Grey

## Biography

Grey is an Aasimar.  His mother, Dela, was an adventurer turned barmaid at a tavern of some renown in the large underground city of Thrmia.  In her youth, she adventured across the continents and realms, before she settled down in the city below the Wastes of Harady.  She didn't say much about Grey's father, but Grey always imagined that he was a creature of importance and power.

Grey's birth and appearance made his celestial heritage very clear.  Grey's odd appearance (Gray skin and bright indigo eyes) had always kept him at a distance from others in his community, a community that worshipped Gaenik as the primary deity and creator of the world. The people there understood what Aasimars were, but held extremist views of what their presence meant, especially if they weren't believed to be connected to Gaenik in some way.

As he grew, Grey tried to settle his discontentedness with an imagined celestial battle that his father took part in. He lived in his created fantasy world where he would fight side by side with celestial heroes. Grey always thought good must triumph and he internalized those ideals. With the few friends he made as a child, he would often act out intense battles and adventures, taking on the mantle of the celestial in the battle for good and evil.  This didn't go over with much popularity among his peers' parents, and many of them tried to limit their child's exposure to the young Aasimar.

When he reached adolescence, some of his innate magical abilities manifested despite anti-magic protections within the community.  This cemented Grey's beliefs of celestial purpose, even if his magic scared others around him.  After rumors of his abilities spread, fundamentalist worshipers for Gaenik took notice of him, they were known as the Cycle Disciples.  Not only did they think Grey's magic to be heresy and an affront to their god, they also found magic deplorable and a risk to their communities. They sought to kidnap him for some unknown ritual, and his mother spent her last moments fighting the cultists and telling Grey to run. Grey's mother's sacrifice allowed him to escape, he disappeared into the streets and fled to avoid the wrath of the disciples.

### Flight to Cragsbury

Grey fled to Cragsbury, a much smaller and poorer settlement filled mostly with farmers and miners.  Grey waited with the hope that his mother would come to collect him, reassuring him that they were safe and together. Days passed and Grey began to accept that her fate had been sealed at the hands of the Disciples. The longer he remained in Cragsbury, the more people took notice of him, and he decided he would need to move on once again.  The only way forward was to move south to the larger settlement of Telben, and to do that, he needed to go to the surface of the Wastes.  Grey begged for warm clothing and food to aid him in his travel, but even with those supplies, the moment he stepped out onto the frozen wastes the chill stole his breath.

After a moment of panic, and the realization that survival was unlikely, the cold seemed to lose its bite, and became much more tolerable. A presence seemed to come over Grey fortifying his body, and calming his mind. He marched southward to Telben hoping to find refuge and some measure of safety.

### Urchin of Telben

Once in Telben, Grey struggled day to day, as he fought tooth and nail for food, shelter, and water in the streets. In his few moments of peace his thoughts always seemed to return to the strange presence that accompanied him across the wastes, wondering what it was that had aided him. His dreams became more vivid and bizarre at this time as well, he dreamt of cosmic bodies, lights in the sky, and crackling dark energy. The dreams grew so intense at times that Grey avoided sleep altogether, and instead wandered the streets of Telben, and climbing to the surface to sit beneath the night sky. Every time he broke the surface, he realized the same presence was with him suddenly, tempering the cold and calming his mind. His stargazing revealed the living nature of the universe to him, the movement of the stars, the zooming meteorites, and sometimes, depending on the conditions, he noticed the dancing lights. His experiences on the surface were so soothing that he found himself longing to be there always, eschewing the safety of the settlement below so he could be beneath the stars.

While in Telben, Grey hid his identity, and lived as a street urchin for a couple years.  He did what he needed to survive in the cold city below the Wastes.  He learned to make do with little, and to not rely on the kindness of strangers to have his needs met.  He helped the other youth on the street and helped to maintain safety and security for the city's least cared for.  He had a friend, Quethe, a young half drow girl, who was his main companion and confidante.  The two children cared for each other deeply, though Quethe often thought Grey's desire to be beneath the night sky a bit peculiar. While on the hunt for food and coin, Quethe was captured by local law enforcement for pickpocketing and hauled away. Grey was desperate to liberate his friend, but had no clue how. He camped out at the local jailer for weeks trying to ascertain a way to rescue Quethe but no way forward ever revealed itself. Grey even went so far as to trick a guard with magic and make it inside the building where criminals were jailed, but the guard had no knowledge of the young half-drow and she was nowhere to be seen.

Though Grey strongly believed in good over evil, his concept of Law and Chaos shifted pretty significantly.  When Law allowed the cult members to attack his mother, to run him from his home, and to take his dearest friend, Grey realized that the law could just as easily be used for evil as it could be for good.

### The Cleric of Ani

Eventually, as his days of desperation grew more pronounced, Grey tried to pickpocket a kindly Elvish Cleric named Meledria, while she was in Telben on business. She recognized him for what he was immediately and took pity on Grey.  Meledria's beliefs and prayer as a Twilight Cleric seemed to align with Grey's divine sorcery. Meledria knew, even if Grey did not, that he had been touched by her Goddess, Ani and that Meledria would take Grey under her wing.

Meledria brought Grey to the Sorvette Tower. The days of travel were long, but the presence returned to Grey while on the surface once again. Meledria regaled Grey with stories of her travels, of her faith, and the work she did as a cleric of the goddess Ani. Meledria demonstrated her divine magic as granted to her by her goddess, bewildering Grey. Grey became convinced that the wisdom and knowledge of the inhabitants of the Tower would give him answers about who he was and what he was meant to do. For the first time in a long time, Grey felt safe.

Once they arrived at the Tower, Grey was surrounded by Astronomers, devotees of Ani, and arcane practitioners.  It was a small group, but a group that welcomed Grey and were eager to teach him. The arcanists recognized the nature of Grey's powers as being both divine and arcane and helped him to study arcane traditions. One of the more significant moments to Grey was being placed in a room with ancient looking baubles and trinkets. He was given no instructions except that he should meditate and open himself up to the flow of the Weave. He was unsure of what that meant, but eventually, an object in the room seemed to have a sort of gravitational pull on Grey. His eyes saw strands of energy connecting him to the object, a small, dark crystal that glowed and shimmered with hues of aqua, green, and purple. When he showed it to the arcanists, they set it as a pendant on a leather cord and draped it over his head.

While Grey lived at the Tower, his dreams returned and Meledria encouraged him to meditate on them. She explained her own visits from Ani, but Grey never received such a direct visit from the goddess, despite what became years of meditation.

Meledria began to entrust Grey with tasks that she once carried out herself. Making supply runs, gathering food and resources, and tracking down thieves. The Sorvette Tower was no stranger to the greedy, who sought the power of the many artifacts in the Tower's possession.

Recently Grey was tasked with finding a thief and recovering the items they had stolen from an inhabitant of the tower while out in the wastes. The altercation had left the victim gravely wounded. Meledria instructed Grey to "listen to the Soothing MIstress and dole out her justice wisely." Grey found the thief and in the process of recovering the items, he killed the man. After returning to the tower, Grey was proud and hoped to gain favor with Meledria and the Goddess Ani. Meledria, however, was disappointed that the thief was killed. Grey could feel Ani's presence around him still, but a new edge of discontent creeped in, and an urgent call to action somewhere beyond the Tower pulled at the back of Grey's mind.

When the Tower was beset by another thief who managed to escape with a magical item of great importance to one of Grey's wizard teachers. Meledria once again tasked Grey with recovering the stolen item - a powerful wand. Meledria offered Grey a description of the thief, a young, bald, clean-shaven man with an eye patch. He was heading west toward Thrmia, Grey's birthplace. As Grey prepared to leave the Tower in pursuit, Meledria once again instructed him to follow the will of the Soothing Mistress. She placed a small, shiny black stone into Grey's hand, and beckoned him onward.

Grey was taught by Meledria to be curious and to ask questions about the world.  He seeks to learn more about his mysterious heritage, about the deities of the world, and develop his magical abilities to their maximum potential.  He holds a lot of anger towards the cult that killed his mother, and is keeping an eye on ways that he can stop their terrorizing of Thrmia. Grey has a quiet, underlying need to please those who have earned his trust, like Meledria and the Goddess Ani. He is distrustful of many he meets initially and will spend time observing them and trying to pass his own private judgement of their character. His confidence teeters on the edge, but he would try to hide any weaknesses for fear that others might try to take advantage.

## Notable Relationships

### Elar

Elar, the half-orc sailor and fighter from Thrmia made a connection with Grey early on in the campaign. Over the first couple sessions they had a flirtation which has since developed into what seems to be a crush. They have verbally expressed interest in one another and have kissed while spending the night together at a tavern in Cragsbury.

### Meledria

Meledria is Grey's elven mentor and teacher. She helped to shape Grey's understanding of his abilities and their celestial source, the Goddess Ani herself. Meledria taught Grey of Ani's religion and worship, helping to shape Grey into an agent of Ani.

### Ani

Ani is the goddess of the night, and the divine being whom Grey worships. It seems likely that Grey's divine magic has some physical connection to Ani, likely through his father's bloodline, though what that specific connection is remains unknown. Ani has made herself known in Grey's dreams several times, mostly at times of importance for Grey. Most recently, she shared visions with him in Session 3.

## Abilities

### Sorcerer

Grey was born with abilities granted through his celestial heritage. Primarily, this makes him a sorcerer with an innate connection to magic, allowing him to unleash spells that he did not need to study and instead, seems to inherently understand. As a sorcerer, Grey has the ability to manipulate his spells in even more profound and unique ways.

### Divine Soul

Additionally, Grey has access to magic of the divine soul, normally magic that is limited to the studious clerics, like his mentor Meledria. Grey is able to cast healing and restorative magic to give life and fortify his allies in battle.

### Nightfall Celestial

Grey seems to have displayed the ability to take spells normally reserved for those who gain magic from nature as well, specifically with magic that is connected to the night. Grey is unique in this way, and it reflects his rare connection to deities of the night.

## Personality

Grey is wholeheartedly good-aligned. He wishes to do what is good in the world, but may at moments, be misguided in what it entails to deliver justice. He has faced trauma in his past, and this trauma has had a profound effect on his view of the world. Grey will do what it takes to survive, as he needed to when he lived on the streets as a child, he also has an incredibly protective instinct over those he cares for. Grey has also viewed the ways in which the law can be weaponized against the innocent, and has thus shed the belief that law is good, thus his bent towards chaos.

Grey is fearful of needing to rely on others and not being completely self-sufficient. His hope is to be able to take care of himself, and hopefully take care of others while he does so. He also has a fear of letting down the few people in his life that he looks up to, namely Meledria and the memory of his mother, Dela.

More materially, Grey has a fear of being underwater, and the lack of control that comes from being dragged beneath the surface of the water. Additionally he has a fear of tight spaces. He lived many traumatic years beneath the surface of the Wastes, and if he can help it, he will try to be on the surface of the world, rather than beneath it.

## Important Possessions

* Arcane Focus - Dark Blue Crystal
* Sending Stone (other half held by Meledria)
* Pearl of Power
* Bright Shard Amulet
* Champion of Ani - Book Checked out from Library in Cragsbury