Garrick

Important figures Desires Fears Backstory
 * Bolt, fey spirit
 * The Gnomads
 * Ganeus
 * Walgold
 * Thoice
 * Snogtorts
 * Terry Totter
 * Harmony Ginger
 * Tron Tweasley
 * Dulbus Bumblebore
 * Reminisce in the days of his youth with adventure
 * Correct the mistakes of the past
 * Whatever came out of that portal

I grew up in the hustle and bustle of BIG CITY far from the small Gnomish town my parents came from. My father, a successful watchmaker, taught me to craft clocks at a young age, preparing me for work in the business. I spent my free time constructing small, clockwork animal figurines and dreaming of one day attending the magic university. When I could, I would scour the libraries for any tomes with the mere mention of magic, gleaning what little information I could.

The first spell I ever correctly cast brought forth a Fey spirit as a familiar. But it was formless and intangible. This phenomenon was absent from all the texts I could find on the subject, so I set out to develop a vessel for the spirit to bind to. That endeavor claimed years of my life, but I finally built a device that reacted properly. I connected the mechanism to one of my broken clockwork spiders, and focused on the spell once more. Immediately, all of the legs began extending and retracting sporadically. From that moment forward, we formed a bond closer than any friend I ever had. I nicknamed it Bolt, in reference to its newly acquired avatar.

My work in the subject of Conjuration landed me an acceptance letter from the university, but I ultimately decided to decline. I realized there was more to this world than just this city, and I wanted to get out and see it all. So, I adopted the adventurer's lifestyle, with Bolt in tow. Along the way, I learned so much, and met so many great people. The memories made during those years were some of my fondest.

Eventually, I decided that it was time to adopt a more stable, long-term career. I returned to BIG CITY and offered my skills and services to the university. I was brought in as a lecturer, and quickly moved up the ranks to become a distinguished professor.

One day, during a routine conjuration demonstration, something went horribly wrong unleashing a hostile elemental. With the help of students and an associate, we managed to banish the creature, but not before it took its toll. Best I could tell, one student was killed, and many others were injured. Unable to truly comprehend what had happened, I fled the city.

"Did I lose control and botch the spell? Did someone interfere, and I not notice? How many people were actually hurt as a result?" These were the types of questions that haunted me for the next few years as I moved from place to place, never quite settling down. Eventually I made it to OTHER CITY, a beautiful port city carved out of the cliffs overlooking the sea. This is where I decided to stop running and start over. I opened up a shop where I could sell watches, clocks, and other simple gadgets.

Well over a century of my life passed here. It took time, but I was finally able to forgive myself for the tragedy. The store was successful; my old man would have been proud. I, however, was not. I yearned for the adventures of my youth, and couldn't shake the idea of returning to my true passion. On the eve of my 400th birthday, I decided to dust off my old books, and flip through the pages. Much to my surprise, everything seemed completely foreign to me. Many years of practice and study were lost. I spent months retracing my notes and reading old texts, before I was finally ready to even try casting a spell again.

I grabbed the materials, made the gestures, and whispered the incantations attempting to summon Bolt into one of my intricate toys, just as I had so many times before. I waited, but nothing happened. Just as I was about to give up hope, there was a slight lurch in the mechanics of the machine. The form moved and looked up at me. And, with a smile, I said, "Hello, old friend".

With a renewed spark for life and a magical reawakening, I set out, with Bolt, once again in the pursuit of knowledge and adventure. I stripped the titles from my name; mementos of my past accomplishments and deeds. But I added a new one: The Phoenix.

tl:dr Veteran wizard/adventurer became a professor at university. Horrible incident occurred, and caused a student’s death. Went into hiding, and eventually started over in a new city. Over a decade went by, magic skills and knowledge decayed. Decided to forgive himself. Magical reawakening and renewed excitement for life.

Prologue update:

Second year conjuration. You always hated this course at this level. The children have practiced enough to make things happen, but not enough to have any sort of predictability. Today would be interesting though. Today we are summoning elementals. Medical is always on standby for this day. Burns from fire elementals, broken feet from tiny rock elementals falling off the table, injury from gusts of air elementals, one kid almost drowned last year when he tried to nuzzle a tiny water elemental against his cheek. The elemental got scared and tried to hide in his orifices. You walk into the class room. You’ve been teaching at SnogTorts for a century now. Nothing could surprise you at this point. The class was already full with students standing around eachother gossiping, laughing, practicing.

“Alright class, take your seats.” Why is my voice so thrill, you think. Oh no. Not again. You realize this is a dream. You look in the back corner and see the three culprits. Not again. Terry Totter with his stupid glasses. Harmony Ginger, who was actually looking pretty good this year, she really… grew up over the summer. And Tron Tweasly. The kid sucked at everything. He was reliant on his wand at this point, and it looked like it had been taped together. Nothing good could come out of him, and you already know, it certainly won’t today.

“Today, we are summoning tiny elementals…” The class looks around excited. You begin the lecture. Discussing the incantation, the movements required, where to feel the magic coming from. Poof, you create a perfect tiny water elemental on your desk. The rest of the class begins practicing with varying results. Some kids do decent, some not as much. Every once in a while a minor injury is sent out.

You look at the clock. You recognize the time. You dread this time. In the dream you aren’t looking directly at it but you can see it out of the corner of your eye. Tron using his stupid wand wrong. You can feel the pull of the magic coming from the wrong part of him. It happens. An explosion. It is huge. It is unlock any elemental you have every seen. It is surrounded by fire, but it has a core of rock. The fire licks around it’s body like a hurricane. Usually a fire elemental throws a ball of fire. This creature threw what was more like napalm. It was a liquid fireball with a rock at it’s base that exploded like shrapnel. Tron Tweasley was gone in an instant. Blood and body parts explode in all directions.

In the midst of the screaming you race towards your desk as another grenade is thrown and slam the button on it. Instantly all elementals disappear as an anti-magic burst flies through the room that throws you back. The jolt wakes you up. You had been heading to Malburh (continent) from Otin (the largest continent in the world) when your ship was blown off course. Fortunately you still ended up in Malburh, just on the West side at the port city of Shepshed. You had been on your way to The Citadel of the Lich Baroness (deceptively named as the city has not seen a lich in 4 century) to request audience with an old adventuring partner, who is now a top advisor to the head of the city, to see if he will join you once again.

This works well though, as you can now stop through Dimwood as well to see Ganeus, another old partner. Ganeus used to be the best damn sneak in the world! Bringing the old party together for one final hoorah would be spectacular! So you hop on a wagon heading through the Uncan Forest, stopping in Norsberry. Change wagons and head from Norsberry to Stanmore, a major city in Malburh, and change parties on final time on a wagon from Stanmore heading towards the dwarves in the Felbourne Mountains, which passes by dimwood.

With a startle you wake up to the jostle of a wagon. You remember where you are currently. You had just been passing from Stanmore to Dimwood. You are out of the forest, and you can see what looks like smoke from a smaller town further up.