Caliban - Black
Details
Full Name: Caliban Black
Race: Siltori (Racial Attribute: Witchborn)
Sex: Male
Age: 90
Height: 6'1
Weight: 196 lbs.
Birthdate: Frost 10, 40th Year in the Age of Steel
Birthplace: Lorien
Profession: Bounty Hunter, Treasure Hunter, Task-doer... whatever pays and doesn't ask too many questions.
Housing: Mobile.
Partners: None.
Titles: None.
Factions: None.
Fluencies: Silvain and Common
Conversationals: None
Ineptitudes: None
Appearance
Caliban "Cal" Black stands surprisingly short for his species at only 6'1 with long silver hair and golden eyes. His skin is pale but not incredibly so but it is worsened a little due to an ever present gloss. Remarkably, Cal's ears are not as pointed as is common with his race but instead the rounded tops appear a little lighter- like a scar that has had a long time to heal. Cal is also a little more hairy than those of his race typically are but no one has been able to determine whether that was a mystical abnormality or a genetic one.
Personality
Caliban was never prickly and brusque because he thought that being of Elven blood made him superior to anyone, he was that way because he didn't like people. Caliban is not the friendliest person in the world. He speaks in short sentences and is fairly straightforward with the majority of people he meets... he's somewhat more conversational with women then men. His aversion to people stems from a deeply cynical belief that if someone could benefit from betraying him, they would. It's a universal view that Cal holds up against everyone he meets. Yet on the off chance that Caliban comes to consider you a friend, you'd be hard pressed to find someone more loyal. Caliban values the genuine connections he makes and as a result he does a lot to maintain them- be it sitting in a play he didn't want to, trying a new food, or doing anything else out of his comfort zone.
History
Life, as Caliban remembers it, began fifteen years ago for him though his body is much, much older than that. His memory begins in a medical center in a town with a name that has faded from his recollection. He'd been robbed, or attacked, and something had hit his head hard enough to wipe out that which had been there before. Prior to that moment he had been a sellsword. He grew up on his own, learned the sword with the help of people who were probably too old to wield one now, and he took to selling his skills with the blade because it was what he was good at- at least, that is what he had been able to piece together in the time since his injury. Caliban moved from the town to Kalzasi shortly after his injuries were completely healed and he spent a good deal of time looking for answers about his past before reluctantly accepting that some things were better left forgotten.
(Under construction)
Then he met Balthazar. Balthazar was the human apprentice of a local mage named Morrigan who had served in the Daravin military for several years before retiring to live in the wealth she'd amassed. Caliban was in a tavern when a drunkard began to pick on the smaller Balthazar. What started as mockery turned to brutality when Balthazar made a comment that was just a little to sharp. When no one else would, Cal stopped the drunk. Caliban and Balthazar talked for a long while after that and a few days later a letter arrived at Syrio's shop from Morrigan's residence summoning Caliban. Syrio seemed upset at the idea but Cal went anyways. When he arrived Morrigan offered to take him on as an apprentice- as a reward for helping Balthazar. Caliban accepted without asking nearly as many questions as he should have.
So more time passed and the days of his indentured service to Syrio came to an end. Caliban performed simple tasks for Morrigan; he cleaned, organized, delivered, and picked up all manner of things for the mage. Meanwhile Balthazar trained with Morrigan. He learned the magics she had to teach him and one day- after Balthazar had told Caliban how excited he was for the next lesson, Balthazar disappeared. Morrigan refused to give Caliban a straight answer as to where Balthazar had gone. Instead she insisted that all that mattered was that he was indeed gone and he would not come back. When Caliban pressed further she insisted that if he had a problem, he could leave and even in his anger Cal was unwilling to give up the potential for magic.
A month later his patience was rewarded. Morrigan confessed that now that Balthazar was gone, she was ready to move forward with Caliban's training. However she claimed that her mistakes with Balthazar had helped her figure out the safest way to go about training Caliban. She promised to inscribe two cardinal runes on his body and said that depending on how well he adapted to the first two, she might decide to inscribe a third. Caliban, not thinking he was in a position to negotiate agreed. The first magic Morrigan deigned to teach Caliban was Mesmer. She thought it would be most important that he have the ability to see into the minds of others and influence them accordingly. In secret, Morrigan had chosen this magic to see if Caliban's mind had the fortitude to withstand an initiation.
When the day came Morrigan tied Cal down to a bed, insisting it was the safest method, and began to tattoo the Rune of Mesmer into his chest. The tattooing was not as bad as what came after. Once the rune was completed, Morrigan dusted her hand over it without warning and a pain like a hot iron piercing his brain wracked Caliban who shriveled against his restraints in pain for a few moments before the pain passed leaving only voices. Cal was certain he could hear the voices whispering to him. Telling him to get out of the bed and to strange Morrigan. She was trying to kill him. This was all some elaborate ruse to kill him. Soon Balthazar would come out from some hidden room and surprise him with a dagger... no that couldn't be it... the voice he heard whispering was Balthazar! She'd trapped Balthazar in Caliban's ear! Cal shouted such accusations at Morrigan for hours before the voices finally subsided and Cal realized it had all been in his head.
Morrigan made an offhand remark that he'd recovered from it much faster than Balthazar but Caliban didn't think too hard on her words in light of having his mind restored. He returned to the forge and worked with Syrio for a few weeks as a paid hand, ignoring Morrigan's letters calling for him. Magic theory was one thing, but having genuinely lost his mind frightened the still young Cal in ways he didn't think it would. One day Syrio began to insist that Cal go see Morrigan and so the apprentice went- because he knew the thoughts were not Syrio's, but Morrigan's own spoken through the blacksmith. Cal knew this because she'd shown him the magic she used to sway minds... and one day he would be able to use it as well. But Morrigan was concerned with creating the perfect mage and in her views the perfect mage did not hold one Cardinal Rune, but six... or seven... or eight... to Morrigan the perfect mage was one who could learn all magic. It was a feat she knew was beyond her own grasp but she aspired to create the mage who did it.
Caliban was to be her masterwork. His unique blood made him more resistant to the process and as a result it made the foolish teacher (Morrigan) too eager. Rather than put Cal back to work doing mundane tasks, she sent him out into the city to discover secrets and return with them. When Cal claimed he wasn't social enough for what she demanded, Morrigan countered that with their magic, he did not need to be social- yet Cal spent several weeks unsuccessfully trying to learn the magic with little guidance from Morrigan who was more focused on perfecting the next Cardinal Rune for Caliban. Morrigan was a learner herself and she didn't want to break her student with faulty inscriptions. She'd promised him two magics, the two she knew best, and when she thought he was ready she would inscribe the second rune.
Roughly a year after inscribing the Rune of Mesmer on her apprentice, Morrigan decided Caliban was ready to bear his next rune. Unfortunately for Morrigan, in the year she spent watching Caliban adapt to the first rune, he'd grown increasingly disillusioned with the process. Cal had begun turning back to the allies he had in the poorer areas because he felt better with them than with the wealthy who surrounded Morrigan. Cal turned from studies of the arcane to studies of swordplay and Syrio was more than glad to help out where he could- but Syrio was better at making swords than swinging them. Yet he was not so disillusioned that he would not accept the gift she was offering him. Cal returned to the mage and she inscribed the rune on his chest, just beside the other.
The Rune of Kinetics was a prison of an entirely different nature than the Rune of Mesmer. Caliban found himself trapped inside his own body all over again only now it felt like a large slab had been placed over him and sand was slowly being poured on top to make it heavier and heavier. The worse part was how slow the pressure seemed to build. Caliban laid flat on the same bed as before for a day and a half as the world around him seemed to try and flatten him. Near the end he just wanted his body to pop- to give way and finally let the pressure be done with- but it still didn't. That was when he realized that there was no pressure at all- that he was a part of the same forces acting on him now and that everything was connected in that way. Caliban emerged successful in the second of what Morrigan hoped would be many more tests.
Unfortunately Morrigan would never get the chance to further test her theories on Caliban. In the near twenty years he served her, Caliban had never gotten so curious as to snoop around. But as he grew more adept with Mesmer Caliban began to feel that Morrigan was hiding something from him. Cal discovered her journal which revealed that Balthazar had not left by choice. Morrigan had spent days convincing him to attempt to receive the third rune she knew how to inscribe, the Rune of Affliction. Balthazar was reluctant, afraid even, but Morrigan used her magic to convince him. Her notes claimed that Balthazar died in the effort. When Cal confronted Morrigan, they argued. When he tried to leave she used her magic to convince him to remain. Caliban didn't notice at first but over a few days he pieced together that she'd manipulated him. He didn't confront her, he didn't yell... one day he just stopped showing up and Morrigan assumed the worst.
Cal left the city and found work transporting caravans across the badlands. He found a lot more use for his sword and mystical powers there than he ever had in the city but perhaps that was because of how sheltered a life he'd lived in the city. As he traveled Cal regressed into his older beliefs that he needed to keep his magic hidden to an extent. He'd use it when he had do but he wouldn't pursue the study of magic over honing his physical skills... that decision lasted him about a year when he first encountered Reaving. The caravan Cal was guarding was attacked by an ill equip group of raiders who's greatest advantage was their leader- a Reaver named Gaston.
The raiders were poorly prepared and killed quickly by Caliban and the other mercenaries that had been hired to protect the caravan, but Gaston was taken alive. One of the other mercenaries claimed that Gaston had a large bounty on his head and was worth more alive than he was dead so the group had consented to drag Gaston along. That same merc kept Gaston's hands and feet bound together and literally dragged him behind their horse for the following day. That night, Caliban was presented with a unique opportunity. Caliban was instructed to watch Gaston for the first shift of the night and when the others were fast asleep, Gaston made Cal and offer he was too young and dumb to refuse.
It was a wager; Caliban's sword skills against Gaston's. If Gaston won, he would be free and Cal would be dead. If Cal won, Gaston would let Cal bring him in and Cal would have been initiated into Reaving. Cal was skeptical of the man but his Mesmer magic helped him determine that Gaston was being truthful. So he cut Gaston's ropes and lead him a little bit away from the rest of the group to begin to process. Caliban and Gaston exchanged swords so that Gaston could begin to inscribe the rune. Caliban didn't trust Gaston to inscribe it on his chest- the raider would only have to push hard suddenly and he'd be at Cal's heart- so instead Cal had Gaston carve the rune into his right forearm. Even that felt risky but Gaston put a level of focus and attention into carving the rune that Caliban hadn't been expecting... even if it hurt like hell to have it carved in.
When the artwork was done, the two men exchanged blades again and walked a few paces apart. Then the true initiation began. All anyone knows of the battle that followed was the aftermath that was seen. Caliban refused to discuss the duel itself. The mercenaries and caravan of travelers were all woken in the middle of the night by a sudden rain of sand and a loud thump.
The braver mercenaries wandered from camp to find the source of the noise and when they arrived they found Caliban with an arrow protruding from his shoulder. Moving lower, he had two gashes across his chest and across his stomach... two on his back... two on his right thigh... one on his left... various cuts on his arms too. His ears that had been pointed for a long time had had their tips rounded by an enemy blade. Caliban was left in tatters but it was Gaston who was left in pieces. Gaston's body was in a slump on the ground in front of Cal and his head was a few dozen feet away. On his neck there was a clear portion that had been cut by a blade and then a portion that seemed as if it had been ripped off by force... or some force.
Needless to say the mercenaries were not happy but Cal was able to cover for himself by pretending Gaston had escaped. No one needed to know the truth. That was ten years ago and Caliban has remained on the move since. These days he roams the badlands looking for work with no real home to speak of. He's refused to settle down out of a refusal to be uprooted again.
