Tellian Liffern's page

Color. All you can see is color. Every inch of this Altruan's skin is covered in tattoos. You don't think you have ever seen this many tattoos in your life. Despite wearing clothes that cover to ankle and wrist, you are sure if he took of his shirt you would see more of the same. As you stare at the tattoos, they seem to hover and shift. Did that bird just blink? Shaking yourself out of your reverie, you notice something else odd about this halfling. You didn't see it at first, but when he takes a step with his left leg every once in a while it will seem to freeze in place and then almost immediately end up on the ground in front of the halfing as a completed step, with no sign of the leg being anywhere in-between. (think lag) His short cut reddish hair shows the hint of further tattoos on his scalp, and imply pale skin somewhere underneath all the tattoos. And then you catch his eyes. They say that eyes are the windows to the soul, but his are to somewhere else. His gray irises seem somehow opaque and cloudy simultaneously, like fog contained behind glass. He smiles wryly at your stare. He's used to it you can tell, but the smile is still more sad than amused. Raising his hood, he turns to leave and is quickly lost to the crowd.

He's scarred in more ways than one. But he has the kindness of someone who knows true tragedy. Despite his darkened past, or perhaps because of it he has still gained many of the admirable traits of the Altruans. He had great kindness shown to him in tragedy and he has every desire to pass that on. He feels a need to prove himself, that he too can be as good a person as those that helped him. He joked and laughed his way through his childhood pains, and does the same with adulthood. Admittedly, he does cry less while laughing now than he did then. while the scars are still there, they have healed for the most part. His enthusiasm, and childish glee are distractions from the sadness that still lingers at the loss of his family. You'll almost never catch him complaining, but every once in a while you can see the sadness it's so palpable.

I don't know who thought it was a good idea to mix wild magic and planar gates but here we are. A Swirling maelstrom of raw power, half from this side and half from the astral plane. What had started as a simple experiment to draw and contain material from the astral plane had become one of the greatest disasters the Vale has ever seen. No one is quite sure what their purpose was, just how it ended. 7 dead, the only survivor a child who had been sent outside to play and only caught the edge of the blast.

Sent unconscious by the force of the initial blast, it was weeks before he woke. Disoriented, he awoke to the sounds of an infirmary, a nurse and a very concerned uncle. Taken to his uncle's home, he was raised for the most part in isolation. Not because the denizens of the vale were unkind to him per se, just that the stares and whispers are never comfortable for the one who is the center of attention.

Much to his uncle's chagrin, in his early teenage years, not only did he begin to manifest magical abilites, but he also entered a bit of a rebellious phase. Travelling outside the vale, he somehow managed to get a tattoo. Then another, and another. he began to learn how to do tattoos, and began giving himself some. Imbued with arcane energy these tattoos sometimes shift, seeming to have a mind of their own. In one case, it does, a small thrush penned on the back of his right hand.

Using the tattoos to cover the scars less noticeable may have worked, but they certainly didn't make Tel any less noticeable. He stuck out as a sore thumb, quite possibly one of the only halflings in the entire vale with a tattoo. His confidence growing as skill increased, Tel smiled more and hid less. The scars had begun to heal as Tel found new love in what he was doing. He befriended many just because now the other Altruans were intrigued at his difference, rather than pitying it. Travelling in and out of the vale his reach broadened, and if it's in or near the vale he can find a friend just about wherever he goes.

Tel was probably the first of the Altruans to know something was wrong. He was outside the vale when the fire appeared. his old scars began to ache and he knew something had happened to the barrier between the planes. When the rift monsters appeared, he quickly lent a hand, in the skirmishes and in preparation for the war. Before they marched out he had returned home to check on his uncle and a few friends. Finding nothing amiss and everyone continuing on with their lives he left to fight the war. Rather than persuade more to help, he left to defend his home. Coming late to the plains, he was caught by the light that searing light on the road alone.