Vesper Aureline

Vesper is a tiefling wizard currently working as a researcher in a university laboratory, with a particular focus on magical theory and arcane artefacts. She comes across as a serious academic type, intelligent and eloquent, who is entirely dedicated to her research. She has spent her entire life thus far striving to overcome expectation- reasoning that if she must go through life surrounded by fear and mistrust, then it should be for her magical prodigy and not a bloodline she can't control. Through sheer stubborn dedication, Vesper has managed to rise to a fairly respected position in her academy before her 26th birthday. Unfortunately for her, however, her passion for reckless experimentation and her inability to let an idea go has resulted in numerous disasters. She's determined, headstrong, and stubborn as hell; it would be easier to divert a river from its course than to convince her to abandon an inquiry.

If her appearance didn't intimidate, then her personality surely would. Her glares are cold and her words are colder. Her manner of speaking tends toward the curt and concise, quick to snap at those she doesn't have the patience for. Vesper gives off the abject impression that she could destroy those that annoy her with a glance, but is too dignified to do so. The reality, of course, is much less harsh—she's simply a deeply introverted scientist too focused on her research to moderate her words. There is only one person whose opinion she cares about, and she got used to her abrupt personality long ago. She often travels to collect various artefacts and scrolls for her work, though she is always reluctant to leave her lab (and her cat).

Vesper grew up in the criminal part of the city, raised by a traditional tiefling mother who saw her as little more than an unfortunate burden. She was forced to learn how to "defend" herself—or, more accurately, attack others. She was of little use to her mother as a daughter, but as a child her small frame and relatively innocent appearance made her a decent thief. She was taught to wield a dagger and steal from strangers and scare others away. Her mother was harsh with her lessons and quick to punish failure; Vesper learned to absorb information quickly or suffer the consequences. She was often denied basic resources in order to encourage her to steal what she needed, which led to long-term malnutrition and injuries that never properly healed. Her mother told her that tieflings like them would always be hated no matter what, so there was no point in trying to defy stereotypes when intimidating the locals out of their wages was so much more profitable. When the first flickers of thaumaturgy manifested themselves, her mother saw it only as an opportunity and grew even harsher in her training. Vesper too saw opportunity in this magic, albeit a much different kind. Her tiefling bloodline seemed to be the root of all her problems. If she could somehow conceal it, hide behind another face and avoid the assumptions of others altogether, she might be able to escape her fate. In the silence of night, she began reading arcane books of illusion.

To her surprise, however, she realized she had a natural propensity for magic. Something in those arcane words made sense to her in a way that nothing ever had before. She read every book she could get her hands on, stealing from shops and sneaking into libraries in an attempt to quench her ever-growing thirst for knowledge. Magic could do so much more than just frighten others—it could divine the future, glimpse into the unknown, transport between dimensions, wake the dead, control the elements. The more she read and the more she practiced, the easier the magic came. As her home became increasingly inhospitable, she found herself escaping to her books more and more. When the local magical academy conducted their annual entrance examination, she put on her only robes and snuck into the wealthy district to take it. To her great surprise, she passed with flying colors and was promptly admitted. She took the few possessions she had from her home and never looked back.

Vesper spent years studying at the academy, focusing on magical theory and arcane artefacts as her areas of expertise. The academy provided boarding and some income, and in return she dedicated her teenage years to its gilded halls. In her final few years of study, she found herself often working late nights in the library with a half-elf artificer in training named Elys. Despite their differing disciples, they shared several subjects and Elys was quick to understand new concepts; Vesper soon found herself greatly valuing her input. At approximately the same time, a professor took a vested interest in her clear aptitude and took her on as a lab assistant. He was a tiefling researcher of some renown, specializing in experimental magic. They worked together for many months, progressively straying further from the official research guidelines, until he was arrested for the use of illegal magic at the end of the semester.

Although she was reluctant to call them friends, Elys' companionship made the years significantly easier to get through, and they both graduated before the spring harvest. They were offered research positions at the university's nearby laboratory, albeit in different departments, and quickly rose through the ranks in their respective positions. After years of hard work and long nights, she was granted her own laboratory and full control over her research. Elys, who she reluctantly regarded as a friend by then, gifted her a tressym kitten to celebrate. As annoyed as she pretended to be by the small creature, it kept her good company during the many nights she spent working late at the lab.

Several years later, she lost her left arm in a magical accident, an experiment that spun out of control and caused an explosion that brought down her laboratory around her. She was trapped for hours under the rubble before someone found her, and by then it was too late to save the arm. She suspected that the accident might have been an act of sabotage, retaliation from a colleague unhappy to be working with a tiefling or jealous of her success, but was unable to prove anything. She spent years of savings and every favor she was owed to obtain mithral and the services of several specialists, who crafted her a replacement prosthetic arm capable of performing even the most delicate lab work. The accident left more than a physical mark, however- even months later, the thought of being trapped again leaves her panicking and phantom pains from the missing limb keep her awake for days on end.

Vesper is primarily motivated by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and the desire to discover some powerful new source of magic. She constantly leaves her lab seeking out magical artefacts to study, in the hopes that one of them will provide her with what she so desperately seeks. She longs to discover something new and powerful, knowledge no one else knows or an artefact that could revolutionize arcane research, and there is little she wouldn't do to acquire it. She has less experience with practical spellcasting than might be expected for her profession due to her focus on the theoretical. Destructive spells seem to come easier to her, however, and she can't help but resent this inadvertent link to her heritage.