Manase "Behrun" Angeneem
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Race: Four-winged Avian species known as Abalim
History: Behrun found God when he was four years old.
He was born to a small family of Abalim that lived in the Bordering Mountains, overlooking a small forest, to the west of both Fallhurst and Oakdell, but still under the influence of the Guild of One. Desiring to expand the reach of their god Mavorr, the Guild sent Missionaries to every corner of the world, and one small group eventually reached the Avian city. Daring the high cliffs, they ascended to the village, and there set about trying to teach the "uncivilized" about the greatness of Knowledge. The young Abalim, still living under the name his parents gave him and he has since forgotten, was finally given a word to explain that which he had always unconsciously understood. God.
His parents and older sister were baffled and unnerved by his sudden "discovery" of God, and tried to convince him of the fact that there was no such thing, only the Truths of life and flight. Distraught by his family's inability to recognize that which he knew and could not live without, the child became enraged, and wound up attacking his family.
Word of this quickly spread around the village, and the Missionary were quick to come collect the boy. Found by someone who understood "his" god, he calmed, and attempted to apologize to his family. They, however, considered him mad, and would have clipped his wings and banished him, had he not agreed to accompany the group back to Oakdell. On the journey he and the Missionary grew quite close, and the Priest, astonished by his level of faith, named him "Behrun," an ancient name from their own Bible meaning "Let him guide us." When they reached the White Tower of Oakdell, the Missionary reluctantly handed him over to a Member of the council, and left to return to her Mission. There the Council acknowledged him as Behrun, and concluded his name with Angeneem, "adopted one".
Constantly under the scrutiny of one member of the Guild of One or another, Behrun set about learning the ways of their Order, and, his greatest joy, learning how to fly. He called flight a "Face of God," and while they did not understand his meaning, his mentors were content to let him consider flight a form of worship, and a way to enhance his own ability to learn. They first taught him Air magic, as, without the cliffs of his village to aid him in take off, he would need a stiff breeze to be able to lift his strong form off of the ground, and gain elevation in the lack of available thermals. Once they were satisfied that he had grasped a firm enough understanding of the magic to continue his learning on his own, his mentors began to introduce him to many other forms of magic. Although he took most readily to healing and shielding spells, they found him remarkably willing to attempt any type of learning, even ones that subconsciously terrified or repulsed him. He continued to talk about experiencing "Faces of God," and they eventually concluded that a "face" was a subject on which he could learn.
However, at 15 years of age, a restlessness began to form in Behrun. His mentors did not notice, and continued to press him in his learning, until he finally broke away and fled deep into the Oakdell slums to find new "Faces." It was not until one of his mentors followed him that they finally began to realize, from his actions and attitudes when he was alone, that the "God" he worshiped was not, and had never been, Mavorr. At first they simply found him studying various things, people or houses. However, he began to cover himself in filth, and began to sample some of the potent hallucinogens on the market, seeking the "Faces," which they finally understood were not things he could learn, but were experiences available to the living.
Furious at his "betrayal" and "deception," the Council summoned him, and when he refused to renounce his "false worship," they banished him from the ranks, naming him Manaze, "forgotten one," someone who would be banished from the memories and thoughts of all who had once known him.
Behrun left willingly enough, confident in his belief that the Guild of One had no new Faces to show him. His one regret was the official loss of his name, and although he would never accept Manaze as his true name, it was the name that he would give to those who questioned him from that point on. After all, the pain was another Face of God, and one he had to accept as willingly as he accepted the rest of the Faces.
However, without the eyes of his mentors constantly watching his every move, Behrun had no reason to only perform those actions he had been taught were "right." He plunged wholeheartedly into the Faces that could only be found on the opposite side of "right." Behrun was unable to tamper his actions in his quest, and his actions ranged from simple theft to murder. He steadily moved south, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake, and many knights and officers of the law were set on his trail, for many of his more heinous crimes were considered to be the actions of many different people.
For years he danced just ahead of those pursuing him, using their own quests against them, reveling in the faces of both hunter and hunted. At times he escaped, living back in the "right" for a period of time long enough for his actions to just be forgotten, before he would venture out again.
However, when he finally reached the city of Islesbury at the age of 22, Behrun found himself cornered on all sides by the various groups pursuing him, as well as the female Missionary that had brought him to the Guild of One eighteen years ago, and had acted as a temporary Mother-figure for his childhood. Despite the promise of his new name, she had never forgotten Behrun, and considered herself somehow responsible for his actions when she finally put his disappearance and the crime sprees together. She caught up with the various groups pursuing Behrun just outside the walls of Islesbury, and organized them together to capture him, using her own magic to counter his ability to take flight. Her arrival was enough to cause him to falter, and he was captured surprisingly easily.
He was put deep within the Islesbury dungeons, in a cell specifically designed to hold those who could wield magic, and his wings were bound and chained. While Behrun was mostly ready to accept the imprisonment as a new Face, the loss of the Face of Flight was enough to, by the time of his release thirteen months later, drive him temporarily mad.
Personality: Despite his rather reserved nature, Behrun is a surprisingly easy person with whom to get along, as he is always willing to experience the world from the perspective of someone else. He is quiet, contemplative, and mostly obedient, although he is reckless when enraged, or left to his own devices for a period of time with no reminder that someone is watching him.
Reason for Imprisonment: A massive number of crimes spread out over six years, ranging from petty theft to mass murder.
Skills:
- Intermediate skill in Air, Healing, and Shield magic.
- Cursory skill in other forms of Elemental magic, mostly forgotten in the past six years.
- Adept flying ability, damaged by the year+ he has spent and will spend with his wings bound.
- Many sticky skills in the past has given him elementary skills in wielding a dagger or short knife.
Weaknesses:
- Although he has been taught right and wrong by the Guild of One, Behrun cannot differentiate between levels of wrong. To him, stealing a pie is just as reprehensible as killing a group of orphans.
- In order to be able to fly, Behrun has to keep his body in shape and light. He cannot wear anything but light armor and weapons, and must ensure that his body is very strong, both chest and legs.
- Because his bones are hollow, they are not as strong as any ground-bound mammal. It takes significantly less force for his bones to break.
- Due to a high Avian metabolism, Behrun has to eat twice the normal quantity of food as a human to maintain a healthy body weight and still have the energy to fly for medium amounts of time. Extended flying requires him to eat more food.
