Omaren

"I know i made a mistake that day. I should've stayed home like i was told to. Its too late for my parents, but i can still save my brother. It doesn't matter if i have to go against all of Arba by myself, i'll get him back, no matter what!

— Omaren, determined to save Loharen, his younger brother

Omaren is one of the three main protagonist that will appear in the Chronicles of Hysal book series. He is the oldest member of the trio, being 4 years older than Melwyn and 2 years older than Calydan.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Omaren is a taller than average, 19 years old Mahadorian man. He is slim, with well developped and strong muscles, which he aquired as as hunter during his teen years and which he now maintains with regular training. That training also offers him great stamina, making him a great runner as well. He has dark skin and braids along the top of his head, which are pulled together and banded at the back of his head. The sides of his head are shaved.

Identifying Characteristics

Tattoo

As an Ak'aaran Firemage, Omaren recieved a traditional Warrior Tattoos along his arm, shoulder, and chest. It has great cultural significance as it is related to both his abilities as a mage, as well as a spiritual connection to Esh'kai, the Ak'aaraan patron goddess of firemages. It is composed of a series of lines mimicking the shape of fire spreading down his arm. As per the tradition, the tattoo is drawn onto the person's dominant side. Since he is right-handed, it was drawn along his right arm. However, the tattoo remains incomplete, as he only had the first two parts done, at 8 and 12 years old, respectively. Had he been able to attend the third and final ceremony at 16 years old, his tattoo would have stretched down his entire arm and over the back of his hand.

Ears

Because Omaren is a fire mage reaching his 20s, his ears have grown way past human proportions, now being longer, slender, and stretched into a point. Because of this, they have become a very prominant feature that identifies and marks him as an Elemental Mage to anyone seeing him.

Special abilities

Omaren is a Firemage, a type of Elemental Mages that is able to control and produce fire. Fire mages are some of the most powerful elemental mages in general, but Omaren has especialy potent abilities, which have been trained and honed both at home in Mahador, and then at a mage school in in the city of Casqal, in southern Arros. Thanks to this training, he can not only produce powerful fire abilities, but also sustain them for a long time, making him a formidable ally, or a dangerous enemy to have.

Specialized Equipment

Omaren's weapon of choice is the bow, which is what he used to hunt with back in Mahador. In fact, he still has the bow he crafted out of Emandine wood during his 14 year old birthday. Thanks to his extensive training and natural talent, he became a very good archer, and he even claims that he was the best one in his entire village. He still practices archery with that same bow to this day and has become quite attached to it since he left Mahador, as it represents his connection to home, which he misses a lot.
He also always carries a bronze dagger on him, which he prefers to a more common and cheaper iron blade since bronze is a natural mana-reactive alloy, so he's able to light it on fire, making it more useful for him. He also personaly prefers the colour of bronze over iron.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Early Childhood

Omaren was born in the year 351, in a small town called Coraka, located in the hills south of the port city of A'anora, in Northern Mahador. When he was three, his little brother, Loharen was born. Soon after, Omaren discovered his abilities and he began training his control over them. At age 8, he received the first part of his tattoo, placing him officialy on the path of becoming a fire mage soldier in the future. As for his social life, he had become the most popular kid in town, which he liked a lot. This changed when his brother was revealed to be a Light mage, a type of mage that is even rarer than a firemage. A fierce, but amicable rivalry developed between the two over the years, which was mainly expressed in the form of pranks at each other's expence.

Teenage Training

When he turned 12, Omaren received the second part of his firemage tattoo and began more serious magic training in the following months with a tutor from the city of A'anora. By age 13, he was regularly able to acompagny hunters, but was prohibited from participating, much to his annoyance. Finaly, at his 14th birthday, he participated in a coming of age ceremony that consisted of making his own bow for hunting, which he was then able to test out in the wild and catch his first game. In the following years, he became a very good archer, as he trained regularly and absolutly loved the sport.

First Love and Heartbreak

During the summer of 366, when he had just turned 15, he began a relationship with a girl named Anka, who was the same age as him and lived on the other side of town. They were each-other's first love and their passion burned brightly. Omaren lost his virginity and began planning his future with her by his side. However, it wasn't meant to be, as tragedy struck Anka's family in the following winter, and they were forced to leave the town. They exchanged a teary goodbye before she left for the south. This broke Omaren's heart, and he became deeply depressed, even refusing to train or leave the house for weeks at a time.

Training in A'anora, and Loharen's First Hunt

To break him out of this morose state, his parents sent him to a mage school in A'anora, the same one his tutor had come from, so he could both further train his firemage abilities, and also get his mind off of thinking constantly about Anka. It worked, and when he came back to Coraka 6 months later, he abilities had not only grown immensely, but his previously positive attitude had returned. He made sure to come back into town in time for Loharen's 12th birthday, which he celebrated with the rest of the family. He also accompanied him on his very eventful First Hunt. Later, he learned that he would be sent to the capital, Noamarù, so he could officialy join the ranks of Xahkùm's Legion. He didn't really want to, preffering instead to stay and protect the town he knew, but he obliged to it after a discussion with his father.

The Attack

Show spoiler

In May 368, just a week before he was set to depart for the capital, Omaren decided to sneak out of the village with a few friends to try and make the most out of the little time he had left to see them. He did so while ignoring the wishes of his parents to stay put, as rumours of foreigners near the village were circulating. When Omaren's group came back to the village in the evening, they found it burning and sacked. Omaren rushed to his house, where he found out that his parents had been killed. Outside, near the front door, he found his brother's broken necklace, but he was gone.

Trapped in A'anora

Thinking that his brother had been brought to A'anora by the invaders, he decided to abandon his goal of joining the legion in Noamarù in the south, and instead went north. He managed to snuck into the occupied city hiding inside an Occomor Chariot carrying lvestock. Once inside, he tried going to the magic academy, but found that it had been burned down. He couldn't find any leads as to where his brother could be, or if he even was in the city, and with the place crawling with foreign soldiers and mercenaries, he realised that shouldn't have come here. He tried leaving, but the city had been put on lockdown. He spent the next few weeks on the streets, hiding from the soldier patrols, and stealing food to survive.

A Refuge, and an Offer

That was until he was brought in by a innskeeper named Jakun. He was allowed to stay in one of the building's storage room, in exchange for a few favours, like when he acted as Jakun's debt collector against one of his former client.. This particular event caught the attention of Benars Rayel, an alchemist who was friends with Jakun's old client. He made a proposal to Omaren, to sneek him out of the city, and recruit him into a mercenary guild in Arros. Seeing that he had ran out of options, both to find his brother, and getting out of the city, he relunctantly accepted the offer.

Welcome to Gysia

After a month at sea, Omaren arrived in the City of Gandasi, where he met Calydan for the first time. However, he wouldn't stay long, as just a week after he arrived, he left to go to a magic school in the city of Casqal, where he would stay for the next 6 months. By the winter of 369, Omaren had finished his training and so travelled to the city of Moratt, in the Kavasian Empire, where Makhlem, a friend of Benars, helped him apply at the The Guild of Fethir, in order to become a mercenary at their service. As predicted by Benars, the guild accepted him almost immediatly since they lacked their own firemage, and also because of the impressive skills that Omaren already possesed.

The Botched Mission

In march of the year 369, Omaren's chapter accepted his request to send him and a few other mercenaries to Mahador on a covert mission. This mission had two objectives. For Omaren, he wanted to find clues about his brother's whereabouts, while the rest of the group also wanted to tackle the local slave trade in the Arbitian occupied territory and destroy it. At first, the mission went well, as they were able to save a dozen mages and humans about to be sold as slaves. Unfortunatly for Omaren, Loharen wasn't in that group, and he got frustrated by the complete lack of clues about his brothers. Soon, the mission went awry, and the group was almost captured. They were saved by Omaren's quick thinking, which resulted in him killing a person for the first time. Despite wanting to stay and look for his brother, he realised that he was most likely hidden in the south, and not imprisoned in the north by the occupyers, since no one seemed to know about a light mage matching his description. With that in mind, he decided to go back to Arros, fully commiting to his role in the guild for the time being.

New Plans and new friends

Back in Kavasia, captain Grio and a few others devised a plan to get Omaren deep within Arbitian occupied territory in Mahador, which would involve him applying to the Mage academy of Palynor and get a Calexi ranking. This would give him a chance to join the Arbitian army as a mercenary and infiltrate their ranks. Omaren liked the idea, but unfortunatly, the academy only accepted a certain number of student every 6 months, and its lists were full until the Fall of 370. Omaren decided to spend the remaining time helping his chapter with various missions like he was supposed to, offering his support in their most critical missions. One such mission, occuring in August 369, involved not just his own chapter in Moratt, but the one in the city of Larasor. During a joint meeting in that city, he met Melwyn for the first time. After the latter attempted unsuccessfuly to convince the captains to let him participate, Omaren decided to pull his weight and advocate for him. It worked, and melwyn was accepted into the mission's reserve group. The mission was a success, in no small part thanks to Melwyn, and both his, and Omaren's standing within their respective chapter was elevated. Through this experience, they became friends, with Omaren seeing a bit of his little brother Loharen within Melwyn, and treating him as if he was a second brother.

Returning to Gysia

In february of the year 370, Omaren would accompany Melwyn as they both traveled to the city of Gandasi for an 8 month stay. For Omaren, this was to be while he waited to be accepted into the academy at the end of the year. There, he met Calydan and his father Benars for the second time. He and Melwyn settled in a large shared room on the second floor of Benars's house, a setup not unlike their accomodations at each of their chapter halls. Omaren helped Melwyn train his archery skills, which in turn also helped him keep his edge. Moreover, since Melwyn and Calydan didn't have the best start of their friendship, Omaren acted as a sort of bridge between the two for a while, until they reconciliated with each other.

Employment

Omaren is a member of the Guild of Fethir, a fairly large Mercenary Guild based in the City of Kus'Qari and operating in most of south-west and central Arros. He joined in the spring of 369, and was asigned to the Chapter in the city of Moratt, the same one as where Makhlem worked and would bring Melwyn to a few months later.
However, since Omaren doesn't live in that city, he doesn't participate in most of their missions. In fact, Omaren suspects that that the guild keeps him in the chapter simply because he's their only Firemage, and those are rare in general. Even so, he appreciates it as the mission he does go on help him earn a decent living. Nonetheless, he remains commited on his goal of getting the right credentials to pass the M.R.A's blocade around A'anora, which means training in Palynor's Mage Academy

Mental Trauma

Omaren has some repressed trauma steming from the night his village was attacked and his parents were killed by soldiers from both the Merchant republic of Arba, and the Shield of Saol, an anti-mage mercenary compagny. Since then, he's refused to talk about it and gets frustrated when people try to talk to him about it. For a long time (many months) after that night, he had trouble admitting that his parents were dead.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Everything Omaren has done since that fateful night has been in pursuit of finding his brother Loharen. His goal right now is to be accepted at the Mage Academy of Palynor and obtain the rank of Calexi, a title which can only be obtained at this school, and which will garantee him safe passage through Arba's blockade in Northern Mahador. Then, he'll be able to search for his brother, who he think is still alive in the south of the region.
Despite taking on a lot of responcibilities at the Guild, and then moving in with Calydan and Melwyn in Gandasi, he remains fucus on that objective. Since he stuck waiting for his acceptance into the mage academy, he uses that time to train his abilities as much as he can, which he hopes will give him an edge at the academy and allow him to get the Calexi rank as fast as possible

Likes & Dislikes

Likes:

• Archery
• Hunting
• Tlakualas (spicy meat)
• Mangos (fresh or grilled)
• Ajax (as pets)
• Xocolatl (Mahadorian Chocolate)

Dislikes:

• Staying inside
• Cold weather
• Fish (and other sea food)

Virtues and Flaws

Virtues:

• Quick to action
• Physicaly strong/Capable
• Well trained in Magic and archery
• Caring about others

Flaws:

• Can be impulsive
• Generaly impatient
• Likes to party a bit too much

Social

Religious Views

Omaren deeply believes in the Ak'aaran pantheon, specificly in Xunaa'kai, the goddess of fire, who's symbol is an Ajax bird. As a Firemage himself, Omaren prays to her regulary for protection, strenght and guidance on a small altar he keeps near his bed. He also occasionaly prays to Xahkùm, the Ak'aaran god of the hunt, wildlife and war, for additional strenght when needed. Lastly, he also prays Itzaca, the Ak'aaran god of creation for the same things, but only sparingly, as it is not good to abuse of his favours, according to Ak'aarans.

Social Aptitude

Omaren doesn't like showing negative emotions around people, nor does he like talking about his problems, as he feels like he shouldn't burden others around him with his own problems. His extensive training helped him somewhat curb his impulsive nature and keep a cool head in dangerous/critital situations. It also gave him a lot of confidence his his abilities, magic or otherwise.
Omaren is also very layed back with the people he knows well. He often jokes around and even sometimes pulls pranks, mainly on Melwyn, as Calydan thinks its "immature". He also likes to talk with new people he meets when going in the city. In fact, more than once, Omaren came back to the house late at night or even early in the morning after spending the evening in the city. He's become famous in some of the city's pubs and brothels, where he has quite a few friends as a result.

Speech

While Omaren is perfectly able to hold a conversation in Esnian with Melwyn and Calydan, he does have a distinct and noticable Ak'aaran accent while talking. He may also stutter or hesitate on some words when he's talking faster while frutrated or exited. He also commonly switches language in those situation, reverting back to speaking his native dialect of Ak'aaran, particularly when he's angry.

Nicknames/Aliases

• Om (Friendly nickname)
• Kailen (Honorific;not used)

Current Location

City of Gandasi

Species

Firemage

Age

19

Date of Birth

17th of May

Birthplace

In a village near A'anora called Coraka, in Northern Mahador

Current Residence

Benars's house, just outside of Gandasi

Pronouns

He/him

Sex

Male

Gender

Male

Eyes

Dark red (Maroon)

Hair

Short, curly and braided

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Dark Brown

Height

1,86m / 6ft 2in

Belief/Deity

Ak'aaran Pantheon, specifically the goddess Esh'Kai

Known Languages

Omaren knows the Ak'aaran language, specificaly the variety spoken in A'anora and the surounding regions. He also learned to speak and read Esnian when he moved to Arros. He knows a few worlds in Kavasian from his time in Moratt and a few Gysian words from his time in Gandasi. However, he can't really hold a conversation like he's able to in Esnian.