Alaksiej Tsyganov

"Is this poison grenade inhumane?"

An only child, Alaksiej grew up with his parents Melatai and Sykel Tsyganov in Unity Point, living a fairly comfortable life afforded by being the son of a successful surgeon and a published musician. As he grew up, his education was supplemented by private tutors and music lessons in the instruments of his choice.

## History

### Childhood

To many, Alaksiej's upbringing would be considered fortunate. It isn't uncommon for some to say he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Despite that, he never grew up asking for frivolous things, and never became spoiled. Perhaps that is the result of his parentage, or his base character, but those who knew Alaksiej as a child knew him as a down to earth boy who wasn't afraid to stand up for what was right. Many of his friends ended up calling him "Alyosha", and it became a common joke to refer to him by then literal meaning of his name "Traveling Defender". Early in life, Alaksiej decided to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Doctor. His father, overjoyed with this, ensured he had the necessary education to be competent.

### Education and Early Life

As Alaksiej's education continued through public and private schooling, he learned quickly and devoted himself further to his trade. At the age of 15, his Father accepted him as an apprentice in his practice in Unity Point so he could gain first hand experience. This change in pace was tough at first, and Alaksiej almost lost his stomach for Doctoring in the first year, but as time progressed he became more accustomed to the ins and outs and developed a knack for it. When he turned 18, he left Unity Point and set up his own practice in a small town in the Southern regions of the Lesser Kingdoms who did not have a local doctor, only charging what people could afford, readily accepting credit and bartered goods for his work.

### Alaksiej the Gypsy

As time wore on, Alaksiej became disheartened with his inability to save people with more serious ailments, and the general fragility of the human body. He felt it was a great injustice that other races such as Elves and Dwarves could live for centuries or millennia seemingly without aging, while Humans were destined to a half life, shrouded in disease and blinded by plague. At the age of 25, after a series of crushing losses in his clinic, where a difficult to treat disease took the lives of five children in the span of three days, Alaksiej retreated into himself, spending days under the haze of liquor, writing correspondence to an old friend from Unity Point who had also gone into the medical trade. In the spring of Cycle 24, Year 61 he closed his clinic and left to wander the countryside, combing the world for literature that would help him improve Humanity's understanding of death and disease, so that they could overcome these restrictions and join the Elves and Dwarves on their pedestal.

### A Sliver, Embedded, Unseen but not Unheard.

A year into his journey, Alaksiej was exploring the catacombs of an ancient relic, having been pointed in the direction of this site by a local historian who claimed there were tomes of healing and lost knowledge hidden within. Deep within the tomb, a three books had been overlooked by bandits and archaeologists. While flipping through one of them, despite the language being unknown to Alaksiej, a tiny spark of understanding flickered through him. These books would become the core of his new knowledge, and unbeknownst to him, a sliver of the Old Gods made its way into his soul.

## Magic

Shortly after discovering the books in the old tomb, and after a few weeks of pouring over them alone, Alaksiej discovered he had developed rudimentary access to magic. He attributed this to the books, and sought out a Wizard to inspect the books and his newfound power. The wizard, unfortunately, was not very good and was unable to detect the malevolent presence in the book Alaksiej held most dear. He was, however, able to tell Alaksiej he had developed the use of magic most commonly associated with Warlocks. The Wizard pointed him in the direction of a summoner who could teach him. Alaksiej spent most of the remainder of his past there, learning from him, practicing his Alchemy and Medicine, and finally translating the books.

Alaksiej decided, no, the poison grenade was not inhumane.