Jerial Malkyralas

[Jerial]

Name: Jerial Malkyralas

Age: 27

Race: Elven shifter (Phoenix)

Height: About six feet
Shifted: about two feet (wingspan of ~75 in)

Weight: About 175 pounds
Shifted: about 7 pounds

Physical Description:
Lean and athletic, but not built. Long, silky silver hair; ever-so slightly slanted
silver eyes; obviously pointed ears; wears a tattered grey robe with a dark grey hood. Good looking, but young looking for his age.
He has a scar on his cheekbone from one of the many fights he has been in through the course of his fledgeling career as a freelance guard. He can shift into a grey phoenix using his mind. All of his magic is using his mind only, no incantations or rituals. Magic is a manipulation of energy that is limited by the personality, imagination, and intellecual limits of the caster's mind.

Shifted: Seems as a red-tailed hawk, but grey, with silvery flames rippling from every feather. Is larger in proportion than such a hawk, but not by a large degree. Silver eyes. Otherwise nondescript.

Possessions:
- A leather satchel
Relatively nondescript, beaten dark brown leather, cinched by a strap with a single iron buckle
- An old, enchanted staff
Handed down as a family heirloom; can transmorph into a plain steel hand-and-a-half sword with black leather wrapped about the hilt, with a single small saphire in the pommel
- A large leatherbound book
He writes what he wishes in the book; parchment and dark brown leather; about a foot thick, two and a half long, and between one and a half and two wide; filled with drawings, scribbled spells, notes, accounts, et cetera
- Scabbard for sword
Black leather to match the leather around the hilt

Powers or Strengths:

- Freelance- Is proficient in wielding a sword, as well as being passable with a bow

- Combat Magic- Able to cast some basic combat magecraft, which includes:

-- Has the ability to conflagrate, meaning when he touches something, it will burn in a circular area approximately the size of his hand until he releases pressure on the object in question.

-- His signature magecrafting in combat is bolts of arcane energy (about one foot in diameter at the middle, ellipse of energy that acts similarly to an electrical burn with kinetic properties; fired from palm; no incantation required; two to three will kill a civilian with no armor or wards with direct hits; causes blunt trauma, superficial burns to the flesh and tissue). The bolts are energy from the astral plane made coherent and expelled with force from the palm.

- Wanderer- Has an uncanny sense of direction stemming from his years journeying throughout
the land.

- Elven Intellect- Is very intelligent and resourceful.

- Lights: Can summon a small ball of light, costs almost no energy to use; floats above his hand; can also float in close proximity to his body

- Shifting Powers: Can shift into a grey phoenix, which is described above, that can fly, utilize claws and its beak, and set things on fire (magical fire, which cannot be put out with water, but can with proximity to silver or by counter-magical means) in a combat situation.

Weaknesses:

- Has psychological problems, including anxiety and depression.

- Is extremely introverted, and does not talk unless he needs something or unless he is spoken to.

- Is a wanderer with much knowledge, but not much physical wealth; he is cynical of most life, and
the only admirable qualities he sees in people are intellect and wit.

- Has a troubled past that has left his worldview and his view of his own race as lacking the conditions he expects of such a noble race and the realm it inhabits (namely, intellectualism, his own political view, which even he is not sure of).

- Voices in his head come and go with hardship, and with them usually come more hardship, and so the cycle continues until Fortune smiles upon him. Jerial once went on a large drinking binge, but only once, for the backlash against his magical tendencies was severe.

- Fresh Blood: Even though the phoenix spirit is fully grown physically, it has not yet fully matured in magical terms. The magical power is proportionate to that of the elf, and will grow as the elf does. For the moment, the magical power is still somewhat low compared to practiced mages such as those of the Battlemages of Thar Shaddin.

Addiction: Sometimes he is trapped in mindless amazement if he gazes into his Light for too long or too deeply. This is not really a weakness, but merely a curiosity at this point, but what it really is at the core is the manifestation, or seed, of an addiction to using magic, and could become much more addictive as his power grows.

- One of the current struggles he has is his namesake's last wish, being not to enter the community of Marn; however, to survive in the area, he must live there, as there are residents currently staying in the Red Chalice that are bitterly against elves and magic (they are strong Puradynes). He is considering taking the half-elf and a few others who wish to travel and take a journey to Apthoni to converse with the Society of the Changed for guidance, because he has not been successful in seeking counsel in Thar Shaddin. All of the contradiction going on his life, the mage, his father, the racism, the betrayal of his own race, the loneliness, all points in his mind to needing help at the Society.

- Another of his internal conflicts is his father. Most of his bitterness and cynicism stems from his hatred toward his mentally abusive father. He is confused about his father, and releases all of the anger that he does not even know he is holding for himself onto him. He is consumed by the seemingly impossible standards his father set for him as a young child, and he has an inkling of realizing that it was not his failure to his father, but to himself that he is chastising. He is trying desperately to figure out what is going on in his own head. The voices say it was his father, and in desperation, he clings to that hope; the hope that it is not himself that he is so afraid of, and he hates so much.

History:
Summary: Born to a low noble family on Darleone, he forsook his family name to take up the name 'Malkyralas', the meaning of which is known only to him. He has wandered the realms since his early teens, earning money as a beggar and by skillful trading and simple guardwork. He is a philosopher, and purposefully has forgotten most of his past; he can never forget the face of his father, not expectant, nor malicious, nor angry, as he thought at the time, but almost with a sense of longing, or of expectation. His father was not of the line of thinking that his son was a failure, but that he himself was a failure, and he had no feasible way, in his mind, of righting the wrong he had committed, and was merely a confused, fearful parent. This, even though he did not know, spawned a sarcastic, bitter man, racist against both humans, whom he deems imperfect, and his own race, whom he deems decadent and complacent. Half-elves and shifters he sees in a somewhat less harsh light, seeing as to the efficiency and grace of shifting and half-elves lacking the bad qualities of both of the parent races. Jerial is only three-quarters elf, but he does not know this.

Early Life: Jerial was born to Ban'linas the Heartless and one of the court maidens, to the chagrin of his lawful mate, Cherian. Jerial never liked his father, who was harsh and rash, two qualities that distanced him increasingly from his father from a very early age. His father had his mother killed to appease his father's mate when he was a small boy. For this, the animosity Jerial felt was fed to the breaking point. His mother was one of the few people he actually liked, and her loss threw him into a depression that would never leave him. He had spent most of his early life striving to please his father, which was a never-ending process compounded by the shame Jerial's father felt for him. At the age of 9 years, Jerial left his father's estate, purloining a few hunks of salted meat, a bow and a few goosefeather arrows, and a leather satchel. Out of pure, churning spite, he also stole a staff, an enchanted staff that had belonged to his mother's father, that was 'requisitioned' by his father.

Teen Years: Jerial took on the name Malkyralas during the hazy years of wandering around, hopping between courts of noble families. He took odd labor jobs, which he was not exceedingly good at, for low pay, a plain bed, and hot meals. When he was around twelve, he came into the company of a traveling mage. The mage would only answer to 'Malkyralas', enigmatically. He, an elven philosopher, taught him rudimentary magic. The jewel of his work, as he explained to the young man, was the stone that he held that enabled him to shift his form into that of a dark grey phoenix. He often spoke of the form of the phoenix and explained the details pertaining to it. When the time came for both to move on to the next destination, wherever that may be, the mage invited Jerial to come along with him.

Late Teens: Jerial and the mage, who never spoke his true name, traveled all around Darleone, earning a living along with the man. He eventually was led to the land west of Thar Shaddin, where they camped for the night. For an inexplicable reason, the elf seemed disheveled, but resigned to a forseen fate, a mystery to Jerial. He took the stone that he used to mimic the abilities of a born shifter and bequeathed it to Jerial. He bid him hold it in his hand, to squeeze it tightly, so hard his knickles turned pale and his palm bled. The mage pressed both his hands on Jerial's fist, pressing even harder. A muffled light emanated from beneath where the stone was trapped, then the pressure on Jerial's hand ceased with all sensation in his body. A shudder rocked his limp form then, and he felt a surge of energy course through him. The mage explained that the power of the stone had now transferred to Jerial's body, and he had the power of shifting just as if he had been born with it.

Alone (Young Adult): The day after his bestowment, the mage entered the city of Marn with Jerial. He pulled the young man aside for a day outside the city gates, shaking but outwardly calm otherwise. The mage taught Jerial everything he knew, as well as making many additions to his book; he also bequeathed to him all of his possessions save the clothes on his back. The next day, he entered the city of Marn, acting as Jerial had never seen him act before. He had obviously been to the city before, for the guards knew his name.

He walked with a predetermined purpose to a certain spot.
Unexpectedly he used a burst of magic to hide Jerial and to attempt to kill a hooded man that had turned to face the mage. Instantly, it seemed, a guard was there to apprehend the mage and the rival he had just killed. Then he was promptly hanged. Jerial did not attend the hanging; rather, he traveled to Shim, residing there until he deemed it necessary to return, though his friend's last wish was for Jerial to leave Marn and not return.

Current: Jerial left Marn, unregistered by the guards, and fled to Shim. He stayed at the Red Chalice long enough to gain the affection of a worker there, a half-elf girl under the care of a barmaid. The half-elf was old enough to be on her own, but was recently orphaned, and can find no job due to recent flaring of anti-elven feelings. He currently lives in the residential district of Marn, is recently registered as a mage, and has struck up friendships with some like-minded battlemages that hope to find an occupation for him alongside them. Jerial regularly visits Shim to see the half-elf, who is considering asking him if he will take her to Marn with him. One of the current struggles he has is his namesake's last wish, being not to enter the community of Marn; however, to survive in the area, he must live there, as there are residents currently staying in the Red Chalice that are bitterly against elves and magic (they are strong Puradynes). He is considering taking the half-elf and a few others who wish to travel and take a journey to Apthoni to converse with the Society of the Changed.


OOC Notes:
Yes, I am very aware of the racism going on in Marn, I am just also aware that my elven character is on the thread of 'humans started, elves perfected' and he spits on the thought of a human on his level. He is tolerant of half-elves, for they have been purified of the imperfections...one exception to the racism is if the person has a large intellect...my character has a quick tongue and can tell if a person is intelligent or not very quickly...therefore he can gain rapport very quickly with mages, whom he takes to be competition in his 'line of work' as a philosopher...and he is so insecure about his magecraft that he has to put up a huge, complicated web of a false image that he presents to make him feel like he is secure about it...
He does not know his mother is a half-elf, so he thinks he is just gifted with humanistic physical qualities, making him look more human than most elves...he is in no way Legolas, but could pass as a human if he had not the ears and the slanted eyes...if he had a hood on.

[Niabi]

I'm going to go ahead approve this, welcome to Thar.