Anarai Esferax

Anarai's Portrait

Anarai Esferax is a Half-Elf Wizard from Aellinia. Travelling under the guise of Domas of Varvale, he is a self-proclaimed artist, musician, traveller, and though he doesn't admit it: debtor. Though not skilled in combat, he dabbles extensively in the arcane arts, specialising in - to an almost obsessive degree - enchantment and illusion magic. Exuding a air of indifference yet other times inquisitiveness; sometimes thoughtful, other times morose - callous even, Anarai is every bit unscrupulous as he is principled. After escaping from Aellinia, Anarai is left with a scenario he has never experienced before; freedom so liberating as to be agonising. On a journey to find himself and his purpose in the world in addition to tying loose ends from Varvale, he has been travelling alone for the past year leaving behind a trail of debts in every town he visits.

## Description

### Appearance

Anarai's long, silver hair that would otherwise reach a little below shoulder height are tied from slightly above the nape into a ponytail. His bangs are parted down the middle, leaving stray strands which continue down all the way past his collarbone, framing his face symmetrically. Behind them on the right side of his face, a small part of his hair is braided down to his shoulders. His ocean blue eyes peer through strands of stray hair which, though depending on circumstances, typically convey a feeling of caution or worry. He typically wears a loose-fitting long sleeve linen tunic that cuts short around his hips, with the right sleeve rolled up, revealing a wooden bracelet on his right wrist, and his left sleeve pulled the whole way down. His plain top is somewhat contrasted by his admittedly still scrappy, dark-brown pants with vertical, burgundy stripes that is hoisted by worn-out suspenders. Below this are a pair of well-worn boots that are wrapped up from the ankle to the shins with fur. A standard leather belt hangs from his waist, holding two pouches on either side; the left being a wallet pouch and the right being a small bag around the size and shape of a book. Atop all of this, drapes a light-brown linen cloak, typically with the hood up.

## Backstory

### Early Life

Anarai Esferax was born during a tumultuous time, in pre-revolutionary Sinfras as the middle child of Cynthia and Aravis of House Esferax, a notable family of halfblood elves who formerly owned a seat in the Council of Sinfras but have long since been denounced and expropriated. The people of the self-proclaimed **Free City of Sinfras** often keep to themselves and are fiercely isolationist, nominally being part of the Erindel's Kingdom and paying homage to him only in name. As a result, he was encouraged by his parents from an early age to strive to be a merchant, an occupation that is highly respected in the burgher-centric society of Sinfras. However, House Esferax's glory days were long gone and his family was not able to afford him a good education. As a result, he spent much of his younger years helping his family with the day-to-day work of cleaning the house, doing the laundry and scavenging for food. His older sister, Faeyra, was a troublemaker in the city who headed a gang of thieves and was one of the breadwinners of the family. Though through undeniably shady means, she was nonetheless crucial to the family and was respected by both him and his younger brother, Ain.

While the Esferax family may be in rough circumstances, they were once highly respected members of Sinfras and fairly educated. However, Anarai's parents were extremely busy with work and seldom found the time to properly educate him and his siblings. Though not as bold and strong as his sister, Anarai was clever and this would eventually come to attract the attention of the clergymen of the Church of Tenebris. During one of their walks through the city where they donated food and supplies for the downtrodden of Sinfras, Anarai was waiting with his brother and mother in front of the house while the rest of the family were out working. A priestess of Tenebris, Elenaril, approached the two brothers to give them supplies, however, after seeing how dirty and miserable they looked, she gave them a fairly complex puzzle toy to him play with. Solving it within seconds upon receiving it, Elenaril was impressed and saw potential in the boy, offerring his mother the opportunity for Anarai to study at the local church. Never one to refuse any opportunities, let alone one as enticing as this one, Cynthia accepted.

Overshadowed by his older sister and out-pampered by his younger brother, he was left with the unfortunate fate of the middle child which left him reluctantly toiling at church, studying the practice of business to earn the respect of his parents. Though the topic never particularly interested him, he knew that his family relied on him as his parents were unable to find a good job due to their past and his other siblings lacked the opportunity he did.

Even in Sinfras, half-elves had somewhat of a lesser status compared to regular elves so within the privileged schools of the clergy, he was often looked down upon by the majority pureblood class. Being teased and villified daily, Anarai would come to develop a complex about his human heritage and would typically hide his features by wearing obstructive clothing such cloaks and hats and grooming his facial hair regularly. Over time, his perspective on humans also skewed with him seeing them in a similar way as many regular elves.

Being brought up with an education with the clergy, Anarai unsurprisingly grew to respect the priests and priestesses of the order who preach about Tenebris in between classes and routinely tried to aid the downtrodden in the city. This respect grew and eventually, he would find himself becoming a layman of the Church of Tenebris himself, and thanked the goddess of fate for the opportunities she has granted him. For his 17th birthday, Elenaril gifted him a Bible of Tenebris, a possession he would value dearly and keep on him at all times.

With an education catered towards the timeless lifespan of a regular elf, the Church of Tenebris felt far too slow for a halfblood like Anarai who would only live for a fraction as long as their lifespans. As a result, he was often brash and impulsive when it came to classes, wishing to rush through the contents so that he could finally graduate and find a job that will alleviate his family's financial situation. The slow burn of learning with the clergy was too much for him to handle and he would eventually quit at the age 27. Eager to finally support his family, he began to work as an apprentice merchant. However, due to his inexperience in addition to half-elf status, he found it incredibly difficult to find anyone willing to take him up. After several months of drifting around Sinfras, Anarai became dejected at the dismal prospects and turned to other fields to make money. He decided to try and become a minstel, after all, the taverns of Sinfras were seldom empty as hundreds of human labourers flooded them daily to comfort themselves from the monotony of life. He decided to pick up the viol, a instrument with grace and beauty worthy of an elf, however, there was a slight issue - his family was still flat broke. Despite this, he was oddly inspired by this idea and was determined to make it come true, so he contacted someone who had the expertise and connections to get him one: Faeyra. Although it took much effort convincing her to agree to such a seemingly trivial task, she eventually relented and took him along with her to the studio of one Kelwarin Yastruath, a wealthy half-elf. Everything appeared to be going fine until Anarai accidentally knocked a vase over, alerting the security over. Though he was certainly not bad, he was not remarkable either when it came to finesse, unlike his sister. Due to his blunder, the two eventually got caught by security and were thrown into jail. The code of justice in Sinfras was adapted from traditional codes from Nhimract and were standardised according to the perspective of pureblood elves, so even a relatively petty crime such as burglary would result in a 50 year prison time - harsh for half-elves and practically a death sentence for humans. Luckily for Anarai and his sister, this sentence would not last nearly as long.

After spending 3 years in prison, a royal inspector named Rosalor and his retinue came to Sinfras to scout out the state of the city which was still nominally part of king Erindel's realm. This included examining the conditions of the prison and those who were incarcerated of which they were relatively few. Upon approaching Anarai's cell and reading the report, he noticed his exceptional record in the clergy and saw use for his aptitude. Lucan gave him an offer: come and join him and serve in king Erindel's court and and be freed or stay rotting in prison. The choice was obvious to him, however, he would not leave Faeyra remaining in confinement by herself, so he fiercely negotiated with the inspector. Their debate lasted hours, until Lucan finally agreed to his demands, only more impressed. And so, he would leave Sinfras a free man once again, with his destination being Nhimract, the royal capital, at the age of 30

### Erindel's Court and Post-Revolution

The inspector formally introduced himself as Rosalor Droroth, a trusted aide to the king and now his boss. As Rosalor was offically the royal inspector, Anarai would be responsible for aiding him with on-field investigations and trivial paperwork. Though he was a bit brash and arrogant, Rosalor was a generous man and promised to reward him liberally as long as he performed his duties to a competent degree. With the salary that Rosalor was offering, Anarai would have enough to not only indulge himself but also support his family, so he eagerly accepted his new job. Every high ranking courtier had their own office, and Rosalor was no different. However, his office was located on the eastern outskirts of Nhimract rather than in the core of the city. This was because the post of royal inspector was actually a fairly recent addition as it was only necessary once the realm had grown outward enough, which was only a couple centuries ago. While this meant that Anarai never saw the ocean from the Bay of Stars, the Office of the Royal Inspector was nonetheless close to the Ludus River where he often went to after work to practise his soon-to-be hobbies of playing the viol and painting. Although he found the job repetitive and unexciting, he still appreciated the liberties that Rosalor granted him and the ability to provide for his family.

Unfortunately for Anarai, his peaceful and simple, if not monotonous, days were not to last as the revolution headed by Trazin Zephidor took over the kingdom. Rather than a violent and prolonged struggle, Trazin took power in a genius political manouevre that more resembled a coup d'état than an uprising which spared the realm from spilling much blood. Traitors within Erindel's own court undermined the flow of information to the king while Holsatra Kingsblade, the head of the royal guard whose family had served the king for generations, mobilised the military to seize key locations. The navy was far too indifferent to the politics of the realm to care which only left the Order of Xaron. However, with the disruption of communications, by the time news had reached them, the royal family had already been murdered. Unwilling to unleash bloodshed for a bygone cause, the order reluctantly submitted to the new state. With a new and radical regime in power, all the Trazin needed to do then was to tidy up loose ends. Unfortunately for him, Anarai was part of this and within no time he was found and once again thrown into prison. All members of Erindel's court were arrested and given a choice; serve the state or be sentenced to death. Those who refused were immediately declared Type 5 Criminals and branded on the arm of the dominant hand. This was to ensure that if any of them ever escaped confinement, they would be easily recognised. Though Anarai had no personal attachment or loyalty to the king, he despised the new regime for killing Rosalor and so refused to work for them. Though he was not a particularly honourable individual, he at least had the dignity to stand against those who murdered people he liked.

Branded on his left arm and sent to prison in chains with his execution date soon to be scheduled, it seemed that Anarai was to meet his end. Spending his remaining time contemplating his thus far trivial life, he regretted not being able to accomplish more. However, one night, his sister Faeyra came to break him out.