PCs:Ixldor
Titles Held:
- Headmaster of the Advancement in Knowledge of Nature (AKN)
- Master Alchemist and Herbalist of the AKN
- Great Mage of Internal Affairs, Ashen Order of Stars
- Member of the High Mage Council of Avlis
Ixldor was born in the village of Southill in M'Chek on Friday, October 13 in the fall of 2061. His human parents were afraid he would be born into a life of service for the M'Chek Army, since many children of these towns in Northern M'Chek were now being recruited at a young age and trained while they were still children. So, about a month after he was born, they secretly hid him in a merchant caravan bound to the capital city of Mikona with the hope that he would be able to make a life for himself and have the freedom of choice. Fortunately, his parents had a friend who worked in the Great Library of Mikona named Deranius Dakamour that agreed to raise Ixldor as his son.
It was a dark and rainy day as Deranius waited anxiously for the caravan to arrive to the gate of Mikona to be unloaded. Many hungry and poor peasants and farmers crowded the wagon as it slowly rolled past the houses outside the walls of the city, begging for food and clothing. Amidst the clutter of activity, Deranius went unnoticed as he grabbed the roll of blankets from the wagon that he knew carried the baby and quickly entered the city. When he returned home and unrolled the wrappings, he found a small note inside that had a single word written on it: 'Ixldor'. It was the first name his parents wished to give their child so they would know who he was if they meet him again in the future. Ixldor inherited Deranius' last name so he would not be singled out as an orphan, another group of young people the M'Chek army liked to look to for recruits.
Deranius taught Ixldor to read at a very young age, and much of Ixldor's free time was spent studying the countless books and tomes found within the Great Library. He excelled in his knowledge of history, the gods, nature, mathematics, and foreign language. However, after accumulating all of this knowledge, Ixldor still felt as if he was looking for something that he had not studied yet even though at the age of 14 he had read almost every book contained within the library. Then, during one quiet evening when the library was mostly empty of scholars and bookkeepers, he discovered a secret passage upstairs to a room he had never been in or heard of before. Within this room there were numerous magical scrolls and tomes scattered and piled on desks and shelves. Ixldor stared in awe at the strange and wondrous collection of knowledge as he began to realize how little he really knows and how much he has yet to learn. Over the next 3 years or so, he snuck into the secret room of arcane knowledge every night and rigorously studied the basics of arcane magic, learning to perform only minor incantations at first. But, Ixldor was a quick learner and within a short time could perform useful arcane spells of the first two circles of magic. His favorite spell to use in his fledgling career as a wizard was invisibility, which aided him in some rather mischievous acts within the Library. Eventually, people began to believe the building was haunted because of all the floating books, doors closing by themselves, sounds of footsteps emanating from empty space, and people being tapped on the shoulder only to turn around and see nothing. But, Ixldor finally wound up getting caught and was thrown out of the library because of his disruptive actions. Besides the disappointment Deranius felt towards him as a result of this incident, Ixldor was not too worried about not being able to study in the Library anymore since he felt he had reached the extent of what he could learn about magic there on his own. Now at the age of 19, he knew the time had come to make his own way in the world and seek out help in studying arcane magic further. So, after apologizing and bidding farewell to his apparent father, who gave him a few gold pieces for food and necessities, he set out to explore more of the city and its surroundings.
Ixldor was disappointed to discover that Mikona offered little opportunity and wares for an aspiring mage such as himself. But, after asking around, he determined that he must travel to the city of Elysia to seek out such useful help and knowledge of arcane magic. Unfortunately, the boat fare was more than he could afford at the time and he had no intention of seeking out a job to earn the gold needed through any kind of manual labor. However, after having continually witnessed so many people simply robbing houses or even the people of the city themselves without consequence, Ixldor decided he could do the same quite easily using his favorite spell to avoid detection. So, as that day turned to night, he cast invisibility and began sneaking into some of the houses in the docks district to collect the money he needed. As he exited the third house, he looked up and stopped dead in his tracks to find two armed figures, a male halfling and a tall woman, clothed in all black with helmets staring directly at him despite the invisibility spell that was still in effect. The woman cast a spell that Ixldor did not recognize which froze him in place, leaving him helpless and paralyzed as they began to question him about why he was breaking into houses. Too fearful to speak at first, he finally decided not to answer their question and instead asked them what authority they had in the city since they obviously did not appear to be guards. This clearly both surprised and upset the two figures, and after not getting a straight answer, Ixldor guessed that they in fact did not work for the city and were likely trying to rob him of what he had taken already. At this point, the woman cast another unrecognizable spell and began transforming into a terribly enormous, brutish creature with a flaming sword and crudely asked the halfling if she could kill. Ixldor knew he had to act quickly and recalled a strange potion he had found in one of the houses. Not knowing its effect, he decided to drink it anyways in hope that it would somehow aid him in escaping. As he finished it, his feet began to feel light as a feather and he found he was able to run off at an incredible speed and escape now that the woman's holding spell had worn off. He effortlessly ran across nearly the entire city before the hasting effect wore off, and took shelter in a room at the City Gate Inn using the money he had just obtained to pay for a night. As he lay down to sleep, he felt a newfound respect for potions and alchemy that had most likely helped save his life.
The next morning when Ixldor woke, he used invisibility to sneak back to the docks and board the next ship to Elysia, where he would make his new home and not return to Mikona for a very long time.
As Ixldor stepped off the boat onto Elysian soil for the first time, he admired the glistening white stonework that seemed so much brighter when compared to the darker city of Mikona, the sweeter smell of the ocean air, the sparkling magical energies of the many fey commoners, and most of all a friendly face greeting him as opposed to a masked oppressor. He knew instantly that this city was where he wanted to live for the rest of his life. After asking around the docks area a bit for directions to a magical shop, he was directed to the Artisans District where he was told there was a tower that housed a shop ran by an elven man named Oditerus. Between this place and a bookstore that he also discovered in the same district, Ixldor would have all the access to knowledge he needed to help in progressing as a mage. Now the only problem was money, of which he now had very little after purchasing only a couple scrolls. It was only when he wandered into a shop run by another elf by the name of Fanos that he found a solution to this problem. Already having a respect for the powers of alchemy and potions, it was here that he learned about the trade of alchemy and the potential of making a living from it based on his initial talk with Fanos. However, Fanos was a busy man with a shop to run and explained he had little time to teach alchemy himself, so Ixldor was forced to seek out people who were already beginning to study alchemy to learn from.
It was this search for an alchemist that led Ixldor to meet an elven man that would change his life forever, and shape what kind of man he would eventually become. That person was Cor'Angelus Gengue, who not only was studying alchemy, but also happened to be a very talented mage and even a member of a mage order, the Ashen Order of Stars. Cor'Angelus taught Ixldor the basics of alchemy, and the two would sit in Cor's room at the Shinning Light Inn and talk about magic and the history of the mage orders. Ixldor came to admire Cor's magical talents, his wittiness in his speech towards others, his knowledge of the world, and his ambition to become an influential and well respected individual. Furthermore, they shared common beliefs in the need for balance of arcane powers. It was from Cor that Ixldor also learned of the Vortex of Chaos, which was the main issue in the world of arcane magic at the time. In this matter, they again shared the common belief that the Vortex must be contained and sealed rather than destroyed or used.
Shortly after their meeting, Cor'Angelus founded the first organization for Alchemy and Herbalism in Avlis, which he called the Advancement in Knowledge of Nature (AKN), with the original purpose to research a cure for the spite and help correctly administer it to those suffering from the disease created by the Sereg. However, with the combined efforts of a halfling man named Jordicus, a human woman named Midnight, and an elven male named Elesai, the AKN would become one of the largest most successful organizations in the world. Ixldor joined shortly after the formation of the guild and was one of the first successful researchers in alchemy and herbalism, being the first to discover basic and strong healing kits as well as important potions like Bless, Endurance, Heavenly Healing, and even the famous and powerful Heal potion. He advanced his rank quickly and was the first person in AKN history to obtain the rank of Master. Shortly thereafter, he received 1 of 2 AKN Certificates of Excellence during the First Symposium of Alchemy and Herbalism held in the Magus Tower in Mikona, which was the first large event ever held in the newly constructed building. Eventually, he was appointed Headmaster of the AKN once Cor decided to finally step down and pursue other interests more actively.
Soon after he had joined the AKN, Ixldor further followed the mentorship of Cor'Angelus by becoming a member magus of the Ashen Order of Stars, where he began his intense studies in the art of arcane magic. At this time, the long time Archamge named Belaluldor Fereiwaluin had just stepped down from the position and handed it over to a young elven woman named Elrandra Glyndorr. Also during this period, the situation regarding the Vortex of Chaos had just begun to get serious, as the Vortex started appearing frequently throughout Avlis. Ixldor was present along with Cor'Angelus during the appearance in the Temple of Gorethar in Elysia, where the Vortex summoned several balors within the temple and created a lot of chaos and tension between the mage orders and the Order of Gorethar who was now directly involved in the situation. As soon as Aramil Fynn of the Ivory Order captured the Vortex and obtained it, Ixldor and his fellow Ashen mages found themselves allied with the Ebony order as they worked to attain control of it and prevent its destruction. However, the tides changed when Cyprian, original Archamge of the old Black order, attained control of it and attempted to use it in replicating Andrinor's ritual to ascend as a god. Then, Ixldor and his fellow mages immediately began working with the Ivory order to prevent the completion of this ritual. Together, they fought an army of balors and other demons as Cyprian performed it, and eventually Ixldor witnessed the destruction of Cyprian and the Vortex when Andrinor himself appeared and put an end to his purposeful game. As a result, Ixldor was honored to receive Andrinor's blessing as a member of the newly formed Trust of mages.
Also, this incident led to the formation of the High Mage Council of which Ixldor became a part of to help contribute to the regulation of mortal magic in Avlis. It was his involvement in this council that led to a personal, one on one meeting with Andrinor, God of Mortal Magic, himself who summoned Ixldor to the planes of Ysgard. He explained his displeasure towards a motion that had been proposed within the council by the new Ashen Archmage Lomir Ma'fer that called for the restriction of not allowing members of the Trust to be a part of any army involved in the war. Andrinor said it was not within the powers of the Council to restrict who can enter his trust because it would work towards decreasing his following and, consequentially, his power as a god. However, the explanation Ixldor gave of why he supported such a regulation in that it may lead to conflict between orders and cause members of the trust to loose focus in the study of magic itself was understandable to Andrinor and a credible reason. Even so, Ixldor eventually realized such a rule was against Andrinor's will and spoke out against it. As a token of Andrinor's satisfaction in Ixldor's career as a mage and encouragement for him to gain power, Andrinor gave him a great Staff of the Magi to wield once he became powerful enough to use it.
As Ixldor's work as an Alchemist in selling heal potions began to provide him with a steady and plentiful income, he decided to have a house constructed just outside the Dracon gate on the shore of the lake. Because he was now officially a citizen of Elysia and loved living there, he found himself fighting in its defense on several occasions. The most notable of these incidents was against the forces of the Balor King and working to destroy him in order to prevent the city's destruction. After a long battle in the noble's district against hundreds of demons, a plan was formulated to destroy the Balor King by lady Tenirra Arken'Held. The first step of this plan was the hard part, to recover the ancient weapons used by her parents from the Balor King's lair in the depths of the underdark. This daunting task was to be kept relatively secretive to create an element of surprise and to prevent alarming the Balor King as to the plan's final intentions. As a result, it was to be carried out by only three courageous Heroes: Mari Briggs who provided her powers over nature, Jorio Alerian who provided the warrior strength of the Battlelord, and Ixldor Dakamour who wielded the powers of mortal magic. Together, they fought their way through hoards of demons and balors down to the lowest level of the underdark where they were successful in recovering Tenirra's ancient artifacts. Ixldor's limits as a mage were tested during this task, and he prevailed even though at one time he was the only one of the three left standing. This alone made the capture of the Balor King possible in the first place.
Although Ixldor found his actions in defense of Elysia were appreciated shortly after he performed them, it seemed to him that these deeds were soon forgotten by the leaders of the Elysian Defense Force and the governing council. Often, as a result of his critical thinking process he had developed as a mage and alchemy researcher, he voiced his thoughts towards the city's laws in a manner he viewed as constructive feedback from a credible source. However, it was not accepted as such and eventually was seen as derogatory slander by the leaders of Elysia. Even though this reaction upset Ixldor, it upset Cor'Angelus even more who had voiced similar opinions. Both of them listened in disbelief as now former friends accused them or treason and thought nothing of their past actions in aiding the city. Then came the darkest day of Ixldor's life when Cor'Angelus, who felt helpless to amend his shattered reputation and change the way the city functions, took his own life and made his final journey to his death plane. The grief was unbearable for Ixldor as this was his first experience in loosing someone he loved as family. Not knowing how to deal with such intense emotions, they eventually developed into anger and frustration, which led him to recklessly use his destructive powers within the city of Elysia, causing the deaths of several innocent citizens. Melonius and Lomir Ma'fer immediately sent him to the Academy of Mortal Magic to seek solitude for several months. During this time, he was aided by Riva, a powerful monk of the Order of the Dragon, who mentored Ixldor in meditative practices and emotional control. It was difficult at first for someone as impatient and thoughtful as Ixldor was used to being. However, after a lot of work with Riva, he eventually was able to practice meditation on his own at a basic level.
When both Riva and Ixldor himself thought he was ready, he returned home to Elysia to make amends for the mistakes he had made and accept the consequences of his actions. As a result, he was removed from the High Mage Council, demoted from his position as Great Mage of Internal Affairs, and replaced as Headmaster of the AKN by Alex Noble. But, Ixldor has worked for the past couple years to restore his reputation within the city and within the organizations he once enjoyed involvement in. Now, he has returned to the AKN leadership and continues to carry out his clear understanding of the will of Andrinor, seeking to become an even more powerful and talented user of arcane magic.