Panator Avas

Luck of the Desert

Panator Avas was a Detser Gnome, known best for his use of Luck Magic.

History

Panator Avas was born in an unmapped Gnomish settlement deep in the Uncharted Desert. It is said that at an early age, he was taken in by priests of Sia, when his parents had been lost to the desert. Panator later commented on the loss of his parents:

"I do not know their fates. Perhaps they live still, deep in the Uncharted reaches of my homeland. Perhaps their bones lie buried beneath the sand. I know not. But if I can bring luck to the people of this desert, I can ensure that no child suffers my same pain."

— Panator Avas

Panator was raised by the Priests to understand that all of life was laid out before him. They would tell him he was prophecied to stay at their temple, and used this prophecy to comfort him on the loss of his parents. Saying that they were meant to die.
Panator didn't like this much. It wasn't very comforting to hear that your parents were meant to die and leave you alone. So he dedicated himself to preventing this.

Luck of the Desert

After he reached the age of 21, Panator traveled around the desert for twenty years. He guided people and gave directions so that they may not get lost. Many began to call him the "Luck of the Desert" as, without him, they would have gotten lost and likely died. They were lucky, then to stumble upon him.

Young Fepar Tilrak by Jarhed

Panator had denounced the Temple of Sia, though he still fiercely worshipped the Goddess. He hated the organization, blaming it for his parents deaths. If they knew what was going to happen, Panator believed that they should have stopped it.
For this, however, he failed. In guiding people through the desert, he would not suggest the Temple of Sia as a place of rest.
Due to this, many died trying to get further distances when the Temple of Sia would have been more convenient.

Talk of Items

Panator Avas began living in Lebalos, where he met up with a woman named Ildid Alidorim. Ildid, alongside her boyfriend Fepar Tilrak, appreciated Panator's actions of aid to the people of the desert.

Good Deeds

Panator Avas was said to spread good luck around. With this, many good deeds were attributed to him without him having any need to do anything.
Many say that children trapped in burning buildings would find a piece of the roof collapsing, putting out the flames in a small path to allow them an exit. Cats stuck in trees would jump right into their owners arms, and rain would avoid the places he traveled.
Gifts he gave often carried his luck for a time. He once gifted a young teenage boy a rose, alongside advice on how to woo the man of his dreams. The boy succeeded in courting his peer, and their fruitful relationship was all thanks to Panator's luck.
This luck, however, ran out upon his death. Those gifts carried no further magic, and the luck was all dried up.

Life

444 ME 533 ME 89 years old

Birthplace

Uncharted Desert

Belief/Deity

Sia

Fepar Tilrak was known as the Guardian of Peace, a part of the Mage Trio that spread justice through the world and kept the people safe from powerful evils. Ildid, meanwhile, was the Chief Successor for the Bard village of Ealla.

Ildid Tilrak by Jarhed

Ealla and Lebalos were near each other, but had a rivalry. Ildid, however, cared little for the rivalry because she appreciated Panator trying to help save families.
She warned Panator of something. She did not believe he knew anyone with Item Magic, but she had heard from Fepar that there was a man going around the world killing Item Mages and stealing their Items. A Goblin Lord named Sliq Monion.
Sliq was gathering a group of Goblins known as Monions and having them carry out covert operations to assassinate Item Mages. Ildid warned Panator that there was a man who needed protection from the Monions, and that while she couldn't do it, Panator could.

Luck and Dreams

Panator went to Alzirgos, to the Pantheon of Ishtar, where he found the Priest Photios Calotis. Photios was, at the time Panator got there, 106 years old. Yet he held onto his life, even bedridden.
Panator protected Photios from attackers, though no Monion group ever came to the Temple.
Some say Sliq Monion's next target, after Grand Wizard Crordoth Narakas, was meant to be Photios. Others say he just was waiting for Photios to die.
Whatever the reason, Panator found Photios to be helpful in teaching him what it meant to be faithful. He used Dream Magic to show Photios his inner insecurities, why exactly Panator didn't believe in the prophecies of Sia despite believing in Sia. Panator learned that there was a plan for the world, and that Sia could guide him to that plan.

Sliq Monion by Yumedatchi

On the 20th day of the Month of Defeat, 498, Photios Calotis died. He passed peacefully in his bed surrounded by the dreaming followers of Ishtar. On his deathbed, he told Panator to follow the trail to Sia. That he would know the path, for it was already laid out by the prophecy.
Panator pondered taking the Pillow for himself, becoming the Dream Mage. Yet he feared Sliq Monion and his group of assassins. He waited, unsure what to do... until a few hours had passed. He had resolved himself to taking the Item, when Fepar Tilrak arrived in Alzirgos with lightning speed.
Fepar informed Panator that the Monions had killed Sliq Monion, and that he was now helping to spread the Items around the world. He had a gift for Panator: the d20 of Luck Magic.
Panator was given a choice: Dream Magic or Luck Magic. Few people ever behold a single Item Magic, yet Panator was able to pick between two.

The Luck Mage

Ultimately, he knew the right answer. He was the Luck of the Desert, and he had a path to follow. He picked up the dice, taking Luck Magic, then wrapping up the pillow and traveling to the Temple of Sia.
Panator entered the Temple of Sia, placing the Pillow of Ishtar on her altar. He knew that this was what Photios meant. This was the place the prophecy was leading him.
Sia informed him that this was a formative moment for the future of Luck Magic. His future, and the future that would follow. He knew not what it meant, and still he struggled to accept this idea of everything being laid out before him.
Some few years later, he met the man who gained Dream Magic: a human soldier named Vesir Susk. Vesir came to thank Panator, but Panator told him he didn't really have any intentions behind it. He had adopted a new mindset.

"It wasn't much. Just luck."

— Panator Avas

This became Panator's mantra as he continued on, helping people out for about 35 years after getting his Item Magic. He traveled the desert, trying to prevent people from losing their families as he did. He became famed as a man who brought good luck to all around him, almost like a wave that followed behind Panator Avas. Where he went, good fortune came for the ride.

The Gauntlet of Yirthum

Panator was sent a letter of challenge in the year 533, by a man named Kicad Bavul. Kicad was the Village Chief of Yirthum and had known Fepar Tilrak.
Kicad's letter told of a gauntlet of games which he believed he could beat Panator at. The game they played would be deadly, and the winner would secure a great prize. For Panator, he could get a sentient, flying Magic Carpet to traverse the desert with ease. However, if Panator lost, Kicad would take his Luck Magic.

Kicad Bavul by Jarhed

Panator accepted the challenge, traveling to Yirthum. It is said that the people of Yirthum felt a revolutionary spirit that day, and that some rose up in a successful attack on the Elves that ruled over them. No consequences were faced for this, another stroke of good luck from Panator.
Yet his luck was particularly for others rather than himself. In these games, his luck benefited Kicad, making Panator himself fail by helping the Chief of Yirthum.
Panator was asked to place his die on a pedestal so that it watched over them for the games, and then, Kicad set out the first of the gauntlet's challenges.

Game One

The first game was a large roulette wheel, where Kicad had painted the balls to represent the both of them. They did not get point values in them, but instead when each person succeeded on the roulette wheel, it would represent a body part of the opponent. Then, that body part would be enchanted, and it could not be used until the gauntlet was over.
Kicad lost the use of his eyes, while Panator lost his left arm and both legs to the game's enchantment. However, Kicad trusted that he could deal with it without his eyes. He would rely entirely on luck. Panator's Luck.

Game Two

The next game of the gauntlet was one where quick thinking and quick action was needed. The pieces on a board were allotted at random thanks to an enchantment. It was a strategy game, where one side was black and the other white.
Players had to take out their opponents pieces, but could only move as adhering to the spaces. On their own color, they could move two spaces and jump to opposing pieces two spaces away. On the opposing color, this was limited to one space. However, the trick is that the spaces were randomly colored, and so it was unpredictable.
One had to act fast, as an hourglass counted down thirty seconds. Without legs and with only one arm, Panator struggled to do his moves in thirty seconds. Kicad Bavul, using lightning speed and trusting his luck to do the right thing, was able to easily complete his turns and beat Panator in the second game. While there was no physical toll, Panator's will was crushed in this game.

Game Three

The final game was a simple game of chance. A bottle on the ground would spin thanks to a wind enchantment on it. It would then land on one of the players. Whomever it landed on was shocked with deadly blasts of electricity. Whoever lasted the longest won, though it was down to luck whether it even spun to you.
Kicad, however, was a Blue Draconian, and a Lightning mage as well. He was resistant to the lightning of the bottle. Still, he was shocked more than Panator was, surviving not only off of his resistance, but also his resilience, his willpower, and a bit of luck.
Panator was not as lucky. All of his luck had gone to protecting Kicad and keeping him safe, as Panator always wanted to spread his luck. He fell to his knees after five shocks, compared to the ten endured by Kicad. Panator felt the life fleeing from his body and death approaching.

Death and Influence

As he looked to Kicad Bavul and saw Kicad smiling, tipping his hat and taking a bow, Panator realized this was the future Sia saw for him. The good luck he'd bring to people, the smiles... they always ended here.
His final words were said to be:

"Strange... to think in the end, the thing that brings me comfort is what I hated most. I was always going to die here... and that's fine by me."

— Panator Avas

Kicad Bavul kept the die on the pedestal, waiting for someone he could give it to. Ultimately, it went to his intern Vodron Susk, whose fate had been intertwined with Panator since his father, Vesir, gained Dream Magic from Panator.
Kicad also kept in his heart the words of Panator, what he said in the end, and how he went out without regret. Kicad took this and turned it into his own ideal. A dream of a flashy death.