Age: 19, appears to be in his late 50ās.
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Ethnicity: Dāhomani
Place of Birth: Dostathi, a small village slightly inland from the Syakh coast.
Physical Appearance:
Maceās age and appearance are obviously two things that simply donāt add up. Heās balding quite heavily with ashen gray hair where it is left. A long beard of the same color covers his chin and his skin is wrinkled in every place possible. He shows the age the Tome made him, liver spots and weird old man hair included. Muscle definition is not something evident on him anymore, and for all intents and purposes, he looks rather infirm. His small stature doesnāt help in this matter, although his glowing blue eyes have been known to cause a man to falter in their sentences from time to time, not expecting the magical hue emanating from them.
Typically Mace wears a white robe that flows easily around him. Despite its rather loose nature, he never seems to step on it. Underneath, contrary to popular opinion, he is not nude. Instead he wears a simple cloth shirt and pants, along with some comfortable leather shoes. Some ask him if the heat bothers him, he answers that he lived in the desert.
Eye Color: Blue, glowing most of the time due to using magic to see since his eyesight has long since failed him.
Hair Color: Gray
Skin Tone/Complexion: Slightly tanned, but littered with wrinkles.
Height: 5ā8
Weight: 135 lbs.
Combat Skills:
The main thing holding back Mace from being a capable fighter is his advanced aging. Before his current condition, Mace had actually been training with a sword and shield combo, and can sometimes surprise people with his swordsmanship. Unfortunately, his body simply isnāt able to keep up with the warriors of today, and most of the time that surprise is all he has going for him. If he had the body of someone who was actually his age, he might be a formidable foe. As it stands though, after the first few seconds of realizing the old man can hold a blade, he wonāt last long enough to be a threat.
Magic Mastery Level:
What Mace lacks in other combat skills, he makes up for in pure magic mastery. This is where the man shines, with his ability to conjure and create nearly any kind of magic that one can think of through a near limitless supply of mana. Despite everyoneās thoughts on the matter, he was not born with this innate ability. A tome is attached to his belt, locked and magically sealed to prevent other people from opening it. A tome, the reason for his advanced aging and crippling physical deterioration has given him arcane powers beyond what most mortal men should be able to achieve.
Every power has its price, and where most sorcerers and mages can simply go day to day and exhaust their mana with little effect, Maceās abilities are tied to that book. It is his power, his curse, his burden and responsibility. While he can cast many spells without the aid of the book, relying on his own inherent mana reserves, the tome requires sacrifice in order to be properly used. This is evident just by looking at the blind old man.
Every spell cast from the Tome, of which he has labelled the Book of Sacrifice, costs him something. In most cases, it is physical pain to the point of debilitating. His aging is a direct result of him meddling with something he didnāt understand. Casting a spell that he couldnāt comprehend the results of. His blindness was caused from a moment of panic and a simple misread line. As such, he has become extremely careful when dealing with the Tome of Sacrifice, and refuses to let anyone else touch it, let alone read it.
Magic Resistance Level:
Tertiary
The book acts like a shield for its carrier. Due to this, Mace always has some level of resistance and negation surrounding him. Aside from this, Mace is also highly skilled in the area of magical defence. He is more than capable of throwing up shields, fighting magical effects, and curing ailments of a magical nature. Once again, most of this comes from the Tome of Sacrifice, and for every time he needs to use it a price must be paid.
Flow Mastery Level:
None
Weapons and Equipment:
Tome of Sacrifice: A massive book tied to Maceās belt and hidden underneath his robe. Despite its mass, it appears that it weighs next to nothing the way Mace waves it about. A dark energy seems to surround it, and arcane symbols are drawn all over the cover. Thereās a massive padlock keeping the book closed, which is also surrounded by a magical energy, but not one emanating from the book. Maceās own magic keeps the book sealed until he called upon it, and as such would take a vast amount of magical power to open without his consent. This bookās origins are unknown, and Mace refuses to speak of where it came from or how he happened to come across it for fear someone might figure out a way to wrestle it from his grasp. The power that comes from this Tome can not be understated and in the wrong hands, could easily spell the destruction of thousands.
Steel Sword: While Maceās ability to fight with an actual weapon is nigh negatable, he likes the feel of having an actual weapon on his person. Seeing as he doesnāt use a staff or equivalent to one, the sword acts more in a way of reassurance than anything else.
Miscellaneous Items:
Bag of Baubles: A small satchel located on Maceās belt that contains little bits of everything. Weird and malformed coins, buttons, pieces of metal, strange looking rocks, essentially anything that happens to catch Maceās eye.
Flute: Mace is an avid flute player and knows more than a few songs as well as how to whittle a new flute should he lose one.
Personality Description: In reality, Mace is only 19 years old, and as such his attitude and demeanor sometimes reflect a personality that doesnāt always fit with his outwards appearance. In the heat of the moment, he can sometimes react poorly and will appear immature and irresponsible. At his heart, heās still just a kid. His outward age has done nothing to dull his natural pull towards curiosity and adventure, but that isnāt to say that heās always an overgrown child. His particular affliction has left quite the lasting impression on Maceās view of life. If asked, he does regret what happened to him. Heās sad that he wonāt get as much time on this Earth as any other human. Heās somewhat angry at his past self for putting himself in this situation. In the end, however, he simply chooses to take each day with as much excitement and happiness that he can muster. To look at the bright side of things and take things as they come.
Heās a kind soul who didnāt ask for what happened to him, but isnāt trying to burden other people with his problems. He smiles and offers wisdom someone of his age rarely has. He has a unique perspective on life and is always willing to help people with their problems, or even just be a listening ear should they require it.
Then you flip a switch. The one that determines what level of magic he needs to use. He doesnāt become scary, he becomes downright terrifying. The level of power he can output can range from trivial to catastrophic. He almost becomes a different person when he gets serious and heās rarely the same immediately after. He becomes distant, cold, and nearly completely silent for at least a few days as he deals with the aftermath of his magic abilities.
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Religious Beliefs: A believer in the One Creator
Education: Most of Maceās education comes from his older sisters, who taught him how to handle a blade and survive out in the deserts of Syakh. After he found the Tome of Sacrifice though, his knowledge and wisdom of the arcane arts came from the pages of the book instead of a teacher, and it had a lot to tell. No matter how far he reads into it, the end never seems closer.
History: Mace was born to a simple couple in a village just off of the Syakh coast, and is the youngest of 3 children. Despite his current condition, Mace was never born with a large reserve of mana nor did he come to the topic naturally. Even when he was just a child, Mace had a habit of exploring far beyond what was safe or conventional. He fell down the village well and nearly drowned when he was 4, nearly being eaten alive by a roving pack of dune worms when he was 6, and finally being taken in by Felidin Nomads after he wandered out into the desert following fireflies at the age of 9. Luckily his family managed to track the tribe and get their son/brother back, but it was a story that was told for many years to come. Needless to say, his thirst for adventure was incredibly strong and his youthful exuberance shined through even the darkest moments.
When he was finally strong enough to wave a sword around, his father and sisters went to work training him in the art of war and survival. Ensuring that should he get lost again, he would at least be able to take care of himself. His father was a hunter of the Syakh desert, which in other cultures, meant he was a warrior of beasts who simply decided to bring the carcass home rather than leave it to rot. Hunting in the desert was never an easy task, there were no deer to find here, only creatures that would sooner gut you than look at you. By the time he was 15, he was trained in the art of swordsmanship with the use of a shield, but had yet to actually participate in a hunt. That part didnāt come until later, when he was 16 years old. From there he, along with his family, tracked, trapped, and killed a Kuriosi, essentially a massive lizard beast that hides itself in the dunes waiting for prey. Mace didnāt land the killing blow, but he was instrumental enough that the family finally declared him ready for the world at large.
Everything happened naturally from that point on until he was 17 and let his curious nature get a hold of him once more. While out on a simple hunt to find some dune worms, Mace was caught in a massive sandstorm that threatened to kill him. There was no shelter in sight and he tried desperately to find his way back home. However, without sight and with the wind whipping him about like a leaf, he quickly lost his sense of direction. He did manage to find a small rock to literally crawl under until the storm passed, but when he emerged, he had no idea where he was. He had only packed enough water for a day, and it was already half empty. With no other option aside from trying to find his way back home, he set forward in hopes that his luck would lead him back to his family.
It was three days later, his body crying for water and food that he found his near breaking point. Several times he had backtracked because he was certain he had been heading the wrong direction, and the stars were not helping him at night as constant cloud cover seemed determined to see him die out there in the wastes. He climbed to the tallest dune he could find, and when he looked in all directions, he saw nothing but sand. He collapsed to his knees, and just as he did, something beneath the sand gave out. He fell nearly 30 feet, thankfully landing on a large pile of sand to break his fall and rolling the rest of the way down, finding himself in the middle of a large temple that seemed to have been forgotten by everyone including time.
His curiosity peaked, and for the moment he shoved everything to the back of his mind including his thirst and hunger. Where was he? How did this place get here? How far away was he from home? Who built this place? The building was massive, with the only light coming from the hole where he fell. A few feet away stood a pedestal with only a single book sitting on it. Ominous to most, exciting to Mace who nearly ran to it to see what it was. Covered in dust and sand, it didnāt look amazing until after he cleaned it up. The book was hefty, massive even as it took some effort to lift it from itās pedestal. He held the book in his arms as he opened the pages. The words written inside were in a different language that Mace couldnāt comprehend. Or at least, at first he couldnāt comprehend. As he flipped the pages to see if the pictures would help him decipher the pages, an understanding came to him. The scrawlings on the book turned into words he could comprehend, and within minutes he was reading the book as if it was his natural language. He was so engrossed in the tome that he didnāt even realize the glowing taking place around him.
It seemed like the book understood what his desire was; to return home and to his family. The pages seemed to flip of their own accord until he landed on a singular sentence. He felt compelled to say it aloud, like something was pulling at his strings from the inside. He said the words with a fluency of years speaking the language written in the book, and then everything started happening. Swirls of blue wove their way around Mace as sand and dirt was picked up with them. The book became lighter, like a feather, and the pages glowed with a deep purple hue. Nothing registered to Mace until he managed to catch a glimpse of his fingers and watched as they started to shrivel. He wanted to scream, to yell, to do anything yet he couldnāt. His body seemed to be locked, and he was but a prisoner watching in horror as wrinkles formed on his skin and he felt himself physically get older. Then, there was a flash and he blacked out.
When he awoke, he wasnāt in his house but he did recognize his neighbors. Needless to say, they didnāt recognize him, and had taken him in thinking him a lone survivor of some horrible fate and were trying to nurse him back to health. Upon trying to tell them he was Mace, they quickly went on asking questions as to where the boy was. Mace was confused, until he once again got a look at his skin. Frantically looking into a bowl of water to see a weathered old man looking back at him. Needless to say, Mace did not take this sight lightly, and nearly had a literal heart attack on the spot.
He was an old man, yet he was only 17 years old.
The next several days were of Mace attempting to convince his family of who he was, giving knowledge that only he would know. When he did finally convince them of who he was and what had happened, he didnāt know where to go from there. Everything was different and everything ached. His bones, his muscles, his skin, his hearing and his sight, everything was different. Even food didnāt taste the same anymore. Naturally his family was sympathetic, but they didnāt know what they could possibly do. At one point, his father attempted to open the book to try and decipher what had happened to his boy. When Mace looked over, and saw his fatherās eyes go dull as his mouth started to form words, he ran over as quickly as his body would allow and slammed the book out of his hands. Luckily, he had been quick enough, but it seemed that the book had some magical properties that affected the mind. If anyone was going to read it, it would be the one who was already affected.
When Mace tried to read the book a second time, to see if the effects could be reversed, he found that there was no pull for him to keep reading like there was the first time. In fact, his father had commented on the weight of the book, but Mace could barely feel it. As he read further in, making sure not to say anything out loud, he quickly found out what had happened. The book wasnāt necessarily alive, but there was deep magic burned into the very pages of the tome. It seeped into his mind and read his deepest desire. It made that desire come true, but there can be no reward without risk. No sale without payment. The book had returned him home, but it also took a number of years from him that he would have never lived had the book never brought him back. So in short, he lost only a portion of his life instead of the entirety.
He also found that he had a deeper understanding of the arcane, something that he had never been taught but seemed to come to him faster and faster as he read the book. Without much aid, he fashioned a lock to the book and bound it in a spell that was contained by his life essence. So long as he lived, no one else would read from what he had then dubbed the āTome of Sacrificeā.
That was the thought that spurred his sudden need to see the world. So long as he lived...but how long would that be? The Book had taken decades off of his life, and he was unsure of what the other side effects would be. Naturally his family went to work trying to find a cure, but Mace argued with them at every turn. He would not spend what time he had left chasing a fevered dream. He would enjoy what he had left, and he wanted to experience the world as best he could. His parents reluctantly agreed, through tears and barely controlled rage against the fates. He set himself up with rations and gear, knowing full well that he most likely would never return. He would not be going alone however, as his older sisters had packed their things as well. They vowed to accompany him for as long as they were able, until he either had seen enough and wanted to return home, or until his passing at which point they would return his body to itās homeland. He could barely say no to his sisters before the accident, and he had a harder time doing so now.
It has been a year since that time, with more than a few adventures in their short time together and more than once requiring Mace to call upon the Tome for help. He lost his natural sight as payment to escape a horrible situation that would have ended in their death and now relies on his magic to provide vision. His sisters, versed in combat and tempered by the sands of Syakh have stayed by his side the entire time. At the current time, they happened to become passengers aboard a ship dubbed the Flying Dwarf, also captained by dwarf. The price was a bit much, but the captain didnāt seem like someone to easily turn over passengers or crew members and he went just about anywhere. While their life has been a whirlwind of adrenaline and excitement, Mastenās sisters started to miss the sand of home and the friendly sight of family. As such, a return trip has been scheduled, even if Mace doesnāt plan to stay for long. A quick visit, then back out into the world.