AUs

Name: Synechis (pronounced SEE-neh-kis)
Age: 54 years; physically in their early 20s
Gender: Agender (they/it)
Orientation: Biromantic demisexual
Location: Southeastern Undra, close to the Eclein border
Occupation: Freelance architect and astronomer
Gem Type: Sodalite
Flower: Bird’s-eye Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys)

▌ S T A T S

STRENGTH: ★★	CONSTITUTION: ★	CHARISMA: ★★	INTELLIGENCE: ★★★★
DEXTERITY: ★★★★	ENDURANCE: ★★★	SPEED: ★★★	TRUTHFULNESS: ★
LUCK: ★★★	RECALL: ★★★★	PATIENCE: ★	DETERMINATION: ★★★★★
SHARD THROWING: LV4	SHIELD CREATION: LV4	SYNCING*: LV4	HEALING/FLORAL CONTROL: LV4

*While Synechis possesses a significant amount of raw power, they display a lack of control over their syncing abilities, unconsciously reflecting their immediate feelings outwards whenever they feel strong emotion regardless if it is positive or negative. When furious they inflame tensions in those around them; when they’re afraid, others will follow suit without consciously realizing why. Luckily, the range of their emotional projection is relatively short, petering out at about three miles | 4.8km (which is about as far as the human eye can see). Synechis's active syncing range remains the same.

▌ H I S T O R Y

Synechis’s father was the firstborn son of the Serenity bloodline, a lesser branch of nobility descended from a lineage of Royal Guards who came into power during the height of human encroachment upon the Realm’s Northern borders. Notorious for coming off worst in factional conflicts since its formation, a succession of gauche heirs and the resulting public condemnation resulted in the Serenity family being largely discredited from the Royal Court in Fallmoor, although it retains influence elsewhere. Reputation for crassness aside, the lineage has produced many great scholars as well as warriors over the centuries, each highly respected in their (usually unfortunately obscure) field. 

Synechis’s mother, on the other hand, was born the youngest daughter of the House of Hawke, which despite its best efforts and widespread economic influence was never considered aristocracy so much as a family of entrepreneurial merchants who bought, bribed, and married its members into nobility. Its heirs usually chose to go into the family's many businesses, the most profitable of which was selling and trading goods across the Realm’s many borders. Marisa Hawke was no exception, and she met Niklas Serenity while on a trip to Kellen to oversee her House’s business ventures. The match was considered a profitable move by both clans, and in short order they were married and well on the way to producing new heirs. 

Synechis was born the third of four children, twenty years after the Lady Hawke bore twin heirs. They grew up in the shadow of their siblings in Etraria, where many Hawkes before them had achieved financial success. As expected, the first two heirs were magically talented, each displaying their own clear strengths, and Marisa pushed them into profitable ventures from a young age. Disappointingly enough Synechis scored only average on the proficiency tests, and though they were sent to Demen to receive a nobleman’s education in due time the Lady never had high hopes for them. In time she would pressure her husband into bearing a second child, Synechis’s younger sister Nazaret. 

Meanwhile, Synechis looked on as their older brother and sister was groomed as House representative and Royal Guard respectively, roles that had become almost identical as tensions between humans and Archanes grew. Each summer their siblings would return home from Fallmoor thinner, hard-eyed, circling each other warily; they grew more and more determined to choose their own path, until at thirty-eight Synechis signed off on their dorm at Yasreth for the last time and took a shuttle to a small town in southeastern Undra, where they had passed the requirements to join a local architecturing program two weeks prior. For good or for ill, whatever legacy belonged to the Hawke and Serenity bloodlines would no longer be theirs to live on. 

Synechis has since graduated the program and is now a full-fledged architect in their own right. They generally sign on for larger companies due to their young age, which provides more than enough for them to live on but requires a lot of traveling and oftentimes has long gaps in between assignments. The former suits them just fine: the latter less so, but they spend their free time pursuing their other main interest. Synechis's membership in the Astronomer's Guild allows them expedition through all gates save the North, and they can often be found mingling with like-minded astrophiles (Archanes or human - while officially discouraged, the pursuit of knowledge breeds a certain indifference of protocol) in the broad, lightless canyons of the West, where the stars are said to shine the brightest. 

As far as they know, Synechis’s family is well. Both of their older siblings have long since finished their training; their sister is stationed at the North Gate barracks in Kellen, while their brother is navigating a maze of political intrigue in the courts of Fallmoor. Synechis remains in touch with Nazaret, who covered for them when they left and is currently interning under a healer on the eastern tip of Fara. Though she has urged them to meet with their older siblings or at least send a letter to let them know they’re still alive, they have not yet done so. They have not asked her about their parents, but assume they are fine as well.

▌ P E R S O N A L I T Y

In the Hawke household, being recognized, even for something as small as a high grade, meant that the Lady Hawke would leap at the chance to cultivate what she saw as potential. Synechis grew up watching their older siblings being sent to private academies and competitions and shown around at public events whenever their mother saw fit, and in response strove to be as unassuming and inoffensive as possible. Their test scores were carefully kept average, and after year after year of mediocre grades their mother finally lost interest and left them alone, with nothing but a muttered admonition to stay in their room and study. Synechis’s siblings had their comrades-in-arms and acquaintances at the Fallmoor dorms to vent to whenever the pressure built up, but before their younger sister was born they had nothing and no-one but the library; they spent nearly thirty years going through the motions and hiding themselves away the moment the coast was clear.  

As such, Synechis remains intensely private. They have an almost pathological fear of being recognized, and try to avoid being in the public eye if at all possible. While they are polite and respectful towards others, they come off as serious and inexpressive, to the point of being distant or reserved. Despite this, Synechis has a strong sense of civic duty which makes them kind and supportive towards others, willing to help anyone who needs it regardless of who they are. They are open-minded and do not tend to judge others for anything, in large part due to their self-focus. Synechis is extremely active and hardworking, always putting 110% into their work and projects, and though they specialise in architecture they are adventurous and enjoy branching out into different fields of study. They are highly self-conscious and critical of themselves, and threatening or criticizing their work is just about the only way to get them to lash out.

▌ T R I V I A

• Synechis was a late bloomer, and at 177cm (5’10”) they’re on the tall side for a male-born Archane. Their flowers didn’t show up until they were well into their forties, and their horns continued to grow for years after that (the lower set grew inwards and would have ended up gouging out their eyes if they hadn’t started filing them back). No one in their family knows what their flowers look like, not even their younger sister, and Synechis intends to keep it that way.  
• While all of Synechis’s siblings surpass them in at least one area of magic (their brother is exceptional with shields, their older sister with shard-summoning, and their younger sister with healing) they are the strongest of their siblings in terms of overall power. 
• The length of Synechis’s tail is covered with a very soft and fine layer of down feathers which appears identical to fur, while the tip looks like a single large feather but is actually composed of long strands of fur like a lion’s tail. How do the strands stick together without clumping? Magic, most likely.