Appearance

Physical Description

Though he was a relatively hale newborn, a birth defect resulted in a vestigial left arm which was amputated by midwives present.

Body Features

He has a generally pale complexion kept up by his fondness for hats and other headwear.

Facial Features

Viel has a well kept chestnut brown beard.

Apparel & Accessories

Fairly tall and lithe, Viel typically wears clothing that accentuates his height or extends in a way to appear more muscular.

Mentality

Personal history

Viel was born to a food vendor's sole daughter and a sergeant in the Imperial Army around the culmination of the Imperial Invasion of Velia. His grandfather, Nostro, had come from the Imperial homelands in an impoverished state. Seeking to make honest coin by becoming a tag-along to the army, Nostro and his daughter, Isolt, sold various meat pies and fresh stews to the men-at-arms during their off-time. After the birth of his daughter's son, along with the end of the Velian conflict, Nostro decided to settle down in a bustling town in the countryside overlooking the great plains of Mart county.
 
For the first four years of his life Viel lived in relative comfort, provided for by the diligent work of his grandfather and caring hand of his mother. This ended upon the death of his grandfather. Without the aid of her father, Isolt was unable to sufficiently operate the business, and was forced to close the store. Desperate for income to support themselves, Isolt became a local courtesan and Viel turned to begging. Though the situation for the family became significantly more inclement, life was not terrible to young Viel. In the following years Isolt had two more children, Rebecca and Cerwyn, who quickly took a liking to their elder. The three would often follow Viel around the town, getting into scrapes with other children or simply playing a game of knights and goblins amongst themselves.
 
Once Viel reached his adolescence, his wherewithal around town and reputation for skill in reading the faces of those who he encountered caught the attention of native gangs and groups of thieves looking to scout local talent. He jumped at the opportunity to make extra coin and both of his siblings followed swiftly afterwards. It was during this time that his magical ability began to surface. During a scam involving the selling of false ivory ornamentation, Viel became transfixed with working on a particular piece out of some questionable bones provided to him by his gang. All day and night he worked at carving the dimensions exactly right, letting each stroke of his knife fall in the ideal way to conform to the inscriptions burned within his head, until at last he was finished. His creation was a top-like object that flowed as it spun, and created a peculiar note as it went about. The following day he made the most money he had ever earned selling hastily carved bone substitutes to a traveling merchant; it was almost too easy.
 
Not everything in Viel's life was handled so easily or with such a pleasant outcome however; a disdain for authority will not earn any good will from any organization. Although he appreciated the resources and respect afforded to him from being a member of gangs, Viel was oft prone to cheat and swindle his fellow members. On more than one occasion Viel was beaten by the other members of his gang for minor indiscretions against whomever was the leader at the time. If left unchecked Viel's behavior could eventually be adopted by those members of the gang, and in turn lead to the dissolution of the whole thing. At least that was the gang leader's rationale for kidnapping Rebecca, sending Viel a small piece of her little finger, and requesting that he come into their base to answer for all his various slights. Unluckily for them, they didn't expect the guards to be so well informed on the operations of their base, as well as release Viel and Rebecca while arresting or putting to the sword the remainder of the gang. Some guards must have really liked Viel to do him such a large favour. Afterwards Viel typically avoided getting entangled in any more organized gangs, his family members were enough for him; his brother and sister.
 
She died the next year due to some illness the clerics and healers couldn't or wouldn't heal. They said that it didn't have anything to do the the injury on her hand, after all her lungs were in the worst shape, but since when can you believe someone trying to sell you something? After her death, Viel distanced himself from his remaining family members. His mother, Isolt, had found an elderly suitor who promised to take her away from her current life and support her children. Initially when Viel decided not to join her, Cerwyn insisted on staying with his brother, but after a while he agreed to go with Isolt in order to separate himself from Viel. Viel has a talent with changing people's opinion of him.
 
Once the call went out in search of all bastard sons of the new master of House Niccoli, Viel took time to prepare himself for a shift to that environment. Upon entering Slakkenspire Keep however, he found the limitations placed on him by his father, the decorum, and the expectations by various retainers to be even more of a burden than those he faced with the gangs. With that realization, Viel decided to make use of his status in another way. He gathered up any of the people in the keep who would agree to accompany him and set off in search of gold, glory, and new experiences.

Education

He taught himself to read with the aid of some local priests and did a bit of research in the field of noble etiquette and heraldry, though he wasn't able to grasp the latter before heading out to meet with his estranged father.

Known Languages

Common, Velian, Halfling

Personality

Social

Birthplace

Mart Duchy