Appearance

Physical Description

Rather lanky for a Centaur, and not particularly tall.

Body Features

As a Centaur, his lower half is akin to that of a horse, though on a smaller scale.

Facial Features

He has very expressive features, and eyebrows often scrunched from a life-time of frowns and glaring.

Identifying Characteristics

A small scar on his right jawline, and a nick in his right ear.

Physical quirks

He's skittish, always shifting his stance and his position so that he keeps track of the whole room he's in.

Apparel & Accessories

A heavy overcoat that drapes over where his back curves, and a belt under it with holsters for several wands. A pack secured over the skirts that cover his horse half.

Special abilities

An expert in Abjuration arcane magic, a knowledgeable-if-disreputable Historian and Archeologist,

Mentality

Personal history

Pnackeles was born the son of immigrants to Vodacce many years before the Civil War. From an early age he showed significant talent for magic and the arcane, learning much from his parents who had some Talent for the Arts, though little in the way of wealth or reputation that might let them rise from the lower classes. Their foreigner background, and no little amount of racial otherness as centaurs, relegated the family to a poor working-class status, eking out a humble living in a hamlet on Isolaisle Island. 

Determined to make a name for himself he left his home and set out to the mainland as a young adult, with little to his name but the humble amount of Wizardry that his parents were able to teach and no small amount of natural talent. He traveled to Tarquinia, a smaller city on the west side of the Giovenale Mountains, hoping that he could find enough work that he could scrape together greater resources and tomes to expand his knowledge. This worked for a little while, and it was because others learned that he was interested in learning abjuration that he was approached with a job offer. Agents of Antonio Moretti, a lesser Noble of the area, offered him a short job at a villa outside of the city, doing a renovation-work on the estate. In addition to pay, he'd be granted access to the estate's library. 

This proved to be Pnakeles's first great struggle and adventure, as it turned out to be a trick and trap. While laboring at the remote and largely condemned estate, he discovered that the villa was actually haunted, and that his would-be employer had lured him and trapped him within as a sacrifice to the beings that plagued the estate to appease them for his own gain. It was only through the wildest strokes of luck and grit that Pnackeles was able to fight for survival long enough to discover spells to keep them at bay and find a way to escape the trap. 

When he returned to Tarquinia and reported what had happened, this got mixed results. With little in the way of proof other than the word of a low-born man, the city guard were not inclined to take action against the noble that tricked him, and Moretti largely avoided any consequences. However, it had caught the attention of Cosimi Berano, a Capo in one of the other guard companies of the city, and leading local member of the Berano family, a noble house rivaled with the Moretti's. Cosimi took an interest in Pnackeles, recognizing his talent, and offered him a legitimate job as an investigator working for the guard. Pnackeles was wary at first, but did his digging and found Cosimi had a reputation as a hard but honorable and scrupulous halfling, and so eventually accepted the job. 

A year passed where Pnackeles honed his skills and learned the trade, working for the guard company. In Vodaccean city-states back then, security in the domains was handled not by a singular organization of guards like the Rooks in Eisen, but by mercenaries and personal retinues of the noble families that operate in their respective territories, much like mobs. He had some stumbles, but quickly made a name for  himself as a skilled investigator and asset to the company for his arcane knowledge and talents. In his second year on the job, he was tasked to travel to the Vermentino Run and investigate a disappearance. A young girl, the daughter of a far-flung cousin of Cosimi's, had gone missing in the area of a farming community near the north of the run, south of Lake Arcetri. In the course of his investigation, he finds that the citizens of the hamlet farming community have fallen under the sway of the manipulative and seductive influence of the being Rosalalia, a being he would only much later learn was a Succubus masquerading as a Human woman named Rose. In the course of his investigation, he slowly unpeels that the people of the hamlet have fallen under her sway and formed a cult of sorts, swayed from the traditional religion of the Church of Rhodena. They had come to believe that human* sacrifice is the only way to appease Rhodena and ensure the pollination and prosperity of the grape crops that their community depends on. And they had taken to kidnapping travelers in order to fill that sacrifice. 

In truth, Pnackeles was surprised, ambushed, and overwhelmed by the members of this cult community before he can do anything about it, and after he was captured too they not only let the veil slip and reveal that the girl he was sent to find was already demised, but clued him in to the fact that they have already captured a next sacrifice in a bizarre fertility ritual and fiery effigy- a mysterious woman named Mischa. This time he managed to survive more with trickery than luck. With well-timed illusions and illusory doubles, he managed to avoid being sacrificed himself, and finds the woman Mischa and escape the clutches of the cult before they could sacrifice her as well. Much to his surprise, Mischa turned out to be a fey of the Seelie Court that had somehow been captured by this cult, and in the course of saving them from bondage gained a favor. 

When all was said and done, they were all free from the clutches of the cult, and Mischa repaid him the kindness by bargaining favors within her Court and arranging a lesser Arch-fey to agree to teach him some paltry magical secrets to his liking. He was sad to have to return home to Tarquinia and report failure, that the girl he was sent to find was slain, and left it to the local authorities on what to do about the cult in the hamlet. But time passed and he returned to his job of providing occult expertise to the Cosini Family's military company, and studying the Arcane. Some months later, Pnackeles was enlisted on a team to thwart a terrorist plot that threatens a city largely ruled by another of Cosini's cousins, and save the hostages they had taken.

The island naval fortress of Questa Fottuta Island had been taken hostage, along with several dozen civilian workers and their families, by a rogue mercenary company that had been branded terrorists and enemies of the crown. They were holding hostages, and threatening the nearby mainland city of Marsala with attack, in order to demand the release of many of their imprisoned members. Pnackeles was needed because the terrorists have employed magical ritualists and a ritual to manifest water elementals to create a massive tidal wave, and announced that they will launch this on Marsala unless their demands are met. At this point, his skills as an Abjurist are knows and Pnackeles was enlisted on a team to infiltrate and disarm the ritual, and teamed up with a group of Cosimi's best soldiers and a man named Mason, a former Avalonian spy, thief extraordinaire, and the only rogue known to have ever to broken into the fortress of Questa Fottuta before. It is difficult, and there are some losses, and Pnackeles's combat skills were pushed to their limit and beyond, but ultimately they succeeded in disabling the ritual and rescuing the hostages. 

This success earned Pnackeles some small bit of fame, a promotion, and much respect in the Cosini family's army. This opened up opportunities for him to dive deeper into arcane study and learn a greater breadth of knowledge, lore, and secret histories. It was in this time that Pnackeles learned about a fabled hidden Wizards' sanctum that held a treasure-trove of magical artifacts that date back to the last War. of the Wizard Kings. The sanctum was hidden somewhere in the country and the clue leading to it are hidden in scattered monuments all over the country. Pnackeles, in his own time, called in favors and extended out markers to access every magical library and historical collection he could, in order to research and connect the dots to track down the location of the sanctum.

He made many acquaintances in this period of his life other wizards and many bards who became teachers and friends, most of whom thought him a bit of a kook for his hobby, but some few who believed the fable of the sanctum is real and aided him in his research. It came to a corner when he and a woman named Lilla discovered a collection of journals of historical figures, and found an clue in a journal of the progenitor of one of the first noble houses at the beginning of Vodacce, a founder from the country's beginnings. The journal indicated that clues and directions to the sanctum had been hidden in the original draft charter of the country's Adventurer's Guild, which was stored and protected in the capital's government archives. After that revelation, Pnackeles accomplice Lilla tried to convince him to help her steal the charter for the next clue and to claim the prize. When he refused, it was revealed that Lilla had actually always been the Succubus Rosalalia in disguise, and she left with all the evidence to continue on the quest for power without him. 

Pnackeles tried to warn his superiors and the Crown authorities about the possible theft, but they refused to believe him as few people even believed in the fabled sanctum. At that point, Pnackeles decided to steal the charter himself, in order to find the sanctum first and protect it from falling into the devil Rosalalia's hands. Over the course of a few weeks, Pnackeles and his few true believer friends arranged a series of thefts and dungeon-dive expeditions to follow clues and rescue the artifacts of the Wizard's sanctum and get them safely to a proper museum instead of falling into Rosalalia's hands. This was a turning point in his career, as he was officially reprimanded for breaking laws and acting without orders, even though his intentions were good and he was ultimately found in the right. But it was a start to a trend of him and the law not always being aligned. 

Another few years passed with him serving as a magical expert and investigator in the Berano guard company. The Berano Family, and Cosini in particular, had risen in standing in the royal court, as Cosimi found some favor of Crowned Prince Julio. The Berano family held territories across mainland Vodacce, and that meant Pnackeles was often sent on investigations or assignments across the peninsula.

In the last years before King Montero's death, there was a rash of organized crime cropping up in the area, and Pnackeles' team of investigators had learned that some kind of syndicate had formed and was sewing chaos and conspiracies across the country. What’s more, across many investigations, they uncovered that many of the ringleaders of this syndicate were infernalists and Devils in disguise. In one mission, he even crossed paths with his old nemesis, the Succubus Rosalalia, who lead a chapter of this conspiracy! Weeks of raids and chases later reveal that the syndicate was infiltrating key members of government and noble families to ensnare their minds, but it was unclear to what end. This also meant that they couldn't be sure who to trust within the country for help. It was after Pnackeles' team finally confronted and captured Rosalalia that Cosini came up with a plan. Admittedly, a crazy plan, but just crazy enough to work.

With an exchange of favors, they got the help of the Archmage Celedor to perform some high-level magics, and through a true polymorph, Pnackeles would transform into Rosalalia and infiltrate the syndicate. This way he could gather their secrets and root out who their targets were and what their grand design was. But this could take quite some time, and Pnackeles's absence would be noticed and his skills could be needed. So a Simulacrum of Pnackeles was created first to stand in for him until he returned. Rosalalia was not killed or banished, as that would mean she would return to Hell and blow his cover. Instead they kept her bound until the mission was over. All of this would be kept as secret as possible.

They proceeded with the scheme, and it worked but, perhaps predictably, went sideways. Pnackeles was able to infiltrate the syndicate and learn many of their secrets. He uncovers that their ultimate aim was to target members of specific Noble families and government officed and use their manipulative dark magics to sway them to support Prince Midas over Prince Julio for succession of the throne, sewing chaos and a civil war when the king inevitably died. He discovered enough to find whom they were targeting, and enough to foil the conspiracy and warn the right people. However, in the masquerade he had to keep in character as Rosalalia. Being a Succubus, this meant she had... unsavory habits, and a penchant for narcotics, that he needed to indulge in order to keep his cover.

What's worse, the inevitable accident happened back in the prison, and Rosalalia managed to break free from her bindings. In revenge, she attacked and ensnared the mind of the Simulacrum, and spent days Charming it to commit assorted misdeeds in public and some crimes as Pnackeles, thoroughly ruining his reputation in public. It was only after days had passed, his mission complete, the real Pnackeles returned to discover all this, and confronted Rosalalia and his Simulacrum to finally banish her back to hell and free his twin. It was hard, and ultimately they succeeded in stopping the Syndicate's plot, but at the cost of his reputation and his health- his exposure to narcotics undercover would haunt him and linger for a long time.

It was just a bit later that year that King Galileo was assassinated, and life all across Vodacce started going to hell. Poverty slowly strangled the nation, which only meant the criminal underworld swelled, and Pnackeles found himself working for an increasingly oppressive regime and spiraling into a laudanum habit. When Prince Midas made his move to take the thrown and the civil war began, Pnackeles's relationship with the Berano Family grew more and more strained as they aligned harder with Prince Julio. His reputation suffered as he was travelling in increasing shady circles more often. His finances suffered as his debts grew and much of his wealth he sent back to his family to help them in these hard times. Ironically, his double Simnackeles went on to work in academia and have a better reputation than him. 

Rumors about him consorting with criminal elements combined with his fatigue of the war being misconstrued as supporting Prince Midas's rebellion, to push his mental health and relationship with the Berano family to the brink. After an embarrassing encounter where he, in a drug-addled state, believed that he was attacked by a vampire and made a scene in public, Cosini finally sacked him and cut ties. Disgraced and unemployed, with growing debts and the chaos of a civil war across Vodacce, Pnackeles started taking odd jobs wherever he could find them. For a little while he was able to stay afloat, but it got harder and harder to find reputable and respectable clients willing to associate with him. The longer the war ground on, the more he had to take work for disreputable people, and eventually he ended up working among the very criminals that he had worked beside when he had infiltrated the Syndicate.

This went on for some time, and eventually he crossed paths once again with his old nemesis Rosalalia. She had ensorcelled Simnackeles once more, and confronted the disgraced Pnackeles with an ultimatum- she would have him, Simnackeles, and his family, killed unless he completed a series of thefts for her. If he succeeded, she would release the other and consider their feud resolved and they could go their separate ways. She had a list of Julio-supporting Nobles and had a plot where Pnackeles and his other criminals would steal their prized possessions to ransom back to them. In particular, she had targeted people who owned pedigreed purebred horses, and she gave Pnackeles a deadline where they would have to commit dozens of the thefts in just a few days.

It was hectic and hard, but Pnackeles and his partners pulled it off, and got him and the other Pnackeles free from the fued-debt. Rosalalia took her prizes and it was the last Pnackeles ever saw of her. But some clue or evidence got left at one of the rushed jobs, and it wasn't long before the consequences came due and he was arrested for one of the thefts. Justice was swift and he was imprisoned, then punished with banishment to the Summerlands.

Fortunately for him, this happened during the last gasps of the civil war, and people were getting banished like this by the literal boatload. He shared a prison transport with many criminals and some whose crime was supporting Prince Midas's rebellion. thanks to one 'corrupt' guard on the ship, the prisoners break free mid-transit and take control of the ship, planning to escape back to the country. Pnackeles played along, helping them escape, but persuades the inmates to spare the lives of the ships' captain and other guards and leave them ashore on the mainland on their way to Midas's armies. Out of gratitude for that, the Captain agreed to tell his superiors of Pnackeles' last minute heroism. Pnackeles had an opportunity to flee the country to wait out the end of the civil war, and He's tried to keep a relatively low-profile in the years since then.

Education

Pnackeles has studied for short periods at Wizard universities across Vodacce, Montaigne, Castille, Patlov, even a season in a conclave in Avalon. He has a breadth of knowledge but is particularly a scholar of history and Abjurations.

Employment

He has a history in law enforcement, and also no small criminal record.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Helped topple an infernal crime syndicate plaguing central Vodacce in the years leading up to the Civil War. Discovered a legendary lost sanctum that dated back to the last Wizards War.

Failures & Embarrassments

Has a criminal record for drug use and was arrested for theft by now-deposed Vodaccean nobles.

person.sexuality

He is, depending on his state of mind, fluid.

person.gender_identity

Male

Personality

Social

Birthplace

A rural community on Isolaisle Island, western Vodacce

Wealth & Financial state

Working Class

Religious Views

He has explored and disturbed too many ancient tombs and holy sites in his career to ever dare tempt the gods by overtly placing one of them first. On the topic of Religion, he is a quiet and respectful Pantheist.

Social Aptitude

Quirky. Can sometimes come off as a little intense or too serious. When stressed, he can get very intense.