2020-09-26
"Time waits for no man, but history is patient, and so am I."

A portrait of Von's latest design, as a magus, loremaster, and librarian lizardfolk, trained by the House of Autumn.


These are passages from my character build/backstory page on her:

Theme
A member of the House of Autumn, trained to fight with magic and weaponry—polearms are her favorite—though her passions lie in books and history. Knows a little bit about everything and adventuring is just active learning, she someday seeks to work at some great library somewhere. Her initial spells are primarily for survival in combat, but eventually she begins to experiment with conjuration: specifically teleportation, though she keeps other spells she finds tucked away in her almanac, which she always keeps on her person.

Summary
Von is a 25 year old Lizardfolk transwoman, raised and trained by the House of Autumn to be a fighter, spellcaster, and librarian. Though she was once fiery and troublesome, her life at the house of Autumn tempered her into a much quieter, kinder, and contemplative woman, though her emotional absence belies awkwardness that she never quite outgrew. She reads a lot and knows a little about everything, and never passes up a story. In combat, she prefers to lock her opponents down, utilizing the reach of her polearm to control them from a distance. Her magic focuses on protection and mobility rather than direct offense, but she otherwise has a spell book meant to aid her with the less martial, like translating texts or clairvoyance.

Short Version
Von was raised in the House of Autumn, an order that follows in the wake of battle to induct survivors or adopt wartime orphans, and train them in combat and magic. The House also teaches each of them a profession of their choosing so that these survivors may one day reintegrate into society, if they choose not to stay at the House.

Von was raised in a chapter in the frozen north. She grew up listening to adventurers and travellers telling stories in the neighboring town, and trained to become a historian or librarian or archivist. Before she settles down, she is venturing out to see what kind of world was made by the history she's only ever read about.

Long Version
For as long as she could remember, Von was a part of the House of Autumn, adopted into its registry as all its members are. Orphaned so young, she was raised by many loving hands in a far northern mission, cold and snowy, knowing many faces as dearly as if they were each her own parents. When she was old enough, they taught her to defend herself with traditions of magic and weaponry, and the discipline to use them. “These are tools," they would say, "to help you against anyone who would try to take your life. As long as your life is not your own, you cannot flourish."

This is how the House of Autumn has survived and grown; amidst tragedy, war, and strife, the House seeks the survivors and nurtures them. Those willing, regardless of ability, are initiated into the order while children or infants with no one to speak for them are adopted, training them to fight so that, should they ever find themselves in such a position again, they may defend themselves and their loved ones. They are then taught a skill, trade, or craft of their choosing so that they may one day reintegrate with society, though some may choose to stay and continue the House’s somber mission if they wish.

At 15, before Von was a quietly determined woman, she was a fiery young boy, troublesome and awkward, and much more vibrant than the fellow members of the House. He could understand but never quite relate to the more somber chapter members, having been too young to remember losing his original family and home and bearing no scars from the slaughter.

He had a penchant for sneaking out of the mission walls to the town outside. His interest in the world had him studying to be a historian, but starry-eyed wonder made him yearn to see the greater, modern context in which all his history books existed. Though he and his order were in the good graces of the town, neither the elders at the House of Autumn, nor the travellers in town, nor the adventurers at the tavern could give Von the exact answers he sought; words alone could do no justice to the far-off deserts and tropical islands he'd only ever read about.

At 18, now coming into new ideas of who she was and what it meant to be Von, she dreamt of sneaking away from her adoptive family and striking out on her own, seeing the world with her own eyes. She had a fire in her heart and the drive to find her own way. Her training was not yet complete, but she was convinced she would sink or swim and one day return to the House better for it.

At the cusp of 19, Von saw an influx of new inductees to the House of Autumn, living casualties of some great war happening somewhere else. Watching them crowd in through the doors, their faces ragged and their eyes weary, she realized that her dreams did not substitute for plans. While helping these refugees adjust to life within the walls, she listened to stories of what went wrong, what was lost, of the dangers of the open road and the hearts of their fellow man. With much to think about, Von quietly resolved to temper her passion with every precaution and word of wisdom her elders had to offer.

At 23, after much thorough planning, and not much pomp and circumstance, she was gently seen off by most all of her chapter at the edge of town. She planned to settle in some big city, work as an archivist or other, surround herself with books and history, but before then, she would travel, and see the ultimate point of all her reading, what it all became in the end, and what it is now.

For now, all she has is her spear-for-hire to earn enough coin to get wherever she’s going next, and some book or field guide to pass the time. Before she settles down, she wants to see what kind of world was made by the history she's only ever read about.