Kalus
Character Background:
Kalus Gorran does not remember much of his parents or where he came from. He was kidnapped by an bugbear raiding party at a young age and eventually sold into slavery as a houseboy to a pair of old witch sisters, an enchantress and an illusionist. The sisters mistreated him and punished him with illusion and enchantment magic. He has claustrophobia, which he developed because they used to trick him into walking into a broom closet and then lock him in and torment him for hours. The sisters made him do all the housework, cook for them and clean up after them. He had to take care of the animals on their farm and hunt game for them. As soon as he was old enough and strong enough to think he could survive on his own, he ran away from the prison they called home.
He ran from village to village until he was found by a kindly old wizard named Jonas who took him in. Jonas saw great magical aptitude in young Kalus. He was too busy with his potion and scroll making shop to take in an apprentice, but knew a good investment when he saw one, so he sent Kalus off to mage school, with the promise that Kalus would come back to work for him after learning to use his power.
In mage school, Kalus excelled in all areas except two. He refused to do illusion or enchantment magic. He views illusionists and enchanters as evil, and thinks that magic that clouds a subject's mind is the worst use of magic. For similar reasons he is distrustful of any older spellcasting woman. He has an immediate dislike and distrust of anyone he sees using illusion or enchantment magic. He will resist having any illusion or enchantment spells cast on him, whether or not they affect him or are beneficial or detrimental to him.
The Story of Kalus:
Sitting in scribing class, Kalus impatiently wondered what mischief was happening up in his room. He remembered the conversation with the dean, the day he was assigned a roommate. "This elf boy we're bunking you with…" He glanced at a roll of parchment, "yes, Ensho. We are a little concerned at his propensity for getting into trouble. A little too curious and not quite cautious enough for his own good. Now, if you would be kind enough to keep an eye open for us, make sure Ensho stays out of trouble, we'd be very grateful."
Kalus thought to himself, "I didn't like the look of that drow boy that Ensho has been wasting his time with. The way they sat over on his bunk whispering and sniggering to each other. What's the big secret? I definitely heard the word 'scroll' a couple of times."
He stuffed his parchments into his case, grabbed his pen and ink, and was out the door mere seconds after class was dismissed. Rushing back to his dormitory, Kalus wondered what he did to deserve being burdened with Ensho. "My life's hard enough and I have enough to worry about without keeping track of that damned elf," he muttered to himself. He was hunched over his case of parchments, trying to keep the rain off them. Finally he made it into the dorm and as he stepped through the door, he almost stepped on Riksa.
"Aww, he's gone and locked you out of our room again, hasn't he?" Kalus said, bending down to scoop up his rat. "I'm so sorry you have to put up with him, Riksa," he said, scratching the rat behind the ears. "I promise I'll put a lock on your pen this week so he can't get to you while I'm out. At least we'll be graduating soon, so he won't be a bother to either of us for much longer."
Kalus stood outside his room and heard the muted voices of Ensho and the drow boy inside. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but they sounded excited. He gripped the doorknob in his hand and slowly turned it, trying hard to keep it from making any noise. He took a deep breath and prepared to burst into the room and give Ensho an earful. He yanked the door open and quickly strode into the room. There were Ensho and the drow hunched over the desk with huge grins on their faces. Kalus shouted "Just what makes you think-" But his words were cut off as the two elves looked up at him in shock, a glowing scroll in both their hands, and everything was suddenly bathed in a flash of blinding white light.
TIME PASSES. . .
Kalus' mind swam in darkness. Memories floated in and out of his perception. He remembered going to sleep hungry in the home of the twins. Hearing them scream about what a waste of money he was. How they could've bought at least two goblin slaves for what they paid for him. Practicing his spells, the mere parlor tricks his untrained mind could perform in his dark, cold, little room. Going out hunting for their food. Doing their chores. Cleaning their mess. And suffering at the hands of their charms and fakery. No matter how hard he worked, how well he did, he was still made to be the target of their magic. Being forced to dance around or to laugh uncontrollably until his sides ached and tears soaked his shirt. Being walked through the cottage on legs that now obeyed the witches. Opening a cupboard door, only to be scared out of his wits by the image of a horrible creature jumping out and through him.
MORE TIME PASSES. . .
Slowly, Kalus regained consciousness. He opened his eyes, but everything was a blur.
"I think this one's coming around," said a blur that sounded old and male. Kalus felt around for Riksa as the blurry shapes started to resolve into the figures of an elderly man, a wizard by the looks of him, and a woman in white. Kalus looked around, finding himself to be laying in a bed in the infirmary. He didn't recognize the figures standing next to his bed, but did recognize the bandaged form of Ensho in the next bed.
"Riksa! Where's Riksa?" Kalus said hurriedly, looking around him.
"Oh my . . . I'm afraid one of your friends didn't pull through," said the old man. Tears sprang into Kalus' eyes. "There's just you and your friend in the next bunk, lad. The drow boy was beyond our help."
"No, no, I don't care about that damned drow. I mean my rat, Riksa" he said, with hope in his voice. The old man's fuzzy eyebrows shot up in response to Kalus' harsh words.
"Oh, yes, yes, lad. Your rat is fine. A bit less furry than before, I'd imagine, but otherwise fine." He gestured to a small padded box on the floor. Kalus saw Riksa's small form breathing steadily under a layer of bandages. "We found the lot of you, yourself, your rat, and the two elven boys in a smoking pile on the school's front lawn. What's your name, lad? I'm afraid none of the other students or faculty recognize you. Are you not students of our school?" The old wizard drew a ledger from inside his voluminous robes and started paging through it.
"Yes, yes, I mean, yes, Sir," said Kalus, at least recognizing the old wizard to be an authority figure. "I'm Kalus, Kalus Gorran. And the elf in the next bed is Ensho Li-Pang. We're roommates in the Farhvel Dormitory. There was an explosion in our room, some sort of accident. But I can't imagine how we ended up all the way out on the lawn!" Kalus looked around the infirmary, noticing the lovely light blue color they had painted it. Much better than the ugly pea green it was when he had been there after that day he got distracted in alchemy class.
"You're roommates in the what?" said the wizard, pausing from looking through the ledger in his hand.
"The old Farhvel Dormitory, Sir. On the west end of the campus."
The old wizard and the nurse exchanged worried glances. He looked back at his ledger for a moment or two and then shut it with a snap. Kalus noticed the word Sathenge in elaborate script on the cover, and wondered what it meant. "I don't know what kind of prank you're trying to pull, young man, but rest assured we'll get to the bottom of it. I'm going to leave you here to think about how you want to answer my questions, but as I'm sure you already know, there is no such building as the Farhvel Dormitory at this or any other school. Nor can I find what you claim are the names of you or your friend on the student roll."
The nurse reached out and put a hand on the old man's arm. He calmed down a bit, then said, "Pranks or not, you've obviously been through an ordeal. You rest here until I come back for you."
With that, the old wizard stood up, whispered something to the nurse and then strode out of the infirmary, with one last look at Kalus over his shoulder. Kalus noted that there were swinging doors in the entrance to the infirmary. Not the regular doors with the big windows in them he remembered. And that nurse, she must be new.
The nurse came back to his bed and applied some salve to the exposed parts of Kalus' skin. "You rest now, laddie. Get your strength back," she said. His eyelids suddenly felt very heavy and he immediately drifted back into sleep, one last thought echoing through his mind . . .
"Oh, what did that damned elf get us into now . . . ", thought Kalus.