Rhad Hy-Wald

## Bio

### Pre-Adventuring

Rhad Hy-Wald doesn't remember much prior to his mentorship under a retired Time Knight, Yarvis Hy-Wald at the age of 15. The first interaction he remembers having with Yarvis is being handed a silver pocket watch, the symbol of their order. Everything before that point was a blur of music, images, and laughter that had no beginning nor end.

In the 20 years that Rhad spent as a student, they learned how to carry themselves, fight, and perform basic feats of might and magic. One of the most important talents that they came to learn was the ability to stay grounded in their own time by knowing how to read the flow of time and notice disruptions in it. This passive awareness was drilled into him nearly every day until he developed his own internal clock. Despite his struggles to improve, Rhad never felt like he made much progress as a knight. His passions always lied elsewhere amid the rigors of musical theory and performing works both memorable and ephemeral.

Shortly before his adventures began, he had struggled with what felt like the most mundane tasks. It was as though every step of his life would be sabotaged in some way by an unseen force. This regression in his capabilities led to his falling out of favor with his mentor, who had become more cruel and uncharacteristically violent in their training methods. Rhad eventually had enough and ran away for a few months, living off of his talent in entertainment in the interim even though pawning the silver pocket watch would have probably been easier. He eventually returned with intent to give back the silver watch to sever this burden from his mind.

When he returned to his mentor's estate, the air was wrong. A stagnation pervaded every corner of the grounds and room. Organic material was rotten or in states of decay. In the practice hall, he found his mentor and the other three of their squires dead, collapsed on the floor with withered forms as though rapidly aged. With his limited talents in that realm of magic, he may never know what happened to them. Time had run away with his past. He kept the silver pocket watch as a memento of his mentor, unaware that it had become cursed by the very person he had trusted. From that point on, he wandered the north eastern peninsula of the continent of Etera while he worked up the courage to adventure and put to use his training and talents.

### Rise Above an Imposed Role

Rhad spent much of the beginning of his career adventuring fumbling about and trying to survive the wild powers that live within the borders of Etara. It was not until in a moment of frustration with himself that he broke the silver pocket watch given to him over twenty years ago. In that moment, the curse was broken and Rhad Hy-Wald awakened his spark that had been siphoned by the cursed symbol since it was given to him. The power that he had eked out from the watch was gone. In it's place, Rhad felt his true calling and began down the path of a Composer.

### Authenticity and Employment

In a meteoric rise from salty taverns, Rhad had begun to make a name for himself as a musician and, more importantly, a composer. For the ambitious wyvaran, composing was more than putting notes to paper. The art itself was his to sculpt. Every sensation, every scene could be tailor made. After a few arguments with the casts of his performances, Rhad had to tone down his control. Though his magical prowess would allow it, using his magic to undercut the performances of the theater was not giving an authentic experience. This lack of authenticity stuck with him. When to comes to creative endeavors, Rhad now composes with the capabilities of those that must perform them in mind.

Rhad now saves his own authentic compositions for the battlefield and personal projects. In seeking to better his connectivity with the word beyond taking tasks from the Adventurer's Guild, he joined Mirrandrar's academy to offer instruction on music and illusions. While at first interested in poking his nose into the magical intrigue that occurs within Mirrandrar's borders, it became quickly apparent that such place lacks ethics. He still holds his position as instructor, but often relegates menial lectures to his illusions. He's been quoted as saying that if someone in the class can find the real him, they pass his course.

## Events

### The Dread Gobblers

Having had only some experience with those of the Green Faith, he could not help but wonder if this is the result of one of the more fringe practitioners work. Regardless, the person granting the 'quest' was... enthusiastic and such energy could not be turned down. Thus, Rhad entered the fray to help right the countless wrongs of our day which just so happen to include suppressing a frenzied feathered flock of frightful foul. With rapier in hand held like a conductor's baton the wyvaran's wings spread like curtains of a stage as the performance begins from the shadows.

With the a wave of his hand and a flick of his rapier, whole chunks of the battlefield would be bathed in elements conjured from the the ephemera. Each jab and motion directs ripples in reality to ignite with fire, crack with lightning, and shudder with frost. Once the initial shock and confusion of what was occurring wore off, the feather foes began their retaliation, prompting a retreat. On his own, it was best to approach his targets with finesse and guerilla tactics.

While sipping from his flask amid cover, he began to preform once more. He stood, hidden from site behind a veneer of fake flora to resume his assault. A series of misdirection and mysticism caught those without the faintest of awareness off guard. Falsehoods cast upon reality in layers to gaslight his pursuers to an untimely demise until his opponents were the ones on the run. The chorus of panicked gobbles and squawks of pain signaled the second act.

Quietly, Rhad followed the turkey terrors until their vision failed them and the light of day faded to night. He waited until they made camp. The watch was easy enough to evade, as the true terror of his plan would only be experienced by those already asleep. Once he was within range, he lifted his rapier into the air and traces a circle. With a swish the circle expanded and his 'venue' for the evening was established. He crouched and reached a hand out to the tents that his quarry resided within. Slowly, over the course of a few minutes, the ground sunk twenty feet in small increments so as not to wake those within. With his set-up complete, Rhad stood and weaved a solid illusion made of fire on top of the hole he put the turkeys in. The flames extended down into the pit, providing them no escape.

When the watch rushed to try and figure out what was going on in the tent, Rhad crept away under the cover of night and the dying shriek's of the BBQ pit that he had created. He had some reservations about his methods in review and chalked it up to the man-with-the-glasses having some sort of infectious bloodlust.

### The Dread Killer

After hearing about a holy artifact that may be of use to the people engaging in combat within the Ghostlands, the wyvaran was hopeful that this one does not also contain some sort of sleeping god that wants to eat souls or destroy the world. Despite his apprehension toward more supposed ancient tools, Rhad offers to let some of group of people go confront whatever may be within the location. He would join the distraction team. Rhad's talents are more suited toward preventative measures involving misdirection in the first place. After the last venture with a group to get something from a musty tomb, that fact became crystal clear.

Rhad suppresses his presence with a pre-cast glamor, traveling with the distraction team until they were to split up to divert attention. Once they arrive and begin to separate, the illusionist does his best to prepare his zone with places to hide and contingent diversions should he have to make a quick escape. He manipulates the earth by establishing a domain of control in, filling it with pitfalls to damaging illusions of acid and fire; an escape path is carefully crafted too, should the need arise. Finally, his domain was manipulated to control the passage of time within it, dragging out the movements of enemies and illusions alike to further create an extended diversion. Once the stage was set, it was time to begin.

The numerous colored lights, like a canvas or carnival spread across his zone of control, guiding the mindless and the wary to this land of confusion. His illusions disperse into the zone of his domain's focus, becoming as real as they can to taunt, beckon, and mislead the undead into the various traps waiting for them. When caught, a little extra effort and magic was all it took to go from humanoid shaped to clammorous applause that persisted for almost a minute. The sheer magnitude of the volume emitting in the area was enough to shatter some lesser undead to pieces.

As the hoard approaching started to become too much to contain in his traps and safely corral away from himself, his permanent illusions suppress themselves and slither to Rhad to hide their now diminutive forms within his pockets. He summons one last illusion to endure for ten more minutes, giving it the programming to react appropriately as it burns away at the hoard and fizzles out when it's time is expired. The illusionist escapes through his prepared tunnel and collapses it after himself, returning to base largely spent of his ability to falsify reality for now.