 About Edmond A. KellyBackground:
Born in 1901, Edmond Kelly did not have the world handed to him on a silver platter, but neither did he have a particularly difficult childhood. His parents were very loving, he had several cousins his own age, and his family had enough wealth that they did not want for many of the comforts of life. The problem that Edmond Kelly had while growing up is that he was a Kelly. His great-grandfather, Ned Kelly, had been one of the most notorious bushrangers in the history of Australia and any time something went wrong, the constables would inevitably try to find a way to pin the misdeeds on one of the Kellys; even during Edmond’s youth some fifty years after Ned had been executed. Despite the constant scrutiny and suspicion of the law enforcement, Edmond’s father, Ted Kelly, instilled in his son a strong belief in the general goodness of people. Most people were good-natured at heart, if perhaps a bit misled, and in the end, the good guys would win out. Edmond took the stories in like a dry sponge takes in water.
Edmond was what they called an ‘energetic child’, meaning that he caused slightly more than his fair share of mischief. But given the prejudice of the law enforcement, he was blamed for far more than he perhaps should have been, and he was far less likely to get by with just a warning or a slap on the wrist than the average boy his age. After several encounters with the law, some of which he was actually responsible for, Edmond developed a singular pleasure in designing embarrassing or inconvenient pranks for the local constables to blunder into. This all came to a head when, after a particularly unfair ruling against Edmond which was based on very weak circumstantial evidence. Edmond targeted the head constable for one of his retaliatory pranks. The head constable’s coach was a beautiful and richly appointed thing. Edmond decided that if the wheels were to suddenly fall off in the middle of town, he might feel somewhat mollified. Unfortunately, he was discovered after loosening three of the four wheels. During the ensuing shouting, struggling, and generally very high emotions, Edmond’s innate power burst free for the first time. With no warning, the coach simply erupted into flame as if it were dry sawdust exposed to a spark. The entire coach house was lost in the inferno that followed, and three constables were injured by the fire. Edmond was suddenly in real trouble. Worst of all, he could not understand how. The fire hadn’t been his fault; he had been doing nothing with fire. And he could not understand how the coach had burst into flame all at once. But he was being charged with destruction of some very valuable property, and with injuring the constables who had been burned while fighting the fires. Expecting to be sentenced to a few years on a work farm, Edmond was surprised to hear that he was instead being sent to ‘Obadiah’s Wilderness Retreat.’ Edmond was placed in a small skiff in chains, and sailed out of the Sydney harbor. Several hours brought him to a small island with a single dock. The only other feature on the island was an unbroken mountain of craggy black stone with stunted and twisted vegetation clinging desperately to it. Standing on the dock was a remarkably plain looking man who seemed at once very old and wise, and very young and ‘energetic.’ “Welcome to Walking Water Island, young Master Kelly.” Once Edmond and Obadiah, for that is who the man was, left the dock, Edmond was led to a narrow and twisting fissure through the black stone. On the other side of the fissure, Edmond discovered that the island was a volcanic cone with an achingly beautiful bit of wilderness inside it. Even before Obadiah revealed that he was a Wizard, and that Edmond himself had the potential to be one, this was the happiest time in Edmond’s life. Though he missed his family and his band of other ‘energetic boys,’ he was at peace on Walking Water Island as he had been at no other time in his short life; he did not even mind the physical labor of the small bit of farming and herding which was necessary since the island was nearly self-sufficient. Edmond came to realize that he did, in fact, cause the fire, and he came to learn how to control his magic. Once he had a measure of control, he was declared “rehabilitated” and was allowed to visit his family, though he always returned to his teacher, friend, and Master. He had become the Wizard’s Apprentice. A decade since he first came to Obadiah, Edmond was in the old Wizard’s sanctuary building studying the preparation of potions. Suddenly he felt the tension in the air that told him there was magic being used nearby; a great deal of magic if he was able to feel it in the study. He knew of nothing that his Master had planned that would require so much evocation, but he was curious, so he picked up his walking staff and headed out of the sanctuary. When he emerged into the sunlight, he found his Master and another man flinging all manner of magic at each other. And Obadiah was losing. When his Master yelled at him to secure the Orb of the Lost, Edmond did not hesitate. When he returned, and nearly tripped over his master at the door to the sanctuary, he did not hesitate to follow his Master’s instructions to use the Orb against the enemy. Held in both hands, he lifted the Orb of the Lost in front of his face until he could see the enemy Wizard through it. The enemy shouted an angry protest and Edmond could see a truly staggering ball of fire hurting towards the front of the sanctuary. He would have been worried, but the Orb had begun to sparkle and glitter deep inside it and the lights were strangely calming. Edmond felt a tugging from the depths of the Orb and a strange sense of elongation in his entire body, then the world turned a solid green and Edmond heard his Master scream in pain. Edmond knew nothing of the outside world. He was unaware when his Master used magic to hurl the Orb out to sea. Though he was aware of the passage of time, it meant nothing to him. All times were the same inside the Orb. He was unaware when someone found the Orb lying on the ocean floor in the middle of an oyster farm. And he was unaware when the orb came into the hands of a young Warden of the White Council, an organization he is totally unaware of. Wizard:
Powers:
Thaumaturgy -3 (Specialization: Wards, Crafting) Evocation -3 (Specialization: Known Elements: Air, Fire, Force) The Sight -1 Soulgaze -0 Wizard's Constitution -0 4 free focus slots/8 enchanted Concept, Trouble, Aspects, Etc.:
High Concept: Sheltered Wizard's Apprentice. Edmond has the power/potential to be a very strong Wizard, but he has been sheltered from most of the nasty that wizards sometimes face. He is also entirely ignorant of the White Council and their Laws of Magic.
Trouble: Untested Apprentice. Edmond is a nearly finished Wizard and has never personally faced real danger or moral dilemma. In much the same way that one does not know if a newly forged sword will remain whole during its first fight, it remains to be seen how Edmond will react, what he will become, and whether he will hold true to his morals when all the cards are down. Background: The Good Guys Always Win. Edmond believes in the goodness of people in general, he is trusting, and believes that the good guys will win simply because they are the good guys; they might suffer an occasional setback, but they always win in the end. Edmond's faith in the triumph of good has not been tarnished by the death of his master; in the good fight, some good men lay down their lives. Rising Conflict: Never Again. Edmond's first real crisis was when he discovered his Master in a desperate battle against a more skilled Wizard. Perhaps it was fear, perhaps it was fascination, or perhaps it was paralysis brought on by the totally unexpected, but for whatever reason, Edmond just stood and watched as his Master was slowly overcome. He has had a century to think about it, to play out scenarios in his mind where he might have turned the tide by acting decisively. He regrets not acting until it was too late, and has vowed to never again stand idly by when he might make a difference. Culture Shock: He was born in 1908. He was found and his training was begun in 1916. In 1926 his master was slain and he was trapped in the Orb of the Lost. He was rescued from the Orb some, as yet, unspecified, but very short, amount of time ago. Where Did You Come From?:
Born in 1901. Descended from the infamous bushranger, Ned Kelly. After a run-in with the local law enforcement during which his magical powers were first made manifest, he was sentenced to hard labor at Obadiah's Wilderness Retreat. Obadiah, also a Wizard, took Edmond as his apprentice. In Edmond's Own Words Where do I come from? My mother. Where do you come from?
Hooks: Unaware of the White Council of Wizards
Skills:
5: Discipline 4: Conviction 3: Lore 3: Weapons 3: Scholarship 2: Endurance 2: Survival 2: Alertness 2: Athletics 1: Might 1: Empathy 1: Craftsmanship 1: Fists |
