Bopra, son of Sauros

**Bopra, son of Sauros**, also known as simply **Bopra**, is a Human writer and apprentice scholar of Lirgal, town and imperial territory located in the Empire of Astyllea. Bopra is mostly a pacifist person, who's trying to make himself a place in the world of culture and intelectual production, all the while trying to escape from war and constant violence.

## Early life and development in Moonburg

Son of a pair of really poor hunters originating from Arxella but long gone far from the main populated zones of Sparwood, in his childhood he led a nomad style of life, avoiding population centers and ignorant of nations and other aspects of the world politics of Rathnir. After the death of his parents, around the time of the dissolution of the Kartek Diarchy, he decided that it was about time to open up to the world. So he came down from the mountains and, hearing that some Rohelian Duke called DayDream was founding a new town in the swamps between Swaize Fort and Roseport, he decided to ask the Duke for permit to become a citizen of the town.

After settling there, he built himself a humble house and participated in the growing community of Moonburg, for example by helping build the great walls that enclose the town, and reforming the old Temple of Charoti.

After a couple of years of personal growth, he was designated as the Advisor of DayDream or, as the Duke himself put it, his right hand man. Following that moment, he started to assume a more responsible stand in local politics, helping the community in it's growth and advising the Duke and the other councilors in their labors. He also started to educate himself by reading different books by ilustrious authors, like *Princess vol. 1 & 2* by Aldara, Athaz the Traveler's journals and others.

His Holy Craftist faith also got strenghtened thanks to Gertek Khan Foczo's teachings and sermons. The Khan soon grew up to be a friend and a role model for Bopra.

However, as Bopra was getting better educated and actually developed scholarly inclinations, destiny seemed to have other plans for him. The Kingdom of Rohel, pressured by the remnants of old Kartek, united with those who were their enemies before, the same people who Bopra despised for their barbarism and war-mongering. Although autonomy was promised, and the promise was somewhat fulfill, the young man simply couldn't stand the presence of Kartek officials in the streets of his own town. But that presence wouldn't endure either, it seemed.

As conflict erupted between Kartek and the nations of Frosmyre, Escharia and others, the rulers of Rohel deemed wise to just abandon ship and declare independence. They had been pressured into the Caliphate anyway, so no one in Rohel really felt bad for it. Actually, Bopra and his companions were eager, ready to defend their homeland, and ecstatic to see battle for the first time. They were, of course, fools.

The first and last skirmish of the war was actually a huge battle for Moonburg's ill-prepared warriors. They actually managed to hold off the first few waves or Kartek attackers. It seemed the aggresors didn't think they would encounter such a strong opposition in their raid agains the city. However, as Kartek's trump card, the elite warrior Norsk appeared in the city, the battle turned from an easy victory into a carnage. A lot of blood was spilled, too much for Bopra to endure.

Right after the battle, he coped with what he had seen by raging and looking for a fight, and so when he heard that Kartek would also be attacking his friend Foczo's land of Buzavar he decided to go defend it and blood his blade. However, it seemed to be a false alarm and, as he cooled off, bitterness took ahold of him.

## Loss of faith and migration

Even after a peace deal, Non-Aggression Pact included, was signed with Kartek, Bopra wasn't the same as before. He thought a lot about what he had seen during the last years and months, and of course about violence and war. He turned to his god, Charoti... but that was when he knew. All the talk about compassion and charity that he had always been taught and he wanted to believe, had never achieved anything. Only by ruthlessness and cunning had Vashonn, the King of Rohel, managed to guarantee his kingdom's independence, and when war came and the life of pious Holy Craftist lads was risked, their kindness amounted to nothing. He felt furious with Charoti, but realised it was futile. Charoti just didn't exist, at least not in his heart and mind. He was faithless.

After that, he lost part of his illusion and bright outlook of life. His life in Moonburg started to seem bland to him, and so he decided that it was about time he moved on and started a new life. He had actually thought of migrating before the war, but for more scholarly reasons; he wanted to see other cultures with his own eyes, and also meet with some of the great writers and thinkers he admired. But before packing his things and starting his travel, there was a last thing he wanted to do.

He had been working on a book before the war. **"The People of the Rose"**, it was titled, and it's main subject was the history of Northern Sparwood and the analysis of Rohel's society. And so, he kept on writing in, working day and night, obsessed. Some weeks had to pass, but he still managed to finish pretty fast, all thing considered.

After his final contribution to Rohel, in form of his literary work, was done, he decided that it was over. Living in Moonburg wouldn't do it for him. He parted ways with all his old friends, and although he did it with great sorrow, he also felt somewhat relieved. He had the feeling that, if he had stayed a couple years more in that land, he could have easily started to hate it. This way, he would retain sweet memories of it.

He had a destination for his journey in mind: the city of Lirgal. He knew Aldara, one of the person he admired the most through his reading of her literary work, lived here, and he had also hear that it was a city of peace, scholarship and tolerance. And so he travelled in horseback through vast swathes of land to reach there, visiting in the process places of great cultural importance like Marsium, Lileanen and Urnu-Arrak, and also getting to meet people from different cultures and religions during the process. When he reached Lirgal, he almost felt re-invigorated, like a new man. But his trauma and disilussion with the harsh realities of life still endured to some point.

## New life, new faith

Thanks to the new friendships he made, such as Aldara Ellan, Ellira Accero, Nitlovis "Spacer" and Gael, between others, Bopra managed to adapt to his new life fairly quickly. To keep the sorrow of having abandoned his old homeland at bay, he worked almost constantly, creating a humble copper smithy, helping in the infrastructure works of the Imperial Road around Lirgal, and above all spending a major part of his time writing. He strenghtened his new connections, met diverse people from the neighbouring zones of Carn, Lapidovir and Adavia, and published his new book, **"De Re Militari"**, a study on the typologies of military forces which he put a lot of effort and heart into.

All that time invested also got him to feel a new influence in his life... that of Asitir. At the start, he wasn't interested in it at all; he just came from a traumatic experience regarding his former religion some months ago, and he just wasn't able to pour any faith into a goddess he newly met. However, as he passed more time in his new home, and his soul healed, he started to feel drawn to it. For all of the new, wise connections he had made were of that faith, and as he started to comprehend and adopt their outlook more and more, he too started to see Asi's Path. And so, after a time, he went to Aldara and formalized it. He was now an Asitir, a Pathseeker.

But the world hadnt stopped moving when he secluded himself in Lirgal. After a time, he received news. Rohel was being attacked by Kartek, again. Bopra felt the impulse to travel back, volunteer, help defend... but he felt it. Rohel was no longer his home. The passion for his old homeland that burned in his heart before no longer existed. And, of course, he was never a fighter to begin with. So he sent some generous donations of money and equipment to his old friends, and waited for news. And, when they arrived, he knew of the tragedy of Moonburg. Rohel was no more.

He felt sad and furious, but he knew there was nothing he could do. The Rohelians weren't his people anymore, and with this, that fact had become even more clear.

And so, he poured his efforts into his newly discovered faith for Asi. Through his interpretative work of the holy texts, he came up with a personal outlook on Asitir afterlife, and decided to put it into a book; **"Of the End of Flesh and the Cycle of Souls"**, he called it. The book was well received within the Asitir community. He also assisted the group of scholars and theologists who organised the Reform of the Asitir faith, and he took part in it.

Meanwhile, his "new" homeland, Aldovir, and the Empire of Yimmu-Audal had come to blows. However, that wouldn't endure for much time, for both were nations close in culture and history, and the sense of unity was far greater than that of enmity. And so the new Empire of Astyllea was created from the union of both countries, and Bopra took part in the festivites of the coronation of the first Emperor, Rithaur V síl Kair'vern-Audaláth. With a new homeland as massive and multi-cultural as Astyllea, and with a renewed faith and mended soul, Bopra decided to seek a new, thriving life.