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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Urko" data-source="post: 2331141" data-attributes="member: 30822">Character SubmissionStats are in progress, but I wanted to at least submit the concept and see if it was acceptable.Kaelendor BoereastrisMale Elf (Aereni) Clr3 (Undying Court)/Wiz 2Neutral GoodBackground:[sblock]The Boereastris family name is a proud one, whose dedication to the elven community can be traced back through the millennia to before the founding of Aerenal. Throughout the ages, the Boereastris have been politicians, clergy, and scholars, with many of their number continuing to serve after death as councilors of the Undying Court. It was no surprise, therefore, that Kaelendor, a rare third child, entered the priesthood. He excelled in his studies, as was expected of him as a Boereastris, and showed every sign of continuing his family’s tradition of distinguished service to their people.All that changed on the day of his Commencement of the Path of Transition. Walking alongside the other initiates between the bone pillars of the Hall of Forebears, Kaelendor became aware of a peculiar burning sensation in his left side. A particularly dry member of a family noted for stoicism, Kaelendor at first ignored the feeling and carried on. The pain intensified to such a point that Kaelendor actually choked while drinking from the Pool of Eternity. Kaelendor was mortified by the whispers of shock that his breach of decorum caused to echo through the chamber, but he managed to finish the ceremony that made him a full priest of the Undying Court.As soon as he was alone, Kaelendor tore off his robes to examine the cause of his agony. His blood froze when he saw the angry red swirling symbol seared into his flesh – a dragonmark. Kaelendor knew little about the mysterious skin patterns and their study was not popular in Aerenal, but he was certain it was not one of the twelve recognized marks. The remaining possibilities terrified him, and Kaelendor resolved to keep his mark a secret until he could learn more. By day he was the model elf, coolly and dispassionately carrying out his duties in Shae Cairdal and Shae Mordai. By night, he pored over ancient tomes in a terror, desperately searching for some insight into what he came to think of as his curse.There was little to find. His ancestors had been quite thorough in their destruction of all records pertaining to House Vol and the Mark of Death; not so much as a single picture remained to help Kaelendor lay to rest his worst fear and he dared not consult with those among the Court who had personally seen it. He also found little information about aberrant marks and the marks appearing among the lesser races; good Aereni were simply not interested in such things. But he did find something worse. In an obscure legal tome was the account of a suit brought by his own great-great-great grandfather, Hoeldan Boereastris, against a colleague for slander. It seems the colleague was attempting to gain political advantage by claiming that Hoeldan was actually the bastard child of Tevren d’Vol, grandfather of the infamous Erandis. According to the account, the accusation was later publicly withdrawn, but Kaelendor was filled with yet more doubt.Kaelendor hid his fear and his shame while he considered what to do with his career. He caused more than a few eyebrows to be raised when he, a respectable member of a dignified family, volunteered to serve when a position as religious advisor to the diplomatic delegation in Taer Valaestas became available. Most Aereni, and especially Kaelendor’s own family, consider foreign service to be a distasteful, albeit necessary, duty. To put it bluntly, leaving Aerenal was considered tantamount to exile among the barbarians. That those barbarians were elves made it little better, as he had been raised to thing of the Tairnadal as savage rebels, barely cousins at all.Kaelendor considered joining the ambassador’s party as making the best of a bad situation. He had no greater desire to leave his home than most of his race and he was certain he would find the conditions distressingly primitive. On the other hand, his uncertainty over whether he was indeed a bearer of the taint of abomination made it increasingly difficult for him to endure the company of his peers and even more so of the Revered Ancestors. Moreover, Kaelendor believed that he might find more answers to his dilemma on Khorvaire, home of the dragonmarked houses.Although the facilities in Taer Valaestas were primitive indeed by comparison to those at home, Kaelendor made slow and steady progress in his researches into the history of the dragonmarks. He was able to concoct excuses to travel as far as Korranberg to consult the famous library there. These trips, while helpful, were always called distressingly short. In the process of his researches, Kaelendor made some discoveries about himself.Previously, he had always considered magic to be nothing more than a tool, albeit one that the Elves have superior knowledge of, of course. Even the clerical abilities granted by his devotion were a matter of indifference to him – a sign of his status and success and mildly useful, but little more. The more he studies, however, the more Kaelendor has come to realize the topic of magic engages his intellect on the deepest possible level. He would like to delve deeper into arcane studies, assuming he can balance it with his clerical duties and his dark secret.Working among gnomes, khorovar, humans, and others, he came to a second realization. The so-called “lesser races” are people too, in their own fashion. Kaelendor is surprised to find a respite from the terrible strain of his secret burden in a genuine sense of caring that he has begun to develop for the people he has lived and studied among for the past few years. His feelings are tempered with a certain amount of uneasiness with (and pity for) beings who stumble through life without the comfort of the wisdom of the ages to draw upon.This caring has a downside. Not only are the other races extremely short-lived, but in Khorvaire, those brief lives are often violently cut even shorter. Just a few weeks ago, Dovem Bonadar, a gnome librarian whom Kaelendor had begun to trust and feel close to above all others, was killed under mysterious circumstances. Almost immediately thereafter the Ambassador released Kaelendor from active duty to “take time to reflect.” Kaelendor is unused to the intensity and rapid pace of politics, intrigue, and conspiracy that are an everyday fact of life in Khorvaire, but he is certain that there is a veiled message in his superior’s orders. For now, he is content to observe the world and its strange, violent inhabitants, and wait to see what adventures fate has in store for him.[/sblock]Personality and Appearance:[sblock]At 5’8”, Kaelendor is rather tall for an elf, but he has an emaciated frame and clammy pallor that often made him the envy of his fellow seminary students. His personal manner is aloof and distant; his liking for the people of Khorvaire has yet to overcome decades of training. He almost never appears in public without the Vhul Mordaes Thal, the traditional face paint and shroud of the priestly class. His voice is powerful, but he only speaks when he has fully considered what he wishes to say and pauses often as if carefully choosing his words. Contemplative and imperturbable, few would realize the agonizing terror of himself that he wrestles with daily.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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