Lake

Lake was only an infant when they were discovered washed up on the shore of a small fishing village having been abandoned by their marid mother and with no clues to the identity of their father. Taking pity on them, the villagers took them in and raised them as their own. In particular a teenaged tiefling girl named Bright became attached to them, feeling kindred with them as a fellow planetouched child, and grew to become something of an older sister figure to them. The only young child in a village of mostly elderly fishermen, Lake grew up dearly treasured by the villagers who collectively acted as parents to them. Although they never quite fit in, a quiet child preferring to read and study rather than assist with manual labor, they were never shunned for it. Instead they were seen as a great pride of the village and were spoiled with new tomes whenever the poor fishermen could afford them. Despite never knowing their biological parents, their early childhood was an incredibly happy one.

In their early teen years a mysterious illness struck the village and many of the villagers fell ill and died. The village leaders approached the clerics of a large nearby church for help, but they had neither the faith nor the coin to afford their healing and were driven away with scorn. Reaching the point of desperation, Bright begged for the help of a deathpact angel to save those villagers who remained. Though her pleas were answered she was forced to become a warlock in service of the angel in return, burdened with the looming promise of terrible deeds she would have to do to repay that favor.

Having experienced the cruel indifference of the clerics, Lake began to become disillusioned with the church and even with gods in general. They began to see divine magic as an essential tool that the gods gatekept from humans for their own selfish purposes. Eventually they developed a theory- those beings which called themselves gods were not TRULY divine, but simply powerful entities that offered desperate humans power in order to manipulate them into worship. And so began what would be their lifelong obsession- a wish to discover a way for mortals to artificially access the source of divine magic and eliminate the need for gods altogether.

Not looking after this incident they left their village behind to join a magic school in the city. They studied to become a cleric in service of Oghma, though their devotion wasn’t genuine but a simple means to an end for them. When they reached the proper age they set their sights on Strixhaven, hoping its reputation for producing genius breakthroughs in magic theory would be accurate. Though they were intelligent enough to be easily accepted into the college and pass the basic courses with flying colors, when it came to their research into magic they found themselves up against a massive roadblock. No scholar had any interest in supporting their theories; at best they were seen as complete fantasy and at worst the pinnacle of blasphemy. Any papers they presented were dismissed as mere conspiracy theories and any funding whatsoever was hard to come by. They’ve been pursuing their research for years now with little tangible progress, gaining nothing from it but scorn and a reputation as an eccentric among their peers. None of this can dissuade them, however, and they doggedly continue their studies to this day.

Lake is mostly a quiet, somewhat distant person who prefers to keep to themselves rather than the company of other students. Because they’re constantly focused on their work they’re in a near permanent state of exhaustion. They usually seem scattered and a bit spacey and tend to lack focus in conversations, either zoning out or changing trains of thought seemingly at random. Communication with other people is difficult for them, and although it’s not their intention they can often come across as blunt or condescending. While they do have a fairly high opinion of their own abilities they don’t necessarily look down on others, though they often feel frustrated when they aren’t understood. Their personality changes quite dramatically when discussing their interests, however, and they become energetic almost to the point of mania. Someone who engages them in a debate can find themselves locked in conversation for hours.