Editing The Sheltered Hand: Character 4 (section)

==Backstory==
Caledon was born to an Acalani family which emigrated to Faram when he was small. He left Faram as a teen-ager, though, to strike his own path of discovery. He moved around, settling briefly in a number of places with loci of knowledge, or rumours of secrets. He found his way to the Trabahl Academi of mages in Acalon (though the Academy has branches in several nations). There he met Joran Hansar - and the two did not get along at all. Caledon left the Academi on a sour note, and continued to pursue his own affairs. He joined the Guild of Carran to help support his lifestyle.

Caledon is a tall, pale, gaunt man with shadowed eyes and a wiry build from his long travels as an itinerant sage and natural philosopher. Though an academic, his long travels have left him still with skill in armour and weapons, and his strange experiences and undying oaths have filled him with other powers, besides. His study of wizardly ritual magic is but one of his obsessions.

He is typically swathed in tattered dark robes with strange ornaments, which almost hide a superlative steel breastplate. At his hip is a thin blade like an oversized stiletto - the Key of Stars, which glimmers whitely and glows when drawn in darkness.

Sadly, Caledon's promise as a youth was thwarted - some would say - and his obsessive travel and studies have left him... distracted. He is a powerful personality. When in the throes of one of his obsessions his eyes have the intense look of the demagogue; and his rants have spawned more than one more delver into the shadows from those listening.

Ten years ago. Caledon, already a pale and strange seeker of the occult, is travelling on the search for lore. He arrives with great excitement at the bungalow of Tranzius, a sage famous in rarefied academic circles for their expertise in the paths of the stars through the heavens. Another young man is leaving, in enough of a rush that he collides with Caledon as he comes out of the front door; the stranger spares only a haughty look before hurrying away. Caledon swallows his anger - he's looking forward to the consultation with the sage. But Tranzius will not meet him, only flinging imprecations from behind a firmly closed front door. Whatever transpired between Tranzius and that other man soured the sage on receiving any other visitors. Caledon is turned away without the consultation he desperately wanted.

Five years later. Caledon meets that man again, at the Academy, and learns his name. They are aspiring students for the same intake. Would-be students, having passed an aptitude test, must undertake a week-long residential assessment, and only a handful are admitted. Caledon's wild theories about the turning wheels under the skin of the universe are poorly received by the faculty at first, but it is Hansar that leads the student cohort's contempt. Caledon is remains convinced that he could have made them all see reason if Joran hadn't interfered - and in that, Caledon is probably right. Hansar doesn't recognise Caledon from the encounter at the house of Tranzius, but Caledon remembers. Hansar's more orthodox magical theory, obsession with status, and cruel demeanor only help cement Caledon's hatred. This week is when Caledon learns the most about Joran Hansar's personal life. Caledon is not admitted to the Academy.