouth. It was as if something was stopping him from making any noise. A slight glow came from one of the men’s hands and Klaus suddenly felt weak. The world around him grew fuzzy and warm and he could feel himself suddenly slipping into a deep sleep.

The next thing he remember was being in an office of somesort. It was circular and much fancier than anything he had ever seen in his six years of existence. There was an old man sitting behind a desk with a kind smile on his face. Klaus was asked to hold out his hand and he did, having no reason to distrust this man. Someone from behind him that he wasn’t aware of held him down and stuck a pin in the pad of his left index finger. Klaus tried to worm away but this man was too strong for him and he managed to draw a tiny bit of blood and put it in a small glass jar. It was explained to him, by the kind looking old man, that this was something called a ‘phylactery’. At six, he did not know what that meant, but at twenty-two, he knew exactly what it was.

Next, he was taken by a younger looking woman with a staff on her back and pretty orange and red robes around this strange building. It was explained to him that this was a Circle and that he was here because he had shown signs of magic and that it was essential, for his safety and the safety of others, that he should come here to learn how to control his skills. At the end of the tour, he was shown to a small room with several bunks in it. Three of the six beds were already taken with sleeping children of various ages. Klaus was shown to one of them and was left by the woman. That night, for the first time in a long time, he missed his father.

Growing up within a Circle is a weird experience to most of the older kids, seeing as they had more time to get used to the outside world before they were restricted to the confines of the Circle’s walls. For Klaus, however, seeing as he was in a chronological sweet-spot, didn’t really mind the day to day monotony of classes and practice. It was almost a welcome change from the sadness of his life within the alienage. Here, he had the ability to start anew and start anew he did… by alienating himself and only ever studying instead of socialising.
This pattern continued through his teenage years and into adulthood. He was consistently the top of his class but would be shamed in the social settings of The Circle. He would sit alone at meals, and his bed, whilst being near the centre of the room, was constantly avoided by his peers. He would always say to himself that this didn’t affect him, but deep down it did.
The day of his Harrowing had finally come. This was what he had been training for his entire life and he was ready for it. He had read all of the accounts available to him in The Circle library and he knew exactly what to expect. The Fade was arduous to say the least. The waves of lesser enemies leading up to his final foe seemed like an minor inconvenience (he would never admit how taxing it was to even himself until years later). This was where his life changed forever.

A lust demon was who he had to defeat; and defeat he did, but not without letting them speak of a magic so forbidden that Klaus, even with his countless hours of research, had never heard of it. Blood Magic. He vehemently rejected the idea at the time, seeing this magic as the lowest of the low. It was just disgusting in his eyes. To use one’s own blood or someone elses to better your magic made him sick. This demon died swiftly with Klaus using all of what he had learnt to his fullest ability.

When he awoke from The Fade, he was granted full Mage status and he couldn't be happier. He had lived up to what he had wanted in life and the first thing he did was apply to be able to travel the world for research. He was interested in Lyrium and the production of the refined powders. This was what he knew with his head that he should research. But his heart was telling him something different. The thought of blood magic kept churning within his stomach but he kept it quiet. He knew that no one could know about his secret.

With the permission finally given by The Chantry after weeks of petitioning and writing. Klaus then packed his bags and walked away from The Circle, His Circle, for what would be the first and last time.

Within his bags though, he took some books with him. Some of which pertained to his Lyrium research but others… others were from the forbidden part of the library. The books which contained information on Blood Magic. And he read those books until they were so well thumbed that they were almost hard to read. This is when he started experimenting, a little drop here, a few milliliters there, nothing too bad. But then he heard the call for adventures in Redcliffe with a Chantry backing. Feeling slightly guilty with his lack of attentiveness to Chantry practices he decided to make his way there, to see what this unexplored world held for him.

## Personality

Klaus, when he was a child, decided that he wanted to explore and this is something that he took with him through his adolescence and into adulthood. Where his childhood wonder was more to do with escaping the alienage, as an adult his curiosity went towards his studies. His thirst for knowledge was almost ferocious, spending hours in the libraries of his circle and reading by candlelight in the dorms when some tranquils forcibly removed him.
Because of his thirst for knowledge, Klaus managed to excel in all of his classes. He read in depth about everything that he needed to know and around the subject as well. Despite his teachers loving him and his enthusiasm, his peers did not. Klaus was left alone the majority of the time, revelling in his solitude, or so he told himself.
The loneliness did have its perks, though. It meant that he could take out his stress and frustrations through drawing what he saw around him. He drew his classmates, the enchanters, the templars, the tranquils; basically anyone that he could see.
Klaus knew deep down that he could be a good friend to people, but because of who he was and the way in which he acted in class, he managed to alienate himself from everyone.