Egon Paladin

**Early Childhood**

From a young age Egon found his love in one thing- knowledge. He read prolifically as soon as he was able to read. He was obsessed with facts and the knowing of them: all of them. However, there was a problem. He was a Paladin.

The Paladin family had gained their surname from being one of the twelve wizards to protect Charlemagne as he attempted to restore order to the chaos at the beginning of the Dark Age. They were some of the first wizards to combine magic use with martial fighting styles, and were also known for their brilliant leadership and charisma. Because of these incredible talents, the Paladin family had produced some of the greatest duelists, fighters, and leaders in history. Egon’s father was a head Revelator (MACUSA elite Auror) of great skill who had commanded multiple successful missions. His mother was the first ever female president of MACUSA, a political leader of incredible renown and a witch of extraordinary power. Every single Paladin since their ancestors first took the name had been an extremely skilled body guard, bounty hunter, professional duelist, or leader, until Egon.

Egon’s magical abilities were low, very low, extraordinarily low; and not just by Paladin family standards. An average magic user would be low by their standards, but Egon’s ability with magic was far below average. Even the simplest of spells took him great effort. Additionally, he was horrible with people. People were chaotic bundles of emotions, memories, words, whose complex tones and expressions seemed unfathomable. Quite honestly, people frightened Egon. He was far more comfortable with the clear concise logic of facts.

So Egon spent his childhood with his true love: learning. He read textbooks at an astounding rate, and could easily recall information from them. After tackling the subject of magical history he turned to magic itself. Because of his horrible impairment in magic he could perform none of the spells he studied, but he learned everything else about them- their history, the first wizard to create it, notable uses of the spell, etc. Egon was a repository of what his family would call, useless information.

His family was generally supportive, to a point. His two older brothers and one older sister were all typically powerful Paladins and were generally too busy to care much about the struggles of their youngest sibling. Egon’s father did the best he could not to express his disappointment in Egon, and tried to be encouraging. Egon’s mother, however, worried greatly about him, but not about his lack of magical skills. What concerned her the most was his distance from people, and she did everything she could to alleviate that distance, much to Egon’s constant annoyance.

But tragedy struck the Paladin family. Egon’s mother was attacked in an assassination attempt. The assassins were killed, but not before inflicting her with a deadly curse. Even the greatest healer’s on the planet couldn’t save the MACUSA President. As her death seemed imminent, Egon’s mother requested to see Egon alone. When everyone else had left the room she told Egon something that would change his life forever: “People’s hearts are more important than their minds. Get to know their hearts first.” This was the last thing she ever said to him. for died shortly after.

**Academic Career**

Eventually, Egon went to Ilvermorny, where he struggled greatly. Information he could easily do far better than anyone, magic he could not. Since he was a Paladin, this shocked both his teachers and his fellow students. His mother’s final words still haunted him as well. He was good with books and facts, not people. Why had she burdened him with getting to know others’ hearts?

Although the effort frustrated him, he would try, little by little, to understand the human heart. He wasn’t good initially, in fact, he was terrible, and never got very good, but he would try for his mother’s sake, and with practice came slight improvement, culminating with his ability to have small but cordial conversations. He slowly began to understand some of the social queues others seemed to instinctively see.

He pushed himself harder socially because of his mother’s admonition, and although he never really made close friends, he at least didn’t avoid the other students quite so much. He had no talent for sports, but joined the quodpot team as a ‘student manager’ for the team although he really was no more than a water boy. He tutored other students and helped them study for their tests. And it was through these efforts he had an epiphany. Though the secrets of the mystic arts, of muggle science, of the universe itself, were vast; one human heart held infinitely more. The most important, most complex, most glorious thing of all ended up being all around him- people, and he wanted to be a part of their mystery.

He never acquired lots of social skill. Never was very popular. Never stood out at school in any way, but he decided he needed to care, and he did just that, becoming a loyal and helpful friend to anyone in need of aid. He knew he would never have the skill to lead hundreds, as his ancestors routinely did, but he decided if all he could do was help just one, then that was enough. He finally understood what his mother had said, and why she had said it.

**Professional Career**

Despite his struggles in school his talents were noticed. His incredible technical understanding of history, science, math, both magical and Muggle, plus his unbelievable puzzle solving ability, garnered the attention of the England’s ministry of magic, who hired him to do investigative research for some of the its top Auror teams like the Cauldron.

Egon worked for the ministry during its fall when Voldemort gained control, and through this experience he saw what fear and power could do to a community. Many in the ministry failed to do anything, either out of fear of Death Eaters, or a lust for power. Those who did stand up were forced to flee, imprisoned, controlled with the Imperius Curse, or killed outright. Egon knew he had to do something, but he had no friends with those who rebelled, the Order of the Pheonix he had heard them called, and no ability to defend himself if caught. He decided the best way to help was to get in the right position.

He intentionally asked to be placed on the Muggle-born registration commission led by Delores Umbridge. This commission had been wrongfully imprisoning Muggle-born wizards and witches. Egon was a terrible liar, but his reputation for being awkward finally worked in his favor and no one questioned his sincerity. He used his position to alter and forge documents, allowing hundreds of Muggle born wizards and witches to escape persecution and imprisonment. After Voldemort’s death Egon was given an award for his bravery. An award he promptly declined, citing the atrocities he had witnessed and could do nothing about as evidence of his lack of worth.

**The Watcher**

With the ministry back to normal Egon returned to work, and stumbled upon a mystery that would forever change him. He came across a tome, labeled ‘The Riddle’, that had been archived by the Ministry for centuries. Strangely enough, a portion of a copy of The Riddle had fallen into Muggle hands and was called the ‘Voynich Manuscript’. Once translated, It held within its pages a complex riddle which, when solved, offered the promise of incredible knowledge. This intrigued Egon and after several months, he solved the mystery, but the solution involved casting a spell directly at the book. After many more months of practice Egon felt ready to try it, and the results were more than he could have imagined.

As the spell hit the book he was immediately transported away. At first, he wondered whether it was just a different part of the archive, for he seemed to be in a giant library. But eventually he realized this was no place in the ministry. He was then approached by an old man. This man simply said ‘follow me’ and would answer no further inquiries. Egon was led to a large central chamber, where several others stood, as if waiting for him. The elderly man took a central position and proceeded to explain.

“I am an Ancient One, known as the Watcher, but my time as Watcher has drawn to an end, so I seeded the realms with a riddle, one which would bring the brightest to me, for one of you shall replace me, binding themselves to the Bionomicon, and wielding the Ring of Gyges; ultimate knowledge will be yours.”

The testing was short and intense, requiring a combination of puzzle solving and magic use. Egon did relatively well at the puzzle solving trials, considering he was up against the top minds of the multiverse, but he performed very poorly on anything requiring magic use and was severely outclassed by all his competition. The events were also quite deadly, with many of his fellow contestants coming very close to losing their lives, and Egon made the decision to help anyone in need, even if that assistance cost him the final prize. He firmly believed his mother’s memory deserved even that kind of sacrifice. He did indeed assist several, saving a couple from death. Going into the final test he felt he had no chance at winning to gain ultimate knowledge.

The final trial was different from all the others, for it involved an enchanted mirror, the Mirror of Erised. All they had to do was look in the mirror and announce what they saw. Each person went in turn, with Egon being last. The first person looked in the mirror, announcing that he saw himself with all knowledge. The second, proclaimed she saw herself as the most powerful witch on her planet.

Each person took their turn, with each seeing something slightly different, but all very similar. Egon was already discouraged, thinking he was called last because he had done so poorly, but when he looked in the mirror he was overwhelmed with sadness and began to cry, knowing now that he had not only failed the final test, but had been unworthy of being in these trials at all. He just wanted to be sent away, to hide with his shame, but the elderly man insisted, asking, “what did you see?” Egon ignored the question, but the man continued, “what did you see?” “I saw people from my life, my friends. I saw their lives fulfilled and happy.” Egon continued angrily, “You see, even this mirror understands my lack of potential! All I see is others at their best. There is no best for me.”

Suddenly, the man smiled for the first time, and the other challengers vanished, leaving Egon alone with the old man. When Egon asked about the others he simply replied, “They were sent back, for you are the one.” Surprised beyond belief, Egon could barely choke out the word “Why?” The ancient one explained. “The mirror shows the deepest desires of one’s heart. Most see themselves in some form or another, but you did not witness yourself at all. You witnessed others at their best. Despite your deep desire to know and understand, you have an even deeper one, implanted on your heart by your mother. Your deepest desire is the betterment of those around you, and because of this, you are worthy of ultimate knowledge.”

Just then a book appeared in front of Egon. ‘You must bind yourself with the Bionomicon.’ Egon placed his hand on the floating tome as the old man slowly vanished. His last advice to Egon was to avoid attachments to those he observes, for power corrupts all, and knowledge brings power, and you are now one of the greatest sources of knowledge in the multiverse.

## Personal Life

Egon’s realm of birth is realm 314 by Darkhunter nomenclature.

Egon lives in the Ancient Library, a pocket dimension containing a mammoth library. Egon can control all aspects of this realm. A portal in this realm can apparate Egon to certain points in any realm he wishes to go, although he hasn’t left the library in quite some time.

Egon has access to several powerful artifacts, one of which is the Calamus Perpetua: the quill of eternity. Another is the Ring of Gyges.

The Bionomicon appears as a huge ancient book. By writing in the book using the Calamus Egon can observe other realms. The inhabitants of these realms see him as a floating quill writing on floating parchment. When Egon uses the Ring of Gyges, the parchment becomes invisible, undetectable by almost any means.

The Bionomicon has an essence all of its own. sometimes it seemingly leads Egon to places with the greatest amount of stories. It also has been enchanted to read facial expressions and tones to help Egon when interacting and talking to others since Egon has always struggled with real time social situations.

Egon is able to interact with residence of these realms, although he avoids doing so. His communication is essentially like talking and is technically neuromancy, being telepathic in nature. Despite this partial telepathy, he cannot read minds at all, but while observing using the Bionomicon he has total immunity to Legilimency.

Egon can view multiple realms at once, observing millions of stories simultaneously. Although he hasn’t been a Watcher for very long, he feels thousands of years old, for he has seen more than even ancient beings have witnesses.

In Egon’s studies he has discovered something concerning. In every realm, if his mother lives then the Egon of that realm eventually sides with Voldemort, assisting him in his takeover of the ministry and even playing a pivotal role in his eventual victory in some realms. Because of this Egon is very concerned with using his knowledge, even if it would mean saving lives, for he knows that in death there is sometimes hope.

Egon can use the Calamus Perpetua and the Bionomicon to easily observe anything in space, but he has no ability in chronomancy or divination. He has an almost unbelievable knowledge of the present, but no knowledge at all of the future, and cannot travel to the past.

Due to his experience with the fall of the ministry he understands the corruption power can cause and avoids taking sides, fearing that helping a side, even the correct one, would corrupt that side permanently if they gained power from his knowledge.