Appearance

Physical Description

Though of adequate strength and physique, Conrad has a number of conditions that plague him regularly. Not exactly short for his kind, but still gives an impression of being small.

Body Features

Conrad has a skeletal arm in place of his right arm.

Facial Features

Over the bridge of his nose and extending around his left eye, the Mark of Scribing shimmers. The tail of it gives the impression of a constantly perked eyebrow, giving him a curious expression.

Identifying Characteristics

Mark of Scribing (Above Left Eye), Skeletal Arm (Right)

Physical quirks

House Jorasco has made certain that no scars remain from his time at war. Conrad will still occasionally flinch or have a tick from a phantom wound.

Apparel & Accessories

Conrad's clothing is nondescript and functional. His armor is well crafted but obviously second hand, with many straps afixed to modify it for his smaller than average frame. And his warhammer-usually covered in a burlap sack--is an ornate gothic design and unmistakenly of Karnath make.

Mentality

Personal history

Conrad was born Silas Serif, son of some Zil parents whom he never got to know. He grew up in a temple to the Blood of Vol after being told that his parents died to a Thrane advancement. He changed his name to Conrad to avoid seeming so different than the other children, though he kept the torn blanket stitched with his birth name.
 
The Priest was a lesser mummy positioned in Korth as a public figure that had the support of the Ruling Regeant. He maintained a refuge for children who were displaced by the war and was instrumental in teaching Conrad the tenants of the Blood of Vol.
 
As he grew older, he rallied to the nationalist call to arms and joined the martial track for youths of no pedigree. In this time, he also discovered the beginning of his faith as a Seeker and began to practice as a spellslinger, though there wasn't really a formal track for it for his peerage.
 
When he finally was deployed, he spent a couple of months of service avoiding battles of any great import. But it wasn't long before he faced against an onslaught from Aundair. At some point in the battle, another force entered the fray and chaos insued. It didn't matter to Conrad, as he faced against a towering Warforged that cut his arm in a single swing and left him to bleed out. Conrad's vision faded outlined in a glowing blue-purple.
 
When he came to, he was recovered by Karnathi forces and the next couple of weeks were spent in recovery and getting used to his new arm, or rather, its new form. The necromancers of Korth fitted him with the skeletal remains of his own severed arm. In this time, the Mourning hit Cyre and the war changed form.
The following years were a blur of simple-minded devotion. He finished his service with the Karnath military and went to Atur to make a grand standing declaration of faith as a Seeker of the Divinty Within.
 
With no real direction for action with the Last War growing cold and the Seekers shunted out of the lime-light, Conrad set out for Zilargo with nothing more than requisitioned gear and meager wages. When the Lighting Rail reached Wroat, instead of boarding the train headed back east, he went south.
 
He reasoned he needed to make sure he had funds and fare because it certainly wouldn't be an easy thing to find his family, even Marked as he is. And as ever, he needs to be able to demonstrate his strength, and what better place to prove it then the notorious City of Towers.

Education

Conrad recieved a bare-bones education. In matters military and national, he was greatly proficient, as it was supplimented by the stories and reports of his peers and seniors. Reading came very easy to the gnome, and when he could he would sneak copies of the Korranberg Chronicles. It was a shameful guilty pleasure of his--in the same breath that he beraded himself for reading "neutral" libel, he also dreamt of the family he never knew and the distant idealic lands of Zilargo.
 
When he was able to spend time in the cloisters of his faith after his military service, he learned a smattering of the arcane, specifically necromancy and its principles.

Employment

Conrad served in the Karnathi Military as a Private Spellslinger. After his honorable survival, he was promoted to a Specialist Spellslinger and given minor leadership duties. By this point, it was more of a formality, since grandstanding battles and skirmishes greatly diminished after the Mourning.
 
In the couple years that followed, he tended to a mausoleum in Atur as he dedicated himself to become a Seeker. He was in charge of the preservation and upkeep of undead servants and this ended with a ceremony where he obtained his Reliquary and left to Seek out in the world.

Mental Trauma

Conrad has a fear of abandonment that branched into an insecurity about whether or not he is enough. From his parents leaving him before he could really know them to his failure and survival from a battle that claimed many of his troop, he walked away with a sense that he has to do better if he is going to have anything stay.
 
When his temple got removed from high standing in Korth, he wanted desperately to find them and settle into a life working with his adopted father, but he couldn't accept that he was worthy of such a life. On his worse days, resentment towards his skeletal prosthetic leaves him feeling that he has had a part of his Divinity severed and that it will never be as strong as it could've been.

Intellectual Characteristics

Conrad has a budding curiosity that he didn't very much have the space to grow in his youth. He absorbs information as a thirsty person drinks. His Mark grants him special insight to the meaty message behind any communcation.

Morality & Philosophy

Everyone has a spark of Divinity. Find that power within.

Death is the end, Dolurrh is oblivion, and if the gods exist, they are cruel. Stand with those you care for; all we have is this life and each other.
 
-ERftLW pg. 145, Blood of Vol

As a victim of the war and an orphan with no family ties to claim, Conrad immediately was drawn into these two tenets. The general landscape of Karnath, the Last War itself, as well as the concluding Mourning are evidence enough to Conrad that there are no just gods.
 
He was well positioned to dig deep into the faith and quickly pull at the strands of divinity that rest within him, even at a young age. Conrad is the process of coming to terms with defining 'whom he stands with.' As a soldier, lines were drawn clearly with banners and battle cries, but even before that he witnessed the blanket generosity of a clergyman who accepted all and worked beyond that to provide succor to those around him.
 
For now, he is quick to meet force with force and as time passes and he frets about steep goals that he must meet to qualify to stand with the people he truely cares about. He is getting more desperate to find people to stand with so that he can act on his principles and have a space to develop his divinity.

person.sexuality

Conrad had exactly one sporatic love affair as a teen training to go to war. It was a whirlwind romance, though if Conrad were to look back on it, he would recognize that most if not all of the moves he made were directed and guided by peers and his partner. He does not know what happened to her, as they were assigned to different units, ending their relationship.
 
Conrad's primary focus in life is what he wishes to accomplish in his life. In the rare moments when he stops to imagine the end goal of being a leader of a community that he protects, he dreams of a more masculine partner by his side than he has known in his one partnership. Perhaps someone similar to his commanding officer, who lacked the rigidty that Conrad himself has and was quite affable with his soldiers.

person.gender_identity

Conrad identifies as male, but more out of societal standard than any innate connection to it. He is beginning to question the need for such identification as he looks into himself on his journey to find his own Divinity. His pronouns are He/him.

Known Languages

Conrad knows Common and has picked up enough Dwarvish to hold his own from merchants, travelers and residents that left the Mror Holds.

Personality

Motivation

Conrad is currently preoccupied with empowering his Divinity. He maintains a mantra that promotes the ultimate goal of Seekers, to defy death and rival the so-called gods that would watch as all 'mortals' suffer.
 
Ultimately he wants to be strong enough to protect and lead his own community. If he could find peace enough within himself to settle down, he would be content sheltering a small garden in the vast uncaring waste of the universe for whatever time he has. The peace he has experienced in his life could fit in a thimble, however, and as he is now, he may desperately cling to the promise of existance in undeath if his death were hanging over his head.

Quotes & Catchphrases

Seeker Sayings
Seeking up/above - Foolish, a fool
Seeking down/below - Desperate foolishness
By my Blood - a promise
Karrnath Sayings
Bone brain - Brilliant Strategist/Extremely Loyal
Rot job - Menial Labor
Fleeing the sun - Climbing heirarchy
Dancing with your shadow - Practicing Necromancy
Trade blows - meet, become acquainted with
Playing tag with a ghoul - Hesitant, indecisive

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Conrad--as those with the Mark of Scribing typically are--is adept at maintaining chronicles of history within his mind and has impeccable handwriting. Perhaps a bit more rare, he is especially sensitive to the meaning behind communication, where emotions flash like colors and deceit and deception rankle the air. He also has an aptitude for necromancy, especially the basic principles, allowing him to combine his faith with knowledge for potent effect.
 
Since surviving a near fatal battle, Conrad has been susceptible to illness and the strain of concentrating on magics aggravates the necromantic rituals that supplement his frail body. He also has a terrible tell when he lies, his mark changes color to a putrid green.

Likes & Dislikes

Though his portions are small, he enjoys Karnathi style dishes, delicacies such as meat pies and jerkies. He enjoys sweets as well, but they normally leave him feeling ill. He has a guilty pleasure in reading, a luxury he hasn't had much opportunity to explore, except for the occasional Korranberg Chronicle and a sparse collection of personal books kept at the temple.

Social

Birthplace

Zilargo

Current Residence

Sharn, City of Towers

Contacts & Relations

Conrad refused to learn the names of his parents, something he now regrets. All he knows is that their family name is 'Serif' and he is likely of House Sivis, given his mark.

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Specialist Spellslinger of the Third Proximal Phalanx of the Karnathi Armed Forces

Wealth & Financial state

Conrad has not known the wonders of high society. The most wealth he had at one time was when he was awarded a bonus for his promotion within the military and saved that to combine with his discharge at the end of his service. He turned around and gave it to the Seekers, giving him a respectable position to study in when he spent time in Atur among his like-minded peers.
 
Conrad is neither a spendthrift nor a miser. He will save money as a precaution but is resolute in spending it when the opportunity will be beneficial.

Family Ties

Zil parents did not survive the Karnathi Draft. Left him swathed in a blanket stitched with 'Silas Serif.' He ditched his first name when he joined a unit, and adopted Conrad instead.

Religious Views

Conrad is a Seeker of the Divinity Within. He believes that every person harbors a Divinity within themselves and harnessing it grants people the power to do extraordinary things. This can be done subconsciously, empowering a warrior to swing their sword faster than her peers or granting a wizard a deeper reservoir of understanding. Even vassals or other divine casters are simply mistaking their own Divinity for some abstract myth granting them powers for following a portfolio.

Hobbies & Pets

Conrad has a collection of Korranberg Chronicle articles as well as a small journal in which he scrapbooks when he can. He has a couple pages singing the praises of Karnath, some inspiring quotes from interviews with a vampire from the Seekers, and notable figures of House Sivis dealing with family news, such as marriages or obituaries.