Manich Holdseker, Mystic Theurge(!) of Hoar
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Though the Doombringer's following has decreased greatly since the Time of Troubles, it seems Hoar still has the capacity to draw in some singularly disturbed and interesting individuals.
Manich is one of these. He was born in Tantras, to an armourer of no great talent and no little fame, but even then, bad omens followed him. His mother, never a strong women, was utterly spent by the trials of childbirth, and, as she survived the immediate trauma, the good armourer was forced to watch his beloved partner slowly waste away, until her name blessedly entered Jergal's Book during an outbreak of plague. The armourer survived, however, as did Manich.
At first, the armourer clung to his son fiercely, as the last remnant of his departed wife. However, as he grew older, it became apparent that Manich's gifts far outweighed his fellow children's. Wherever he was, strange…things would happen. Candles would mysteriously light, barrels of water freeze over even in the greatest heat. Being a devout man, and fearing posession, the armourer took Manich to be examined by the priests of Torm, who rule Tantras to this day.
What they found turned the stricken man against his son for life. Somehow, on his birth, Manich had been gifted with an innate talent for magic, that had only recently come into full bloom. The armourer, naturally fearing such an alien gift and still sorrowful over his wife's departure, began in his mind to hate Manich. In his mind it was as if his son had stolen his mother's life to power his arcane gift.
Distraught, the armourer begged the Tormish to take the boy, send him into the care of someone who understood the forces at work in the boy. This they did, placing him in the care of the wandering magicker Rahlson, a frequent visitor to the temple.
And so the years progressed, Manich growing both physically and magically. Rahlson was skilled indeed in his art, and he soon taught the boy to control his innate powers of magic. Life for Manich was sweet and fulfilling, magic all the purpose he required, and Rahlson all the family.
But, alas, it is a proven truth that all good things must come to an end. Rahlson, by dint of his growing magical power and influence, attracted the attention of a rising Thayan evoker. In order to remove this threat to his own aspirations, the evoker paid several groups of assassins to kill Rahlson. None succeeded, the combined might of Rahlson and his protege Manich sufficient to deter any threat. Or so it seemed.
Eventually, the evoker himself decided to try his hand against his rival. Opening a dimensional gate in the night, the evoker sought to catch Rahlson off-guard and unprepared, and thus an easy kill. However, like Manich, Rahlson's magic was innate to himself. He needed no magical book, no hours of study, to prepare his magic.
The ensuing arcane duel was largely unimpressive. The evoker's intense focus on destructive magics was perfectly balanced by Rahlson's own inner strength, and the battle continued deep into the night. Finally, however, Rahlson began to tire. Seeing his opponent's growing weakness, the evoker expended all his remaining magic in a single, terrible burst of flame and lightning. Rahlson was incinerated where he stood. Leaving the terrified Manich to cower behind a rock, the evoker returned to whence he had come.
For the next few months, Manich wandered alone. His purpose had died with his mentor, and he knew only a deep, gnawing hatred for the evoker who had done the deed, and the organisation that had spawned him. It was not until he joined a column heading for Cormyr that Manich's hatred found a focus, however, for among the refugees was a man unlike any other. A man who refused to reveal his name, and said only that he was a servant of Hoar, Lod of Three Thunders, Doombringer, God of Vengeance.
Manich immersed himself in this new faith, soon gaining a measure of clerical power to complement his arcane strength. For, just as Thayans found it necessary to pursue one aspect of magic above all else, so Manich decided that he would be the opposite. He would become a mystic theurge, master of the Weave and the Heavens, one to whom no spell is denied. With both of these behind him, he resolved to make the Thayans one day know fear...
Character name: Manich Holdseker
Account name: BarbarekNOTE: Unless I can claim any story experience from the Fugue Plane(!), this bio was written for the lower-level of the two Manich Holdsekers in my account.
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Reviewed - XP Pending.
You can claim the XP for one of the two. Your choice. Just ask the DM when you are logged in with the one you would like the xp to go to.
