"You don't survive in the Hagwood as long as I have without being a bit jumpy."
Physical Description: Athanasius has a tall and slender build, about what you'd expect from an elf, accompanied by freakishly long limbs. He has shoulder-length dark hair with hints of forest green. His eyes are bright green, and his complexion is very pale. His armor is always adorned with various furs, including a wolf pelt he wears across his shoulder.
History:
Born to the northern City of Farondar, Athanasius was a perfectly average child who did his best to honor his bloodline. He showed mediocre magical prowess and was to receive further training as a blade dancer when he was accused of a curious crime by a major bureaucrat. In a Kafkaesque twist of fate, the details of the crime were never revealed to him, and he was found guilty in a sham trial when he was forced to defend himself against a crime he knew nothing of. He was thus permanently exiled from his home as a child at the age of 28.
Stripped of the scholarly duties he had known all his life, Athanasius wandered south, many times taking to begging and relying on the kindness of strangers in order to feed himself. Near the city of Frostfall he met the person who would change his life, a human woman called Elsie.
Elsie found him along the main road, emaciated and begging for scraps. She accused him of being lazy and stupid, and promised that he would never have to beg again if he accompanied her. Elsie began to teach Athanasius the ways of the forest, how to set traps and live from the land.
That was over 40 years ago. The two became inseparably close friends, and built a small cottage deep in the Hagwood. The pair took to trading furs as their main source of income for necessary supplies, though Elsie has always been careful to avoid revealing her face to others. Elsie's hair has grayed and she can no longer stalk the woods as she once could. She relies on Athanasius to hunt much as he once relied on her. Most days, she sits on a rocking chair on their front porch, though even at her old age she is never out of arms reach from her bow and arrow.
Meanwhile Athanasius has begun experimenting with weaving magic into his arrows, mixing his classical training with Elsie's teachings.
As of late, Athanasius has found himself returning home earlier and earlier before dusk each day. The strange fog has him set on edge, and the scratching at the cottage door each night grows louder and louder. Elsie recently said what both were thinking out loud "Something is stirring in the Hagwood."
