Tony Stuff - Mak'Ti Story Elements

Mak’Ti Character Backstory

  Have you ever heard of the Anima Magis? It's basically the lifeforce of the cosmos according to my people. --Mak'Ti  

Early Life - Child of the Imperium

Mak’Ti was born a prince to Yorok’il, Emperor of the Vedalken empire. The Vedalken have ruled a small portion of wildspace for generations, but have managed to stay out of any major wars, preferring an empire of secrecy so they can pursue their intense quest for knowledge of the cosmos. Their reign is said to have lasted so long, the first Vedalken emperor lived during the time of the legendary blue dragon Aureon, the god of Law and Knowledge, and many believe a portion of their technology was gifted from the god himself. Lumengrad is the capital city.

When it comes to knowledge of the Arcane arts and the understanding of the metaphysics of the universe itself, few cultures can match the Vedalken prowess. They are viewed as cold rationalists who organize themselves as a collection of scholars and scientists and artificers. They go through intense experimentation and log everything before they make any decisions, and are trained at a young age to suppress their emotions, for they only cloud scientific assessments. While they understand that perfection is impossible to achieve, the noble is pursuit of perfection serves as the moral compass for all Vedalken scholars.

In this Empire, prophets and divinations are not only frowned upon, but banned entirely by imperial decree. The emotional suppression techniques taught to all aid in suppressing any affinity to divination, and as a result, no Vedalken is capable of having dreams.

Growing up royalty, Mak’Ti was a bit of a know it all. He was the guy everyone hated in university, as he led with his hubris. While he did frequently abuse his station as prince, none could deny his extreme aptitude when it came to the arcane arts. This prompted furious debate amongst the Emperor and his Council of Five about whether to accelerate his studies, and allow him access to the higher sanctums of great Library of Lumengrad. After some prompting from his own mother, they ultimately allowed him access.

Banishment - The prince who fell from the stars

While studying late one night, Mak’Ti fell asleep at his desk and DREAMED of a sacred tome that seemed to contain the knowledge of the universe, with blue energy emanating from it. Next to it was a dark and shadowy dagger that was shaped like a massive obsidian tower. This vision would proceed to occur almost every night, and he finally revealed this information to his mother, Galal’il. She instructed him to double down on his suppression techniques, and to NEVER speak of this to anyone.

But Mak’Ti’s desire to learn the secrets of the prophecy began to drive him mad, and so he decided to venture into the secret and forbidden wing of the Lumengrad Library for answers. He only had knowledge of this wing because of his birthright. In this wing, there was a planar doorway that led to a pocket dimension room, which contained a broken tablet (the Draconic Pophecy). It’s words were unknown even to such a scholar as Mak’Ti, but as he peered into the tablet, a strong vision overtook him. He saw the same tome and dagger, which then turned into a giant blue Dragon (Aureon) and a Shadow dragon (The shadow) respectively. In the background, the city of Lumengrad was burning.

Convinced this was true prophecy, he approached his father at once and told him all he had seen. And for the first time Mak’Ti could ever recall, Emperor Yorok’il showed an outward display of emotion, that of great sadness. At once, Yorok’il called an emergency meeting with his high council and had Mak’Ti recount everything for them as he’d done for him. Again a furious debate broke out, with the council ultimately deciding that for violating the laws of the imperium, Mak’Ti was stripped of his titles and inheritances and banished from Vedalken space for a period of 100 years, upon which time he’d sit in front of the high court once more for judgement.

While being escorted by the royal guard led by council member Judai’aruk (and his fathers number 1 adversary who has been vying for the throne for ages), magical suppression manacles were thrust on him, and he was taken through a planar door to the desert of Oroccid by Judai'aruk's use of the Orrery of the Wanderer. Unbeknownst to the royal family, Mak’Ti was then sold to a Hobgoblin clan as a slave.

Fall from grace - The Bonds of Prophecy

And so, Mak’Ti was enslaved by an eccentric Hobgoblin tribe known as the Ushani. They were in interesting tribe, in that they were made up of not just Hobgoblins, but other races such as Bugbears and Goblins. Their leader Adwin, was a jovial and curious Warlord. He was a progressive compared to rival tribes, and did not harbor xenophobic ideologies. While the Ushani did excel in martial and arcane mastery when it came to warfare, they were also a tribe that loved the beauties of the world. There were artisans and bards amongst their ranks, and they were known to free slaves around the realm and were on a quest to unite the tribes to focus less on war, and more on building a civilization that was to be respected and loved. This was in stark contrast to Mak’Ti’s upbringing on Lumengrad, as the Vedalken empire would never go out of their way to help another civilization, nor did they have any need for the arts.

While Mak’Ti was still a slave, Adwin began to take a liking to him, and frequently relied on his high intellect to advise him on battle tactics and to further teach his tribesman the arcane knowledge of the Vedalken imperium. In return, Adwin granted Mak’Ti his freedom, and even had his best blacksmith turn the magic suppression manacles into bracers that stored a very rare crystal in them, to serve as an arcane focus.

All in all, Mak’Ti spent 7 years with the Ushani, traveling from region to region freeing slaves sharing knowledge with other cooperating clans. He was bestowed the rank of Captain. Through Adwin’s leadership and eccentric love of the passions of life, he began to let go of his Vedalken training of dispassion, and allowed himself to show outward displays of emotion whenever the urge came about.

Then finally one night, a strong dream came during his sleep. Again he saw the tome and the dagger, which turned into the blue and shadow dragons. Again he saw Lumengrad set ablaze. This time, he saw his mother consumed by fire and shadow. He told Adwin of his visions, and asked for release of his duties in order to find information about these visions, and try to uncover the secrets of his prophecy to protect his people. While Adwin tried to dissuade him and keep him there, as rival tribes were threatening to close in on him, and take the Hobby’s back to the ways of violence and destruction. He told Mak’Ti he needed him by his side, but ultimately allowed him to go off and seek out the knowledge he desires. He told him of the Library at Twin Falls, and suggested he started there. There was one condition, which was he needed to come to his aid if he ever called.

And so, he fled into the desert, en route to the library. While on his travels, he ran into a fallen assamir Paladin who helped save his life in a battle against a giant displacer beast.

IMPORTANT LINKS

Aureon (LN) - Is the patron of wizards and a figure venerated by scholars and librarians. He is the god of magic as a tool for mortals to use. Typically depicted as the legendary blue dragon Ourelonastrix who ascended to godhood, and was the first mage who in life discovered the Draconic Prophecy. Favored weapon is a quarterstaff
Aureon
The Shadow (CE) - The sovereign of Magic and Mayhem, the Shadow is the literal shadow of Aureon that attained sentience and godhood as a price paid by Aureon for arcane knowledge. A god of corruption, ambition, and dark magic, the shadow is the patron of evil spellcasters and many monstrous races. Typically portrayed as a shadow dragon. It is said that if the Shadow were to ever merge again with Aureon, the end of the world would come about.
The Shadow
Draconic Prophecy - The dragons of Argonnessen observe and record everything from the position of the moons and the stars, to the position of the Ring of Siberys to physical manifestations of dragon marks in the world, all of which they study looking for portents and omens of things to come. The prophecy encompasses many many volumes and is said to be as complex and unfathomable as the dragons themselves. A few among the scholarly study snippets of the massive work, but only the dragons with their incredibly long lifespan, the elves of Aerenal, and the immortal rakshasa have the ability and patience to see the prophecy for what it truly is. It is unknown what the Draconic Prophecy’s nature is. Some argue it is a revelation of the end of the world, others of a new beginning. Whatever it means, it is obvious that the prophecy points towards the transformation of the world as we know it.
Aberrant Dragonmark (Original) - Aberrant Dragonmark Original