Taven

* Mistmark Academy
* Shepard of Fire
* God of Hellfire

Salvatore Merryweather (Half brother, estranged)

> "Seriously. The Fire-eaters? Dad couldn’t come up with a better name for you than that?"
>
>

Taven Summercaller is a human paladin, and is the demigod son of Faer, Nuva Terras' god of fire and war.

## Biography

In the small laborer's town of Vagas, Taven was born to and raised by the kindly Lydia Summercaller, and a father unknown to him at the time. Growing up, Taven did not have many friends, and a lot of the townsfolk avoided Taven, as if he was cursed.

One day though, shortly before his 16th birthday, Taven's town came under attack, by strange snake-like creatures he had only heard of in his nightmares: Yuan-Ti. Despite this, Taven did not run. Something pulled in his stomach, and he rushed towards the fight. As a Yuan-Ti warrior swung to kill him, Taven's body took over, and disarmed the warrior, and killed it with its own weapon, turning it into a pile of silver dust. The Yuan-Ti swarmed him, but like a but like a raging animal, he struck them down one after another. By the time the battle had ended, and the Yuan-Ti retreated, he were covered in silver dust. Piles of it lay at his feet. However, he turned and saw the entire town was engulfed in flames, including his home. Rushing home, he found his mother being attacked by the warriors. Springing to action, Taven tried to fight them off, but one of the warriors exhaled a burst of fire from his maw, knocking him back, but not burning him. Instead, the fire seemed to dance around him, encircling him but not harming him, as if he was willing it away. Running through the forests, he hunted the Yuan-Ti warrior party for hours, until he found their camp. Rushing into the fray, he cut down two of the warriors before they could even react, and the remaining three easily fell. Rescuing the townspeople and his mother, they returned to town, only to find all the homes completely repaired, as if they had never caught fire. Returning to his home, Taven found a strange figure waiting in his home. The man seemed to have hair and eyes of fire, but also Taven's nose and features. The man revealed himself to be Faer, the god of fire. Taven angrily stood up to the man, unafraid, and still hyped up on adreneline, until he pieced together that the man was his father, though Taven was still angry at Faer for leaving his mother to raise Taven alone for all these years. Unfazed, Faer explained that a war with the Yuan-Ti was raging, orchestrated by Faer's brother. Faer explained that Taven had a role to play in defending the world, and told him of Mistmark Academy, a place that had trained many of the world's greatest heroes. There, he was to train himself, and master his newfound powers. Before he departed, he was gifted with Faer's cloak, known as Beldym, and was told to seek out another child of fire, who also had a part to play in saving the world, and was also warned to hide his lineage, for fear of hindering his studies. And with that, Taven departed for Mistmark.

### The Final Exam

Arriving at Mistmark Academy and meeting Madam Fennys, Taven was sorted into Team 13, and met his comrades Nile, Soleil, Rowtag, Concordia, and Sid. While his team were all nice, he often felt like he didn't really fit in with his team, as they were all strange races from far off parts of Nuva Terras he had never seen before, and he still considered himself human, with the exception of Nile, the team's leader and the first person he had met at Mistmark.

During his time at Mistmark, he did about average in all his classes, but excelled in Lord Ordon's forging class, due to not being afraid of the heat and his strength and ingenuity, and was eventually invited to join Ordon's master class.

Eventually, Mistmark had its first major sporting event, known as the wargames. Taven, due to his warrior prowess, was selected as the striker of the team. Heading off with Soleil, the Fire Genasi girl, and one of his two suspects he had for this "child of fire" his father had spoke of, they went to go capture the other team's flag. During an ensuing fight, Taven managed to withstand a blow from the Fire Genasi commander Nazaria's flaming warhammer, shocking her. While one of the other team's fire genasi created a wall of fire to block Soleil and Taven, he was unaffected, to Soleil's surprise. While attempting to capture the flag, Taven was attacked by a number of the enemy team, and his cloak, Beldym, activated and filled the room with smoke, allowing Taven and Soleil to capture the flag and leave. When they returned, they were about to return the flag and win, when an assassin appeared and killed Nile. That night, two more students were brought in to join team 13, Daniel and Khaleia.

Over the next few days, Taven spent much of his time in his room, mourning. When the school held a vigil for Nile, Taven stood up and swore he would hunt down Nile's killer, and make them face justice. That night, Taven again had a strange dream, one he had been having for weeks now, where he found himself in a strange chasm, surrounded by fire. But not fire he could command, a more sinister flame his father had no domain over. Seeking to escape the flame, he rushed forth, until it felt like he was swimming through the dream, until he felt a voice tell him what his father told him all those months ago, to find the girl, and that she was the key. Waking up, he started up on his schoolwork, and reflected on how the team had been split since Nile died, leaving Taven on his own, like he always had been. Working on his history assignment, Taven learned of the fall of the first genie empire, when a group known as the Caliphate rose up, chosen by the Pantheon. Taven pondered on this, and wondered if his father was truly over two millennia old. Next, he stopped by the mailroom, and met Marney. Talking with her about Nile, Taven offered to take Nile's place in helping her lift packages. Heading to Ordon's master class for the day, Taven met up with the other students in his class, who he had grown close to, including Nazaria (who was his other suspect for this "child of fire), the Grey Dwarf Baldr, the Sun Elf Leoniz, as well as the goblin Thinker. All of them greeted Taven warmly, as they headed to Ordon's class, something that helped Taven cheer up. In his class, Taven and his team were faced with an assignment that seemed impossible, to forge a double dipped blade, something that would melt. However, Taven's quick thinking and ingenuity caused him to notice a blue polish on the recipe tablet. As the blade was melting, Taven threw the polished tablet into the flames, engulfing him to the horror of his teammates, but they were relieved when Taven emerged, unscathed and with the blade. As the rest of the class left, Nazaria swore to Taven that she would figure him out.

    Next, Mistmark entered midterm exams. Taven, to no one's surprise, aced Ordon's exam. After midterms were over, the school had a massive dance. At this point, Taven had learned how to use Beldym to shift into any clothing he needed, and drew eyes when he arrived at the dance. However, being a loner he still didn't have the confidence to ask anyone to dance, until Nile's friend Maepaw showed up, and managed to get Taven a dance with Thinker. Even though the dance was awkward due to Thinker being a goblin, and about half Taven's height, Taven still felt reminded that he was not truly alone, and that coming to Mistmark had given him a supply of friends and good memories.

However, Taven's studies were put on hold when the school came under attack by a Yuan-Sachi, and Soleil's boyfriend Tycho was mortally wounded by poison, and lay dying. Team 13 was selected to try and find the cure, and Taven agreed to help, out of respect to Soleil and because it was the right thing to do. However, the task seemed impossible, as they had to travel across the continent to Tycho's tribe, get the cure, and return in seven days. However, a stroke of luck came when the group met Concordia's father: the Great Beast Thunder, a massive gryphon, who seemed to recognize Taven. Learning Concordia was also close to a demigod herself, he felt a bit closer to her, knowing he wasn't the only one in the group who had to deal with this sort of thing. However, their journey was interrupted when Thunder was shot down, and had to retreat, and the rest of the group had to travel on foot.

Shortly into their travels, the group was attacked by a group of large mushroom-like beings, known as Myconid. The group fell, paralyzed by the myconid's toxin, and were rendered unconsious, but were rescued by Sid's people, a tribe of Aaracokra. However, the leader of the people intended to force the group into either arena combat or labor, and they were forced to escape. Finally arriving at Tycho's tribe, the group split up, Taven and Sid going to try and find Tycho's parents, the Cogrocs. Finding the house, Taven and Sid were annoyed when Tycho's parents seemed uninterested in Tycho's wellbeing, and more concerned with the bill for his treatment. However, Taven met Tycho's little brother, Meeko, who Taven took a liking to. Staying at the house for a few hours to play with Meeko, Taven learned that the boy sometimes had dreams, and some of them seemed to pertain to the group. Meeko had another dream of Tycho's death, but Taven assured the boy that Tycho would be okay.

Meeting back up with the group, they met with the town's elders, who tried to trade the secret of the cure for Khaleia's magic axe she had been entrusted with, but the group declined, seeking another way. That night, the group came under attack by assassins, including the one who had killed Nile, but they escaped before Taven could avenge Nile. Later, one of the elders came to the group with the secret to the cure, as he knew that Khaleia's axe never belonged to their tribe in the first place. The group then traveled to the western coast, as the secret to Tycho's cure lay in the underwater Triton city. On the beach before the city, the group met a strange godlike creature, Reesee, who claimed to know Taven's father. Reesee tricked the group into the Triton's arena, to pay off her debt to the Tritons, but the group survived, and later made amends with Reesee. During this time, Soleil met with her father, Yssylon, the last of the Water Genasi, and discovered she had held the cure all along. Emerging from the Triton city, the group was horrified when they remembered they had about two days left to save Tycho, and set off to find the hut of the Harvest God Satto, who's chariot could travel faster than light, and who Concordia had learned of earlier. The party searched for almost two days without rest, until Taven managed to find the hut. Finally resting and enjoying a hearty meal, the group learned that without one of Satto's snakes, he could not operate the chariot, and so the group set off to try and rescue the snake, William. Learning William was held by a large drake, Taven formed a plan to try and sweet talk the dragon into releasing the snake, but to no avail. During the ensuing fight, Taven was badly wounded, but his powers activated, as he was wreathed in fire, his lineage as the son of the god of fire and war emerged, and he slaughtered the drake, melting his weapon in the process, and finally revealed his true nature to his friends. Returning home, Soleil managed to save Tycho, and all was well.

As the rest of the group met regarding the assassins, and the mysterious Reaver that had been chasing them, Taven headed to the forge, with his master class. There, they decided to build Taven a new weapon, one that could withstand the fire. Constructing a new halberd made out of enchanted metal and minerals, infused with Taven's blood and powers, Taven's new halberd, Summerslayer, was eventually blessed by Faer himself, and allowed Taven better mastery over his powers. Seeing as the next war game was coming up, Taven was excited to try out his new weapon and dominate the competition. Unfortunately, another invasion of the school led to Sid's girlfriend, Sienna, getting abducted. Ready to face down the world for his friend, Taven and the rest of Team 13 and their allies rallied, and entered the field trip forest. Finding Malcolm and some of the students acting suspiciously outside the forest, Team 13 engaged them, discovering Malcolm's true evil intentions. Fighting through the Field Trip Forest, Team 13 made it to a cave system in the forest.

### Tale of Two Wolves

Three years after graduating Mistmark, Taven's travels took him to the world of Akrenar, where he met The New Heroes of Akrenar. Reluctant to help them at first, he eventually agreed to help for a large sum of gold, but was still wary of the party. Accompanying them to Khaleth, Taven actually began to bond with Csihar and Dax, and playfully teased Baljeet. During their fight with Vel, Taven's power began to take over, and he showed just how powerful he had become, transforming into a massive being of fire and iron. Although Vel was badly hurt, he still won the battle, badly injuring the party and escaping with the second rose stone.

After their defeat, Taven decided to return to Nuva Terras, as he wasn't ready for this world. Before he left, he sensed a dark presence in the nearby town of Black Hollow, and warned the party before leaving, not being seen on Akrenar for another three decades.

### Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Thirty years later, Taven revisited the world of Akrenar. In the northern parts of Seleon, he met a young Eladrin named Elias, who was gifted in fire magic, like him. Unlike Taven, however, Elias didn't have as much control over his magic, and was a danger to himself and those around him. Becoming Elias' mentor, Taven began to help him locate his father, who had gone missing in Waterdeep.

## Personality

Despite being shy and a loner to the rest of the team, Taven was still kind and warm to many of those he met. However, when he started to get heated up in battle, his fury began to take over, sometimes literally setting him on fire. Once he was revealed as Faer's son and felt accepted by his team, he started to open up a bit more, cracking jokes more often. He felt closest to Thinker and Nile, two people who seemed to care most about him (Thinker in her own strange way), but he got along well with the rest of team 13 and his master classmates, and many others he met at school and in his travels.

As Taven grew older, he became more and more cynical, and a bit uncaring. Still, he never truly lost his sense of compassion, and refused to abandon his apprentice.

## Abilities and Equipment

Being the son of the god of fire, Taven was naturally gifted with fire magic, and could manipulate fire to his will. Being a half god, radiant magic flowed through him as well. However, Faer was also the god of war, and Taven had a natural warrior spirit, easily decimating enemies even when he had never held a weapon in his life. Taven favored a halberd for combat, and when his training halberd melted, he forged a new one, made out of flame-resistant metal, bits of obsidian, and some of his own blood. Taven also possessed his father's cloak, Beldym, which helped him control and harness his powers, and would emit smoke if Taven was ever badly hurt, but later would fuse this cloak into his new outfit.

## Appearance

At age sixteen, Taven stood at around 5'7, eventually growing to around 6'3 when he was next seen on Akrenar 25 years later. He had grey eyes, brown hair, and the beginnings of a beard, both of which darkened and turned black as he grew older. When his powers activated, his hair and eyes turned to fire, and he himself would be covered in flames. During his time at Mistmark, he wore a purple tunic, but later switched to a brown tunic with some gold accents. He also carried his father's cloak, a half white, half black cloak with gold accents and two gems inlaid in the cloak, which would shift from purple to orange.