Name: Hawthorn Spindle
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Race: Human

Physical Appearance:
Short for his age and decidedly skinny, Hawthorn is easily lost in a crowd, which his shabby appearance doesn't help. He has dark, messy hair, adorned with a couple of braids and small owl feathers; his facial features are somewhat sharp and sunken, his eyes large and dark and his often slightly-unshaved jaw is pronounced. His arms and legs are skinny, though his hands and feet are quite big, with long bony fingers that are usually slightly burnt or cracked from the magic he does.

Thorn usually wears a baggy grey armless vest, dark trousers, high leather boots and a black, roughspun travelling cloak. Slung loosely around his waist is a belt from which he hangs small satchels and charms, and often one of his foci, an ordinary-looking twig. He also wears a necklace that is his other focus (see below), and a single owl-feather earring. Often he carries a sack over one shoulder, which contains most of his belongings and magical equipment and ingredients, as well as his grandmother's pointed, patched hat, which helps concentrate his magical powers.

Personality:
Having lived most of his life separated from the rest of society in a house full of women, Hawthorn can be quite shy and awkward around new people, particularly around other men. He is generally quiet and soft-spoken, though if he becomes confident around people he knows, can be considerably sarcastic and humorous. He often talks quietly to himself (or to his owl familiar, Tylu) without realising that he is doing it, or that other people find it strange. He is rarely the one to start a conversation, though despite his shyness, he secretly enjoys the company and voices of new people, and is very good at remembering things about them, often surprising them by recalling a small fact or anecdote they told him months or more ago.

However, he is at his happiest on his own deep in a forest grove, silently practising his magic in the sole company of his familiar, Tylu, improving his symbology or relinquishment. He hopes to one day return home and impress his family with his improved skills, as they always doubted he would be as strong a witch as his sisters or mother. His fears include being underestimated or ignored, though he also has a slightly more superficial fear of moths. Luckily for Thorn, Tylu eats moths.

Focus:
He has two:
- A necklace of animal claws and fangs; he uses these to carve or draw symbols for symbology magic. The necklace also carries a small carved wooden charm in the shape of a four-spoked wheel, with tiny, roughcut gems on four points around it.
- A seemingly ordinary twig from a hawthorn tree (his namesake, of course), which serves as a general focus for his magic.
- (One could also count the shabby pointed hat he inherited from his grandmother as a focus, though it isn't really, it just assists him in concentrating his powers.)

Magic types:
Being a witch of the Spindle family, he focuses on what they call curse-scribing (symbology) and talismannery (relinquishment), in that order. He rarely has need for combat-based magic, though knows how to use it when it is necessary; he mostly focuses on healing spells, nature magic (causing plants to grow, bloom, wither and so on), as well as a slightly unique variant of magic that his family have focused on - summoning, the ability to pull spirits (and sometimes more physical beings) temporarily out of the ether to serve him. His use of summoning also allowed him to call a helpful spirit into the body of an owl, who now serves as his familiar, Tylu, and follows him everywhere. His summoning magic usually involves a mixture of symbology and relinquishment, and can only be done once a day or so, depending on the size and duration of the being summoned.

He also is proficient in the family art of potion-brewing, though it isn't exactly magic as much as a science. He has an instinct for finding the right herbs, plants, minerals and animal parts to whip up a quick draught to heal ailments, or to harm foes.

Proficiency in casting arts: Chantry 1 / Symbology 4 / Relinquishment 3

History:
The first male born into a family of witches for several generations, none of Hawthorn's family, isolated from most of society, ever expected him to excel in the family arts. After his father died in an unfortunate magical experimentation accident, the family, who have lived for as long as they can remember deep in a forest in Saher, at first tried to send him off to live with his uncle Willow to learn what the family viewed as 'man-magic'. Thorn, however, showed very little interest (or ability) in Chantry, and so after a few years returned home to his mother and sisters, and began to learn for real the family arts of symbology, relinquishment (or as they called them, curse-scribing and talismannery), as well as potion-brewing. Contrary to everybody's expectations, Thorn adapted to the arts of witchery fairly quickly and proficiently, although starting at such a late age (13) impaired his magical development a little. He soon nearly mastered symbology, and got fairly good at relinquishment too, though his chantry remained average at best, as it simply didn't interest him very much.

When he reached the age of 19, the traditional age of adulthood in the family, he left the family home with a meagre bag of belongings, magical equipment and ingredients, and headed off into the world to begin an adventure of his own. Three years have passed since then and he still hasn't found his calling yet, so he continues to wonder the world day by day, taking things as they come.