LIKES

Luxury, fine wine, jewelry, and silk. Red meat, cooked rare. Somniferium (aka wizard opium). One-upping people. Power. Being the biggest and most powerful wolf in the forest. More somniferium. Studying ancient forbidden magic. Casting ancient forbidden magic. Solitude. Libraries. Cold, snowy weather. Chocolate. Have I mentioned somniferium? Old timey tabletop wargames. Having something to work toward. Gullible people in positions of power. Unicorn blood. MILFs. Electricity (don't ask).

DISLIKES

Being questioned or disrespected. Boredom. Minor inconveniences. Dirt, straw, mud, coarse fabric, and uncomfortable seating/bedding. Small, fiddly buttons and clasps. Stairs. Hot weather. Overdone meat. Doctors. His own health issues. Being in pain. Fancy parties, especially those where alcohol is not served. Having to restrain himself. Rules in general. His fur being wet or dirty, especially his hands and feet. Consequences. People remembering things he said/did. Other people being in his house. Carrots.

PERSONALITY

A cunning, silver-tongued man who prides himself on his intellect, education, accomplishments, magical prowess, wealth, social status, and great hair, among many other things. Highly self-serving and manipulative. Unfortunately for him, his charming and scheming ways are constantly undercut by his terrible temper and serious substance abuse problems. As a result, those with the misfortune of knowing him well would describe him as more of an entitled, emotionally unstable prima donna than the sophisticated gentleman intellectual he attempts to present as.

STORY

Several hundred years ago, during the "Past" era, Hyden served as the chancellor to the king of the Western Kingdom. He was known far and wide as the most powerful wizard in the land, and perhaps in the entire world... right up until he unleashed one too many forbidden primordial dark magics, causing his whole kingdom to decide "alright, you know what, I've had enough of this guy."

Hyden successfully put himself in stasis to weasel out of punishment (though not before sustaining an injury that caused him to be unable to access his magical powers), only to be accidentally awoken in the far future ("Present" era) by The Rising Dawn--a group of rogue researchers now seeking to seal away the dark power he set upon the world 300 years ago. With his former kingdom fallen and the land greatly changed over the last few centuries, Hyden must now contend with a confusing, unfamiliar world only marginally less hostile to society-destroying, dark-power-unleashing wizards than the one he just escaped. It seems that history has not looked favorably on his name, and he is remembered as a villainous evil mastermind bent on destruction. He greatly disagrees with this interpretation and insists that while "evil mastermind" is flattering, he is being unfairly maligned and that the truth is far more nuanced.

Presently, the Rising Dawn is holding him prisoner and forcing him to use his expertise to help clean up the mess he made, which Hyden views as quite unfair and inconvenient. Without his magical powers, wealth, servants, or political sway, there is little else he can do but go along with it. Currently, he is traveling with Alex, Ridge, and several other Rising Dawn members as they wander the land looking for clues as to how to stop the Shadow. They've picked up Theo along the way and are currently on their way to the next location...

OTHER NOTES

Voice becomes shrill and shrieky when angered, which is often. Throws things and screams at wait staff, never tips unless he's trying to hook up with the waitress. Pupils are always pinned, smile never reaches his eyes. Hairline noticeably receded when hair is pulled back. Missing back all molars on the right side. Much weaker than he looks, has moderate nerve damage in his extremities (especially his hands) and chronic joint pain due to his extreme height. Sometimes uses a cane to walk.

CHARACTER AFFILIATIONS

MILANA: Hyden's ex-fiancée from the "Past". The two bonded over being catty, spoiled nobles who viewed themselves as the smartest people in the room, and quickly formed a rapport based on carnality, wine, and hating things together. As years passed, Milana realized that while Hyden laughed at her jokes, he did not actually care about her other thoughts or feelings, and would never actually see her as an equal or "let her in" to his own true thoughts. Eventually, a bitter fight led to Milana breaking it off. Though shallow by normal people standards, to Hyden, this was the deepest relationship he ever had, and he still misses her (or at least the alternate life path she represented) sometimes.

AMBROYS: Hyden's "friend" (some would say victim) from the "Past" era. A seemingly unaging, half-divine noble born from the union of a being of light and a mortal nobleman, Ambroys was a unique magical curiosity in Hyden's eyes... as well as uniquely foolish. In an ill-advised power grab, Ambroys offered Hyden a partnership, hoping to use some of the duke's political sway to get a leg up on a competitor. What he got instead was frequent bloodletting sessions in Hyden's creepy dark magic basement, trading vial after vial of his magical golden blood for empty promises that progress was coming any day now. Hyden grew to see Ambroys as a friend with time, but the feeling does not seem to be mutual.

ALEX: A character from the "Present" era and one of the first people Hyden met after waking up from stasis. She works as captain of the guard for The Rising Dawn, a motley group of researchers and misfits stationed in an underground bunker in the bitterly cold northern region, who are looking for a way to re-seal the Shadow that has been spreading across the land ever since Hyden unleashed it. She lost her hometown to the Shadow when she was a child, and since then, has worked resolutely to make sure nobody ever has to go through what she went through ever again. Alex is a hard-working, solemn woman, and can see right through Hyden's bullshit. She does not trust him at all and has made it one of her goals to make sure he can't pull one over on the researchers. She has also made it clear that, once Hyden has been held accountable and forced to clean up the mess he made, she intends to kill him.

RIDGE: Another "Present" era character. Ridge is Alex's right hand man. However, that bond is being tested thanks to Hyden's presence. While Alex views Hyden as a duplicitous snake, Ridge... more or less agrees, but also thinks that he's too frail, dotty and self-absorbed to be nearly as dangerous as Alex believes. Ridge was the only one large enough and burly enough to singlehandedly haul Hyden back to his cell when he had his various tantrums back in the Riding Dawn base, and as such, is often tasked with guarding him during trips out to the surface. Due to the time he's spent babysitting him, Ridge looks on Hyden with more of a mixture of pity and amusement than fear... something that has been leading to a lot of arguments with Alex of late.

THEO (PROFILE): Yet another character from the "Present" era. Baron Theopolis North is descended from a mage bloodline--one of the few surviving to the present day. As a child, he was a nerdy, strange-looking little thing with a bad temper who was often bullied, and grew up immersing himself in historical books as a form of escapism. There was one particular historical figure he found himself identifying with--another odd-looking, bookish, nobleman wizard with anger issues, who, like Theo, was an outcast who seemed to struggle to fit in. However, unlike Theo, this nobleman had beaten the odds and won himself great renown, riches, and success... right up until he was executed by his own country. Imagine Theo's surprise when the great Hyden himself showed up at his house--very much alive and not executed, and seemingly not a day older than he'd been when he supposedly 'died' hundreds of years ago. Theo agreed to help The Rising Dawn for a chance to work with his idol, and the two found themselves getting along quite well, bonding over their shared interest in magic, fine wine, tabletop war games, and complaining about other people. It was only after that that Hyden got Theo alone for a moment and, in hushed whispers Alex wouldn't overhear, offered an intriguing deal to him: [i]I'm going to get my magic powers back and I need to go behind Alex's back to do it. Help me do this and I'll help you... by bringing your dead mom back to life.[/i]