Arden Korr

Arden Korr is a player character from the Wild Wasteland campaign.

Arden is an Erdannian sorcerer, with his abilities granting him the ability to manipulate water and ice. He served for several years in the Erdannian military in Izir, and later became a bounty hunter after deserting.

## Description

### Appearance

Arden has dusty brown hair, with prominent waves in it. He is generally somewhat dishevelled, and has a short curled beard. His eyes are grey and his skin is tanned. Beneath his left eye, the arcane rune for danger is branded into his face.

Arden wears a stetson and poncho over his old Erdannian Tempesta Squadron uniform. The lower half of his face is covered by an Erdannian ventilator mask.

### Personality

Arden now is a very different person from the man who was attacked on the streets of Erradan five years ago. His time serving in the Erdannian campaign in Izir has hardened him and made him colder. Before, he would have baulked at the idea of killing. Now, Arden does so willingly, sometimes even easily, but with a sense of regret if the victim is innocent or undeserving in his eyes. He tends to bring his marks in alive where possible to avoid unnecessary death, but is willing to do what needs to be done. Arden considers himself to be a practical man who causes no more cruelty and harm than is strictly necessary for him to survive.

Arden suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, though it is not diagnosed. He struggles to sleep, as he is haunted by memories of his escape and his time in the war. He stays awake as long as possible, and constantly seeks stimulation to keep his mind active and alert and focused on the moment. If he sleeps, it is after hours of drinking or in the arms of a prostitute. He will respond violently to being surprised, though is usually able to contain himself before serious harm is done. Arden is hypervigilant, and over-analyses others and his surroundings to assess the situation, constantly expecting trouble or looking for signs of betrayal or weakness.

Arden has little to no hope of a future, and is disinterested in making long-term plans. He lives day by day, spending money on various vices to help him survive until his next paycheck. That is not to say he has no ambitions. He would like to find Sparky, and he fiercely wants to kill Magos Kincaide for forcing him into the war. However, those goals feel so out of reach he cannot bring himself to try. He chronically lacks purpose. He hates the fact that he hasn't done as much as he ought to have done towards these purposes, especially finding Sparky.

Arden projects himself as a man with a very dry sense of humour, and often pokes fun at other people. Partly to entertain himself, partly to discourage them from getting close. He is capable of caring about people, but is afraid of losing them like he has lost everyone else in his life. He simultaneously craves and fears personal connections. He is not incapable of enjoying the company of others, but he doesn't always feel comfortable.

Finally, no matter how bad Arden feels about himself and his situation, he keeps on going. So long as he has his freedom and he can act how he wishes to act, he can and will keep going. As much as he feels out of control, deep down he knows that he has to keep moving forward. He has survived the war, he is no longer a slave to the Tower, he knows that whatever his situation, it too shall pass. One day he will find somewhere to belong and something worth doing with his life.

## Background

Arden started out life in Erradan, born to a caring family in New Town. His father Damian was a property broker, and his mother Karla was an architect. When he was two, his younger brother Shaun was born. They were relatively well off, and Arden found himself a lucky man in that great city, with access to a good education in one of the more pleasant areas of the city, immunised from the trials and tribulations suffered by the poorer residents and criminal elements of the city. He was a social child and was able to make many friends. He lived an ordinary life.

As he got older, Arden began to develop an interest in the performing arts. He was an amateur actor, and loved playing the parts of Tyrranean literature's greatest heroes. Particularly, he had an affinity for the speeches, injecting passion and pathos into every line so that his voice could be heard. He also found himself fascinated with the radio, and spent much of his time at home sitting at the kitchen table listening to music and the chatter of the presenters. As his time in education drew to an end, he knew where he wanted to be.

He made his appearance at various radio stations, asking for jobs and trainee roles until eventually, he achieved his goal. The process was not a fast one. Arden variously spent time as a waiter, a receptionist, even a journalist for the Gallows Gazzette, all while moonlighting as an actor in an amateur performing group based out of New Town. All this time, he was accompanied by the chatter of the radio. He kept this up for two years until finally, someone took notice of him when he tried his hand once again at getting a position at his dream job.

He began to work out of Saviour's Spire, shadowing the current presenters and learning a little about the rough workings of the station's machinery. He went in every working day, befriending colleagues and learning more about the craft that he was going to dedicate himself to. And every day, he saw a young woman named Rebecca Strathbourne. It started with small smiles and greetings and gradually grew into a friendship, and then something more than that. This was not a quick process, it happened over the course of months, even a year. But they did change. After a year in his new job, the two had fallen in love with each other. After two years Arden's training was complete, and he would begin to take a midday segment at the station, while he and Rebecca planned to move into a new house together and became engaged. All of this by twenty two years old.

One fateful night he, Rebecca and some of their colleagues from the station were out in the city celebrating a birthday. They were all high on life and in an adventurous mood and headed out to find the King's Cup Pub, the place of choice for the discerning criminal. Or so they'd heard. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a bunch of middle-class young people stumbling drunkenly through the Fisheries attracted the exact wrong sort of attention.

Throughout Arden's life, he had noticed something about himself. He had always sensed something - A certain energy below the surface running through him. In times of stress, he felt cold to the bone. Even Rebecca had noticed that, and some nights he had held her close just to feel some warmth. He dismissed it as nothing. Perhaps a strange health condition, but perhaps it was simply normal. That night though, he discovered that it wasn't 'normal'.

When one of his friends fell to the ground in front of him, head bloodied, and a group of thugs with fish hooks and dockers' tools surrounded them, the walls that had contained the energy inside him began to crack. Threats were made, violence was conducted. They ran, but they didn't get far. Rebecca took a bullet from an unseen gun as they fled, and they were surrounded. At that moment power that had for twenty two years bubbled beneath the surface with no release was suddenly unleashed in a frozen wave. Everyone nearby was transformed into an ice statuette, frozen solid. Everyone apart from Arden.

He ran, reported the incident to the police, led them to the scene of the crime and explained what happened. The Constabulary officers were very professional. They kept him there, kept him talking, all while sending one of their number to report the magical incident to the Tower. Before their agents could get there, Arden realised something was wrong when one of the officers tried to cuff him. That man was frozen, and Arden ran. The police followed, but as they crossed a bridge over a canal he called upon the waters of the city and cast the officers down with a wave. He spent the next six hours on the run.

The Tower caught up to Arden eventually. Experienced mages were able to negate the magic of the terrified sorcerer and bring him in. One of those people was Magos Courtenay Kincaide. She had been looking for sorcerers for a project she'd had in mind. Arden fit the bill perfectly. He was dragged off to the Tower itself before being sent elsewhere for proper training. He was able to learn that Rebecca had survived his magical backlash, and was receiving medical attention. This was his only comfort. It was clear that he would never be able to see her again. Not unless he escaped.

Arden tried to escape once. He knew that if he was taken away from Erradan, he would have no hope of getting his life back. No matter how he plead and bargained, no way out was offered. He was dangerous they said, he had proven that. So Arden waited, biding his time until he had a moment to strike. He stole a pistol from the holster of a guard as he was transferred out of his cell, shot the two men escorting him and then his cuffs. Gun in hand and powers unleashed, Arden made a run for it. He'd hide out in Erradan, live as a criminal, but at least he'd be near the woman he loved. Maybe they could figure something out, make it work. He never got that far. Arden was recaptured in short order, and was branded beneath his left eye as a punishment with a rune marking him as dangerous. He had killed a handful of personnel and wounded more during his escape. He was kept under greater security, beaten and tortured until it sank in. He was never going to get away. At least, not alone.

Over the next five years, Arden would be trained and put with three other sorcerers that Kincaide had located. Gale Reed, a quiet woman from the countryside with an affinity for electricity, Joe McKenzie, a tall, cautious man who manipulated sand, and Ramona Erskel, a noblewoman whose powers matched her fiery temper. Together, they were Tempesta Squadron. Unofficially, they were the Four Winds. Frosty, Sparky, Sandman and Red. For five years they served the Tower on the Izirian front, killing Confederacy soldiers and Whytehold knights alike. Each day they would be reminded that they were lucky to be enslaved to the Tower. Each day they were expected to be grateful for having the privilege of purpose in their lives.

However, it was not in the nature of sorcerers to be contained. Just as their magic ran wild in their veins and defied control, so too did the Four Winds chafe at their confinement. They eventually transferred to a covert Erdannian facility under the command of the Tower, Camp Nowhere. One day, after another lecture the four of them decided that enough was enough. Over the next two days, they gathered resources. Arden identified their escape vehicle, an armoured personnel carrier and stole a file to shave off the cuffs that held their magic prisoner. The others scouted the compound and identified where a map could be found that would guide them to safety. One night, the alarm went up for unknown reasons, and the team took their chance.

They sneaked out of their bunkhouse and entered the mages' building. As Arden and Sparky sneaked upstairs and stole a map, they were noticed by Kincaide and her cohort of mages. Arden's magic couldn't touch her, and they had no choice but to flee out the window. They ran, Red blowing up tanks of gas that powered the cooker on the way out and the mages' home caught fire. Next, they hit the garage and stole the keys to the car. As they fled with it, an Imperial Engineer staffed at the base destroyed the back of the truck and fatally wounded Red with an improvised bomb. The car stalled out not far from the base. In desperation, Sandman summoned a sandstorm as the Erdannians pursued with vehicles. The car stalled out in the sands, and they began to run. Kincaide was already there, demanding that they return. Arden initially tried his magic, but was unsuccessful. While Kincaide gloated that his powers were useless against her, Arden simply raised his gun and shot her through the sandstorm, putting her on the ground but not killing her. Red and Sandman were too wounded to go on, and vowed to cover Arden and Gale's escape. The last thing either of them knew of their friends was the fireball behind them.

By the time the sandstorm faded, they had stumbled their way into a cave and their tracks were long gone. They sheltered there a while, discussing plans for the future. Seeking further shelter from a mysterious incoming group, Arden took point on exploring the cave. His exhaustion had caught up, and he tumbled into an Ifrit's lair. He ran, and was separated from Sparky. By the time he looped his way back to her, she was gone. All that was left was a set of tracks and a strange golden coin with a spoked wheel upon it. Arden was alone in the desert, his friends were gone, and he had nowhere to go. Alone, Arden set out towards the frontier to pick up the pieces of his life. One day, he didn't know when, he'd find Sparky. One day, he didn't know how, he'd kill Kincaide for dragging him into this life. One day, he didn't know where, he'd find somewhere else to belong. His past life with Rebecca at the radio station was gone, he was free of his military enslavement, but all he had to show for it were memories of loss and pain.

When he finally found his way to a frontier town, it was clear that he needed money to survive. Given his recent employment, he began to sell his services as a bounty hunter and bodyguard, drifting between towns in search of work. His magical skills made him an adept survivor on his own, as he could conjure water from nothing, as well as a blessing to any party venturing out into the wasteland.

## Skills and Abilities

### Magical Abilities

Arden is a powerful sorcerer with the ability to manipulate water and ice. He can condense water from the vapour in the air, depleting the overall moisture in the air in the process. This he can then manipulate at will, creating shapes and structures which he can freeze solid. These structures can be maintained even in hot weather, though their integrity is reduced and will fade. Arden has very fine control over his abilities and is even able to perform small feats such as filling a lock with water and then freezing it to render it unusable.

Arden's magic makes him unusually cold and he can draw upon this to change his very surroundings, making it noticeably cooler around him. This allows his spells to be more effective and to overcome some of the inherent limitations of using ice magic in the desert. Doing this may result in his magic going wild causing a backlash. As with many sorcerers, he is able to use his own body and energy as mana.

### Personal Skills

Arden's time before the military was spent primarily interacting with people, and he has good social senses. He is good at convincing people to understand his point of view, and at assessing others' motivations. Before he joined the military, he was not particularly physically adept. However, his time under the Tower made him significantly fitter and faster, and Arden is able to perform relatively impressive feats of agility especially in combination with his magical ability to create structures out of ice on the fly, allowing a great range of mobility usually unavailable to others. Additionally, Arden is far more situationally aware than he was before. He has a good eye for detail and assessing scenarios when he is presented with them.

Arden has also become a reasonable pistolier, having spent a good amount of time practicing down the shooting range during training. After realising that his magic was prone to becoming unreliable after extended use, he realised the practical utility of having a reliable sidearm. Furthermore, his time on the frontier has made him fairly familiar with using unconventional weapons during bar fights. He has developed respectable survival skills during his time alone in the desert, and is usually able to find shelter and navigate fairly well as he moves between towns hunting for his next mark.

## Trivia

* Arden Korr was inspired by a series of Star Wars characters: The concept of the wandering bounty hunter was drawn from The Mandalorian; aspects of his personality were influenced by Atton Rand from Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords and his surname was derived from the protagonist of Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy - Jaden Korr.
* Aesthetically two versions of Arden were conceptualised - One with a full helmet which had been painted over by Arden, and one with the hat and breath mask which was ultimately chosen.