Auben

Along the death-touched borders of Amh Araeng, there is much work to be done. Auben spends his afternoons earning his keep as a miner, supplying the bustling trading hub of Mord Souq with raw ore. By nightfall, he returns to his post at the Inn at Journey's Head, where he fulfills odd jobs to help keep its patients comfortable. Here, where the dying come to wait out their last days and the Empty looms not so far away, it's easy to cast the denizens of this desert region as helpless to their fates. To Auben, it's just the opposite - despite the death and decay Amh Araeng and its people have endured, there is still hope.

Auben is talkative and rowdy, often seen with a smile on his face as he goes about his day. He goes out of his way - at times overbearingly so - to maintain an optimistic demeanor, believing it's his duty to boost the morale of his companions. On his own, however, he is introspective and fearful about his future, a side he only shows to those he trusts.

Though the tales of the Shadowkeeper and her warg thralls are stories from a century past, their influence remains a blight on the once Elven-ruled kingdom of Lakeland. The wargs, now masterless, prowl the violet forests for prey, while Nightshade - an Elven group of rogues longing for the “glory days” of the Kingdom -
use forbidden magicks to impress wargs into its service.

Born and raised under two respected members of the group, Auben spent his earliest years privy to dark magicks even the most learned mages would consider dangerous. His aptitude would make him a candidate for the most taboo endeavours, to the heightening fear of his parents: it was within the musty shelter of the Church of the First Light, locked away from his protesting parents, that Auben was aetherically bound to a warg in an ambitious experiment.

Terrified for their toddler son, his parents bundled the young Elf into their arms and with whatever belongings they could carry in a small rucksack, made to escape for the Crystarium. But Nightshade does not take kindly to outsiders, and much less defectors. Before the family could reach the sanctuary, they were separated, and Auben’s parents presumably slain. Left to his own devices, the young Elf - arm still stinging from the blood sigil forcibly branded into his skin - wandered unaccompanied into Amh Araeng, where a merchant Mord family of five would take him in as their own. Here, where the Light poisoning the world shines most brightly, Auben would grow into adulthood, spending his days mining and volunteering at the Inn at Journey’s Head while fighting to keep the warg within at bay.

• Auben is tall and sturdily built with a toned body from his work in the mines
• His naturally purple hair has gradually become discolored due to corrupted aether
• His left ear is notched, and he has several scars across his face, torso and back from various accidents
• He has a sleeve "tattoo" of elven runes that has grown with him since he was a child
• He prefers sleeveless or loose-fitting clothing and is often seen wearing goggles or a scarf to ward off dust storms