Gawain Epharim

*"I am not a wizard so that I may get recognition or create a legacy, **Edgar**. I am a wizard so that we may enhance our understanding of the magical forces that hold sway over our world, to steadily make us a more enlightened society. For that reason I will research that otherworldly being even if it leads to my demise." - Gawain*

## Biography

Time. Matter. Space. All aspects of the universe, as it is understood by the creatures residing on it, have been measurable and predictable within parameters discovered and calculated over ages past. As a result should one elevate their understanding of the universe, they discover the building blocks that hold it together and can exert their will on it as they see fit. Such thinking is obvious to those who become wizards, using their rigorous study and knowledge of the world to weave great spells to reconfigure reality with mere thoughts and energy. Despite the fantastical nature of such abilities, the novelty has worn incredibly thin, and most wizards with an insatiable lust for knowledge can grow bored of their awe-inspiring abilities. How could they not? For being people who covet reasoning and dedication, spells just become the equivalent a tool, a routine ritual tucked away in your proverbial pack like one would hold a dagger or arrows. The real intrigue and excitement for a wizard is when they are presented with something they cannot understand or describe, something that breaks that routine and can be picked apart by a dizzying series of rapid questions and answers. When a wizard is met with such an epiphany, they'll often throw themselves at their quandaries for days on end, never satisfied until they can be confident in the nature of their discovery.

Despite falling within all of these stereotypes and more, Gawain is not a typical wizard by any stretch of the imagination. In life he sought to covet every scrap of knowledge that he could gather, confident that even the smallest factoid would be of use to a conundrum of the future. As a result early after he ascended the ranks of wizardry and gained mastery in his field, he dedicated himself and various arcane constructs to erecting an immense tower where he could both store his collected knowledge and work in absolute solitude. Whispers of that tower spread across the land both during its construction and well after, its entrance guarded by loyal skeletal sentinels that only allow entry for the eccentric wizard himself. Staring down on the land he sought to understand everything about, Gawain conducted his work for decades. From spellcraft tomes to encyclopedias, if there was any book that held the absolute truth of any subject a copy of it was in his possession and stored there. Yet he was not a selfish sort, and would share his volumes with like-minded people if they had anything that he saw as useful, be it arcane artifacts or rumors of places of potential significance.

One such destination had him visit some sort of place of power, the only information he had to go off of had been this strange arranged rock formation where whispers on the wind could vaguely be heard. Having nothing more than a general region he could find it, Gawain set off in search of the location and its secrets. While it had taken him the better part of a year to locate it, he had done so without too much incident save from the usual pitfalls that came with traveling alone. In an open field on a day clouded by grey clouds and barely lit by patches of sunlight breaking through the covering overhead, he discovered black stone spires pointing to the heavens. On his approach he had began to hear the whispers, the monolithic obelisks arranged in a circle with the center left bare, the words of the language as esoteric as could be while odd runic inscriptions dotted each spire. The whispers on the wind scratched at the back of his mind in a most unpleasant sensation, but nothing he would not weather in the name of progress. Working tirelessly with his tools and taking notes for a whole hour or so, he had began to scrawl possible functions for this odd structure. A focusing point for mana for the use of powerful rituals perhaps? Or maybe some ancient celestial orrery for the tracking of celestial bodies? In time he received his answer, the fragmented voices droning into a hum as the spires came to life, their speared tips the corners of a gateway that had opened directly overhead...

Gawain was immediately met with something out of his depth, something indescribable, maddening, so beyond reason and understanding that he felt his eyes implode with a sickening crackle for just gazing upon the creature and its homeland. Yet as he was rendered blind, he could still hear, still see the psychic disturbance in his memory and current thought patterns as it continued to assail his faculties in the span of a few seconds. He let out a scream of pain as he was rendered deaf by his eardrums exploding outward, blood pouring from the sides of his head as the pressure within his brain grew and grew. An intense bubbling came at his skin and his whole visage began to burn and melt as if it were a candle set near a deep fissure in the earth. The curious wizard collapsed in a heap as the gateway closed, dead from the sheer sensory overload of such an indescribable monstrosity.

Or so he thought. In what felt like an instant he awoke with a start, his body in that same empty field he had found himself in before his meeting with that otherworldly being. However, things were not as they once were. The spires of obsidian had crumbled to practical nothingness, eroded by a full century of meddling and wars passed. Upon examination of himself he soon came to realize that he had still lost his face, the experience that scarred him had not been any mere dream, and he was now reborn as an undead of some sort. As he stood and recollected his thoughts, he found one burning obsession driving him above all else: encounter that creature yet again, find out all that can be discovered about its realm and existence. Entrap it so that future generations may benefit from the knowledge and research that will follow. Gawain was reborn as an undead, and he had much work to do.

The wizard had only his vague memory and the traumatic experience to drive him, the notes he had taken on the structure far too haphazard and early along to be of any use to him. He could only go back to his tower, which had thankfully stood the test of time in his absence. Once there he threw himself at every tome he possessed, trying to discover any hint of what could have created the anomaly he saw before him. There was no place on the planet that was like the background of what he saw in that gateway, hinting at a whole new undiscovered land to be explored. He began to theorize that perhaps this had been a whole other part of existence entirely, perhaps even the afterlife, though he could not say for sure. What he did know was that some ancient people had managed to breach the space between his world and that one, and he would discover their methods and make them his own. And he was fortunate enough to have the drive and all of eternity to do it.

## Abilities

Gawain is an undead wizard and a necromancer. Being undead, he is immune to several status effect such as paralysis or getting charmed and as a wizard, he has a wide variety of spells to fight. However, due Gawains frail mental state, some of his spells might have a slightly more detrimental properties than others.

### Traits

* **Catalytic Casting**: Gawain can guarantee a successful spell cast if he elects to use this trait. However, if the roll is a failure he receives damage based on the severity of the spell failure.
* **Unearthly Tether**: Gawain recovers one point of missing health every two turns.
* **Undesirable**: Gawain receives a **-1** penalty to persuasion related rolls.

### Racial Traits

* **Undead Curse**: Immune to poison, paralysis, sleep and charm. Weakness to holy magic.

## Trivia

* Commonly referred to as "Bone Daddy" by some of the Greatest Adventure players.