Mage Trio

Warriors of Justice in an Unjust Age

The late 490s was a time of rapid progress, with many notable figures rising to prominence like Sirlini Glirdog, Sliq Monion, and Remnant of History. However, if one were to ask anyone who the most famous people in the world were in that time period, they would give you three answers: Salasar Feaphed, Fepar Tilrak, and Melthrum. The Mage Trio.

Grand Wizard Salasar Feaphed by Jarhed

Three Powerful Wizards

Salasar Feaphed was the first to be born, a demigod child of Phrixus that was meant to be the savior of the Draconian people. He disliked this position for much of his early life, but accepted it after great loss, spending about 70 years locked in deep study before deciding to attend the Magic College in the Class of 500.
Melthrum was born not long after, raised to be a warrior, he found instead that magic was his passion, and dedicated his life to expanding the Dwarven knowledge and perspective on magic. He wanted mages to be respected in Dwarven culture, rather than being second to soldiers. Due to this, he decided to attend the Magic College in the Class of 500.
Finally, there was Fepar Tilrak. He was the youngest of the three by a considerable margin. Melthrum was a Dwarf with a long lifespan, Salasar was a demigod who had magically extended his life. Fepar, on the other hand, was just a normal Draconian, and so the fact that he was able to stand equal to these two towering, long-lived mages is a testament to his talent and power.
Fepar Tilrak was the son of a prominent Draconian family, known for his skill in combat and proficiency with magic. Many scholars believe he ended up with the largest known mana stores of his entire era, with calculations done based on spells he pulled off and events he participated in. Part of this was due to his high birth, but the rest was his study and training. But that only truly started after he became part of the Magic College Class of 500.

Fepar Tilrak by Jarhed

Meeting

The three first met during the entrance exam for the Magic College, administered by Grand Wizard Crordoth Narakas, being the first ones to solve Crordoth's magical puzzles and achieve entrance into the class. There was a period between that and any other student arriving to the class, so in that time, they first met and found common ground.
They noted that all three of them were not normal.

• Fepar was the most seemingly normal of the three, but his absurd mana stores left him out of place in a village like Bortan, where he was from, as the focus of Bortan was more on physical training and military might. Aside from that, he prioritized peace over war, and wanted to end every war he could.


• Melthrum was a Dwarf with a proficiency for magic and a love for it, despite the Dwarven disdain for magic (which was seen as too distinctly Elven/Draconian for them to care about).


• Salasar's scales were made of metal, and he was not from any of the Draconian villages, and for this he was an outcast, even without disclosing that he was a demigod.

They were called aberrations, ostracized for deviating from the norm, and in the case of Salasar and Melthrum, targeted by violent acts simply for who they are and what they were passionate about.
So they decided that, together, they could follow their shared interests and passions and, hopefully, help the world become a better place.

Classmates

Over their four years in the Class of 500, the three worked together nearly every day. They studied magic together, ate together, lived together, and when they traveled, they traveled together as well.

Melthrum by Jarhed

They did so often, going out on missions across the world to help any threat to justice and liberty all over Totania. There was not a single place out of their reach, and this meant that everyone from Shafai to the Abral Islands was aware of these three, who began to assemble an almost mythological presence.
Their study of magic advanced magical knowledge in ways, and the spells they were able to do impressed anyone that saw them. It is for their magical expertise that they gained their name, as the Mage Trio, but it was what they used it for that they gained their reputation. Heroes.
They each gained nicknames as well. Salasar Feaphed gained the Draconian Nickname of the Scholar, for his intense research and scholarship. Melthrum became known as the Diamond of the Mountains, due to his use of diamonds and other tough minerals in his magic. And Fepar Tilrak, the central figure who would help enforce the peaceful means of resolving conflicts, became known as the Guardian of Peace.
Salasar Feaphed graduated at the top of their class, with Fepar Tilrak behind him and Melthrum in 3rd place. Their battles in the graduation tournament were close, but there was little dispute of what the result would be, and most were able to guess it before it happened. This was the way power was balanced between them. Salasar was the strongest, but he prefered the pursuits of knowledge. Melthrum was the weakest, but that was because he mixed his magic with his Dwarven combat experience to make it more palatable to his people. And Fepar Tilrak was the middle ground, the one directly between the other two.

Post Graduation

Fepar Tilrak became Village Chief of Bortan right after graduating, and Melthrum quickly was promoted to General of the Orange Phoenixes squad of the Dwarven military, but still they balanced this (as well as their new families) with the duties of the Mage Trio.
The three still studied together, and traveled the world to stop injustices, but it got harder and harder to do this as outside obligations piled up.

Sullore by Yumedatchi

Soon, it was only Salasar Feaphed doing anything, as Fepar began patroling his own region more than dealing with the wider world, and Melthrum engrossed himself too deeply in the politics of the Dwarven Kingdom. Salasar Feaphed continued his duties, studying all the while, until finally he gave up as well after news of the growing number of deaths among his classmates. He decided to stay in and study, protecting only those few that were within his reach. Fepar, Melthrum, and another classmate that lived nearby: Sullore.
The three considered each other brothers, and best friends. Still, however, as the years passed, it became more difficult for them to meet up until, eventually, they were unable to see each other at all.
On an otherwise unimportant night in the late 520s, the three met for the final time. It was a celebration of life thrown by Sullore, in remembrance of Melthrum's family that had just died, where the Mage Trio once again reaffirmed their love for each other and devotion to doing what is just and right. After that, the three members of the Mage Trio never reunited in the mortal plane again. Salasar Feaphed and Melthrum met a few times between then and their deaths, and Fepar Tilrak met Melthrum once more before his death, but Fepar Tilrak and Salasar Feaphed never met again.
Fepar Tilrak became a revolutionary, who remained in hiding for the rest of his life. Melthrum lost his family and devoted the rest of his life to furthering his studies before he passed, as he had nothing else left to fight for. And Salasar Feaphed became Grand Wizard, working tirelessly to bring prosperity to the Draconian people once more.

Vodron Nutsk by Jarhed

Death

It is said that the three members of the Mage Trio all died within the same year: 550, at the tail-end of the period of Dual Civil Wars of the Elves and Dwarves.
Fepar Tilrak was first to die, succumbing to wounds and being put out of his misery by his own God, Phrixus, so that he may finally live peacefully in Heaven.
Some believe the Gods granted them one last chance to see each other, as it is said every God bestowed a gift upon Fepar Tilrak, the first to die, for his contributions to peace in the world. If this is true, no one can say for certain. Only those present with Fepar for his death would know, and if the remainder of the Mage Trio numbered among them, they did not live long enough to say.
Melthrum died not long after, in defense of the city of Ironforge, blocking a door that an army of enhanced soldiers he created could come through by turning himself, in his weakened, nearly dead state, into diamonds. Ever since, his remains have stood as a monument of magical folly, but also great arcane achievement.
Salasar Feaphed, the first to live, was last to die. He was beaten, broken, after years of travel back to his home. And while he was attempting to celebrate the achievements of his students, passing the torch to the next generation, he was betrayed by his subordinates and friends, Otikul Nurdesh and Urokris Erthar in the Coup of Zephys, his body incinerated into nothingness.
The Mage Trio lived on only in those they trained. Fepar's three sons and countless other revolutionaries, Melthrum's soldiers and other warriors he inspired, and the many students that were taught by Salasar Feaphed. There was a group, as well, known as the Fellas, which many claimed to be a "modern Mage Trio" that came into being right before the death of the Mage Trio. These five mages (Vodron Nutsk, Jargar Eltan, Pretender, Stranger, and Cozall Redfury) also carried on the will of the Mage Trio. A group of aberrations once more, mostly ostracized from normal society for one reason or another, who found companionship and justice in each others company and decided to do good together.