Athmyr
"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." — Lao Tzu
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Contents
Origin (Character History up to First Event)[edit]
The Wastes of Amiron in Dyllaria are known as harsh and barren land. Athmyr was introduced to that land at a very young age, and to the Biata tribes there that are every bit as harsh. Captured in a Barbarian raid at the young age of 23, Athmyr was sold to one of the matriarchal Biata tribes in the wastes. All things considered his fate was far better than it could have been. He was not a slave; he was merely a male.
Athmyr was wearing a necklace with a large tooth when he was purchased by the Biata tribe. This necklace was taken by his adoptive household and kept by its matriarch.
Athmyr spent the rest of his childhood as a servant of one of the tribal households, working as a farmer and general laborer. The Great Celestial Change which triggered the gryphonlike characteristics in the Biata had a destabilizing effect on the tribe. Multiple matriarchs began to compete for power, a struggle that was ultimately won by a young Biata named Tiknay Rehtaef. Tiknay, however - being an extremely liberal Biata - refused to kill her defeated predecessor, and instead chose to leave to begin her own tribe. She was given two males from her household, Athmyr and another named Liato, as the first members of her harem.
Athmyr greatly resented this reassignment. He was a quiet and introverted male who preferred solitude and security and enjoyed his domestic role. He did not feel males should be assuming female roles of hunting and fighting and had no interest in living as an adventurer. This resentment was greatly enhanced when Liato, his fellow mate and lifelong friend, was killed in a battle in the woods. Tiknay believed both of them dead and moved on. Athmyr was later found and taken in by an anti-Necromancy group called the Nightblades. For a year he was merely their camp cook, but he was later inducted under the name of Rapieryo.
Athmyr's work for the Blood Ravens repeatedly brought him into towns and villages, eventually reuniting him by accident with Tiknay. Athmyr gladly rejoined Tiknay's service, but greatly mourned that Liato was not there to join him. Tiknay attempted to soften this blow by returning to Athmyr the necklace that he wore when he was bought as a child. He has worn it ever since, and it has occasionally displayed various different magical powers.
Athmyr the Adventurer[edit]
Despite the fact that he had no interest in hunting and scouting, he took to it remarkably fast, being a naturally quiet person. His interest in plants quickly translated into a skill in alchemy. Within a few years he was capable as more than just a mate.
And he hated it. Tiknay had encouraged him to be more independent, a skill he utilized when he told her that if she would not dominate him like a proper female than he should be given to a Biata who would. Tiknay released him to search for such a female. Athmyr promptly returned to the wastes and was promptly collared and put back to work in the fields. Athmyr found that while Tiknay's liberation was not to his liking, neither was his previous life as a completely subservient male where his new skills were neither appreciated nor utilized. He snuck out of the Biata camp and returned to life as an adventurer, although it took over a year to find Tiknay again. When he finally did, he discovered she had birthed a litter with his fellow mate Quinn, a penguin scavenger. Athmyr gladly took on the role of a father and mostly retired from adventuring.
The Mydian Valley[edit]
Shortly after reuniting with Tiknay, the entire harem decided to move out of Dyllaria. The original destination was Evandarr, but their caravan was sidetracked and they ended up in Mydia, a territory only recently discovered due to the opening of a pass. There they encountered the Blood Ravens, a community of Biata that adopted Tiknay's harem.
Tensions between the Tiknay harem and the Blood Ravens began almost immediately. The Blood Ravens did not share in Tiknay's matriarchy (few do) and though Tiknay was liberal for an Amironian Biata, her ideas of equality caused social discord among the Blood Raven women. Athmyr had strong concerns about the Blood Ravens' wereraven abilities, which he feared were due to unnatural magics.
This tension subsided with the rise of a greater threat. One of the leaders of a colony of scavenger ex-slaves had frequent disagreements with the Blood Raven leader over issues of slavery. This disagreement was escalated considerably when the colony mayor, an aging and possibly demented man named Camon Bonewright, directly threatened the Blood Raven community, including women and children. The Blood Ravens prepared for war, and when it did not come to them, they seized the Bonewright Colony directly, taking its leaders and turning them over to the new Mydian Council.
Secret Origin[edit]
NOTE: The following is secret knowledge that should only by known by Plot and characters who have discovered it through Athmyr or Plot. If you can't keep it OOG, don't read it.
You must highlight the following text to read it.
Athmyr's actual birth occurred during a war between the Barbarians and the Biata that was at its fiercest and most violent in what is present day Dyllaria. Both the Biata and the Barbarians had called great magical creatures to their sides as proxies, and battles grew so destructive as to level entire mountains in the northwest, creating the flat and fertile lands that exist today.
Au Mir was born in a small Biata village on the eastern end of this conflict, his mother a simple potter and his father a fletcher. The village was led by a wise elder of 900 years named Au Tzu who was gifted in many different exotic arts, including the study of Earth Magic. Au Tzu had been a close advisor to the generals leading the Biata armies, but when the Biata were pushed back to the eastern mountains, the generals abandoned Au Tzu and his village to retreat over the mountains. Au Tzu knew his entire village was doomed and his people would have nowhere to flee. Rather than accept death, however, he prepared a ritual whereby the children would be saved. They would be put in a magical stasis, their minds wiped of all memories of their previous life, in the hopes that they would be awakened in a more peaceful future time. Au Mir's mother kissed him goodbye and placed a family heirloom necklace around his neck. The necklace bore what looked like a tooth but was actually the claw of a baby gryphon. Au Mir then went to sleep with a handful of other children.
These children slept for hundreds of years until discovered in their underground sanctuary by Drae. The children had vague memories of growing up in a village but could not identify its location or their parents. Not that it mattered to the Drae, who promptly put them in chains and sold them to nearby biata tribes. The Drae had slightly mispronounced Au Mir as "Aay-thmeer" which is what he came to be called.
Basic Personality Profile[edit]
Athmyr is extremely mild mannered and well-tempered, but this conceals a very rigid sense of purpose. Athmyr is submissive because he chooses to be, not because he has to be. And his place in society is not the only thing about which he is unbending.
No memory can ever be completely wiped away, and somewhere deep down Athmyr remembers the damage that magic and magical creatures caused to his his childhood lands. Athmyr distrusts necromancy. Truth be told, Athmyr distrusts all magic, but is too pragmatic to conduct a vocal campaign against it. But when possible and legal he will act to restrict its use, prioritizing necromancy first, chaos magic in general second, celestial magic third, and lastly earth magic.
