Silvus of the Empty Spiral
Silvus was born into an impoverished family in a nameless fishing village on the shores southeast of The Warden City of Hobluff. During the transitory hours of dawn a flock of whippoorwills gathered for Silvus’s crepuscular birth- an auspicious sign of The Grey Lady, Pharasma. His family, being of poor finances, surrendered their newborn to Pharasman priests who agreed that his birth destined him to serve the Lady of Graves. Silvus was transported east to the Silver Steppes, the location of the Pharasman monastery, Matarael.
Silvus was a quiet child, shunning toys and playing with the other children; Instead, the priests and pilgrims of Matarael noted he would observe the world and those around him with intense focus. As the neophytes would be lectured in the forum, Silvus appeared dull during topics of a more academic slant, but would occasionally surprise with unusual insights. As he grew, Silvus would dream of events yet to pass, and discussions with the clerics revealed a deep understanding of life, death and fate. By the time it was for Silvus to undertake his initiation into full priesthood, his emerging connection to divine power was reputed by the elder priests of Matarael. His endurance, willpower and soul were to be tested beyond tradition in order to create a powerful agent of Pharasma.
In the heart of the Silver Steppes was a single mountain named The Empty Spiral, whose peak rivaled the Ravencrags to the north. The mountain was renowned for its total desolation and the brutality of scaling it, and thus was Silvus’s holy task. Taking nothing with him but a bronze medallion marked with Pharasma’s spiraling iconography, Silvus marched upward for two days and nights, the air growing thinner and colder with each step. When the mountain face became too steep, he climbed for three days and nights more through the freezing rain and thunder that surrounded The Spiral in perpetuity. On the fourth morning, when he thought his strength would fail and his mind would break, Silvus breached the clouds and gazed in awe at the perfectly crisp sky. By night, Silvus summited The Empty Spiral and collapsed, looking up to the brilliant stars. His mind was drawn into the deep darkness between the twinkling lights, and he felt his spirit being called home to the Lady of Graves.
Forty days passed and Silvus had not yet returned, and the elders of Matarael monastery feared he had succumb to the mountain’s cruel climb. At dawn, a great flock of whippoorwills landed on every roof and window sill, and the clerics knew: Silvus was alive. He strode through the monastery utterly changed, his hair as white as the stars above and eyes that pierced your soul. Silvus spoke with the Head Matron of Matarael of his visions he received, of the calamities that would befall Loressa and his charge by Pharasma to oversee its fate, and that one day he may abruptly depart Matarel. For many years after his trials Silvus meditated on his task and served many ailing women as a skilled midwife. While away assisting the citizens nearby village, he dreamt of it in flames and its occupants slaughtered. Immediately, Silvus sent them to Matarel, while he sat and waited. Brigands, finding the village empty but for one Pharasman cleric, elected to capture him. Rather than kill their prisoner, and perhaps anger a god due to the uncanny circumstances in which he was found, Silvus found himself being carted off to parts unknown.
Physical Description
Identifying Characteristics
Tan and lean from training the in the sun on the steppes. White hair and a piercing, stoic gaze from his trials.
Physical quirks
Holds head high
Apparel & Accessories
Wears simple cloth, carries few possessions. Bronze medallion with an inlaid spiral pattern.
Specialized Equipment
A purely ceremonial knife with engraving of Pharasma on the blade.
Mental characteristics
Accomplishments & Achievements
Born under an auspicious sign and scaled The Empty Spiral.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
To bear witness to Loressas’s destruction and possibly intervene, and to serve Pharasma by being an agent of life, death and fate.
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