The Rivenstone family was a proud one. They lived and worked to protect their gnomish burrow at all times, using their sorcerous bloodline of wild magic to deter unwanted attention from the nearby city-states. Mervenwood was the name of the forest they protected, named after the first Rivenstone who vowed to protect it - he was also known for committing the most impressive prank of all time on the officials of the nearby city of Edral. Within Mervenwood, the Rivenstones now consisted of Zidix and Rada and their sons and daughters. Zidix was a stern but powerful man, determined to have his children stand strong against the Etherien threat, while Rada was far more optimistic but still equally powerful. She often needed to remind Zidix, as well as their children, of the importance of pranks and jokes. The children were all talented and bright children, and showed great promise, some manifesting their sorcerous origins at a very young age.
 
But that changed when they had their last son, a lad named Lorcan. Lorcan was different from his siblings - his sorcerous abilities never appeared, no matter how hard he tried. He was also remarkably lacking in his ability to perform academically, often getting bored during his father's and the Mervenwood teacher's lectures. Trying to catch up with his impressive siblings, he spent much of his time reading and re-reading different tomes on arcane magic and sorcerous blood, which lead to many in the village calling him a bit of a nerd. Despite this, he still found time to pull pranks on people, as he wasn't really that good at reading - he was quite a fretty, restless kid.
 
When he was almost in his 40th year and his abilities still hadn't manifested themselves, Zidix decided this would not do. He sent Lorcan away from their small grove to the nearby city of Edral, under the guise of him studying to become a wizard at the great Universtiy of Vidlin. Lorcan was subservient and willing to go, determined to become as powerful as his siblings. However, when he arrived there, he found the lessons boring, the teachers uninteresting, and the subject matter far too complicated. Frustrated, he would pull great pranks on people, trying to ease the boredom, and he was a relatively popular student, although greatly disliked by the teachers.
 
After a few years in Edral, by the side of the great Sapphire Lake, Lorcan decided to pull another great prank. He would sneak into the library and switch around the books with books of his own writing - smut that he had written about the teachers. He thought these books would be funny to leave in the forbidden section of the library, so he managed to sneak inside and started switching books. Soon, he found a strange, dusty back tome that seemed to call to him. He started reading it, softly muttering the words as he did, and unbeknownst to him a great magic bound itself to him. By reading the tome and speaking the words, he had bound himself to the Raven Queen's service, the goddess of death and the afterlife.
 
Immediately, a darkness came over his eyes, and he got up, leaving behind the parts of the prank he was pulling, with more direction and purpose than he had ever had in his life, heading for the back of the library. First, he pulled out certain books, flipping through them slowly, methodically. Certain pages, his hands paused on, and a small flame burnt the words away. Some books he tore out pages, stuffing them in his pockets. After that, he turned to a wall with an adorned staff hanging from it. He had seen this staff before - hidden away in the back room, protected with arcane incantations. He managed to reach through and pull it out, the blackened wood feeling natural in his hands, and a smile crossed his lips as an alarm sounded and he snapped out of what was happening.
 
Suddenly standing in a room that smelt of smoke, with his teachers coming to apprehend him, Lorcan was stunned for a second. He recognized the staff in his hand, but didn't understand why it was there, but some part of his mind told him one thing - run. And that's what he did. He ran away, leaving behind all but one of his teacher smut books. He managed to escape, although barely, and just kept running. He escaped Edral and ran outside. A strange raven seemed to follow and watch him constantly.
 
Eventually coming to a halt, Lorcan realized the raven was bound to him, and he made a connection - his sorcerous blood must finally have awoken! He had heard tales from his siblings, about how the wild magic affects everyone in strange ways, and this must have been his. Trying to channel magic, he was delighted when he saw he could actually cast spells, and took the staff with him as he excitedly ran back towards Mervenwood to tell his family.
 
When he arrived there, however, he found a group of Dawn Legion soldiers questioning his parents. He listened in and realized they were asking for him, that he was wanted by the university for theft of an important artifact. Part of him wanted to give up the staff, but another, stronger voice told him to keep it, that it would help him become powerful. He snuck inside to try and talk to his father, but when Zidix saw him the old gnome was not happy. They spoke for a while as Lorcan tried to explain what had happened, but Zidix was visibly annoyed and unconvinced. Lorcan saw him leave the room and realized his father was about to call the Dawn Legion to arrest him, so he ran again, not even getting a chance to speak to his mother or siblings as he yet again barely evaded the Legion's grasp.
 
Now, he has been running for a while on the road. He has been heading northwards for no particular reason other than that was where he felt he should. It was odd, he thought - he seemed to have far more direction and desire to become stronger now that his bloodline had awakened. He felt happy to finally be in control of his actions, of his thoughts. He enjoyed pulling pranks on people, and tried to learn as much as he could as well as become better at harnessing his magical powers. As he started nearing the great mountainous reaches of Folkmar, he stopped in a small town called Oar's Rest, where he was forced to stay almost a full week due to a massive blizzard. During this week he managed to annoy the hell out of the bartender. He decided it would be better to head back south again, maybe find some people to hang out with. He had been feeling increasingly lonely recently.
 
He now wonders back south through the craggy pines south of Folkmar, and has laid his eyes on a dwarvish figure wondering the path ahead of him alone. He decides it might be fun to pull a prank on this poor soul....