Kieran Tollard
Roguish Apprentice of The Tower
Description
Of an age where he is on the threshold between boy and man, though somewhat undersized as a result of childhood deprivation, Kieran is in many ways a fairly unremarkable individual, he has a natural talent for being overlooked which he has carefully practiced over the years. However his dark hair and eyes, combined with his usually quiet and still demeanour give him an air of mystery and intensity that some find intriguing, even appealing.
Aware of the fact that society in general considers him a man, Kieran usually tries to appear to be a confident, competent and always-in-control young man with a mysterious past. Tainted one, apprentice of the Tower, shadow-mage and sometime thief, Kieran accepts all the different roles he has held… but he maybe isn’t quite so certain of what holds them all together as he would like to appear.
Behind this facade, Kieran is still in many ways the scared and confused outcast little boy he has always been. His troubled early life left him without a strong foundation to build an image of himself from, so Kieran is constantly unsure of himself, and how he fits in with people around him.
Bio
Origins
The death of his mother giving birth to him and his father’s resulting grief stricken breakdown, left Kieran effectively alone from a very young age in a town that was at best distant and unfriendly towards him, and at worst manipulative, and almost vengeful.
Seeing an opportunity, a retired adventurer turned thief-maker took the young boy under his wing, and quickly turned the boy from an increasingly wild street urchin into a surprisingly successful young apprentice rogue. That is, until the master found an opportunity for great profit that required him to sacrifice the boy, and took it.
Sinister agents both known and unknown conspired to arrange one of the most infamous nights in the history of Westreach. Kieran was set up, chased from town, and nearly killed, only to be restored by “The Lady of Shadows” an Imari who was imprisoned beneath the ruins of an old abbey on a nearby hill. The Lady used Kieran to win her own freedom, killing the last guardian of the ruins in the process.
The shock of nearly losing his son broke Kieran’s father out of his cycle of grief, but any attempts at reconciliation between the two was cut short when the boy was blamed for the “troubles”, Including 2 fairly gruesome deaths, and was forced to flee the town. His father was supposed to follow, but Kieran never saw him again, or even found out what became of him.
Lost and alone once more, Kieran wandered aimlessly around the western lands of the kingdom, haunted by dreams and visions caused by his contact with the Imari, he spent a year or so living on the streets of Raven’s Crag, where he practiced his various skills a little too freely, causing him once again to be chased from town. Before eventually finding himself in the town of Newley, on the edge of the Daggerfall Forest.
The Pastor of Newley and his daughter cared for the troubled young boy, and brought him back from the brink of being completely consumed by his fear, confusion and growing powers. However, this peaceful respite didn’t last long. Rumours about the nature of the strange young boy in the care of the church, and his relationship with those who cared for him, made Kieran realise that he had to leave again, before harm came to the people who had cared for him.
The Pastor pointed Kieran in the direction of Greenhaven, and the Magus Sevin Ghanay who maintained the White Tower there.
Greenhaven, Act One
Though his time in Newley had done much to bring Kieran back from the feral state he’d fallen into. It still took him a long time to come to terms with the idea that he had found a place he could stay where he would be safe, and even welcome. Usually a troubled sleeper, and with a habit of nocturnal wanderings to occupy his mind, Kieran was something of a nuisance in his first weeks around the tower. There were several incidents with the tower staff which were eventually forgiven (though never forgotten).
Eventually, thanks to the patience and care of the people of the tower, Kieran came to accept his new life, and even begin to enjoy it. He began to think of the town, and the tower, as his new home, and even came to see the people of the tower as a kind of family for him. Arguably it was these bonds that finally gave Kieran the stability he needed to develop into something at least resembling a promising Apprentice.
TBC…
