Kazi Medoa, the Song Arcanum

"They say that his heart broke when both his longtime friend and his beloved sister departed from Auriga. While he never wrote another song, he continued to carry on their memory through his performances and wise counsel until the day he disappeared."

— The Whispers in Arvanoc

While the writings and verses of the Song Arcanum are still performed to this day in the Kingdom of Arvanoc and the lands of Vellaria, not many folk can convey much of his history as Kazi mostly sang of others instead of himself.
However, bards focused on history and arcanists who dedicated themselves to the mystery surrounding his disappearance have learned far more about the man's past that have led to more questions rather than answers.

Early Life

Rescued by Mithral Guard soldiers and brought into the kingdom on a refugee caravan that had traversed through the cursed deadlands of Darthin for months, Kazi and a couple other newborn orphans were on death's door when they arrived at the Bludāvhn Monastery. The monks and mages there had dedicated their lives to healing those that had come in from the dark lands, but they found that their blessings, lower circle spells, and medicines were of no aid to the transmuted children that had been "twisted by Death's touch."

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According to the nurse that had been tending to the children since their births over the course of the year, the transmutations the children had suffered was "a result of Death trying to take them in the womb." "If not for the wills of Goddesses and that of their own mothers who died protecting and delivering them, these children would have never taken a breath of Life," reads one of the passages from the journal of Keeper Brey, the monastery's archivist at the time.

Now, while each child suffered from a different affliction and a black birthmark shaped like a hand lay on each of their "twists", for Kazi, his was the most severe. He was a wailing child with twisted facial features and multiple marks of hands like faded burns across his back, neck, wrist, and hip as if Death had tried many times to grip the child and drag him into oblivion.
Believing that the powerful necromantic energies of Darthin had been the cause of the children's suffering, the monastery had put out a summons to the Church of Valkeryth requesting one of their strongest clerics to help the children. Though no records indicate that a cleric had visited, other journals of monks from those days state that the children were healed with higher circle magic and the "dark touches" were banished from their skin.
While the adults refugees soon discovered that they aged much slower than other humanoids, the children continued to grow, only slowing in age once they hit puberty. Though there were whispers of what could cause such thing, the phenomena went mostly ignored as the monks attributed them to possibly being realmwalkers as the Enchanted were also known to be slow to age.

Student of War

After spending decades at the monastery and growing up and out of his cursed form, Kazi decided to venture out with others traveling south to Rilynmitore and into the lands of Vellaria. While determined to forge his own path, he formally had no trade to offer and a small amount of coin. In a matter of days, he found himself learning what he could from any who would teach him, trading his services and assistance for knowledge-- though these business transactions would never lost for longer than a couple of weeks at best.
After four months on his own, he found himself learning the art of the lute and song from a jaded, ailing older bard who lamented the lack of art curriculums in the colleges of Rilynmitore and seemingly wanted nothing more than someone to carry on what he knew.

"This city is so lost in fear of war and invasion that they no longer appreciate the beauty of the land, this place- where heroes have risen from, where others come to have their stories told, and where even more rest beneath. Many of their songs have yet to be sung and their tales yet to join tomes.
All there is now is their memory and even that will fade in time if there's no one left to remember and pass it on. You see, I recall a time in this city when you could hear

a sweet melody carried through the air and it was enough to inspire you. Now all you hear is ringing of clashing steel and I fear that all are deaf to it."

Inspired by his teacher and his stories, Kazi petitioned the following month to take the entrance trials for the Riversend War Academy believing that he could carry out his teacher's dream. While his presence was an unwelcome distraction to most of his peers during the trials, the young man surprised them all when he passed not only the physical requirements and the written exams but impressed the academy's board during his interview.

Kazi Medoa, the Song Arcanum by Mara Jaena

"What good is learning more of the past if you're not sharing its lessons? That is what I wish. To tell the stories of those you're learning from."

Student records showed that while Kazi was exceptional at arcane studies, diplomacy, and history, he showed poor initiative when it came to learning about various weaponry as well as war and siege strategies. In his final two years at the academy, when he had more control over what he wanted to learn, he spent more time in the Tanda'an than most other senior students, studying the great feats of heroes he'd never heard of before and writing reports and tales of them. In all his free time, he was known to visit his mentor who encouraged him to turn his writings into song and perform them. The two remained close until the older man's peaceful passing shortly after Kazi was inducted as a full-fledged Vellarian Strategian.
After graduation, instead of taking up one of the many posts offered to him in other parts of the world, Kazi left all the reports he had written on forgotten heroes with the academy and decided to travel back to Arvanoc and use his knowledge to help the beleagured peoples of Arvanoc's borders and the Mithral Guard who suffered losses from monthly raids.

The Sword, The Phoenix, and the Song

While many of his adventures with Aenar and Saelyhn were turned into songs and eventually written down and chronicled in books, his journals revealed just how he came across the other two members of the Guardian Trinity.

The Traveling Festival

As a certified Strategian, Kazi found himself welcomed at each settlement he visited and his counsel heeded. Realizing that most folk could not read or write, he turned many instructions and survival techniques into short songs, only moving on when they could remember them all.

Bard with Lute by © Daniel Eskridge

During his travels, the Scarlet Strategian came across the Traveling Festival as it had stopped at the outskirts of the same city to celebrate one of the feasts of Ifnia. While enjoying the merriment, he happened to hear that a performer had fallen ill and happily, he offered to play in the performer's stead free of charge. His cheerful and charming attitude won over many of the festival's troupe and they considered him a friend. It was at this time that he met and befriended Saelyhn, who like him was an orphan but raised by the Traveling Festival.
While his travels took him elsewhere after this encounter, a couple of weeks later, he found himself crossing paths with the festival yet again, but this time in a dire situation as the group was the target of an attack by mercenaries that had come in from Darthin. Though the caravan had their own methods of defense, their people were scattered and in disarray. Flying in on winged boots and armed with both knowledge of war and the arcane, Kazi commanded the rag tag caravan and led a successful counterpush against the threat that resulted in either capture or death for the mercenaries.
After this second encounter, the elders of the Traveling Festival along with other prominent figures of the troupe formally invited Kazi to remain with them as means of protection. However, he only accepted so long as he was able to pick a couple of places where they could travel so he could continue with assisting those at the precarious edges of Arvanoc.

The City of Corrin

After a few years traveling and many beloved performances and events, the Traveling Festival's renown grew to the point where they believed that they could possibly approach the city of Corrin-- whose very religious and many temple leaders were against the Festival's existence as they were known to welcome and tend to elven refugees who were viewed as enemies of the kingdom. Were it not for the open-mindedness of the City Captain at the time, the festival would have moved on as it always had, but for the first time in decades, they were able to bring their skills to the people of the city.
It was at the Festival of the Lovers Moons that the Guardian Trinity met and where many of the songs begin. The famous tales of the Nightwing Sword, the White Phoenix, and the Song Arcanum (Kazi, himself) and their opposition to the prominent priest of the city who was revealed to be leading cult serving an eldritch abomination are known by every bard in Arvanoc and even throughout all of Vellaria as Kazi was sure to acknowledge his school.

The Parting of Ways

While their adventures didn't stop until the day Aenar and Saelyhn had to depart from the realm of Auriga, Kazi continued to write and document all of the strife, suffering, and excursions the trio went on over the course of twenty years. He drew crowds to this city of Corrin when he was to perform a new song and eventually helped fund the construction of a small school dedicated to the arts within the city.
To this day almost of his writings of the trio's adventures were transcribed into many languages and spread as far east as the Isle of Mercy on the other side of the continent and as far south as the Southern Sands.

The Court of Ehranor

After the departure of his chosen family, Kazi was left to either journey on with the Traveling Festival or take up a rare invitation to be a part of the new king's court as he was seen as a voice of the people. Believing that he could carry on the memory of his loved ones and could do even more good in the heart of the kingdom, Kazi bid farewell to the festival and entered the royal court.
At this point in time, many of his accomplishments and efforts could be found in the record halls of Ehranor. However, for some reason, many bards and historians disagree on what his true purpose and accomplishments in Ehranor was as he had grown quite reserved as a performer and had leaned more into being a politician.

Disappearance

After almost twenty years after coming to Ehranor, Kazi was witnessed to the latest tragedy of the kingdom-- the assassination of Queen Aramera.
It is said that the tragedy rended his spirit completely in two as he had written in his journals, "I've witnesed the heart of a kingdom broken that day." As one of the few members of the court that had immediately gathered forces to scour the city, and while others had decided to search the outer districts and slums, he had turned his focus to those in the more gilded areas of the city. His tireless efforts over the next five days resulted in the capture of the assassin who had posed as visiting diplomat. His subsequent interrogation of the assassin was rumored to have been a terrifying experience for those witnessed to it.
His time on the court afterward saw him continuing to serve as an advisor to the king and he was seen as one of his closest confidants. However, two years later, on a trip to Bludāvhn and after taking rest in Corrin, Kazi simply disappeared without a trace. None of his traveling party could locate him and no matter of spell or beast could find him.
While there are many rumors, to this day, no one knows what happened to the Song Arcanum.

Oh, I'll tell you a tale, one that's still incomplete because Life merely gets in the way...

It's the tale of what happens when Sword and Flame meet and when Darkness reached out for its prey...

Nicknames

The Scarlet Lucker

While it had been given by a friend at Riversend Academy who considered him lucky to have gotten in when so many had failed, Kazi had heard this name whispered many times in halls with a certain letter changed around. He knew his presence was not welcome by many but he didn't allow their spite to distract him from his ambitions.

The Songster of the Traveling Festival

Only to Vellaria is he known as "The Songster Strategian".

The Bard of Bludāvhn

When asked by some where he grew up, he acknowledged his formal education from Bludāvhn. Naturally, many people in the west of the kingdom used this nickname for him.

The Song Arcanum

In the city of Corrin, during the Festival of the Lovers Moons, the carnival's oracle had spied Aenar, Saelyhn, and Kazi speaking together and supposedly was struck by a vision. While she saw wings and a sword in Aenar's future and a white phoenix surrounding Saelyhn's silhouette-- she merely heard whispers and scattered when she saw an older Kazi with the voices calling him "The Song Arcanum." Enjoying the mystery of it all, the bard had taken up the name and carried it ever since.

Rumors

In Ehranor, Kazi was believed to be the right hand of the queen and quite possibly her spymaster and even secret lover. Many rumors that were deemed insidious by the Crown stated that Kazi was the father of the Crowned Prince, but this was quickly debunked by mages of hemotomancy.

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Strangely, in his room after his disappearance, a dimensional storage trunk with many books was found containing even more of his writings. What is strange was that his writings were reported as missing, stolen before they could be returned to the capital by mere bandits. It is believed that Kazi may have hidden a secret in his mundane writings and that whoever has it holds a key to Arvanoc's future.

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A rumor in Vellaria is that Kazi is actually in hiding and faked his disappearance and possible death as a means to keep himself safe as they do believe that he was the target of assassination and only narrowly escaped as people recall it being eerily quiet that night.