Erreldin Silvershield -Transmuter-

(This post is dedicated to my new character Erreldin Silvershield, a wizard specializing in transmutation magic.)

Erreldin Silvershield stands a bit under 6' tall, and has a slight, but healthy frame. His black hair is long and well kept, but he keeps it practical and straight. His eyes are brown, a very dark brown, and his gaze is piercing and direct. He has a stern and intimidating demeanor at first, but he is easy to smile, and has a soft tone when he speaks. Socially, he is an intelligent creature, capable of holding almost any conversation, seeming wise or aloof as need be. Although attractive and fairly social for a wizard, he tends to keep relationships brief and quiet. No known serious relationship has cropped up during the last several years, and many assume he wont acquire a wife or family until much later in his career.

Background - Erreldin is the nephew of Entar Silvershield, one of the four seats of Baldurs Gate. Having noble status has affected a great many aspects of Erreldin's life. At a young age his magical talent was made apparent to his family. At the request of several family friends, Erreldin took on an apprentiship with a local and private wizard. Due in part to the private nature of his apprentiship, Erreldin was also close enough to family and friends to grow up amongst the nobles and blue bloods that his family had ties with. Aside from his political and magical ties, Erreldin took to worship of Azuth. Erreldin's mentor pushed worship of the god onto Erreldin, but the young mage quickly to accept the teachings of Azuth, and used the wisdom and dogma of the god to guide his way through his studies.

Political Learning - Growing up among nobles granted Erreldin several advantages. The young noble knows his way around political games, and those who play there parts in those games. Erreldin is learned on all manner of Baldurian ettiquette, and has studied other lands laws of ettiquette as well. When necessary Erreldin can be graceful, polite, charming, and proper. He knows when to back out of arguments, when to put forth questions, and when to politely disagree. This skill in ettiguette is learned from his many dealings with the nobles, family, and family friends. Unlike most, dealing with the upperclass is actually easier for him than dealing with more common folk, as he has had more time to train himself on the social graces of the upper class. Aside from simple ettiquette, he was instructed by many tutors on the ways of heraldry, not only Baldurian heraldry, but foreign heraldry as well. At a glance he knows many of the common merchant and noble houses, and can even pick up some escoteric or dead heraldic text given time. To ensure grace, and his willingness to serve and treat others respectfully, Erreldin was practiced in horse back riding and basic animal care as well. This was all done through several tutors and instructors. Some trained him on the ways of simply riding a beast, while others instructed on the beasts need, function, and how it was not just a mount or beast of burden, but friend and cohort that needed protection and care, just as would any friend. Many of his instructors were friends of his uncle and wanted to instill his uncles knowledge that serving others was often more beneficial than simply recieving servitude. These lessons were not lost on the young noble.

Escoteric Studies - Under his mentor's guidance Erreldin uncovered and mastered the basics of his craft. Aside from the magical aptitude he gained, he was also trained in several area's of knowledge by the mentor and by simply delving into his mentors vast libraries. Learning languages was a challenge his mentor would often lay upon his student. A language was a code to break, a set of variables and images that had to be put together to attain meaning. Even once understood on sight, they had to be formulated through sound to get the correct use out of them. The same was with magic, though on a more grand scale. His mentor taught him Elven first, a complex and vast language, both written and spoken. After mastering this language he let the young mage study the infernal, abyssal and celestial tongues. The ancient tongues, those that would be placed in lost or forgotten tomes. Mastering these other languages took a great deal of time and patience, even though some were not nearly as complex as the elven tongue, all had ideas and words that could not translate into the common tongues. Not only did he study ancient languages though, he also studied history, both recent and distant. Knowing how time worked on the surrounding land and people helped better discipline his mind. This knowledge of past events also gave him a better understanding of the grim nature of mistakes, especially those arcane. Aside from all of his more mundane studies however, nothing was as important as his magical aptitude and power. Erreldin's mind grasped the concept of almost all forms and schools of magic, though there were only a few real choices for his specialization. Controlling random forces, and reshaping events, creating law out of chaos, and understanding the nature of change to better allow for its passing. As a noble, Erreldin's mind works around control and law. Having an understanding of the workings of such things made it easier for his mind to grasp how to control and reshape the very elements of nature, and fundamentals of magic. Aside from the school of transmutation, Erreldin also utilizes enchanting and conjuring magics. He loathes necromancy, as it defies the laws of magic, rather than adhere to them, and disdains abjuration magics, for the shool works on destroying or dismanteling the laws of magic, instead of reashaping and reusing them. Magic to Erreldin is many things. It is a form of control, a means to create balance and peace if used wisely, and a great weapon to be wielded against his enemies. By wielding magic he hopes to better his family name, and better himself in the process. Only through discipline, hard work, and a crafty use of his art can he achieve the success that some members of his noble family have already achieved. It is important to note, he is loyal to his family, and would never use his magic or power or even mundane influence to slander there good name, or bring shame to his noble house.

Natural Skills - long days and nights outdoors has lead Erreldin into some fairly mundane but useful skills. On occasion the young noble would take trips to the farmlands to contemplate his lessons or simply his life. Often he would seek only to stretch the legs of his faithfull steed. Regardless, these simple excercises when paired with his studies granted him several innate abilities he is relatively unaware of. His sense of direction is uncanny, and in his life he has never felt lost, at least not for any significant amount of time. By simply attuning his mind to his surroundings he can take a few moments to remember the location of a nearby landmark, or remember in his mind where north would be. As a secondary talent, and one that is probably related to his sense of direction, is his ability to sense the oncoming weather. This is not him being close to the land, or nature, but simply a trained eye. Living on the coast, and being ever aware of storms and fast moving weather, the young mage has simply trained his senses to pick up the small signs of impending foul or fair weather. Though these two talents may be somewhat linked to his magical studies, they come from very mundane origins, though he would never say as much.

Private Studies - As part of his training, and part of his beginning studies of Azuth, Erreldin's mentor trained him also as a Limner and mapmaker. Patience and a steady hand goes into making fine papers and papyrus, putting poper measurement to maps, and making his crafts worthwhile to not only himself, but others that would pick them up. He found this study soothing and meditative, and often took to map crafting or tracing as a means to focus his mind. Though these studies were eventually abandoned once his mentor felt he had gained what he needed from them, Erreldin still took to the craft, utilizing it even today. At a glance he can easily tell poorly crafted from well crafted maps, and has a fairly good grasp on drawn, painted, or symbolized works of art as well. Both there monetary value, and there mundane worth.

Personal Studies - Sometimes an ordered mind needs an outlet. Erreldin is a crafted painter, and the sense and depth of his paintings is quite profound. Most of his paintings are violent, and sometimes chaotic pieces of work, and those knowing him would guess that he throws these thoughts from his well ordered and organized mind, trapping them forever on canvas. His personal study is often adorned with his own paintings. Paintings of lust, violence, and passion. By keeping these paintings close, he keeps these emotions at bay, but lets them be a reminder of where they were born. To this day he will take to painting when dealing with grief, sadness, depression, or anger. No one would know the wiser until they stepped foot into his personal quarters. Still, many nobles find his works quite pleasing and aesthetic, though the young mage has yet to sell such personal pieces of himself.

Personal Gear - All of Erreldin's gear is top quality. All of his leather goods are a soft almost white buckskin, such as his belt pouch, water skins, backpack and walking boots. His robes are highly decorated dark red robes, with gold embroidery. The family crest is embroidered in silver on the back of his robes, as well as being worked into some of the designs along the neck, sleeves, and bottom line of the robes. He also wears his family's signet ring proudly on his right hand. Those seeing him in his city robes would never doubt his family's origin. His weapon is a small and well polished dagger he keeps in a tight sheath on his belt. He also has a larger component pouch on the left side of his belt, and a small coin pouch on the right side of his belt.

(ok, thats it for now. i'll have more posts next week after our first adventure!)