Orphan raised by Gnomes is perfect. I was thinking a fairly chaotic lower middle class family situation. Like a Malcom in the Middle type family.
His favorite food is Rassiti, a typically vegan potato cake that's a Cazzeri staple. He likes to add in lamb or veal when making it. Also generally a big fan of cured meats, especially on the road.
Age: 51
Trinkets: His prized possession is an egg timer. He can't read the numbers on it but has sussed out its purpose and how to use it. He has little notches based on different alchemical recipes which require specific "curing" times. He also has a remote control he thinks might be used to control the world around him.
Alchemy: Armend was trained by his mentor
 
 
After a failed corporate coup--which no one could fully point fingers at Armend for--Armend was sent to Talingarde to "identify market outliers and seek out maximize innovative self actualization." Basically they just wanted him out of the way. Armend predictably went rogue as soon as he arrived. Financial support from his homeland simply never came, forcing Armend to seek "alternative revenue streams." Part of this he did in his pursuit of legal studies and status as a Maestro. He was particularly drawn to the legal system of Talingarde which reminded him of the Cazzeri tradition of of "Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit." Armend's memory made him a particularly potent legal opponent and gave him the ability to use the many overlaying levels of jurisdiction to his advantage to stall or even outright stop legal proceedings. Not to mention the wide range of bad luck his opponents seem to have. From heart attacks to sudden amnesia Armend's enemies always seemed to take care of themselves. Of course this was extremely obvious and his clientele reflected that.
 
The other half of his ventures included the slow acquisition and "restructuring" of local orphanages to gives orphans the opportunity to become productive members of society. Typically in the form of sweatshops. Armend also believes orphan blood has the potential to be an incredibly potent alchemical ingredient and wants to keep them close at hand for this purpose.
 
As for his relationship with Alchemy. He was trained by [Name] (having a hard time getting world anvil to work for names), a gnome Cazzeri who believed he could create the ultimate “stack” and evolve into a dark god. A stack is essentially an extremely complicated alchemical recipe which will convert a physical being into one of pure magical energy. Long story short, Armend killed him and stole his research the day he decided that he could no longer learn anything new from his dark mentor.