Kastus Iharovich Novalasky (CAST-us Ee-HAR-oh-vitch NO-vuh-lass-key)
Archmaester of Evocation and First Boyar of the Sovereign
Kastus Iharovich Novalasky (Sevnóni: Новаласкы Кастоус Ихарович; born 21 December 370), is the Archmaester of Evocation at Vyssíjórgen Academy, current leading member of the Argent Company, and husband of Sevnónicha's Queen Viara Mikalovna. As of August 430, Kastus and the other leading members of the Argent Company are attending the trial of Lord Philip of Acton in the Imperial city of Dalhurst.
Table of Contents
By 380, Fyodor had saved enough of his modest earnings to pay the exorbitant bribe required to free his brother from the Imperial work camps. On the eve of Tupyla (IW: Summer Solstice), Fyodor accompanied Kastus back to Novaček to deliver the boy back to his newly-released father. Ihar, his grandiose dwerzik seized and forever barred from serving on Imperial projects, was forced to take on dozens of insignificant undertakings to make ends meet, often for paltry sums. Nevertheless, Kastus was overjoyed to be returned to the company of his father, and by Dozhynko (IW: Autumn Equinox) the 9-year-old boy had begun an apprenticeship under his father to learn the art of masonry.
A wizened man of Erzihari descent, Khalil's father Sarosh had been a member of the Wythian Intelligence, stationed in Dar Valkiev to serve as the Emperor's eyes and ears inside the Koulzadachi during the Mage's Revolt. Sarosh fled the country after the rebellion was crushed, and the young Khalil was taken in by the guild. Now in his seventh decade, Khalil held an infamous reputation amongst his fellow guildsmen for his arguably-overzealous methods of instruction and discipline. After only a handful of days in Dar Valkiev, Kastus quickly came to harrowing realization that before he could train in the art of spellcraft, he would first have to endure three grueling years under the tutelage of Al-Pushtakhr.
Thus began Kastus's formal education, a time which he would later recount to the author as "quite the rude awakening". During these years, Kastus was often roused from his sleep via a sharp blow from his master's cane, which served to alert the young man that the day's instruction had begun. His mornings were spent in prayer in Dar Valkiev's humble Myrnovi Temple, breaking at sunrise to eat and prepare himself for the day ahead. After making himself ready, Kastus would then make the long walk to Khalil's home in the pine forests surrounding the village, where he would spend the rest of his waking hours learning of Sevnónicha's rich history, lore, and the customs of its people. Additionally, Al-Pushtakhr ensured that his young pupil was thoroughly educated in all subjects he deemed necessary for success at Vyssíjórgen, including Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Alchemy, and Grammar. Despite the long hours and harsh treatment, Kastus quickly grew fond of his academic training, devoting himself to it wholeheartedly in spite of the challenges. By the end of his first year amongst the Koulzadachi, the 13-year-old Kastus found himself well-suited to his new environment, having become something of a rising star amongst his fellows trainees in Dar Valkiev.
In addition to his traditional studies, Kastus's education (like that of all Vyssíjórgen's initiates) was enhanced by virtue of Dar Valkiev's strategic location along the Syvanvaar Road. Due to the Academy's isolated position amongst the Rorzh'i Vrokyshyy mountains, many travellers with business at Vyssíjórgen would frequently stop in Dar Valkiev to rest and resupply. As such, foreign scholars, merchants, and dignitaries from across the continent were a common sight in the village throughout the year, particularly in the winter months when the pass leading to the Academy would fill with snow for weeks on end. In this way, Kastus was exposed to a vast assortment of subjects that otherwise would have certainly gone unexplored: Oration and Astronomy from Lostekedes monks, Civil Law from Westwythian notaries, and Humoral Theory from Erzihari physicians.
Kostya - Kastus's short name, used exclusively by his parents, wife, and cousins Leonid and Aleksandra.
Tlechinli - Draconic: lit. "the fire that burns", a moniker given by Xicoatl Xipylich during Kastus's first year at Vyssíjórgen, after the latter violently defended a Wythian student from his Sevnóni peers.
Onektawna - Sinopan: "Red Bear", a pseudonym used by Kastus during his time in Sinopa as Maester of Evocation, and later as a member of the Argent Company.
Mowvárga - Sevnóni: "Envoy/Speaker to Giants", a humourous self-styled title Kastus bestowed upon himself follow the Argent Company's brief dealings with the Northern Giants.
Druwiel Kynaz - A non-hereditary title of nobility granted to Kastus following his marriage to Queen Viara Mikalovna.
Kastus is the second-oldest member of the Argent Company (being 209 years younger than Bogurt, the Company's oldest member) and the oldest mannish member of the Company (beating out George Cadougan by 12 years).
Kastus is named for Captain Konstavine Rhaparios, an Aparnovosi mariner who hailed from the Pavöto Dalghenna. Captain Rhaparios was the close companion of Vasyl Janovich, harbourmaster of Pavöto and Kastus's paternal grandfather. When Alessan pirates attacked the port city in 339 AU, Konstavine sacrificed himself so that a wounded Vasyl could flee to Novaček for reinforcements. It was while he recovered in Novaček that Vasyl met the woman he would one day marry, Oksana Maksymovna. As Vasyl lay on his deathbed in 370 AU, Ihar chose to honour his father by naming his firstborn after the foreigner whose noble sacrifice enabled his parents' union.
History
Birth & early years
Kastus was born on Tolyada (Imperial Wythian: Winter Solstice) in 1719 CR / 370 AU to Ihar Vasylovich Novalasky and Marija Filipovna in the Artisan’s Quarter of Novaček. At the time of his son's birth, Ihar was the premier stonemason of Novaček, having risen to prominence from his work on the summer palace of the then-Prince Otto IV some nine years earlier. Rather than live the lavish lifestyle of a skilled craftsman, Ihar instead chose to clandestinely serve as a major financial supporter of the movement to depose King Otto, whose familial line was overwhelmingly viewed as a Wythian plant on the Sevnóni throne. Following a botched assassination attempt against Otto during the celebration of his Bronze Jubilee in 374, Wythian authorities moved to detain Ihar after managing to pry his identity from several captured militia members. During Ihar's arrest, Marija struck one of the guards with a fire iron when the guard attempted to remove Kastus from the family's home. This caused a second guard to retaliate and shove Marija to the ground, inadvertently killing her in the process. After his arrest and a showy trial overseen by a maimed Otto, Ihar was sentenced to 50 years of hard labour for his role in funding the assassination. Kastus, after a brief stint in the Novaček Imperial Orphanage, was sent to live with his father's brother, Fyodor Vasylovich, in the fortress city of Marst on the river Dnisjec. Kastus would spend the next six years in the southern city, working in his uncle's smithy from the age of five and playing at adventurers with his cousin Aleksandra. It was in Marst that Kastus first met Leonid Viktarovich, the son of poor farmers who would go on to become one of Kastus's closest confidants and allies.Education
In 382, Kastus was approached by an envoy of the Koulzadachi during the Guild's annual survey of Novaček and the surrounding Crownlands. The envoy bore with him an offer of admission to Vyssíjórgen Academy, pending three years of study under the Koulzadachi and the acquisition of a sponsorship from one of the Academy's Archmaesters. By this time, the 11-year-old Kastus was well on his way to becoming one of the youngest journeymen in the city's Sevnóni Mason's Guild, and Ihar was more than apprehensive about sending his only child into the Rorzh'i Vrokyshyy to learn, in his mind, dark sorcery and hidden lore. Nonetheless, Ihar bid Kastus to make his way to the Svyátt Gazahr, to spend the next seven days and nights in solemn prayer and contemplation. Should Kastus receive a vision from Myrvûs in those seven days, he would have his father's blessing to enter the tutelage of the Koulzadachi and, in time, make the trip to Vyssíjórgen to initiate his formal studies. Kastus entered the Svyátt Gazahr Cathedral the week before Tolyada, nestling himself in a quiet antechamber off the nave with naught but a waterskin and a parcel of cured meat. There he remained in prayer for the entirety of the solstice festivities, breaking only for rest or to relight spent candles and incense burners. After seven days of prayer with no word from the almighty, a frustrated Kastus elected to forgo all rest on the night of Tolyada. Instead, he would pray uninterrupted from dusk until dawn, in hopes of receiving a signal or message of any kind. Unfortunately, the lack of food and rest caught up with him, and the exhausted boy slipped into unconsciousness just before midnight. While he slept, Kastus dreamt of a tall bearded man standing on the Great Eastern Road, clad in silver robes and bearing a large leather-bound tome in his arms. The bearded man extended the tome and began reciting hymns in an ancient tongue, and Kastus was awoken as if struck by a bolt of lightning. After consulting with a Priest of Myrvûs as to the meaning of his dream (who confirmed its divine nature), Kastus excitedly returned home to inform his father of the good news. Ihar, still reluctant to send his only son away for many years, nevertheless honoured his vow and gave Kastus his blessing on the morning of December 23rd, 382. Before Kastus left Novaček with the Koulzadachi, Ihar gifted him a chunk of dolomitic limestone, smaller than his fist and polished to a mirror sheen. It was inscribed with the phrase "Jestem vizada z toba. Otidet zdaj vi vel'kosti" (IW: I am always with you. Go now unto greatness) in an elegant Ostromiric script. Kastus departed for Dar Valkiev on the 25th of December, and he would not return to Novaček or the company of his father for the next three years.The Koulzadachi
Kastus arrived in the town of Dar Valkiev in the first days of 383, after a brief stop in Ruz'ot Roden to attend a mandatory celebration of the Wythian New Year. Once settled in his new lodgings, Kastus was introduced to the man who would serve as his personal tutor until he was formally accepted into Vyssíjórgen: Abu Vasyl Khalil ibn Sarosh al-Pushtakhr, a master guildsman of the Koulzadachi.Khalil? He was a miserable old wretch; beat me within an inch of my life more than once. Nevertheless he taught me well, I'll give him that. Can't say I shed a tear when I heard news of his passing, though.
Vyssíjórgen Academy
Career
Marriage & family
Tragedy & imprisonment
Member of the Argent Company
On the 14th of July 428 AU, the band of adventurers that would soon become the Argent Company ventured into a submerged Lostekedes observatory some three miles off the coast of Anselm in search of information pertaining to the origins of the Great Frost. In a hidden chamber deep within the observatory's interior, the Company discovered a stone plinth bearing Kastus's Ring. Kastus, having only recently acquired the ability to project his visage after two decades of torment, emerged from his ring dazed and wracked by agonizing pain. Presented with a handful of foreign men questioning his intentions in strange tongues, Kastus responded in the only way with which he was capable: a violent outburst of magical force. In the ensuing conflict, the scale of which threatened to tear the observatory asunder, Kastus was eventually subdued via a well-placed arrow loosed by Lord Leighton Allister of the Autumnvale. After being reassured (at swordpoint) that the group meant him no harm, Kastus was formally introduced to his new companions: the aforementioned Leighton Allister, George Cadougan of Dalhurst, Jared Anglermen of the Autumnvale, and Vesser Rantari Highmore of Briar Glen. Upon learning of the group's quest and their intentions to sail northwards to Sevnónicha, in addition to the role his family's ring played in the coming apocalypse, Kastus readily assented to accompanying the group on their journey north. Following their escape from the observatory, Kastus boarded his companion's vessel, the mighty Caravel Santana, and assisted its crew in making ready to sail for the party's next destination, the Westwythian port city of Acton.Acton
Upon arriving in Acton, Kastus remained aboard the Santana as the rest of the crew filtered out into the city, hesitant of wandering the crowded streets after over two decades of total isolation. Nevertheless, when it was revealed the following morning that the young squire Matthew Stanton had been abducted by malevolent shapechangers, Kastus was amongst the first to volunteer for the search party. Later, upon discovering that the squire was being held in the cells beneath Acton's castle, Kastus and Jaredson infiltrated said dungeon while the rest of the crew kept Lord Philip of Acton occupied at a feast on the floors above. There they tracked the shapechanger to the highest battlements of the castle, and when their cornered foe attempted to hurl an unconscious Stanton over the parapet, it was Kastus who foiled the shapechanger's attempt before shoving the enemy to its death on the streets below.Sinopa
Dalhurst
Sevnónicha
Eastwythe
The Far North
New Beginnings
Personality & traits
A magician of extraordinary talent and skill, Kastus's character and temperament have been shaped by the trauma of his past and his decades of experience in nearly equal measure. Prior to the death of his wife and son, it was said to be impossible for Kastus to end his day without bursting into cacophonous laughter at least once, such was the joy and mirth that filled his spirit. Indeed, even in the darkest days of the Sinopan invasion, Kastus took great pride....Physical description & equipment
At just over six feet tall, Kastus is of average height for a man of Sevnóni descent. He possesses the ruddy complexion typical amongst his people, with a frame that is stout and muscular from a lifetime of heavy labour. His fiery auburn hair is worn in an unruly mane that reaches past his chin, with a thick bushy beard that masks the pale scars covering his throat. His deep-set eyes are the colour of mahogany, dotted with the signature flecks of amber borne by the men of the Crownlands. The scars from his whipping through the streets of Novaček still remain, crisscrossing the whole of his back in raised red lines. A pair of traditional Sevnóni death poems are tattooed in bands of black and green ink across his left and right biceps: one for Milomir Kastyevich, and one for Vesser Highmore. Kastus began wearing his family's ring, crafted of pure silver and set with a polished sapphire, since he was accepted into the Academy at the age of 15. When he was captured on the Great Eastern Road in 407, Kastus's soul was imprisoned within the ring, irrevocably binding it to his person. There his soul would remain for more than two decades before finally being freed on the 21st of October 428, when Kastus and the rest of the Argent Company successfully reversed the ritual that initiated the Great Frost. As a Maester of Vyssíjórgen, Kastus bore minimal arms or armour prior to taking up with the Argent Company, save for a ceremonial dagger gifted to all Commanders of the Novaček City Watch. In the crypt beneath Eathelyn Cothred's estate, Kastus recovered a pair of ancient Sevnóni Fulgurite Armbands, imbued with magic and capable of transforming into broad spear tipped with a pair of cloudy grey crystals. Kastus would later name his spear Żmeijalec (IW: Dragon-Piercer) after using it to gravely wound the Dragon Iaculus. Before Kastus departed for the Invasion of Wanamekwa, he was given a hefty shestopor by the chief weaponsmith of Vyorcha, inlaid with geometric patterns of gold and silver and forged by the smith's foremost apprentice. Kastus wears two amulets of Myrvûs around his neck: one made of bronze, gifted to him by Yelena's father on their wedding day, and one carved of pinewood, given to him by the peasant man Sadomir after the Argent Company saved his village from a troll attack.Other names & titles
Genealogy
Trivia
Relationships
Kastus, circa. 428 A.U.
Species
Ethnicity
Currently Held Titles
Date of Birth
21st of December
Year of Birth
370 AU
60 Years old
Circumstances of Birth
Born on Tolyada, the Winter Solstice
Birthplace
City of Novaček, Artisan's Quarter
Spouses
Siblings
Current Residence
Sex
Male
Eyes
Mahogany
Hair
Dark auburn
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Ruddy
Height
6'
Weight
215 lb.
Belief/Deity
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Imperial Wythian
Draconic
Sinopan
Ruled Locations
Appears in...