About Q'arlyl
Q'arlyl was born in the semi-secret breeding pits of the sorcerer-king, Nibenay. Nibenay's constant drive to keep others from encroaching upon his power and territory means defeating other sorcerers and wizards. Ruthless in victory, he swiftly kills all those who oppose him. Unbeknownst to most, instead of killing all opponents, he often stops short with females of all humanoid races. Enslaving these females, he keeps them in seclusion from outsiders. There he breeds them with himself and his offspring to create powerful casters that he molds into the perfect followers and bodyguards. Most of them are bent to divine magics where they worship Humanu, thus ensuring their sire, or grandsire, more power while enforcing his edicts and wielding his will across all of his kingdom.
Q'arlyl was one such product. He was born to an elf female who was captured when Nibenay destroyed her tribe as they drew too close to his territories. Originally mistaking her for a druid, Nibenay quickly realized that she was, in fact, a wizard. Her spellbook was cunningly hidden as tattoos scrawling across her body. Taking her to the depths of his palace he indoctrinated her into his breeding program.
Many months later, she bore a son. When she tried to keep the baby away from the midwives, they severely beat her, leaving her for dead. The next morning when they came to see if she lived, they found her room empty. As there were no windows and only the one door, still barred from the outside, it was assumed that one of the thri-kreen guards were responsible. All who had access in that time were summarily executed.
Q'arlyl was immediately taken from his mother and raised by wetnurses completely loyal to his father. His education began as soon as he was old enough to be taught. He was kept active and athletically trained to hone his body in addition to his mind. It was in the physical arts that he excelled. Tireless, he never seemed to be affected by the conditions. No matter how hot it got, he always seemed entirely comfortable. Academically he suffered; always falling behind his siblings, nephews and nieces in the classroom. He showed no aptitude for wizardly pursuits and was only marginally average in intelligence. He also displayed little wisdom, taking unnecessary risks heedless of the consequences.
After formally testing Q'arlyl, he was found to be devoid of magical aptitude. As one of the rare disappointments, he was relegated to the duties of a soldier, although as an officer befitting his birth and station. It was on one of the desert patrols where he found himself and his company are attacked by a giant silt serpent. The company manages to inflict grevious damage to the creature but are wiped out doing so. Q'arlyl, weapon broken, begins swinging with his fists to go down fighting when suddenly his hand grows cold, going numb. As the massive snake sinks it fangs into the young commander's side, he grabs the head, shadows suffusing the snake, it drops senseless to the ground. He wasts no time killing it.
Shocked at what has happened, he decides to keep the knowledge to himself. Nearly dead from the venom, Q'arlyl crawls back to the city where he is berated for losing an entire company and is summarily cast out. In the streets, he has a hard time of surviving, never having needed to fight for a meal before. Seen as weak competition, he is attacked one night by other beggars. As they come at him, the shadows of the nearby buildings lengthen. Again his hand grows numb with cold and as the leader charges him, Q'arlyl strikes out. The leader goes down clawing at the shadows clambering over his face. The others are terrified by this sight and flee. Q'arlyl grabbed the prone leader only to quickly release him as he screamed in pain. His touch had severely injured the man, leaving him unconscious and dying. Running, he loses himself in the back alleys of the city until dawn when he joins a caravan heading to Urik.
Q'arlyl now makes his living as a messenger; running missives back and forth between of means. What little reputation remains from his heritage earns him the trust that he keeps whatever is said to himself only to be spoken to the recipient of the message and none other.
(He is a cross-blooded Shadow and Verdant sorcerer. Unknown to Q'arlyl or anyone else living, his mother was not a wizard but a sorcerer. The tattoos were only a list of the spells she knew and not a spellbook from which she prepared her spells. The beating did nearly kill her and it was the catalyst that enabled her to reach inside and discover a new ability, the power to translocate herself.
I left Q'arlyl's spells somewhat vague so as to align them with the correct color of his paternal draconic heritage. I plan to keep the spell selections evenly split between nature type spells and shadowy spells. He is an unconscious caster meaning that he does not knowingly cast spells instead unconsciously causing their effects when he makes the appropriate phrases and/or gestures; i.e., "It's getting warm." while he fans himself with his hand to cast enduring elements.
