Rizali Corvus
 Official portrait, Adept-Illusionist Rizali - AE549. | |
| Demographics | |
|---|---|
| Controlled by: | Kyrie |
| Species: | High Elf |
| Born: | Astral Era Year 513 |
| (94 years) | |
| Nationality: |  Elahánan |
| Political Affiliation: | Inverted Spire |
| Items and Abilities | |
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Rizali Corvus is an illusion mage who arrived in Ceadaichte Mòir escorting the seasonal traders' cart in the spring of AE607 with Kaegan and Lyndh. They arrived prepared to journey through Kingfisher Forest and attempting to recruit any interested local villagers to their cause. While attending The Inverted Spire, they had stumbled upon ancient journals and documents that implied an eternal empire existed on the far side of the forest. Corvus's interests were in expanded knowledge of magic, as the residents of the eternal empire were said to be unparalleled in their arcane mastery.
Biography
Early Life
Rizali was born in AE513 to the House of Air in the Elahána Forest, a High Elven kingdom bordering the Republic of Ustendelle to its east. By the time of their birth, the House of Air had fallen from favour and hadn't held the throne in centuries. The House of Fire had held the throne for three generations in a row, something that would have been unheard of in the early days of the kingdom, and the Anticipation of Water was rumoured to be next in line. The House of Air wouldn't be in a position to seat the throne for another five generations at least. Despite this lack of prestige, their childhood and adolescence were still privileged, as even a distant branch of the ruling family held a fair amount of money and connections.
Rizali, or "Riza", was the third child to Arlassan Corvus, himself the second son to the head of the family, Feylhen. The estate for the House of Air took up one quadrant of the Royal Quarter in the capital and contained homes and security for the main branch of the House. The Houses of Air and Water historically had the most children and, as such, Riza was constantly surrounded by family members while growing up. They were a particularly frail and sickly child and spent a lot of time in their room while growing up, reading and practising magic with a family-procured tutor. They entertained themself with light shows, bursts of different colours and sounds, and sneaking around the estate at night while blending into the shadows. At the age of twelve, Rizali approached the head of the family to request an official recommendation to the premier magical academy in the region, The Inverted Spire, and was granted their wish.
Acceptance to The Inverted Spire
Rizali emigrated to Ustendelle shortly after their 13th birthday in AE526, arriving in Coxarif via private carriage with their mother Brithari. Their earliest days in the Ustendellen capital aren't well-documented outside a few official documents noting a member of the Elahánan royal family had arrived in the country and would be staying indefinitely, as well as their enrollment documents at the magic academy.
Their Apprentice training was under the Adept-Elemental Mage Caoimhin Wælisc, a human from the northwestern reaches of Ustendelle. Wælisc encouraged the young elf to explore Coxarif when outside of class, which coaxed out of the apprentice an interest in eavesdropping and socialising that would follow them their entire life. Once they entered adulthood, Rizali could be seen in taverns across the city, sharing stories of old Elahána and its secrets, and listening intently to any stories of human culture and history. It was during this period Rizali learned that there was prejudice against elves, particularly in western Ustendelle. After a run-in with a pair of drunk westerners in 536, they began wearing a hood in public to hide their ears.
Rizali was an avid reader and spent most of their time early on in the library's apprentice section, soaking up knowledge of magical history and ancient spellcraft. In group classes, they were often disliked or resented for their ability to answer most questions even when the subject hadn't yet been covered and an incorrigible nature that desired the approval of whichever Adept-Mage was teaching that particular subject. In an academic newsletter interview after attaining Adept status themself, Rizali is quoted as saying that they were "pretty terrible with people" at that time and expressed regret for the friendships they could have but weren't able to make.
Adept-Elemental Wælisc also noted Rizali's interest in specialising in Illusion magic and encouraged the elf to grow into the role. In 537, Rizali was allowed to take the placement test for the Illusory Specialisation track and was accepted as a Journeyman into the program.
Illusion Magic Training
Upon entering Journeyman-level training, Rizali was moved to the Illusion school within the Spire and given a private dormitory. They spent most of their time in the library, reading books previously restricted to them and discovering a preference for ancient magic forms and alternate weaves. Journeyman-level mages were allowed access to studies on magic practised by other cultures, including the elves, as well as the magical histories of those cultures. Despite coming from Elahána, Rizali had only been taught modern elven spellweaving techniques, and was only just exposed to their own history for the first time.
Rizali flourished under the new curriculum, more focused on classroom and private study than one-on-one tutoring with occasional classes. It was early on in their studies that Rizali met Master-level mage Landry Carglowyn, who greeted them upon their arrival and oversaw the department. Though cycled out of the Illusion department three weeks after Rizali's arrival, Master Carglowyn's presence left an impression upon the elf. They had been a dutiful student up to this point, but entry into the specialisation track marked a turning point in the effort they put into their schoolwork. Through this extended effort, Rizali began qualifying for advancement faster than some of the students that had been previously their academic betters.
In the 800 years since the specialisation track had been introduced, Inverted Spire professors and other students had been raising complaints of pranks and jokes committed by Illusion students. Within the culture of the Illusion school, however, these activities and forays were often written off as out-of-class practice, and more likely to be complimented than punished. Seeing some of their peers recognised for such events, Rizali began formulating their own raids. Between AE538 and 545, there are at least eight recorded instances of pranks committed by the elf. Nearly every expedition centred around Rizali's early mastery of Shadow-Step, a spell they'd picked up much faster than the average mage. One of the more notable events came shortly before Rizali tested for Mage-level certification, in which Rizali utilised several high-level Illusion spells to invade the Enchanter school, set up a tripwire spell in their vault, and move their most valuable items to the Master-level overseer's office without being noticed.
Upon becoming certified for Mage-level training in AE546, Rizali disappeared from their previous social life in Coxarif. They befriended multiple Master-level mages by discussing ancient magic practices they had found in their studies. Training for Mage- and Adept-levels was entirely freeform, and after spending three years in each level the certification test for the next could be attempted. Through their uncommon studying practices and confidence in approaching Masters, Rizali was growing in knowledge and power substantially. This wasn't entirely uncommon for elves, but notable enough to be recognised by the upper echelon of the Illusion school. They tested for and attained Adept-level in 549, gaining access to all but the most exclusive library floors.
Yotogd'zhotl
Shortly after becoming a Journeyman, Rizali came across a plain leather journal written by a Journeyman Conjurer named Cottia Rhydderch. The author was Prikothan, and occasional references to her homeland suggested the journal was more than 1000 years old. Cottia had been mapping out the stars for an assignment as an Apprentice when she found a strange recurrence of flickering starlight. According to the journal, she observed it for twenty years before understanding it to be a pattern repeating every thirty minutes.
Within months of understanding the existence of a pattern, a portion of the code unravelled for her. Using her new understanding of that portion of the code, Cottia was able to decode the rest. She wrote the message in its entirety, revealing a warning about a being named Yotogd'zhotl, an ancient god of submission, torture, and trickery. This civilisation, powerful enough to send messages through starlight, was powerless in its wake of this force. Once awakened, he tore through their civilisation world by world until nothing remained. Newly armed with this knowledge, Cottia returned to the telescope and saw a new message: "Speak my name," and despite knowing it was a mistake, she did so. Upon speaking the name of Yotogd'zhotl, the stars flashing the message died. An entire quadrant of space had gone black through her scope. This terrified her enough that she stopped writing in the journal with the story already conveyed.
Rizali attempted to follow up by finding more information on the subject, but there was very little to see. Contemporary accounts of Cottia Rhydderch noted how this strange conjurer had spent half her life studying the stars, only to one day put down her telescope and never again speak of what she had found, even throwing her journal into the pit surrounding the Spire. Her power grew exponentially as she renewed effort into her studies, but it couldn't last, as she disappeared from the Spire approximately one lunar cycle after discarding her journal. Searches were sent out across the city, and the Masters came down to track her magical signature, but she had simply disappeared. It was another dead-end after they'd already hit a dead-end in Cottia's journal. With no more options available to them, Rizali spoke the forbidden name.
Rizali did their best to continue life as normal, but strange events began happening around them. They documented everything that began happening to them, first in the libraries, where they began seeing messages spread among the titles of different books. They found themself beginning to be pulled into nightmares of an impossible city with buildings and pyramids so tall that they pierced the heavens, lit by some unseen magic weave. Ships with sails of light being hurriedly loaded with crates before fleeing into the clouds. And constantly, a discordant choir heralding the elder god's approach.
Rizali began experimenting with ancient occult rituals they had found in the historical study books, attempting to establish some sort of connection between themself and the elder one, and was rewarded with temporary reprieves from the horrifying events that had plagued them. Eventually, armed with another journal by a pre-Spire occult mage, they attempted a protection ritual, unique in that it required a sacrifice to blind the caster's existence to any target of their choosing, even gods. Rizali has never spoken on the sacrifice they used but experienced no signs of being hunted after that point.
After escaping the notice of Yotogd'zhotl, Rizali began experimenting with the connection they'd established. Through lucid dreaming techniques, they were able to walk the streets of The Impossible City, as well as find "tomes" of imparted knowledge from the realm of the elder one and the lost starfaring civilisations it destroyed. They learned of things that shouldn't exist, and ways of weaving spells entirely unique to the collective knowledge of the Spire, creating those weaves through newly-siphoned power.
Journey to the Endless Empire
Rizali attained Master-level in 604 and immediately began pouring through the final secrets of the Spire's library. By this point, they were a respected researcher and instructor and were left mostly to their own devices searching through the texts. In the oldest texts, they found inferences to- and passages entirely about- a seemingly endless empire to the west of Kingfisher Forest. The mages of this empire were supposed to be incredibly advanced, so far beyond the eastern mages that they were regarded as divine. Though they had mentally committed to staying at The Inverted Spire for the rest of their life, Rizali wanted to learn more.
They began putting together an expedition, first reading as much about the Forest as they could find, then hiring Lyndh as a bodyguard. Once the winter passed into the spring of AE607, the pair left Coxarif with a trade caravan bound for Ceadaichte Mòir, a small hamlet on the western edge of Ustendelle, bordering the Forest.
Appearance
Without magical augmentations, Rizali is an androgynous elf with blue eyes and white hair that reaches slightly past their shoulders. As a child, they were sickly, and so often went without having the appetite to eat. This continued into adulthood where, even though they were ill significantly less frequently, they would still often forget to eat or get too wound up in an activity to step away. Their skin is porcelain-white, and blue patterns appear on their forehead, around their eyes, and on various parts of their body, attributes that are not common even among elves.
They are 157cm tall, short for a human, let alone an elf. Their height has often led to staring or ridicule among their own kind, though Rizali’s family is commonly slightly below average in height. Their ears are slightly longer and thinner than what is average for an elf, and thin to the point of almost appearing translucent at the tips. They have near-perfect posture, standing as straight up as possible and head high, belying an inner confidence. They have freckles, dark grey against the white of their skin, that dot their nose, under their eyes, and their forehead.
Rizali prefers to wear their robes over multiple layers, which serves to keep their naturally-cold form warmer, hide the more nuanced movements within their weaves, and also to further androgynise them. Usually they’ll wear a tighter inner layer, then a slightly looser outer layer of clothing. This is because their mage robes are fairly open in the front, hanging around the arms and shoulders but revealing the sternum and upper midriff area, only coming together at the waist with a heavy cloth belt, then hanging in strips around the legs. A heavy hood can be pulled over their head during rituals or in situations where anonymity is valued, but otherwise the robes aren’t the best at concealing form. When heavy robes aren’t necessary, like in the tower, they’ll often take measures to conceal before wearing a semi-loose taupe brocade with a high collar and flat front, loose trousers of the same colour, and comfortable flats.
Fae Inheritences
Illusory Glamours
As Rizali is detached from the general idea of gender, identifying as neither male nor female, they are comfortable appearing in whatever way is most useful. This has assisted them with hiding the more obvious aspects of their ancestry and dealing with citizens of Coxarif on a day-to-day basis. Due to their inherent gift to produce long-weave glamours, they can maintain a physical appearance with a single spell for a day without needing to refresh it.
Being a theatrical person in general, Rizali has taken this ability to a perhaps strange extent and created characters for their various appearances. Within those characters, Rizali fully identifies by that appearance’s pronouns and has established a personality to fit their own imagined background. Except in very rare circumstances where secrecy is needed above all else, Rizali still introduces themself by their given name no matter how they are appearing, utilising the special status of being born with a common, yet gender neutral, elven name. Over the years, Rizali has become more attached to two particular characters beyond any others, and cut down to using those two exclusively whenever needing to appear as male or female in public.
Their male persona is slightly over the average height for a male elf, somewhere in the vicinity of 188cm. He has silver-blond hair cropped short over a traditional forehead tattoo for merchant families in Coxarif. He has a strong chin, full jawline, and gray eyes. He is brash, incredibly social, and makes a joke of everything, but can hold in this nature for a short time if he needs to make a genuine appeal to someone. Their female persona is approximately 177cm, right in the average height for a high elven woman. She has blonde hair that reaches slightly past her shoulders, bright green eyes, and strong features. She has thick, shaped eyebrows, freckles splayed across her nose and under her eyes and pronounced cheekbones. She is more soft-spoken and strategic, shaping events through speaking to the right person at the right time, and conversationally cautious. She is quiet around new people and can take time to get to know them, but brightens once she considers someone a friend.
Abilities
Illusion Magic
Charisma
Patron Gifts
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