Waiting for what once was

Born in a poor farmers' village and apprentice to Hesperus the Mage, Bram is a kind but seemingly shy bovine. He finds it easier to befriend non-mages and tends to avoid speaking to those loyal to The Order.

He wishes to return to his peaceful farming days but finds it difficult to leave his new life.

Personality

Meek, gentle, and insecure, Bram can easily be described as lamb-hearted. 

Those unacquainted with the bovine may see him as a timid and withdrawn mage of The Order, as well as the undeserving apprentice to one of its most well-known alumni. Other mages see him as a kind but weak and unskilled mage, perhaps pitied and taken under the wing of his mentor.

Those who truly see him know Bram isn’t so much shy as he is quiet. Kind-hearted and good-natured, Bram enjoys helping when he can and chatting only when he feels comfortable. He tends to keep his thoughts to himself and to those he calls a close friend, of which there are very few. His previous life as the eldest in a large working family tends to make him hide his true feelings and anxieties. They bubble up to the surface on occasion, causing him embarrassment once he’s calmed down.

Bram is wary of Order mages, despite being one himself, and tends to shy away from interacting with those he knows are loyal to The Order. While not a willing friend to all, Bram is more than happy to partake in the community and find those with similar sensibilities, as long as they come to him first.

WC: 210

History

Born and raised in a sleepy agricultural village near The Sunless Jungle and a couple of days travel from the town of Mead, Bram grew up the eldest of a family of 7. 

As the dutiful son of the well-liked Pelinore family, Bram was content in his work and more than willing to take over his family’s land once he was of age. News of mages and monsters were considered the problem of the capital; anything else relating to the topic was passed around as tall tales or stories to get children to sleep at night.

Bram himself was uninterested in anything having to do with magic. His reality was tied to the earth his family worked and the produce that made their living, poor as it was. Unfortunately for the lamb, his days were disrupted in a way not even he could imagine.

If Fate was involved, it was kind enough to give Bram those few years of peace growing up on the farm and being with his family. His magic didn’t start to show until he was at least 13 years old, leaking out of him as sparks of soft moving lights as he dreamed, startling his siblings and scaring his parents.

His parents didn’t know what to do.

Being the adults, they knew more than they let on about magic and mages but not enough to decide what the best course of action was. They kept their eldest’s secret for a year until the decision was made for them.

Hesperus, a well known professor of The Order, happened upon their village in his travels. Perhaps by chance or by the will of Fate, he found Bram asleep in the fields, the lights illustrating his dreams dancing around his head. Hesperus was intrigued.

It took a while to convince his parents to entrust their son to him and even longer to gain Bram’s trust. The last thing the boy wanted to do was move away from his family, leave his peaceful world behind, and learn to control powers he didn’t even want. What convinced him in the end was the pay he’d receive if he were to make something of himself as a mage; the gold was desperately needed by his family and his town.

His new life consisted of training, studying, and a lot of frustration. Bram never got magic like the other students did and it was embarrassing at his age. With Hesperus’s tutelage, he managed to graduate, but just barely. His talents weren’t particularly impressive which, thankfully, meant he wasn’t scouted by any colleges. Not that he wanted to enroll anyhow.

Both he and Hesperus were beginning to grow wary of their life in Namarast. Upon Hesperus’s early retirement as a professor, Bram followed him out of the stuffiness of the mage city, becoming his first and only apprentice. His apathy towards others of his kind would turn to distrust upon the attack during the Feast of Flowering. He fears turning into a monster and his worries over being a mage intensified.

Currently, Bram does odd jobs here and there for Hesperus as he continues his research, traveling to and from Faline, and working as his apprentice and assistant. He’s unsure of where his future leads; knowing he can’t go back to his former life as a farmer’s son but not being skilled enough to do anything with his magic leaves him feeling aimless.

WC: 569