Yodira Pyrocrystal
Archmage Yodira Gettli Pyrocrystal
"Magic is wonderous. It is both eternal and ever-changing, beautiful and terrifying, a tool for great deeds and great destruction. You can give lifetimes for the research of The Weave yet never more than scratch the surface - such alien and so familiar at the same time. It is like a friend that never stops surprising you. That is what I want you to learn. Learn magic. Love it. It will never let you down."
Very first Archmage of the Academy of Magi, Evoker Wizard Yodira Pyrocrystal set a legacy that has changed the landscape of arcane study and helped to bring the Silver Shore Island to the public consciousness. Such feat required an extraordinary person, and that, they tell, Yodira truly was.
Yodira was known for her enthusiasm and ingenuity and wrote multiple spells and interesting researches, not to mention she thought hundreds of students about magic in her lifetime and was the head figure of the Silver Shore Academy of Magi. She was a visionary and a diligent worker, that has truly inspired several generations of mages.
Her approach to magic was and still could be considered controversial, but no one can deny her influence on arcane discourse, and her contributions to the wizarding world.
Physical Description
Body Features
As far as gnomes are concerned, Yodira was a rather tall woman, with dark purple hair that was never quite obeying the gravity like it would have had almost a mind of its own. Her eyes were a pale, pinkish lilac, and she had large teeth, making her grin rather horse-like. Her contemporaries described her as a fun and lively looking person with infectious enthusiasm.
Special abilities
In her life, Yodira was considered a particularly talented evoker, and knack for mechanics.
Work in progress.
Apparel & Accessories
Work in progress.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Yodira was born in 352 AoS in the city of Stone Halls. She was a big fan of Guster Gearlobber and hoped to follow his footsteps to become a great artificer as she was younger, but found her great passion with the study and experimenting with magic. She turned out to be quite a prodigy, surpassing most of her teachers, though to be fair, among the people of Stone Halls there were not many, and this lack of knowledge was one of those things that continued to bother Yodira during her early career.
Yodira's talents got her a lot of attention, both negative and positive. Despite her boundless curiosity, she has been told to be rather scatterbrained and having the very unfortunate habit of leaving her notes and studies in forms that were barely readable, making all kinds of unfortunate mishaps that caused some damage to her environment.
On other hand, her curiosity, bravery and enthusiasm made her an extremely creative and valuable ally in times of need, and she secured herself the appreciation and respect of the Stone Hall Council and the Stoneskull clan, particularly the clan leader Dalnar Stoneskull.
While the details have been lost into the history, it seems that Dalnar Stoneskull had encountered some kind of arcane issue of delicate nature, which Yodira would aid him on. While exact details have been lost, this seems to have left Dalnar enormously grateful to Yodira, and he would offer his patronage to several of her projects during her career.
Finding her companions
Young Yodira found the distributing information and knowledge of magic most important and was intrigued to hear a rumour that around the edges of swamps of Mori'tarna, an up-and-coming drow wizard who had recently left his own community due to the philosophical differences with the growing Faith of Children of The Dancer, about preserving some Llothian texts and magical tradition not to Spider Queen's honor, but to learn and build upon it in more ethical manner than previous generations. Such prospect interested Yodira, as getting any information of the magic of their drow neighbours was notoriously difficult.
Yodira would take a trip to meet this unique recluse and after a lot of endless wandering and help of the locals, she would finally finish her search. She was introduced to the makeshift laboratory and the reclusive drow wizard, Ant'gloth Frozenheart, and his new friend and assistant, wood elven gentleman Kelfir Windwhisper, sorcerer who had taken Ant'gloth under his wing after he had come to live in the surface.
"Our Ant'gloth wasn't easy to approach, I knew it from my own experience, and he needed some convincing to make her let the gnome lady in our makeshift space. Cave and the items and research we did there was sacred to him, and I suppose he was still scared that people besides me wouldn't understand his treasures. They would say they were macabre, unnatural, and terrifying.
But Yodira, oh gods bless her brightly burning soul, was immediately fascinated. She had a vision and patience to look beyond the preserved drider's corpse, the book covers made of humanoid flesh, experimentations he had done with the undead of the swamps - she understood the potential we had stumbled upon, and how much good could we do, how we could teach and direct this knowledge to the common benefit.
Her enthusiasm was infectious, and soon enough she was full of elaborate visions how could we but this all to the good use... and I know, Good old Ant'gloth wouldn't admit it, but nothing stroke his ego than someone getting blown away by his precious collection. And to be honest, I still wasn't particularly learned myself at the time, I think he was also relieved to be able to talk to another wizard again, who understood his jargon.
I would sit there in awe, feeling privileged by seeing how these two most brilliant minds of our time were sparking inspiration unlike I had never seen before. There was magic in our little cave, and I never saw any of use casting anything."
With some reservation, Ant'gloth allowed Yodira to approach his collection, and after some negotiation, the two elves and the rock gnome wizard managed to form a surprising alliance, that would, in years to come, morph in to blossoming friendship and partnership.
Unusual dream
Feeling inspired by her meeting with Ant'gloth and Kelfir, Yodira approached Stoneskulls and Stone Hall Archives on their behalf to help their research and get a safer containment for Ant'gloth's collection. Together with her newfound friends, the tree started to dream about a research facility in which they could freely experiment and teach those that would be interested in arcane knowledge. The school where no topic wouldn't be out of limits as long as certain moral principles were upheld. In time, the dream would turn into an obsession, which would drive the three to make their dream into a reality.
Yodira would bring the conversation to the Stone Hall Council with her friends, letting the most articulate of the group - Kelfir - to impress the council with the possibilities that such facility could provide to the island. After multiple suggestions and conversations, the benefit of having the Silver Shore Island's own "wizard tower" as the island was trying to get a footing in global markets and recognition of the outside world as its own, political entity.
With the blessing of Lord Dalnar Stoneskull and hesitation by the council, a plot of land, recommendation and some starting funds was offered to the three mages near the small harbour town that the council was helping to construct on the southern side of the island. This place, now known as the Moon Terrace was still a humble place, but it was hoped to be a trading hub one day.
Work in progress.
The Academy of Magi
Work in progress.
Education
Work in progress.
Intellectual Characteristics
Work in progress.
Morality & Philosophy
The type of discourse that Yodira started in magic circles still shakes some of the magical traditionalists, regarding what those traditions were; Ypdira deeply believed that knowledge was worth pursuing its own sake and she refused to categorize arcane practices in any kind of hierarchies. She did not believe in good or bad magic but saw it as a tool that was to be examined and learned from, despite how pointless or dangerous some arcane practices are. This thinking was something that she also considered vital in all matters in life, but her openness to all magic particularly was the thing she was most criticized off.
Work in progress.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Work in progress.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Work in progress.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Work in progress.
Family Ties
Work in progress.
Social Aptitude
Work in progress.
Relationships
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