Rowan

## **Biography**

### Background

Rowan hails from Skola Vale, the homeland of satyrs, and a place known far and wide for its revelry and merriment. Nestled in the highlands of the Oraniad Mountains, the valley is covered in lush grass and thickets of climbable trees. Satyrs roam the comfortable valley with no need for permanent settlements, all their needs provided for by the valley's magic.

The Satyrs of Skola Vale are wild and free beings, thus no laws govern the land, only mutually held taboos. All within the valley are free to make merry however they please, so long as it doesn’t impede others’ ability to do the same. Disagreements are cause for public competition, and irreconcilable issues are solved through the general application of “you go over there, and you go over there.”

True intentional crimes, however, are violations known deep in the satyr soul. If needs be, revelry can halt in an instant to help someone who's been hurt, and true criminals are exiled from the Skola Vale for life. Satyrs quickly bury negative thoughts, though, and the loss of one friend merely leads them to redouble efforts to make more.

As idyllic a life it was, Rowan could never curtail his unquenchable desire to learn more about the world. Unlike most of his people who abhorred the act of reading (aside from the occasional smut publication or encyclopedia of hallucinogenic fungus, of course), Rowan cherished the knowledge contained within dusty tomes. He frequently “borrowed” books from drunken stubs (the name for outsiders visiting the vale seeking pleasure) and read them cover to cover. It was within the insert of one such book that Rowan learned of the great library-fortress, Candlekeep.

Rowan excitedly interrogated the bookish stub from whom he acquired the text, coming to learn that Candlekeep was known to be the greatest collection of writings in all of Faerun. After many long nights of further “bonding,” Rowan gleefully accepted an offer to return with the pleasure-seeking librarian; leaving his home at the age of 17 to become the first Satyr curator ever to grace the library’s halls.

### Candlekeep

Candlekeep is nestled atop a volcanic crag on a narrow peninsula, encircled by walls that rise high above the coast, dotted with towers ascending into the skies. Two gates, 20 ft. tall in height, forged from a mysterious black metal that is impervious to lightning and magical divination, provide entrance to the fortress. Finally, seated centrally within the protective perimeter is a strong, central keep that houses the Great Library.

Rowan began his stewardship with great fervor. He was pleased to find that while his duties took up much of his time, he was left with many hours a day for personal reading and study. It was here that his fascination with the arcane truly took hold. Magic was, in essence, a whole world unseen to the untrained eye, and it was a world that Rowan so desperately wanted to explore for himself. Being fey-kind, he already had an innate connection with the magic of the world, so when it came to applying structured spell-weaving to the untamed energy, he found himself to be a natural.

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### Present Day

A decade passed with Rowan ceaselessly continuing to read and learn, not only of magic, but also of history, geography, religion, language, and more. One fateful day however, a traveler brought an ancient tome in to the library, seeking translation. As all potentially dangerous texts are, it was filed away for examination by a senior librarian at a later date, but Rowan couldn’t suppress his curiosity. That night, when most other stewards were asleep, Rowan snuck the book out to a private room. He had just learned of a spell to translate any language, and with a few simple incantations, the letters on the pages began to rearrange and reform before his eyes. Although… it still didn’t make any sense. Rowan squinted at the illegible words, sounding them out as he read-

“traiciendam…. curaret... planum... Astral”

As the magic flowed through Rowan’s body, he realized, too late, what he had just read.

“Oh no… no no no- **PRAECI-**”

Unfortunately, his attempt to dissolve the spell came too late, and in a flash of bright blue light, Rowan was gone.