[A lot of stuff has been going on in my life that made things, well, crazy. I have been writing, not nearly enough and not in the style that I wanted, but I have put word to paper. I just hadn't had the time to upload it to this blog (more accurately I completely forgot). I will be uploading a handful of character backstories I've written over the past couple months.]
Two millennia ago there was a forest, and in this forest were the fey folk, and presiding over the fey folk there was a Dryad. They lived well and free for some time, until the Humans came. The humans did not care for the fey folk, seeing them as tricksters and ill omens, they only cared about the resources they could take from the forest. This was a tumultuous time for the Dryad and her people, there was little they could do against the humans and their weapons. They began to resign themselves to their fate, but then came champions! A band of Elves, who had been in bitter conflict with the Humans already over land borders, felt the forest of the Dryad was clearly their land, they had dispatched a family of gifted warriors to expel the humans, and expel them the warriors did. For this the Dryad and her fey folk were ever grateful and bestowerd a boon upon the warriors. A blessing of magic with the prophecy...
"Magic will run through your blood until the last leaf of the last tree falls."
This gave the family power.
Ten or so generations passed, and the border conflicts with the Humans had, mostly, ended. Now came a new conflict, though this was not skirmishes over borders, this was War. The Elves were fighting the Dwarves to the north now, and the battles were harsh and bloody. The descendants of those Elven warriors, now living in a small manor outside the Dryad forest, were keen on staying out of it but the Elf King begged them to use their magic to turn the tide. They were promised land, wealth, spoils that would leave them rivaling the king himself in influence. They agreed. With their sorcery the family was indeed able to turn the tides and in reward was gifted a mountain the Dwarves had agreed to abdicate in their loss. This mountain was filled with jeweled stones and precious metals waiting to be mined.
This gave the family wealth.
The family home was no longer a small manor, it was now a sprawling mansion.Over the next few centuries the family grew their wealth and power exponentially. Their influence within the kingdom grew to the point the King himself would regularly dine at their table, and still it grew further. The family began expanding their empire of money and industry, taking over fineries, luxuries, and all matter of expense and well living. If you were wealthy and looking to buy something? You got it from them. They were once called the Gold Standard family, they liked it so much, they made it their name. All the while, as they gained more influence and power, the Dryad and the Fey seemed to speak to them less and less. Their magic remained, the Fey's prophecy could not be taken back, but the forest behind the Last Tree Manor became silent. Until Heren came along.
Herenya III was born to his father, Herenya II, who was considered a bit of a renegade. The father didn't take to his families greed so strongly, preferring the freedom the wealth he controlled gave him to see the world. Wanderlust kept him away from the home for great periods of time, there were also rumors amongst the family that Herenya II took to adventuring as well, the thought! Through Heren was a Goldstandar, which meant however much of a renegade he may have been, he was still driven by coin and influence, so when it came to handling his part of the family business, he was just as good as any... so the family tolerated his eccentricities... Even when he decided to marry a non-sorcerer, Luana. This was considered incredibly taboo for the family, a danger to their magical line. When Luana II, their first born, was revealed to be not just a Dragon Sorcerer but a Gold Dragon Sorcerer, this quieted the rancor a little.
But then Herenya III was born.
Heren was his father's first born son and carrier of his name. And his magic was tinged Wild. This became apparent when the boy cast his first spell and destroyed an entire library in the east wing of the manor. 'This was the punishment!' The family cried, for Herenya II's constant dalliances in the world and bringing a non sorcerer into the family. This is what they all warned him against! A Wild Magic Sorcerer? It was a disgrace, a stain on their family! The entire family would be the laughing stock of High Society! While this fight raged on in a burnt out library, Heren sat alone in the forest, disheveled and crying. It was then that the Dryad appeared... She didn't say much, she smiled for the young boy and comforted him. She took him into her arms and soothed his tears. From then on, when Heren was alone, they Fey Folk and the Dryad would come to him when he was down to cheer him up and make him laugh. He didn't know why they spoke to him and after an encounter with his sister Luana II, the only person he ever told, left him with a black eye... he did not ask.
Heren grew into a fairly confident, if spoiled, man. His Wild Magic left him mostly untouched by any of his families influence aside from his immediate family, who were still mostly distant. Basically being raised by the Fey, Heren became charming, confident, and quick to dominate a room with his raw charisma. But this would lead to ruin, as while at a Gala held by his family, with not just dukes, not just nobles, not just other members of High Society... but with the Queen of the largest human kingdom on the continent, Heren's magic went wild. He was in the middle of the Gala, entertaining not but two dozen people of staggering influence and power that nearly rivaled his own families when he cast a spell to amaze... The magical energy inside him twisted, it crackled in his hand... A confusion spell erupted forth, spreading over the guests. There was pandemonium. The Queen nearly killed. And Heren was arrested for high crimes against the crown.
Heren was released, to his great relief, when his family bailed him out. Though they soon informed him that the massive monetary expense to 'convince' the Queen to not have Heren executed and the additional expense of buying him out of prison all came from his personal inheritance of the family fortune. He was then told in no uncertain terms that he was no longer welcome in the Last Tree Manor. He was homeless and broke. A dandy expected to make his way on the streets. In high society his name carries great respect, but on the streets? It was little more than a mocking jab at best, a liability at worst. He became known as the Pauper Prince, a derisive moniker given to him with jeering laughter... Now Heren uses his only real gift, his sorcery, to try and keep his head above water.
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