Mental characteristics
Biography
Early Life
On Cehr 11th, 959, Adelia Kreegan was born to Tessik and Elly Kreegan, farmers who lived to the west of Atalatha. She was born two years after her brother, Michael. Unbeknownst to the children, Adelia was their parents’ first biological child, as Michael had been adopted since his birth.
As Adelia grew up, she was inseparable from her brother. She followed him everywhere, playing among the countryside with him, and getting into trouble.
Adelia always seemed very intelligent for her age, an effect that Elly attributed to her informal education on the farm with an older brother to lead the way. The young girl displayed an excessive amount of compassion and wisdom, but not very much foresight.
Growing Up
When Adelia was just beginning to create an identity for herself as a young girl, she and Michael were exploring the countryside. The two children were playing in caves not far from their home, and Adelia lost sight of where she was, and became lost in the cavern. Unable to find a way out, she called for her brother.
Michael managed to find her in a deeper recess of the cave, where an opening in the ceiling shed some light inside. Adelia hid in the corner of the chamber, woefully insisting that something else was in the room with her. Her brother wasn’t very susceptible to that idea, but they were both surprised to see the appearance of a panther just a few moments later.
Against all odds, Michael was able to find a rock, and launch it perfect at the panther’s head. It slumped to the ground, unconscious, and the two children ran from the cave.
Once outside, a woman named Azura approached the brother and sister, and introduced herself. In the course of their conversation, the panther emerged from the cave, and sat down beside Azura. Despite the woman’s promises that the panther was not dangerous, Adelia developed a tremendous fear of cats from then on.
Tragedy
The Family Falls
Adelia was only fifteen when her brother left for a hunt by himself – one that Tessik assured would lead him to manhood. Adelia found that she needed to work twice as hard to fulfill the duties of both Kreegan children, but in Michael’s absence, she realized she had little to do to entertain herself. She explored the countryside alone, and imagined herself in some other place, reliving the adventurers of her childhood, even though she was fast becoming a woman.
On one such occasion, when she was returning home, she saw her house in flames. A necromancer named Juramentado had come to the Kreegan home with plans of killing Michael, but was only presented with Elly and Tessik. The dark sorcerer did not leave the husband and wife alive, burning their house down around them.
Despite all of her wishes to rush to her parents, Adelia waited until Juramentado and his lackeys, who unbeknownst to her were shambling undead, left the cottage far behind. By the time she reached her house, the flames were making short work of it, and her parents could not be found. That night, it rained, and the blaze was doused, but it was too late. Adelia spent one last night in the countryside before she left her home behind.
The Streets of Viscosa
Despite Atalatha being a closer city, Adelia fled to the capital city of Viscosa, wary that her family’s murderer might be living in the nearer one. However, once there, she realized that she could lean on no one for help, and for a short while, she scraped for food on the streets, holing up in alleyways for shelter.
An older gentleman who owned a tavern found her in his back alley during one especially rainy evening, and offered her a room. He convinced her to work for him in exchange for food and shelter, and in exchange, she would be his serving girl, and fetch small deliveries for him from the further parts of town.
One night, on her way through the streets, she was accosted by a pair of thugs. With thoughts of her family in her mind, she believed the brigands were out to put an end to her, rather than just steal her belongings. She called on an unexpected innate magical ability, summoning lances of ice before her. The thugs were scared off, but the act was witnessed by the tavern owner, who believed it best for her to move on, and harness her abilities.
The Arcane Arts
Arriving in Forsynthia
Due to Adelia’s actions in Viscosa, word traveled far of her magical talent. Through whispers and clandestine letters, news of her ability reached the desk of Gaston Camlann, a renowned sage who lived in the Daltainian town of Forsynthia. Because she had no prior training, Gaston summoned her to his residence, eager to take her on as an apprentice. Through the act of training her in the arts of the arcane, he discovered that she actually possessed an ability called ancestral recall, which allowed her to summon the abilities and skills of her familial predecessors, most notably that of her grandfather, Balthaszar Kreegan, who was a powerful sorcerer.
In her first few months in Forsynthia, Adelia was trained in several different arts of the arcane, including divination, alchemy and arcane intuition. Eventually, he began to realize that even he didn’t have the complete ability to train her in every aspect of magic, and he began calling on old resources and allies to help shape her into one of Tellest’s most premiere sorceresses.
Continuing Studies
Over the course of several years, Adelia continued to hone her skills. Growing in confidence, she began to outpace several other arcane practitioners she came into contact with. Finally, when Gaston realized that her prowess had indeed surpassed his expectations, he insisted that she continue on and forge her own path.
Comments