Cassim

Cassim is well-known in Verdod as a musician who performs both on the Promenade and in the Underground. As an escaped city slave from Lufel, it is unknown how he came to be so proficient in several musical instruments.

## Social

### Relations

God (Unknown), Ethan (Unknown), Mahlah (Unrequited Interest), Gani (Unknown)

## Appearance

Cassim is a tall human of Jalinnin heritage with olive skin, short black hair, and lavender-stained eyes. He keeps himself clean-shaven and dresses formally in the Eastern Velais style, with preference for the colors black, purple, gold, and orange. His outermost layer is always a cloak and pin.

Cassim has a singular concentrated point of corruption on the inside of his right elbow. He conceals this with long sleeves.

He speaks quietly, with a faint Newjaln accent and a somewhat musical intonation. He fidgets with his hands and hums the tune of a lullaby when people are not paying attention to him.

## Personality

On the surface, Cassim is timid and asocial, preferring to avoid interactions with strangers and acquaintances alike. Among friends, he is still quite reserved, and fluctuates frequently between being nervous and being self-assured. He has difficulty maintaining conversations, and refrains from sharing his opinion on almost all topics. He is usually able to keep a level expression and flat tone, but sometimes cannot prevent his true emotions from slipping through.

Cass has a taste for the finer things in life, and is comforted by surrounding himself with objects he considers to be of quality. For this reason, he enjoys spending time in niche, fancy shops. He is particularly fond of handmade clocks and metalwork.

Despite his calm demeanor, Cass is internally incredibly angry, vengeful, and bitter. He can be paranoid and obsessive, but directs the majority of his emotional energy inward as opposed to toward external sources. He is prone to reckless behavior and self-destructive reasoning, and blames himself heavily for everything bad that happens to him. He is constantly analyzing how a past decision could have prevented or altered a sequence of events in his favor.

## Abilities

#### Manasense

Cassim is able to detect mana and spellcasting. The extent and refinement of his ability is unknown. Additionally, he claims to have some control over portals, able to detect when they are being used and

Cassim has the ability to detect mana, spellcasting, and portals. He is particularly sensitive to portals, able to sense when someone is using one, and can exert control over where portals lead. The extent of these abilities is rudimentary, but he has managed to extend them to enable himself to dimensionally travel. He can jump to the Silent Plane from the Corporeal Realm by walking an unknown distance or by passing through a physical doorway. He is able to travel back using the same methods, but with more difficulty.

When in the Corporeal Realm, Cassim continually hears the Eternal Melody. People who use mana-manipulative abilities on him receive a fragment of the music.

## History

Cassim was born and raised on the coastal city of Lufel in eastern Tachar as a city slave. He has no formal education; instead, his youth was spent laboring on a large governmental construction project. Slaves were not allowed to speak with one another unless supervised, and if caught, were beaten as punishment for collusion and conspiracy. In his early teens, Cass taught himself how to read and write runic. When this was discovered, his overseers removed him from physical labor and instead had him carve runes into stone columns.

Every day, a random city slave was selected to test the functionality of the construction, and it was Cass' turn when he was 15. He discovered that the construction was in fact a portal of immense power, and his mind was exposed to raw dimensional information, experiencing the lives and emotions of every other version of himself. One version became the immortal known as Biv.

Afterward, Cass was deemed to have died and his body was disposed of outside the city. Some time later, he awoke, physically fine but mentally fractured. By means unknown to him, he is aware of his other selves and of Biv, and of Biv's intention to kill him. He sought a new life for himself in Verdod, where he could hide from Biv and be free from reminders of his enslavement. He established himself as a street performing musician, which could afford him a comfortable lifestyle. He never owned a place of residence, instead opting to live in hotels and occasionally in Mahlah's spare room.

## Relationships

#### Mahlah

Mahlah, upon meeting Cass in the Society for Liberated Magics, took pity on him and offered him a place to stay temporarily. She took care of him as he worked to establish himself properly in the city, and she soon grew to perceive him as more than a friend. Cass, unfortunately, remains oblivious to her emotions, even though it is painfully apparent to anyone else, and has been pointed out to Cass several times.

## Trivia

* Cass is colorblind.
* It is implied that Cass' original name was Bivir, but lost the ability to use the name when Biv was created.