Doc

Doc — original artwork by J. Leigh Bralick

Doc is the most prominent Blood mage in Rivano's clan. Enigmatic and reclusive, Doc is ambiguous in almost every way possible. He first meets Tarik after the factory riot in The Madness Project, but becomes a more prominent figure during the events of A Dark So Deep.

## Description

Doc is of an ambiguous age — from a distance he looks to be in his late thirties or forties, or even older, but at a close distance he looks very young, barely older than the other Hole rats. He has light glass-green eyes and pale skin, and a slim, tall frame. He wears his hair uncommonly long, and it is so fair it is essentially white.

Doc commonly wears all black, especially when working with the sick and injured (to better hide the stains), but on special occasions he may wear grey trousers and a finely embroidered white shirt that is of a rather foreign or arcane style.

## Personality

Doc is rather high-strung and can be a bit unpredictable, with definite expectations about how things should happen. He rarely smiles and always seems to be analyzing the situation in front of him, as if to glean some information from it that no one else can see.

Despite being a dedicated and skilled healer, Doc often comes across as caring little about anyone — even himself. This is not true, however. His interactions with Hayli in A Dark So Deep show that he does in fact care deeply about people, but for some reason is reluctant to show it.

Doc drifts between extremes — often he either seems agitated, moving through life at a frenetic, intensely focused pace, or calm and methodical, drifting from moment to moment like a stranded spirit.

## Background

Doc is profoundly secretive about his own past. No one knows where he is from, how old he is, or whose side he is actually on — from time to time people like Shiver speculate that he may not be as closely allied to Rivano as he might otherwise seem. He does not seem to be native Cavnish. He has some past experience with Destri Alokin, but the nature of their acquaintance is not fully known, except that Doc confesses that he owed Alokin a favor. No one knows what the favor was for.

*Click "Expand" for spoilers about Doc's background in A Sea Like Glass*

In A Sea Like Glass, Doc reveals to Hayli that he can remember when the last of his family died. He never explains how his family died, or when, or where.

## Magical Abilities

Doc is the most powerful Blood mage living in Cavnal. Not only does he have a remarkable knowledge of scientific medicine and anatomy, he is also extremely gifted at visualizing the workings of his Blood magic inside his patients. He is capable of placing mortally wounded people in a *stasis,* or "suspended animation" type state until they can be given appropriate care. As with all Bloods, when Doc uses his power to heal someone else, his body becomes almost transparent, as if he were pouring his own life into his patient — and the graver the injury, the more noticeable this process.

Somehow Doc seems to have a very keen insight into the fracturing that Tarik is experiencing, but as always, he is enigmatic about what he knows and how he knows it.

*Click "Expand" for spoilers about Doc's magic*

In A Sea Like Glass, Doc tells Hayli that he cannot take away her fear, or, "not any more." This seems to be a hint that Doc perhaps has, or had, more than just one Gift.