Abshail was born into a respected family in Restov: his father was a wizard in service to one of the swordlords. As a child he was regularly caught in his father's study and laboratory, playing with whatever random wand he could get his hands on. His parents wasted no time sending to study at one of the city's magic academies, hoping his magical curiosity would lead him to being a great wizard. While there he proved to not only be a capable scholar but also a complete failure at casting even the most basic cantrips. He was, however, quite gifted with potions and other alchemical studies. Rather than leaving the school, he stayed; learning what he could of magical theory while studying with the academy's alchemy master.
Eventually Abshail's research in the libraries led him to find about alchemists so advanced that their elixirs could almost duplicate a wizard’s spells and even permanently enhance physical abilities. Determined to understand this power, he left the school to travel and learn from other masters. He traveled to study with Dwarven alchemists in their sky citadels, Gnomish masters, and even studied some with savage orcs and goblins. Most recently, he journeyed to Cheliax to learn what he could from the diabolists there. While there, he became intrigued by the tales people told about the land of Sargava. He booked passage on the Jenivere while she was in port at Kintargo. Since then he has been traveling with the ship, paying for his passage by selling various potions and other goods both to the crew and to the locals while in port.
