Editing Magipunk:Campaigns:Characters (section)

=== Aren Elfblood ===

Aren is one of the rare half-elves who is neither hugely deformed nor mentally impaired.

;Appearance
:Aren is tall and thin, with a head that seems slightly oversized for his body.  His hair grows only patchily, and so he shaves his head.  He walks with a slight limp, as one of his legs is a bit twisted.  He has smallish, pointed ears.  All in all, he's easily recognizable as a goblin, but obviously a better-favored one than most.  He's not particularly attractive, but not hideously ugly.

:Aren tends to be cold most of the time, and dresses warmly because of it, favoring long shirts, a hip-length leather jack, and heavy canvas trousers.  In the winter months, he wears a warm fur hat.  He never tries to conceal his ears or other marks of his heritage.

;History
:Aren has no idea who either parent was.  His earliest memories are of the Elvish Quarter, but he was simply one of a large pack of goblin children in the area.  He grew to be the leader of his little gang simply by virtue of being bigger and stronger than most of the stunted goblins, and he recalls the elves of the time being interested in his growth.  However, Aren is totally unaffected by the elvish empathic abilities, and as he grew, it quickly became apparent that he was an outsider in the Elvish Quarter, unable to understand the quick, silent communications enjoyed by the elves and some goblins.

:Frustration with the elves and an intense curiosity soon had Aren ranging into the human-controlled areas of Atathorn, and as he grew to understand the relations between elves and humans, he grew to hate elves.

:Aren is fiercely intelligent, and he eventually wound up working at a barber-shop.  The owner of the shop, a man named Pul, took a liking to Aren, and taught him the basics of reading and arithmatic, and some simple sorceries.  From these foundations, Aren built an eccentric edifice of scholarship, cadging what lessons he could buy or beg from a variety of experts amused at the impudence of a goblin trying to learn the modern science of sorcery.

:Pul died years ago, the victim of a random mugging, and his shop was seized by his creditors.  Aren is a talented sorcerer, but his heritage guarantees that he'll never command any particular respect or high price in the legitimate world, and so he's taken to offering his expertise to those criminals as are willing to pay for it.  Now in his mid 20's, he's beginning to make a reputation as "That Goblin Sorcerer," one of very few in Atathorn.

;Abilities
:Aren is below human average in terms of stamina and agility, though his manual dexterity is good, and his strength about normal.  He's extremely intelligent and strong-willed, and has roughly normal perceptivity.

:His mundane skills include a fair amount of small-business expertise (he was very capable around Pul's barber shop), a great deal of streetwise ability, and a not insignificant amount of scavenging skills and some stealth abilities left over from his gutter-goblin days (though he's useless at moving quietly due to his limp).  He's never been much of a fighter -- his twisted leg and slightly sickly general health have prevented him from doing much beyond taking a beating now and then.  Magically, he's solid in most fields, and has particular expertise in the healing arts and in divination magic.

:Aren doesn't tattoo himself -- as a sorcerer, he has too much respect for the art of tweaking spells to the latest parameters to wish something lasting on himself.  He usually wears an undershirt with defensive magics spells woven into it, and he sometimes carries a thin metal cudgel that has a stun spell worked on it, though he usually prefers to avoid combat or use impromptu spells to protect himself.  He almost invariably carries a small crystal in which is etched a light spell.  All of his gear remains at Obsolesence 0 or 1 -- he replaces it before it gets too old.  Aren always carries a small metal mirror with him to cast images onto; it is an essential tool for divination magic.